The Cine Technician (1943 - 1945)

September— October, 1044 THE CINE-TECHNICIAN 93 English (and everj other) middle class, it's high time somebody enlightened them. The trouble is thai in their eagerness to prove their case they will use any argument that comes to mind, even it it i> a direct contradiction of what they've said bi fore. Clear thinking is not their strong suit. For instance, on the first page oi their pamphlet they say, verj sensibly, that as wars are made .\ men, and men are complex creatures, the sausi 3 oi wars are complex too. A few pages later lay 've forgotten all about this and are busy provng a la Vansittart that all wars are caused by sunning German imperialism. Similarly, later on. lay very well show the fundamental weakness of he l i-erman "expert " and how in the last instai he " experl " is always bound to fail for lack of hat little something extra, of which " knowiflge " deprives him. And yet before, we've finished hey 're calling upon the nation to "understand uid control its mental processes," "to bring its Subconscious into consciousness," that is. to henine a nation of "experts" too! T would ig;est thai ilex consider how far that " little some ing extra" is identified with things very firmly lot brought into mental consciousness, and, fur her, how far that " little si I hing extra " of the subconscious can be identified, nationally, with irking class. Meanwhile, I'm afraid all this \t r ivagance, over-simplificat ion, muddled thought uid attempt to see the English as a '"race" has •■lined what might have been a good pamphlet. K< ■ I think the\ 've g< it a good case here, at botoin. and their writing is always lively. F.S. PRODUCERS' LICENCE We would have thought the British Film Prolucers Association, in making its Annual Reporl 0 its members, would have based it on fact and tot fiction But on the contrary, when reporting >n "Disputes and Awards." it takes as much l>eit\ to itself a authors are wont to complain ihu producers sometimes take with their hooks. 1 They report, for example, that, the Arbitrator tpheld their interpretation in the dispute with LC.T. over Sunday work. What utter nonsense ! 1 B.F.P.A. claimed Sundays should he paid tin rate i it one-third of the week's salan LC.T. claimed one-third oi tic week's salary pas not double time, in view of the 5J-day workpg week stipulated in the Agreement, and that 7 ITtle, of t In week's salary v as the i i i rei I nterpretation. The Arbitrator ruled accordingly or tbose earning up to 610 per week and for those arning between (:li> and £15 he ruled the rate pas 17 54ths again, not one-third. On the Welwyn dispute, the report is, if anything, even more fantastic. There may he an explanation lor this in t h j the dispute was settled, without the intervention of the B.F.P.A., direct between A.C.T. and the Hoard of Associated British, who control Welwyn. Maybe the report to the B.F.P.A. came through a rather sore official at Welwyn, hut in view oi the machinery used to settle the dispute we would have thought that it lie B.F.P.A. desired to mention the matter a would have taken the necessary precautions to ensure an accurate account was given. As it is. they do not say the dispute was caused by an alleged breach of the Studio Agreement by their memb r, but by an overtime ban as a protest against the rejection of a claim for higher pa\ made on behalf of an employee. They then say the matter was settled, the union agreeing to withdraw its claim. They don't mention at all that the terms of the settlement included paying the individual concerned exa tly what A.C.T. claimed and that all A.C.T. members (including those locked out by the management - another point overlooked by the B.F.P.A.) went hack to work on condition they wore paid for all the time they were out. We do ask the B.F.P.A. to he a little more careful and a little more accurate in future. TH E GROWN THEATRE PROVIDES STUDIO PROJECTION SERVICE AT ANY TIME TO SUIT YOUR CONVENIENCE TWO DOUBLE HEADS DUOSONIC SOUND SYSTEM MIXING PANELS FOR TRACKS SEATING FOR 90 PERSONS 86, Wardour St., London, W.1 Tel: GERRARD 5223 ^S