THE CINEMA
Entertainment Films in War-time
IT is perhaps too often assumed that the impact of war causes cataciv‘mic changes in film technique. In point of fact—at any rate as far as the last war is concerned—the really vital changes rook place in post-war years, when it was possible to take a more measured, if often superficial, view of the society which the commercial cinema serves. How many of the films made during the last war achieved lasting fame? Shoulder Arms seems to be almost a solitary example. The great war films, such as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Big Parade, Dawn Patrol, and All Quiet on the Western Front, were all recollections, rather than immediate products, of the battle. True, during the last war Hollywood at times concentrated either on froth or ferocity ; and in the latter category it is interesting to note that in the present struggle Hitler has already succeeded the Kaiser as The Beast of Berlin. But against this may be put the fact that Hollywood at any time depends on the prevailing fashion— dictated or created—so that the cycles of gangster films or sex dramas or Western epics follow each other with the regular and crdered movements of the stars themselves.
With the cinematic experiences of the last war before us we are in a position to watch more closely, and even to influence, the trend of cinema today. And there are certain immediate factors to be reckoned with. Firstly, there is the abrupt demise of Continental products. We had become used to the fact that the German and Austrian schools of cinema had already been dissi- pated ; but now we must realise that the French cinema—at the height of its powers—has also vanished. All that remains is the neurotic dreariness of Amok, counterbalanced in part by revivals of films like Hotel du Nord. In the meantime, the export of films from Russia has ceased.
It is unlikely therefore that our experience of cinema will, for the present, range beyond the products of this country and of Hollywood ; cut off from smaller but sometimes vitally important sources, we must learn to keep alive our critical faculties ; to question, if necessary, production policies and the choice of subjects.
Since the war broke out British films have kept going remark- ably well, considering the financial confusion of the entire trade. For Freedom, Convoy and Contraband have, within their some- what narrow limits, sensibly capitalised topicality. Other films like The Green Cockatoo and The Girl in the News have provided competent entertainment of the whodunit variety. And one or two big productions like Major Barbara and Mr. Kipps, both still incomplete, will, it is hoped, supply the true prestige value which The Citadel, The Lady Vanishes and Mr. Chips carried across the Atlantic in pre-war days. At the same time war-documentaries like Men of the Lightship show how a more direct message can be carried across the world as well as to our own people. A final category includes comedies, some good, as for instance the George Formby series, but many of a type aating back to the days of the quota quickies, and differing only trom them in that the players wear uniform instead of loud check suits.
But while British films are playing a conscious role under war conditions, the position of Hollywood is clearly different ; for nere a much wider market is to be catered for—a market already established and cornered in all parts of the globe. We tend 'ometimes to forget the universal distribution of Hollywood Products. Close down the European cinemas if you like ; there are Asia, Africa, South America, Australia still available. Beyond these is the vast and insatiable demand of the United States itself- It is not therefore to be expected that Hollywood will devote all its energies to pictures of the war or pictures relating :0 the war ; indeed, such a policy would be a pity, for Laurel and Hardy and the Marx Brothers have no place in the chariot c'f Mars, nor are any of the normal Hollywood stars or stories the less welcome in our present restricted hours of cinema-going. Nevertheless, one awaits with considerable interest such films as Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent, which, from a distance and therefore possibly with better balance, may refer either to the aims or to the dilemmas of democracy today while telling an efficient story of the "thriller" variety. At any rate, the Tr°ZresS (or otherwise) of the entertainment film in war-time is a
lating study for anyone who has the inclination or the . naunity or the time to make it.
BASIL Wiuntrr.
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