Documentary News Letter (1947-1949)

DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER 77 opportunity. But the Treasury sought to overrule a recommendation of the Board taken at a meeting at which they had nol troubled to be represented. Mr Amery rebelled: and the resull was the meeting in his room which I mentioned at the outset. Our plans for this film had nol been laid without guile. It was, by common consent, time that the EMB did something for home fisheries. Grierson had served during the 1914 war in minesweepers. Mr Arthur Michael Samuel, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, had studied the histor> of the English herring fisheries, and had committed his learning to a hook. The Herring: Its Effect on the History ol Britain. Mr Samuel opened our meeting with a salvo. As a director of Apollinaris, he knew much about advertising; and he could assure us that it was sheer waste of money to think of increasing the sale of I mpire ^products by films. Mr Walter Elliot and Mr Amery, in that order, explained that this was to be a background film, designed to create an atmosphere by presenting English life and character. Then we dangled our herring bait in front of the financial Secretary. Mr Amery explained firmly that responsibility rested with the EMB and with himself acting after he had received their advice. The meeting ended with Mr Samuel genially offering to help us with his deep knowledge of the history of herrings and ourselves all warmly welcoming his offer. The voice of the official Treasury insisted, as a postscript to our conference, that one "semi-expert' and one office man should be sufficient for our needs. It was a very modest enterprise on which we thus embarked. But then, as Grierson once wrote — 'If the Civil Service or any other public service must have its illegitimate infants, it is best to see that they are small ones'. But thi* decision to embark, you will have noted, involved two top-rank Cabinet Ministers; and the making of the film created, I am sure, agonies as sharp as ever attended the making of, say, Eisenstein's Mexican film or Caesar and Cleopatra. A drifter, the 'Maid of Thule', was hired at Stomoway, chiefly on the strength of her crew's supposed photogenic quality. John Skeaping designed a cabin set, which was erected near the harbour. A fisheries protection cruiser obliged with power for the lighting. The under-water scenes were supplied by dogfish chivvying small roach about a tank on the Plymouth Marine Biological Station. Then the 'Maid of Thule' couldn't find the herrings, and operations had to be transferred to another drifter at Lowestoft. Next the chairman of the company, with whom a contract had been made for the film's production, turned up in my room one evening with a long face to declare that it was a predestined flop and had better be abandoned. That was one of the real crises of my official life. But I left Grierson to deal with him. Production was resumed. On November 10th, 1924, the film Society put on Drifters in a programme with Potemkin, and it won much applause in the theatre and praise thereafter from a number of the critics. We might at this point have embarked Gricrson on a succession of tilms m the manner of l)nt iirs. We were certainly tempted to do so. In fact, on his advice, we refrained. We set ourselves to build up a schoofof documentary producers and to develop a non-theatrical swem ol distribution {Reprinted from the 'Journal of the Ro\al Soi iet) of Arts'. December 20th, 1946.) Hz vr I L l {continued from page 1\) Egyptian features makes it obvious that too little time is spent on story . on shooting script and on preparation. This criticism is made. too. by the best Egyptian directors and producers, anil it is worth noting that Egypt's finest director, Ustaz Niazi Moustapha. has not onlj made a closi* study of film techniques as developed in Germany and Russia as well as America, but also devotes an immense amount of time to scripting and preparation. But he, and a few others, are exceptions. It is difficult for an outsider to judge acting quality, since an Arab audience is likely to have different tastes and standards from our own. One factor emerges, however, as a parallel to some aspects of Hollywood, and that is the immense popularity of the singer (whether he or she can act or not). There is a great deal of singing in Egyptian films, and at this time there is, too, an interesting development in style, by which Eastern and Western music is being combined in a not unattractive manner. For the rest, a few visits to Cairo cinemas provide too little evidence about general techniques. The impression received was that actors tend to be either over-melodramatic or too stilted in voice or gesture. But again there are notable exceptions such as Amina Nour el Dine, who, given a first-class story and director, could challenge a large number of Hollywood females very successfully. Most people in the Egyptian industry are convinced that the present boom must inevitably break, and very soon. The general opinion is that the best production companies will weather the storm, and that in a market free from glut there will be an all-round improvement in story, style and technique. Amongst these forward-looking groups are a numbei of people who would like to see a tie-up with Western production on an exchange or mutual-service basis. With this in mind thes look to Fiance, and possibly England, rather than to the I nited Slates. There is virtually no documentary production in Egvpt I he reason for this is not unusual. There is no commercial basis; and neither Government nor private enterprise has yet entered the field of sponsorship. On the other hand, the interest in documentary is very great. It is nol without significance thai at least three Government Departments— Public I lealth. Social Welfare and Education — are using visual aids, including films, and are deeply anxious to expand their activities, since in a country like Egypt, with a high percentage of illiteracy, the film can do much in functional and urgent campaigns in, say, the combat against bilhar/ia, tuberculosis and malaria. So far, however, very' little money has been granted from public funds, and work has been limited accordingly. Given the right financial basis, however, there is no doubt that documentary films could play a big part in the Egyptian Government's present campaign 'against poverty, ignorance and disease'. Taking an overall view of the industry, with its large productive capacity, its young and growing army of technicians, and the endless subject-possibilities of the country, it looks as though Egypt, whatever current problems may have to be faced, is likely to become a filmmaking force of considerable importance REALIST FILM UNIT Producers of Educational, Instructional and Documentary Films Producer— John Taylor REALIST F I I M 1 N I I LTD I it I v I CHAFII I u I I I W 1 MEMBERS OF THE FEDERATION OF DOCUMENTARY FILM UNITS