THE EMPIRE'S WAR ACTIVITIES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 4, 7 September 1943, Page 3

THE EMPIRE'S WAR ACTIVITIES

0 OPEN AIR FILM ( -o-

ENTERTAINING AIRMEN PICTURES IN THE TROPICS Official Correspondent GUADALCANAL

Clearings hacked from jungle, or carefully made in coconut plantations, are theatres in which night after night, thousands of Aliie.d servicemen in the Pacific see the latest films from the United States. There is scarcely a camp, from Guadalcanal to Fiji, that has not its own theatre, or one handy, to which officers and men flcck nightly for virtually the. only recreation available.

The latest films, some of them not yet seen in New Zealand, are provided free by -the American motion picture industry. They are screened in surroundings more idyllic than any Hollywood producer ever Imagined,, and to the most appreciative audiences in the wor d servicemen whose with home and with civilisation in general, are few.

There is a beautiful simplicity about these tropin screenings. A clearing is made, usually on a slope,

an improvised screen is rigged up and made fast to two convenient trees, a rough projection box hastily knocked together, and power laid on. perhaps from a motor generator that chugs noisily in the background. The' rest is up to the audi-

.ence. There is. no elaborate foyer, no pretty usherette... and no plush seat. Nobody peddles ice cream or chocolate, and, best of all, there is no charge, for admission. Those who to' enjoy the luxury of a seat must provide their own. The hardier souls sit on th« ground, and at the end of each ree; stand hastily to stretch cramped legs. The remainder bring deckchairs, boxes, buckets, home-made seats fashioned from "acquired" materials, and even small crates borrowed. from an adjacent store. In some open-air theatre •; coconut trees have been felled and arranged in vows to provide seating. Surroundings ave romantica ly tropical. Those seated in the improvised theatre can se? the ta 1 ! palms sut"lined against the sky., the white stars that seem so mu:h brighter than those in New Zealand, an.! the fireflies as they wheel and zoom, flashing their tiny blue, green lights. Bats sometimes soar across the screen, black and silent on their wide wings, and the voices of Hollywood blend strangely with the

j night noises from the nearby jungle. Screenings are always humorous whether the film be scritous or comic. The usual rules of decorum d.o not a PPly> and any airman who finds himself differing from opinions expressed by some celluloid man or woman promptly says so, loudly and clearly. Strong exception is always taken to anything that purports to show tropical life as an endless round of romance and beauty. Airmen have a full share of that impromptu sense of humour, once thought to belong solely to the British soldier. In a lull between two reels at a recent screening an AG2 rose and demanded: "Is there a doctor in the house?" The medical cfi'locr, cursing h;s luck, stood up, to be greeted, with a chorus of "Hello Doc. Enjoying the show?" The appearance, of a pretty girl on the screen is the .signal for an immediate outburst of appreciative wh'stlcs, shouts and catcalls. But perhaps the romantic young hero of every film suffers most. The amount of free advice, that is hurled at him in each love scene is little short of amazing, and while some of it borders on the personal, the comments of the men add to the amusement of the whole audience, and have never yet been quite sufficient to ' Cu.se. the projector.