Canadian Film Weekly (May 3, 1944)

>} J May 3, 1944 ‘Memphis Belle Amazing Film (Continued from Page 1) completely without grabbing it suddenly by sharp shocks. The auditor’s interest becomes intense and he watches deeply impressed but with never the feeling of having undergone a harrowing experience. This film, the record of a USA bomber over Germany, was released at the instance of the War Activities Committee and is being handled by Paramount at print costs alone. Made under the supervision of Lieut. Col. William Wyler, who directed ‘Mrs, Miniver” and other fine films, one of the two photographers who shared the trip with him, Lieut. Harold J. Tannenbaum, was later killed in a mission over France. “Memphis Belle” dispels the idea that Technicolor is unsuited for serious films because the effect of color is usually soft, gay and friendly. The Technicolor here, though on a 16 mm. blowup, lends itself perfectly to the presentation of certain aspects of flight never shown before. There are scenes of planes in the air that have never been duplicated from a standpoint of novelty. It is hard to describe what the dialogue among the fliers, watching the enemy come at them and seeing their comrades trying to get out of damaged planes, does to you. Nothing like it has ever been heard on the screen before. It has a quiet, desperate urgency absolutely unlike what the audience has been conditioned to by fictional films. The film is beautiful to look at, compelling in its interest, has much honest humor and, though it is realistic because of its very nature, is never brutal. Because of these qualities, it is an excellent general audience film. Thieves on Rampage In Montreal Row Film Row, Monkland Avenue, Montreal, was raided by thieves one day last week just before dawn. They went through every exchange. Twentieth Century-Fox’s safe was smashed and Paramount's office was wrecked. The thieves collected $30 in cash and $5.50 in stamps. Odeon Theatres Add Two More fo String The Capitol Theatre, 950-seat St. John, Quebec house, and the Sturgeon Falls Theatre, Sturgeon Falls, Ontario, 450 seats, have been purchased by Odeon Theatres of Canada from the Qscar Hanson interests. Odeon operation is now in effect, it was announced by Haskell Masters, Odeon general manager. ‘Let the Children In’ From an editorial by 8. Morgan Powell in the Montreal Daily Star. pete resentment at the un yielding attitude of the Quebec Government in regard to the attendance of children in film theatres is growing steadily in volume and bitterness. It has been largely accentuated since the war by the fact that younger ‘teen-age children of intelligence have themselves joined the ranks of the protestants. I have received large numbers of letters from young people, many of them couched in _ surprisingly logical terms, condemning the prolongation of the seventeenyear-old prohibition against children under the age of sixteen being admitted to any film theatre in the city. ; One of the strongest arguments they as well as their elders advance is that the Government’s attitude is inexplicably inconsistent, since it places no such prohibition against children going to see films shown in church basements and parochial halls, which are certainly not, in the great majority of cases, half so well equipped from the point of view of safety and fire prevention as our modern film theatres. The latter, it must be remembered, have to pass a stiff standard of inspection by the civic building department. The conditions which existed in the theatre where the holocaust of seventeen years ago took place are no longer existent in any theatre in the city of Montreal, and therefore the basic reason for the prohibition no longer exists. Canadian FILM WEEKLY Newspaper Opinions British Films The Chatham (Ontario) Daily News talks about the British Film in Canada. eee by the success which has attended the showing of preductions of the type, the future for British films in Canada should be excellent. In any event British producers announce that after the war they will seek a larger percentage of Empire film trade. — For years there has been an outcry against some of the films which have come here from Hollywood, and since Canada has produced little worthy of consideration, the problem is growing acute. For a long time there was little sympathy for British films, partly because the distributors did not give them the same preferences accorded American productions. If the audiences demand more British pictures the theatre owners no doubt would respond to the demand. One of the worst features of the fact that the great majority of pictures shown have been Hollywood productions, is that historical films have, quite naturally, been produced from the American viewpoint, and frequently a wrong impression has been left in the minds of Canadian boys and girls. This is particularly so as far as war productions are concerned. With an increasing popularity foreseen for British films, difficulty may abolished. this eventually be A scene from “Address Unknown,” dramatic new Columbia hit, starring Academy Award winner Paul Lukas. Page 7 Psychologists for Censor Boards? The Windsor Daily Star votes ‘no” to the suggestion that u child psychologist be added to the Ontario Board of Motion Picture Censors. pees a child psychologist to sit as a member of the Ontario Board of Motion Picture Censors has a highly commendable purpose, but it is difficult to see how it could help the situation. The object is to select films suitable for the young folk, and guard them against those they should not see. Perhaps a child psychologist would be capable of judging, but once he had done so, what would happen? The children would continue going to shows indiscriminately and viewing all the pictures shown. It happens that there is no way in Ontario of preventing them from doing so, so long as they are accompanied by adults. No doubt there are films children should not see, but protecting them against the undesirable entertainment is a puzzling problem. Quebec goes at it simply but rather harshly, by barring all minors from picture shows entirely. The ideal method, of course, is to have special showings exclusively for children, only selected features being exhibited, and to keep them out of theatres at all other times. But this involves an economic problem which would force theatres to operate, for at least part of the time, at a loss. Perhaps someone will bob up, one of these days, with a workable system of giving the children screen entertainment and at the same time protecting them from demoralizing pictures. But the employment of a psychologist will not do it. Future of Movies From an editorial in the Galt Reporter called “Your Movies Have an Anniversary.” ft future of Moving Pic tures? It would be presumptious for a layman to predict. All we can is that the industry is still developing greater degrees of excellence in production and that it has and will continue to provide a very fine type of amusement at prices within the reach of all. The future will doubtless see moving pictures used for many new purposes, some of which may still be unthought of. Chief among these is their value for educational purposes.