The Picture Show Annual (1943)

.urtng Myrna Loy, William Powell, Florence Bates in “ Love Crazy.” loel McCrea, Barbara Stanwyck in “ The Great Man s Lady. ^^ITHOUT any boasting the screen can say that as the biggest enter- tainment in the world it has kept up its high standard in the days—and nights— of war. The quality of the pictures made has never been higher, nor the acting better. The screen’s value as popular enter- tainment has always been high since films developed from the flicker stage to the standard of moving-picture plays, and each year has seen that standard rising from the artistic stand- point as well as the merely popularity angle. But in the war the pictures, though losing nothing in entertainment value, have acquired something more. They have become a national institution and a national necessity. During the periods when the Nazi bombers were not active over this country the cinemas were invariably playing to full houses in cities and towns, big and small. And, more than this soldiers and others of the fighting services stationed in camps far from towns, or even villages, thought nothing of walking two or three or even more miles to see a cinema show. I consider this a very fine tribute to the pictures, for the return part of these walking journeys during the winter months had necessarily to be made during the black-out hours. Had the pictures they saw been poor or even mediocre, even the most enthusiastic filmgoers would not have made these very un- comfortable journeys. But, as I have said earlier in this article, the standard of screen plays has never been higher than during this war. The films pictured and reviewed in this article are but a tithe of the good ones that were shown. When these pages were made up it was not a question of searching for what to put in but what to leave out, and conse- quently a good many of your favourite films will be missing from this particular article, though I hope I have made a good selection. The most unusual film in this col- lection is “ Sullivan's Travels," written by and brilliantly directed by Preston Sturges, one of the outstanding men in Hollywood. This film was remarkable for its many ingredients. It had slapstick farce, satirical comedy, melodrama and tragedy. In the ordinary way such a description would be tantamount to caustic criticism, but this was no ordinary film. All the diverse styles of dramatic expression mixed harmoniously and as effectively as various colours can be mixed by a great artist. The film took us behind the scenes of a studio with many a shrewd hit at the vanities and foibles of the big executives. The hero himself, a director of slapstick pictures who wanted to make a great film on life while he knew really nothing about life, was not immune from the shafts of satire. To learn the truth about life, especially the conditions of the down-and-outs, the director, disguised as a tramp, set out on his adventures. He found plenty, and most of his experiences were shared by a girl who had come to Hollywood to find fame and never got nearer to it than an occasional “bit” part. The acting of Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake in these two roles was very fine indeed, but the author had given them wonderful roles to play. The moral of the film was that comedy plays as great a part in life as tragedy and that a man who can make people forget their troubles and sufferings in laughter is William Powell, Myrna Loy, Donna Reed. Barry Nelson in The Shadow of the Thin Man.” PROUD RECORD i