"ITS NOT LIKE OPENING A PUB"

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 36, 1 March 1940, Page 19

"ITS NOT LIKE OPENING A PUB"

New Theatre For Foreign Films

on the Rhine hearing a German speaking of her party as foreigners, exclaimed, ‘No, we are not foreigners; we are English; it is you who are foreigners.’ " l is recorded that "an English lady Well, the price we pay for our splendid isolation is fairly high. We miss a great deal on all sides and in particular we miss some very good films During the past few months, a number of films from the Continent and Russia have been shown in New Zealand. One or two of them have not been very good, but some have been excellent. Now Auckland is to have a theatre showing solely foreign films; other centres in this country may also have such theatres later, if the scheme prospers. The man behind the scheme is Nathan Scheinwald, a Pole, who is well-known in Wellington; it was he who brought " Professor Mamlock" to this country. The Russian film, brilliantly directed and acted, is still being shown here. Over a cup of coffee the other morning, Mr. Scheinwald told The Listener, "T think exhibitors under-estimate the appreciation which a large section of picture-goers have for Continental films. There is a definite demand for them here." And that is why, very soon, the De Paris Theatrette will be opened in Auckland. Mr, Scheinwald is renovating and completely refitting the Theatrette in Civic Buildings, in Queen Street, and when it reopens it will be the home of foreign films in the northern city. Why Auckland? "Auckland is the largest, most cosmopolitan, most progressive city to start in,"’ Mr. Scheinwald says. "There is there a bigger foreign element also." "I am opening the theatre without lavish celebrations. It is not a pub, but a cultural institution,’ he remarked laconically. The theatre will be the only one of its kind in New Zealand. London already has several, and there are one or two in Australia, but so far in this country, films other than American and English ones have only been shown spasmodically. The theatre is very small, but Mr. Scheinwald feels sure it will prosper. _As yet, arrangements have not been concluded, but Mr. Scheinwald hopes to put on these films: "Katia," (with Danielle Darrieux), "Un Carnet de» Bal," " Kermesse Heroique" ("Heroic Sex"-with Francoise Rosay), "Grand Illusion" (with Erich von Stroheim), "Beggar Student," "Abus de Confiance" (with Danielle Darrieux), "Under the Roofs of Paris," "La Bandera" (with Annabella), " Maternité’"’’ (with Francoise Rosay), " Gulliver’s Travels," the Russian puppet cartoon, made with 3,000 masks and 250 puppets, "Peter the Great," the Italian films " Verdi," and "Ave Maria," with Beniamino Gigli. There may also be Hungarian, Czech, and Polish films when

arrangements can be made, Many of these films are at present in the United States. "The New Zealand public is already acquainted with stars who made their debut in foreign films," says Mr. Scheinwald. Among the actors, there are such people as Danielle Darrieux, Charles Boyer, Annabella, and such directors as Guitry, René Clair, and Eisenstein, maker of " Potemkin," " Alexander Nevsky" and Maxim Gorky’s " Mother." Mr. Scheinwald feels that the excellence of the acting, the fine photography and direction, the scenery, the tradition, are all good reasons why foreign films should meet with success in this country. So now it’s up to Auckland.