Documentary News Letter (1942-1943)

DOCUMENTARY NEWSLETTER! CONTENTS NOTES OF THE MONTH (RACKED VOICE OF Pt( TWO III MS oi mi munih l--.y AftTj 189 FIRST DOCUMENT \I IS I NEW DOCUMENTARY FILMS :>.!. CATALOGUE OF FILMS VOL 4 NO. 3 PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY FILM CENTRE 34 SOHO SQUARE LONDON Wl KICKING AGAINST THE PRICKS "TJocumentary has been a plant plagued, and a prey to disease, from the day the sun first shone on it; money troubles, distribution troubles and a hundred other pests have done their best to blacken the blossom in spring-time and curl the leaves in summer. But Documentary has kept going and its influence has kept spreading. Since the war we have collected several new pests and one of the worst is the Public Relation Officer. There are over two hundred of them in the various civil ministries, in the Admiralty, the War Office and the Air Ministry. Their work as far as films are concerned is to promote ideas, to see that their department gets its fair share of films, to make sure that the department is properly represented in those films, and to provide the film makers with facilities. That is the basis of their work. Of course it can be widened out almost indefinitely, as in the case of the Ministry of Agriculture, whose P.R. department has initiated an enormous number of films, and spent a great deal of time and trouble on helping them to be made. But this is exceptional. Here are two examples, not exceptional, of how P.R.O.s work. Everyone making films for the Government has had similar experiences. For a Ministry of Information script an interview was needed with a seaman from a motor torpedo boat. No filming or anvthine complicated like that — just a talk, to get information. The M.O.I, gave the producers a contact with a member of the Admiralty Public Relations Department. Over the telephone he answered that he couldn't do anything without a letter. It was pointed out to him that he already had a letter from the M.O.I. ; but apparently this wasn't full enough, he needed more details. As soon as the telephone call was finished a letter was despatched by hand. Next day he was rung again; yes, he'd got the letter, but it was not detailed enough: "VVhich sailor do you want to see?" "How do you mean which sailor do we want to see?" "Well, I can't fix you up with any sailor. I must have the name of the man you want to see." "But look, we are a film company. We don't know any sailois on M.T.B.s". "I'm sorry, but we must have that information before we can proceed". The production company replied politely that they would try, and sent someone to go through the back numbers of a newspaper. By this means they finally got the name of a sailor who had been decorated. So the Admiralty were rung again and given the sailor's name. It sounds crazy but it's true. The P.R.O. replied that it would be very difficult to trace the man, could he be given three or four days. The producers said "Sure, and thanks very much". Four days later the Admiralty were rung again: "No, we're sorry, we haven't traced him yet. But ring us next week." Five long weeks went by, with two or three calls a week. Then at the beginning of the sixth week the Admiralty rang and said "Can you send someone down to such and such a place on Saturday?" With a sigh of relief the company said "Yes". On Thursday a jam occurred. The man who was supposed to go had to rush to Liverpool to see another sailor who was sailing on Saturday. Another call was put through to the Admiralty. The gentleman there was told politely what had happened and asked if it was possible to put off the appointment until Sunday. At which he became exceedingly belligerent and said, "If you don't go on Saturday you can't go at all." It was pointed out to him that the company had waited over six weeks for the job ; and that the least he might do was to move it by one day. He replied that he was not going to ring up the dockyard again. After a short argument the producers said that they were sorry but they couldn't manage Saturday. The man in the P.R. office replied, "All right then, I'll cancel the whole affair!" About ten minutes later the M.O.I, rang the producers, saying : "What's going on? X of the Admiralty has been on and said that you have let him down. And he says he'll see to it that your company doesn't get any more facilities from the Admiralty." Well, that's how someone at the Admiralty is helping. First he was unable to get the name of a sailor. Second, six weeks delay on a simple job. Third, deliberate attempt to stop Government work (then and in the future) through personal pique. The second story concerns someone at the Ministry of Home (continued on next page)