Documentary News Letter (1944-1945)

72 DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER New Documentary Films [contd. from p. 64) to get back health and strength to return to work. The third item, Itma, needs no introduction. The shooting is stagey, quite rightly so, and the only comment came from my neighbour at the showing — "We could do with another reel of that". Propaganda Value: By now these magazines must be the God-sent standby for all regional officers. They carry out extremely well a function indispensable in war and peace, that of relating the machine operator to the users of his product. Kathak. Production: Information Films of India. Director: Modhu Bhose. Editor: Pratap Parmar. Producer: Ezra Mir. 10 minutes. N.T. Subject: Kathakali dancing. Treatment: The film opens with a brief sequence showing the way in which the hands of an Indian dancer play an important part in the development of the dance itself. Then we see two or three sequences of different sections of traditional dances. The dancer is extremely good and the direction as excellent as one would expect from this celebrated Indian director. The film is enormously helped by an excellent commentary, the speaker of which has one of the best commentary voices we have heard for a long time. The description successfully avoids the arch approach we have learnt by bitter experience to associate with any such activities as dancing and has not fallen into the error of over enthusiasm. Simply and lucidly it illuminates what is going on. on the screen and makes the highly stylised dancing as sensible and exciting as it really is. Skilful editing helps the film to make its points and only the poor camera-work detracts from the pleasure one has in seeing this film. Propaganda Value: Excellent. We could do with a lot more films like this which present to us exotic things as being reasonable and not part of the theatrical mumbo-jumbo of the Mysterious East. Cornish Valley. Green Park Productions. Direction and Script: Ralph Keene. Camera: Peter Hennessy. Associate Producer: Edgar Anstey. 17 minutes. N-T. Subject: Life in a small Cornish valley. Treatment: What a pleasure it is to look at a film by Keene. As a director he never comes between the subject and the audience and yet how skilfully he carries one's eyes across the country. Shot follows impeccable shot and before our eyes Cornwall comes to life. There is a warmth in his handling of people too, which is all too, seldom met with. We see the lives of two or three families of farmers, what they do, how they live. And, in an opening sequence, this is set against a general background of Cornwall. In helping to show us this small valley, the quality of the camera work matches the skill of the direction. It is a great pity that the producer has not yet managed to find a commentary style and speaker to match his director's work. This film is partly commented by the people of the valley themselves. As they move about their work in farm and field each one takes up his or her part of the story. Their voices are clear and understandable, but their continual surprise at their own daily doings is most tiresome and they have a regrettably knowing style of speaking. Propaganda Value: Excellent. Another part of England comes to life under Keene's camera and takes its place in his smooth pattern of Britain. The green park unit of Verity Films Limited will in future operate as GREEN PARK PRODUCTIONS LIMITED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE FILM PRODUCERS GUILD LIMITED RALPH KEENE Managing Director KEN ANNAKIN CHARLES DE LAUTOUR PETER HENNESSY PETER SCOTT JEAN ANDERSON BIDDY COOK GUILD HOUSE, UPPER ST. MARTIN'S LANE, W.C.2 TEMple Bar 5420 PRODUCERS OF DOCUMENTARY EDUCATIONAL AND INSTRUCTIONAL FILMS REALIST FILM UNIT LIMITED 34, SOHO SQUARE W.I. Telephone: GERrard 1958-9