Documentary News Letter (1947-1949)

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[)0(1\!I:M ary film m ws l'» Patent Ductus Arteriosus. Crown I ilm Unit foi Ministry of Health through COI. Photographed by Harry Waxman, assisted by Dr Brian Stanford. Animated by Science I ilms I td. Diagrams supervised by Dorothy M. Barber Distribution CFL non-theatrical. 25 mins. Theme. The pathology, diagnosis and operative treatment of Patent Ductus Arteriosus. Comment. Though little employed, one of the most valuable uses of film in technical subjects is the recording of rare events for audiences without opportunity for seeing them. In 1942a record was made at Hillingdon Hospital of an operation for the closure of a Patent Ductus, an event sufficiently infrequent for it to have been seen by only a small percentage of practising doctors Since that time, ov\ ing to the system under which films put out by the COI must have the sponsorship of a Government department, it has apparently languished in obscurity. Now at last, officially sanctioned, it emerges into the light of day as a fully fledged film. Our bureaucrats need have had no qualms; this is a first-rate job which will be of great interest and value to doctors in Britain and overseas. Patent Ductus Arteriosus is a congenital condition of the heart in which the foetal junction between the aorta and the pulmonary artery remains open after birth — until recently an incurable condition. Using the language of its audience the film covers everv aspect of the condition. Beginning with a diagram sequence to explain the basic pathology, it then demonstrates the physical signs and symptoms and X-ray appearances in a case, and concludes by showing the essential parts of the operation for ligaturing the ductus with a commentary made by the surgeon himself at the time. Particularly effective is the use of synchronized sound during diagnostic auscultation and the demonstration during the operation of the alteration of sounds when closure is carried out. Inevitably, in a film made to hinge round a record, there are a few rough edges, but the only serious criticism that can be made is of the ending. Here, to round off the film, a few pounds spent on a brief examination of the case after operation would have been well worth while. The Centre. Films of Fact Ltd. for Foreign Office through COI. Producer: Paul Rotha. Director: J. B. Holmes. Photography: James Ritchie. Research and Assistant Direction Langton Gould-Marks. Distribution: Non-T. CFL. 20 mins. Theme. The working of the Pioneer Health Centre at Peckham. Founded in 1935 the Pioneer Health Centre at Peckham soon attained a world-wide reputation. In this London suburb, two doctors originated and carried out an experiment in sociology (or, more correctly, human biology) of great scientific value. Broken up by the war, the Centre has just restarted; now with growing interest in problems of 'Social Medicine' and with the introduction of the National Health Service, its importance is probably greater than ever before. To the COI therefore all credit for promoting a film about its work; but why a film which, for all its excellencies, carries no real hint of the medical or sociological significance of this unique organization? The Peckham 'experiment' is described by its founders as 'a study in the living structure of society", and its function is inextricably linked with problems of health. This is a lilm about a :lub with good recreational facilities and some ■I Here is the Gold Coast kind of medical supervision attached. Is the sponsor or the film maker to blame? In a subject of this importance it is impossible not to let the background influence one's judgment ; and this is the more maddening because, if divorced from previous knowledge, this is in fact a very good film. Well written and directed, it tells after a brief introduction about the Centre and the facilities it offers, the story of one young couple who joined it. They, like so many suburban families, were bored, lonely and lacked any opportunities for the development of their personalities in a communal life. The Centre provides the chance they need, and they make the most of it until, as a part of the routine medical check, it is discovered that the young wife needs an operation. This she refuses to believe, and as a result the family gradually drift away from the Centre. In the end, of course, she weakens, has her operation, and the family again return to the Centre to find that communal focus which is missing in the lives of most city dwellers. This story the film puts over well; the characters are natural and the interest is sustained throughout. For those who have never heard of 'Peckham' it will serve to show how one community is solving some of the problems of urban existence. That perhaps is enough for a start — but the full study remains to be made. Children Learning by Experience. Realist Film Unit for Ministry of Education through COI, in association with Film Centre Director Margaret Thompson. Producer: John Taylor. Associate Producer: Dorothy Grayson. Camera: A. E. Jeakins. Commentary: Bruce Belfrage, Distribution: Non-T. CFL. 40 mins. Intended audience. Training Colleges, etc. In his book I he First I ive v e.trsof Childhood' Arnold Gesell observes the behaviour and reactions of hundreds of children in given tesi cases under ideal laboratory conditions [nteresti i ■ ts 'his son of thing ma) be to the amateur child-psychologist, il is to p too 'guinea-piggish' to be worth) of mon th in textbook notice of the teacher who is full; o cupied in children in the concrete rather than the child in the abstract One of the March <»/ Tunc issue * IS centred round Dr Gesell's book and was a most interesting film for parents and teachers .dike, but it w.is of passing academic interest and the very set-up of the one-way vision observation playroom divorced the children in the film from children in real life. In the film Children Learning by Experiei are shown shots of children plaving, working, doing things in natural surroundings. The episodes are unconnected except by a very tenuous thread of commentary, and the film differs from many other documentaries in that it sets out neither to teach nor to preach but only to illustrate to the student the kind of things which children do at different ages and to suggest that there may be causes for these actions and that it is up to the intending teacher to study these actions. In effect the lilm says 'Children different from adults. If you are going to teach them you must try to discover how their minds tick over. Here we show you some of the things they can do or are likely to do at certain Remember that this is only the average child tif there is such a b^ing) and start your discussions from there.' As material for the training college, it is very useful. Mans trainees enter the colleges with small first hand experience o\' the habits of children -this lilm. if seen not once but main n will raise main problems in their minds and will set them thinking about vital aspects ol the child mind which would not otherwise occur to them. The film is divided into two parts, the first entitled 'All children want to learn', and the second 'Children learn through activitv and experieti i lie second section is subdivided into (1) pi ■ ing simple skills. (2) understanding the « around, (3) learning at second-hand. i4) learning through play and imagination. v film about children and with good pk of children has m\ initial advantage ova other film. I his one is not about children in accepted seme but the phi ">ld set the cinem i audience ooh-ing and Bah Some experts ma) not be so enthusi its value, but some will consider u I cr prising thing the Ministl done. One tin aged in I