World Film and Television Progress (1937-1938)

From Monmouth to Movies (contd.) week was Men of Yesterday. This film was not well liked on its London showing, being condemned for its sentimentality. It was a film about the efforts of ex-servicemen to promote peace by giving a dinner to ex-servicemen from allied and ex-enemy countries. It had all the faults of this conception and all the features of the ex-servicemen's appeal and movements. It was overwhelmingly sentimental and, set against the stream of world events, its solution of the war problem seemed astonishingly trivial and foolish. Yet it made some impression. It had an uncomfortable sincerity; the people were more real than is usual in British films. It was about ex-servicemen and they were very much like ex-servicemen. There were no stars, apart from the almost forgotten Stewart Rome and a short appearance by George Robey. It was obviously liked, though this liking was tempered by the objection to war films which, it seems, is as strong here as elsewhere. I give these impressions for what they are worth because it is almost impossible to find out what people here like or dislike in films. The box-office does not show it, save in rare cases ; the people express few opinions, occasionally one or two will say the film was bad. The first show decides the attendance on the next two evenings; opinions are reported among friends, work-mates and neighbours. The fantastic and far-fetched are not popular. Neither is the educational. Musical films are; Rose Marie was one of this year's successes. The other was Mutiny on the Bounty, which did great business. Other films which have done fairly well this year have been : Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Strangers on Honeymoon, Little Lord Fauntleroy, The Three Maxims, When East Meets West. In so far as attendance provides any sort of guide here, George Arliss has some following, as have the Lynn-Walls team. War films are as unpopular here as elsewhere ; educationals are disliked ; "near the knuckle" films frowned upon; Westerns and action pictures fairly popular with the men ; musicals with the women. IN the summer the cinema gets a great deal of its support from visitors ; in the winter it depends on the local people. It is the only form of amusement for winter evenings in this town, but during the winter there is a great deal of unemployment. The money earned in the short summer season has to be eked out over the long winter and visits to the cinema are therefore few and far between for most. Through the winter the cinema does a fair business, but very rarely indeed does it have to turn people away, small though the seating capacity be. It must be remembered too that the intense interest in pictures, fed by the "fan" magazines, by the press reviews and stories, has little effect here — the number of films that can be seen is limited. With one cinema there is no choice. Film papers are something which the local people do without. The reviews of the films in the Press, even the "current release" reviews are useless to these people, for only a small — and not always the best — part of the releases ever reach them and then only long after the reviews have appeared. Allowing for all these factors; for the poor selection opportunity, for the smallness of the cinema, for the poverty of the people over the greater part of the year, the comparative unimportance of the movies here is not completely explained. The truth is that, though it has been in and around Lyme for many years, the cinema has not driven itself into the lives of these people as it has done in the towns. The only leisuretime entertainment for the young in the rough winters it is not a vital part of their lives. Perhaps it is as important to them as it was to most people twenty years ago ; a way of passing an evening, a place to go to, a chance to see places, people and events occasionally. They live under conditions that have changed but little in external environment ; they are tied to ways of life and of thought much more than are the young in the towns. It should be emphasised too that there is a community of life and of interest in places like Lyme which is not found in the towns. Chapel-going, the gossiping in the streets and in the neighbour's house — in the quiet, warm summer evenings the streets are alive with groups of men and women gossiping — and a common dependance upon summer "lets." Life in these places is harder, more in contact with natural dangers, more built around the seasons and the tides, more bound up with the past, its thinking and living, and less affected by the new and the novel, than in the urban district. In any case much of the youth is drawn away to brighter employment prospects in neighbouring towns; those left find their occupation around the parasitical job of providing for visitors. Yet these people have a character and strength that prevents them from ever becoming a race of boardinghouse keepers. If they ever get the cinemagoing habit, not any film will get by. Circumstances, environment, plus a deeply critical nature, a hatred of artifice and showyness — these factors will prevent the movie which is unreal and false being successful among these people. An open letter to the gentleman who says 66 Oh Yeah ? " 6 Tower Hill, E.C.3. 20th July, 1937. Sir, You say you cannot see the point of making pompous and bland announcements in the press to the selfsatisfied effect that our publication is better than so-and-so's. The advent of a new publication for the cinematograph industry in the form of cinema management some four months ago, was one which not only aroused interest but caused much sceptical comment. Obviously the possibilities for the successful production of a new publication for the cinema industry was a matter of considerable conjecture. Several efforts have been made in the last few years but the right angle never seemed to be struck. After only four months of life, cinema management is rapidly becoming a valuable mouthpiece for the independent producer, renter and exhibitor whose aims and efforts it cultivates and fosters. cinema management can and will continue to progress, it will give information which will be of interest to all connected with the film business. If you have not already seen this publication send 2d. in stamps for a free copy. Your remarks whether appreciated or otherwise will be welcomed. Every consideration will be given to suggestions and queries will be answered both promptly and efficaciously— our password is "Efficient Service." Yours truly. The Editor, Cinema Management. 13