Documentary News Letter (1942-1943)

DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER MARCH 1942 FILM SOCIETY NEWS NINTH SCOTTISH AMATEUR FILM FESTIVAL The Scottish Amateur Film Festival has been held annually since 1934. This year the Scottish Film Council is holding a competition to decide the best amateur films produced in Britain during the past eight years. The outstanding prizewinning films entered in the Festival from 1934-1941 were screened at a public showing in the Cosmo Cinema, Glasgow, on Sunday, March 8th. There were two sessions, one at 3 p.m. for non-fiction films and one at 7 p.m. for fiction films. The adjudication at previous festivals has been done by well-known film directors like Victor Saville. Anthony Asquith, John Grierson, Cavalcanti and Alfred Hitchcock. On this occasion, however, the public adjudicated. Ballot slips were issued to the audience and the results were announced at the conclusion of each session. The Festival was run this year in aid of the Navy League War Comforts Fund. The Cambridge University Film Society reports : '"The Society's present season came to an end with the discussion between Paul Rotha and Karl Meyer held on February 22nd, in connection with a showing of The Last Laugh, excerpts from Caligari and two recent M.O.I, documentaries— Our School and The Baltic of the Books. At earlier shows during the Lent term were shown The Rich Bride, together with Den Hang. the six-year-old Dutch avant-garde film, and a couple of British abstracts in colour — Len Lye's Colour Box and Norman McLaren's Love on the Wing. On February 1st the Society presented Jean Vigo's second feature-length film L' Andante (Zero de Conduite was shown last year) and The River. Basil Wright gave a stimulating talk on "Films and Propaganda" on February 8th. During the season programme notes have been contributed by, among others. Basil Wright, Paul Rotha, Richard Massingham, Michael Powell and Forsyth Hardy, and the Society has been privileged to entertain several of those whose films have been shown. It is not proposed to run formal shows during the summer months, but it is hoped to open a fresh season next autumn. Unfortunately Cavalcanti's Tilm and Reality, booked for the last show ing of the season, did not arrive. The Regional Officer of the Ministry of Information stepped into the breach, however, and supplied a representative programme of shorts lasting for two hours. This included Men of the Lightship, living with Strangers, Incident in Moscow Telegraph Office, and Grierson's Battle for Oil. Manchester and District Film Institute Society and Manchester and Salford Film Society reports : "In the final session of their first joint hmmhi 1941^42. the Societies have already presented two standard and two substandard shows. The January show at the Rivoli Cinema had almost entirely a Soviet programme: lie front Kronsit.dt proved an admirable revival in these times, and the shorts included Dagestan. Incident in a Moscow Telegraph Office and Russian Scenes and Songs. Trauberg and Kozintev's New Babylon and the American Willard Van Dyck's Valley Town were the main items in a substandard show at the Y.M.C.A. on January 17th. For February the standard films have included Soviet frontiers on the Danube and Joueurs D' Tehees, while o.i substandard we have presented China Tights for Freedom and Protazanov's Moscow Art Theatre satire. Marionettes. We hope to make the March standard show something of an occasion with a premiere of Cavalcanti's new survev vf realism. Tilm and Reality, and a v isit from the Curator of the National Film Library." The Tyneside Film Society: The Chairman hopes to revive the activities of the Society next autumn. There is reason to think that the drop in the number of subscriptions this spring was due more to the public not realising the absolute necessity of their guaranteeing support in advance, rather than to lack of interest in the Society. The Secretary of the Edinburgh Film Guild reports : "Our recent American programme was voted a great success. The M.G.M. films, The Old South and Forgotten Victory, are first-rate documentaries—both by the same director, Fred Zinnemann — and can confidently be recommended to Film Societies. The Pacific showing was a premiere,— it has, as you may know, just been completed for the British Council. A Man to Remember had not been shown widely in Edinburgh when first released, and was new to most people. It was very well received. Harry Watt, who was present, spoke during the interval and paid a tribute to the support Film Societies were giving to the documentary movement. For the next two performances we are showing Claudine, with Rotha's All Those in Favour; and Shots. We are also arranging a special performance of prizewinning amateur films." The Manchester and Salford Film Society reports that Film and Reality (35 mm.) was shown at the Rivoli on Sunday, March 22nd, in place of Rois dit Sport; the shorts included Guests of Honour, and Line to the Tschicrva Hut (all Cavalcanti films). A questionnaire is to be issued to members of both societies, for indications of their opinion regarding films shown during the season, preferences of features for next season, and general comments and suggestions, for the guidance of the committee. In spite of many difficulties, a very successful season of nine 35 mm. and eight 16 mm. film displays have been held jointly with the Manchester Film Institute Society. During March the Devon and Exeter Film Society presented two programmes. In the first the feature was Michael Powell's Edge of the World; in the second Guitry's Us Etaienl Neuf Celibataires was shown. Documentary films are shown in all programmes of this Society, in addition to examples of early comedies. The Sixth Repertory Show of the Belfast Film Institute Society took place on March 21st. The main film was Pagnol's La lemmedu Boulanger. Dundee and St. Andrews is still busy beating its own and everybody else's records for membership. It now numbers 950 and the cinema is filled to the brim for all shows. Recent programmes included Malaria (Shell Film Unit). Naples au liaiser tlu Feu. and a revival of Disney's Ferdinand the Bull. The Belfast Film Institute Society reports : " Three shows have been held so far this year in addition to the three given in the autumn. At the end of I ebruary the sixth show of the season had Gens da I ovage as main film with Children's Story and Sing a Song of Sixpence. The seventh show had as its feature La Fenune tlu Boulanger. a very popular attraction. Although our normal seasons in peace-time were of six shows only there is a possibility that two or three extra shows may be put on as a late-spring season. Publication of our Monthly Review will probably continue until June. We hope by that dale to begin planning a season for next winter " CORRESPONDENCE sir: As the reviewer of Three in a Shell-Hole, a word about Ivor Montagu's word about the review. The function of a reviewer iscertainly not to act as a Gallup-pol! on audience reaction (a typical plea so often put forward by interested executives in the film trade); otherwise Ivor Montagu would find us writing enthusiastic praise of such anti-Soviet stinkers as Ninoichka or Comrade X. Anyone who regularly attends popular cinemas knows all about art-object audience relation without the necessity of inquiries from friends; and anybody could have told Ivor Montagu that Three in a Shell-Hole would go down like hot cakes with the audience, not because it was good, but because it was Russian. What I object to is the attempt to use the strong bond of friendship between the British and Russian peoples as an argument when discussing a film and its technique. There are too many people about ready to cash in on this cast-iron popularity of Russia and it is difficult for lis to be happy about a film that is popular in spite of lousy technique. We have already had the disturbing spectacle of Lord Kemsley trying to sell Our Russian Allies and Lord Beaverbrook trying to sell Stalin to the British people. The intellectuals may still need a bit of sales talk ; but there is no necessity to sell the U.S.S.R. to the people that stopped the "Jolly George" from sailing. That much said, it is still important that Russian films shown over here should be well made and have a good line, though I admit even bad ones are better than none at all. The point at issue is, was the dubbing successful, not was t hefilm popular? Three in a Shell-hole was bound to be successful, however bad; with true socialistrealism in technique both in idea and production and in its treatment over here it would have been ten times more so. I know it is said that foreign films must have dubbing of some sort for largescale distribution here. 1 still maintain that the dubbing on Three in a Shell-Hole was stilted and middle-class; and I invite Ivor Montagu to make a trial, in future, of sub-titles or sotto voce English interjections if that is the best he can do with lipsynching. Ivor Montagu and I both want as many good Russian films as possible shown over here: if any film is not particularly calculated to help and is also lousy technically. I shall certainly, in a small-circulation film paper, continue Yours, etc.. I R VNK SAINSBI KY ( lunch Street, Shoreham. Kent. [continued on page 44 1