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THE ACTUAL
Elstree Calling, A Sister to Assist 'Er, and The American Prisoner.
What has been done with the Empire? It is well, first, to recall Epstein's Finis Terrae, Flaherty's Moana, Turin's Turksib, and Pudovkin's Storm Over Asia. The material lying unused in all parts of India, Kenya, Nigeria, Malta, Cyprus, is vast. There have been made A Throw of the Dice, Stampede, and Palaver, but what did they tell of those rich countries, save a superficial rendering? Without proper methods of film construction, without a knowledge of the capabilities of the cinema, it were best for this wonderful material to be left untouched.
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The root of the trouble in this country lies in the conservative and narrow-minded outlook of the producing executives. There are not the men of broad vision, receptive to new theories and progressive ideas. (I do not here refer to the general adoption of the dialogue cinema, for that was a position forced upon British companies by American domination.) When the industry underwent a revival some years ago, after a decline period of inactivity, British producers seriously considered that it was more necessary to erect studio-cities than to train the young men who were to work in them. Every effort at that time was concentrated on making the public believe that Elstree was the new Hollywood; but the public shrewdly reserved its judgement until it should see the product of this studio-city.
Not only this, but producers lack the courage of their own convictions. When the dialogue film swept into Britain by way of the American-owned theatres in London, several directors in British studios were just beginning to grasp the rudimentary principles of film construction. They were groping and slowly developing for themselves some ideas on the theory of the cinema. But the whole studio organisation of this country was thrown into chaos by the American revolution of the dialogue film. If only one firm had remained level-headed when the tidal wave came, I am convinced that the best intelligences in British
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