Documentary News Letter (1942-1943)

DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER JUNE 1942 CORRESPONDENCE (a ted) I think one can safely say that shorts technicians would accept without cavil a much more tightly regimented working day ; would be prepared to work for less money were this deemed necessary; but one thing which must be wholly abhorrent to them is a dictatorship and interference beyond the minimum that is really essential. For the situation wherein experienced men are being "told their business" by inexperienced upstarts is rapidly approaching a state of farce. I can say from bitter experience that unless one is prepared to fight — and fight hard — almost every inch of the way, the production in hand will either be meddled with until it is incoherent, or be out of date by the time it is eventually finished. It is only natural that many directors in the end give up the ghost, and let the customer always be right; it is akin to letting the baby poison itself, but at least it prevents our asylums becoming overcrowded. Continued interference over infinitesimally small points soon kills that goodwill and initiative without which any film becomes a dull catalogue of events. It is my belief that unless some concerted action is soon undertaken there is every chance that at least three quarters of the films being made will become sterile and valueless. On the purely instructional side the Forces need a large number of good, straightforward, quickly made, training films, with the minimum spit and polish — not a series of dolled up bastardised "glamour" films (played down to the intelligence of the lowest nitwit) which neither train nor amuse. And although few technicians would in peace time cherish the thought of turning out films that weren't "one hundred per cent" (or as near as dammit) — I think most of them are today alive to the fact that a little less shine and a deal more speed bring results that more than compensate for any lack of "finish". For every one man who knows his job in any Government film department, there are a hundred who don't. Why is it that everyone thinks he knows how to make a film? Playing at the game is a pernicious enough habit even in peacetime, but in war it is unpardonable. For instance, the time wasted in printing and re-printing to produce a spotless show copy, before the release of a training film to the troops is allowed to proceed, is nothing short of scandalous. The qualifications for entry into government film departments are far too loose and often quite invalid, and even where our film officers are intelligent they are in too many cases completely untrained for the specialised job in hand. In consequence films are not being allowed to pull their mighty weight, and fight. Documentary must insist upon the full mobilisation of its resources and their correct use — or die in the attempt. If we believe in the medium that we have built up over the years, if we believe in its function — then let us gear it to the present task, and fight till it is established as an all conquering arm, fit to take its place alongside its blood brothers; for anything less than this deserves its immobilisation, and the conscription of its man-power into the Services. Yours, etc., DARRl L CATLING. MAY 1st, '41MAY 1st, '42 FIVE MINUTERS Visit from Canada News Train Victory Over Darkness Filling The Gap Work Party NON-THEATRICALS (1 Reel) Living With Strangers When The Pie Was Opened Canadian Fighters Cultivation Storing Vegetables Indoors Storing Vegetables Outdoors Compost Heap Hedging Ditching Good Value Canada in London SPECIALS Plastic Surgery in Wartime (Three Reels Technicolor) Plastic Surgery (Supplement 1 Reel) Goodbye Yesterday (2 Reels) The Harvest Shall Come (4 Reels) REALIST FILM UNIT 47 OXFORD STREET, W . 1 Telephone: GERRARD 1958