THE INFANT CHRIST

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 March 1939, Page 5

THE INFANT CHRIST

HOW BABY FOR ROLE WAS SELECTED.

A SECRET FOR ALL TIME

Last month a baby boy from a humble London home was carried in his mother’s arms to be baptised at St. Saviour's Church, Paddington. The I Rev. Rupert Shiner, the vicar, noticed how beautiful and ethereal the baby looked with his fair hair and blue eyes. “This is the child we have been looking for,” he said quietly. He obtained the parents’ consent to the child appearing as the Infant Christ in “The Prince of Peace,” which has been based on a story by Mrs Lois Shiner, his wife. The name of the baby, youngest “star” at the age of three weeks to play in a British film will remain a secret for all time. “When the parents agreed that their baby son should play the Infant Christ, they did so only because they thought the film would do some good in the world,” said Mrs Shiner. “They refused to accept any kind of fee. One thing they insisted upon —that the child should remain anonymous. He will not be told even when he grows up.

“During the past fortnight the child has been brought by his mother to the studio, where the greatest care was taken to safeguard his eyes from the arclights. “His behaviour was perfect. He was never known to cry. In one of the scenes he smiled. The cameraman caught that smile.” “The Prince of Peace” has been completed at the Shepherd’s Bush Studios. Cameramen were silent as they filmed scenes portraying scenes of the Manger, the Adoration, the Massacre of the Innocents at the command of Herod, and the flight> into Egypt.