Focus: A Film Review (1950-1951)

277 ing, and often shocked “weather-worn Triton amid the streams” of the twenties and thirties; Yeats of the epitaph. Well, I suppose that the answer of the producers (The Cultural Relations Committee and the National Film Institute of Ireland) is that they never intended anything so personal. What they have done is by any other standards a handsome tribute. It was a mistake, perhaps, to take an almost slothful tempo for both the pace of the camera’s pans and tilts and the speed of speech in the commentary and verse ; certainly a fault to maintain it so constantly. Audiences need waking up every so often. All three speakers are well-chosen. But George Fleischmann is the chief artist of the film. Somehow as his camera glides like a lightning seagull over the waters of the West, he has sucked in and distilled the sad and peaceful loveliness of that siren country. Nobody will see this film without wishing to go there. G. T. THE MAGIC TOUCH FROM THE GROUND UP Crown Film Unit Productions. Made by the C.O.I. for the Economic Information Unit. Running time : io minutes each. Since the end of the war scientists have discovered how' new' materials and new processes can be used to increase our export trade and to supply some of the things W'e previously had to import. The Magic Touch , an attractive film with excellent photography and lucid commentary, shows some of the ways in which we are becoming self-supporting. The harvesting of young grass, subsequently dried over furnaces and used as cattle fodder; the use of marginal land, hitherto left waste, for growing timber; the harnessing of our rivers for hydro-electric schemes ; the use of the surplus heat produced at Battersea Power Station for heating a big block of flats on the other side of the river ; the production of detergents (soap substitutes) from petroleum ; the by-products of seaweed and the extraction of magnesium from sea water are all described. Of interest to schools and general audiences. One-fifth of the national income is being invested in rebuilding, modernising and expanding the productive machine by which we live. From the Ground Up shows some of the results of this expenditure. It touches upon the electrification of the coal mines, the building of new rolling mills and blast furnaces, the modernising of our railways, the rebuilding of our cities, the mechanisation of farming and the building of new generating stations. Although less well photographed than The Magic Touch, this film, too, will be of interest to most classes of audiences. The commentator’s complacent statement : “We all of us have plenty of money to spend nowadays”, is liable to provoke derisive laughter, but this is a minor blemish. “ The Magic Touch ” and “ From the Ground Up” are available in 16mm. on free loan from the Central Film Library, Government Building, Bromyard Avenue, Acton, IF. 3. M. M. WATCH YOUR STEP Produced by Basic Films for the C.O.I. 12 minutes. Aside from deliberate non-observance of factory safety regulations, many industrial accidents are caused through plain thoughtlessness, and this applies to the building industry as well as any other. This film shows how some of these accidents are caused, and how they could have been avoided. A neat and concisely made job, but mainly of value to those working in the trade. J. A. CARE AND MAINTENANCE OF PLANT Produced by Basic Films for the C.O.I. ii minutes. The modern builder uses mechanised equipment unknown, and possibly unnecessary, to the Eskimo erecting an igloo. But cranes, bulldozers and other machinery need oil, water and grease, and a concrete mixer usually works more efficiently if cleaned out after every shift. This short and well made film shows workers in the building industry how to take care of the machinery they use, and how, if they don’t, not only does the machinery suffer, but also their fellow'-workers who have to wait and lose their bonuses while the damage is repaired. Excellent for those concerned with the job, but of little interest to anyone else. J. A.