OFFICIAL FILM OF THE WAR.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 158, 24 March 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

OFFICIAL FILM OF THE WAR.

PRODUCTION VERY SOON. REAL PICTURES OF BRITISH FORCES IN ACTION. The first officii;! War Office films of the actual lighting operations of the British Army in France and Flanders were to he released for public presentation in England on January 17, and should be out here very shortly. Other* will follow at regular intervals. The films show the civilian at home a fascinating and absorbing reproduction of the actual scenes at the from and in the trenches. People will Ik l ab'e to sit in thousands of I.inema theatres, and project themslves into the great drama oversea. They will spy with the camera lens through peepholes of parapets, and look across the "no man's land." its shell-pitted waste and shrivelled treestumps, at the trenches of the Hun: they will watch the airman set out on his great adventure and come homing to his lines at dusk;they w'll stand c'ose to relieved battalions, as. mudsoused from top to toe, haggard from strain, but cheery and firm-stepped, they march away from the trenches. They will immediately afterwards see the relieving battalion, clean, trim, spick-and-span, and equally cheery. And hundreds of fathers, mothers. wives, sisters, and sweethearts m the crowds that watch the War Office kii.oma pictures will have that sudden an I ineffable thrill of seeing their own man passing by them with his head erect and the fire of his pluck in his eyes And sometimes he will turn, and ,t wid seem to his loved ones who stra'n their gaze at him in the dim theatre, ~hu' l.e smiles to them. For lam told iw:.l<s Twells Brex in the "Daily Mad'' that Mr. Thomas Atkins warmly gree':d the kinema camera, and turned always to beam welcome to it. The Army Council, under tne approval of the Commander-n Ch'Ol, made arrangements for the lilies with two of the leading houses in the kinema trade. Messrs. Gaumont and Jury were selected by the committee of the Kinematograph Manufacturers' Association to represent them. Two firstclass operators were sent out, and the War Office placed them in charge of a staff-officer and Lieutenant DistinMaddick who has not only had experience in His Majesty's Services, but also is a well known expert in kmematography. Receipts from the sale and hue o the films wdl be devoted to soldiers and their dependents. The trade has met tho Government generously in the matter of royalties, and it is hoped that, by their support of kinema theatres showing the films, the public will do the same. The operating party will proceed along the whole of the British front. Kinema operations in tho field began in November, and the weather conditions proved highly favourable for taking good pictures. The spectators of the pictures will follow our men from their training camps to the actual trendies. "The public," the War Uslicfl official-who has charge of the filming told me, "must not expect to see thrilling '.barges unless the enemy is kind enough to make them for the bcnor.i of our kinema operators. "Sometimes our party have scanned the trenches in front of them for days without seeing a living sign of tne en<my. Sometimes, on the other hand, they have secured pictures of his shells falling close to them in our lines. And. often they have filmed our own shellbursting on his lines. But the pictures arc sufficiently thrilling, the more so as they are utterly genuine. They are guaranteed to be official War Office pictures without 'fake' or posing. They show the living face of the daily life of war." Pictures will be shown of the cairm of the artists, now consisting sou'iy o? men sent out to be trained as officers amid the actual operations at the front. Field-Marshal Sir John French here made his farewell address before Ins departure. The first series of pictuicwill show the life and tra'ning a batch of new men. IN" THE CANADIAN TRENCHES. A most interesting film snows the In. d'ans and their life at the front just before they left France. I'heiv machine-gun section is a very inportant picture, taken just ueo'Tid the firing line. The Canadians wi'l be so. ;i at The fiery warriors i»i Canada can be watched atua'iy in the'r trenches, "giving snu'l"' to the Germans. Other films hm the air service, and pilots and obsv.'i'i rs netting forth on their tnn.:'::g lights. British artillery of all < i!:'>:vs ;s sien in action. "One of the most oxcit"ig and tingling pieces of work, Iron il.e bnemit operator's point if vie-\. was when a battery of 9.2 Rri' ; -!i gnus was I Imrd at sixfeet distance as ihev shelled the enemy," 1 was to'd. "It is cu-toniary for tlie gun crews to retire into \ :eir dug-outs at the actual nlome.lt of discharge, as. apart from the Hun's return compliments, it is not unknown for a gun to burst. The lonely kmema crew had, of course, 'to stick it out.' Thev plugged their ears with cottonwool -- and held Uglit for a dozen rourds. The noise was appalling." LAUGHING COURAGE. Kinema filming under fire demands a courage un-ustained by the ardour ol the lighting man. "The % operators were constantly under lire." said the official, "and they stuck to it like Trojans, despite many narrow escapes. 'Whiz-bangs' (small shells that I urst on impact) became so common that they treated them with contempt. In sonic of our tightest corners the operators took their pictures as coolly as though they were filming the Gold Cup at Ascot. Shells sometimes hurst within 20 vards. ploughing up the ground almo-t' at their feet, and showering mi-vile* round the camera. " [Jut who could feel fear in the company of amazing Thomas Atkins, caroles.'.h smoking lis . igareli; a.-. > shrUs wert made of cotton and snipers did not exi-t. Nothing at the front so impressed our kinema party as that laugh. ing courage. No kinema film can picture tli • splendour of it to the people at home." Many of the "domestic" pictures ot warfaro will enchain the interest oi people at home fully as much as tho pictures of lighting. A waif dog who has made himself at home in the trench.- is =een marching with waving tail with his soldier friends. Trench life in all its pharos, pathetic, homely, or humorous, becomes vivid mid real on the film." One pictu-e was of an extemporised variety performance bv an A.A.M.C. company off duty. WluV the camera was clicking an urgent cad 1 ame. rind the an liences will see the sudden break off of the com the tush to ilu 1 motor-ambulances, and the marvellous celerity with which they Telf al top sp I.' Tie- General Staff a! the front -hoe el t'i" greatest kindness in the lacdities allowed, and everywhere th ■ kine ma patty ua - cordially welcomed bv officers and men. "Christmas Day 01 (ho Hem he*" will prove one of the most papular picture.?.