Documentary News Letter (1942-1943)

DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER MARCH 1942 FILMS IN ARMY EDUCATION A Report on a Year's Experiment in the Manchester Area. By JOHN MADDISON, Hon. Secretary of the Manchester Film Institute Society rHERE is considerable interest in the part films might play in Army education, and some months ago documentary news letter published an account of the work being done voluntarily for the troops in Scotland by a group of enthusiasts, using non-theatrical films. In Manchester the Film Institute Society has completed a year's experiment along slightly different lines for the local Regional Committee for Adult Education in H.M. Forces. Here, in the somewhat formal terms of a short report prepared for our own official records, are those details of the scheme which may be of interest to other workers in the same field. How the Scheme began and has Developed The experiment began in a small informal way in February, 1941, when the Secretary was invited to give a series of illustrated lectures on film appreciation to a rather isolated searchlight unit in Cheshire. Conditions were primitive; silent films were projected on a Bell-Howell Filmo machine and the only electrical supply available was from the batteries of a service waggon. Perseverance was rewarded by the evident pleasure of the men when the first pictures flickered across the length of their Nissen hut. The course lasted some weeks, covered much of early film history, and concluded with a light-hearted session on the work of Chaplin. Silent films only limited the value of the experiment, and we were fortunate in securing early the use of two sound projectors and the cooperation of two cineastes, a business-man and a schoolmaster, as lecturers and projectionists. These two and the Secretary have earned on the work ever since, and throughout the year, up to six units, searchlight and anti-aircraft, have been visited each week. At one or two of the sites, continuity has been maintained for periods of over six months. The vagaries of film supply have to some extent dictated the composition of the displays; the question of film copies (one remembers this as a crippling deterrent to the wide use of film in connection with school broadcasts) was bound to operate here. Programmes have, however, been organised along two main lines: (I) Film history and appreciation, (2) Home and World affairs and general knowledge. The proceedings at each site last about ninety minutes. The films are introduced by a short talk on subject matter or technique lasting from live to thni; mtes, and then time is opportunity for discussion and questions. Once the serious part is concluded, the occasion is rounded off with a few minutes of comedy or music. The talks are made popular and non-technical and wherever possible linked with the men's own experience. One or two examples may be quoted. A discussion of trick iph\ coincided fortunately with the '■. neral release of Thiej oj Baghdad; Marry Watt's Target for Tonight offered comparisons with his earlier effort North Sea, then showing at many cinemas; Tawny Owl introduced as a lighter element, served for a discussion both of nature films and of the use of commentary; British and Soviet methods of film propaganda as seen in the films of the M.O.I, and Soviet War News Film Agency have been compared with lively consequences; Alexander Shaw's fine documentary Five Faces of Malaya was shown with dire appropriateness during the first week of December. Occasionally a special speaker has been present ; General de Gaulle's civil representative in the region answered questions arising from Paramount's Free France and a member of the University's Spanish Department talked about his own country when S/>ani\li I 'arth was shown. (How stern and moving this film remains! It makes most of the propaganda efforts of this war appear adolescent. Its uncompromising tragedy seems better somehow for that intangible spiritual quality we called morale.) The Reactions of Officers and Men Attendance at the displays is, one gathers, entirely voluntary, and many informal sidelights reveal that the men appreciate and enjoy this new kind of leisure education. The best testimony to this is their continued presence; N. A. A. F.I. and Nissen huts are always crowded for these visits. Discussion is often lively, but questions asked sometimes underline the general public's ignorance of the serious aspects of cinema and of film appreciation which neither school nor radio is doing much to correct. There is evidence that the men approach the films we mercial cinemas. Many of them have expressed a distinct preference for the information over the fiction film. Generally speaking, commissioned officers have been very helpful, and have taken an active interest in the displays; the discussions often have a democratic flavour, which is the best guarantee of good relations between the ranks. Between 1 50 and 200 films have been shown during the year, but the following select list of about thirty is typical: Film history and "Classics" : Early Actualities, Early Trick Films, Great Train Robbery, Voyage ieross Impossible, Chaplin's First Films, Shoulder Arms, Dr. Caligari, Covered IVagon, General Line, Potemkin, Drawings that Hulk and Talk. Famous documentaries: Drifters, Song of Ceylon, Night Mail, The River, The City, Spanish Earth, Merchant Seamen, The Londoners. Actuality, Interest and Information films: London Can Take It, Men of Africa, Peoples of Canada, Lion of Judah, White Eagle, March of Time v various items). Day at Soviet Front, Soviet Harvest, Stalin's Speech, Beaverbrook's Speech, King Penguins, Transfer of Power. Main sources of supply have been the Central Film Library, the National Film Library and the G.B.I. Library. The whole scheme has been very successful, and we should like to see it extended, but both machines and voluntary personnel are hard to come by. The "lecturer-compere" for this kind of show must be pretty adaptable and have a ! genuine interest in cinema. It is. however, a type of service which should appeal to the more active in the Film Society Movement ; it carries a good deal of pleasure and stimulation for the SEVEN-LEAGUE an independent documentary unit has just completed "THE COUNTRYWOMEN" Directed by: John I Associate Producer: Paul Rotha H. M. Nieter (late of World Window) has finished directing "BLOOD TRANSFUSION" A four reel film for scientific audiences, produced by Paul Rotha Productions In Production: A film on School Meals SEVEN-LEAGUE PRODUCTIONS LTD. 37, REGENT STREET, W.I 'Phone: Reg. 3737