NOT THIS, NOR THAT, BUT THAT

New Zealand Listener, Volume 11, Issue 269, 18 August 1944, Page 22

NOT THIS, NOR THAT, BUT THAT

N historian of the future, glancing through the newspaper advertisements of the past month in Wellington, might be excused for coming to the conclusion that it was in July, 1944, that the people of New Zealand began to grow tired of the war. A contemporary observer, however, would (continued on next page)

(continued from previous page) be more likely to come to the conclusion that what they were tired of was war films. Two pictures which showed simultaneously and ran for extended seasons were San Demetrio, London and Squadron-Leader X, and although they were exhibited by separate theatre companies, they were both advertised in almost exactly the same way. San Demetrio, London, we were told in large type, "is NOT a War Picture, but (in smaller type) a magnificent portrayal of British Courage and Indomit--able Spirit." "NOT A WAR PICTURE, | but a Magnificent Dramatic Entertainment that will hold you tense, etc.," is what the advertisements proclaimed about Squadron-Leader X. Apart from the minor consideration that these statements were contrary to fact, this would appear to me to be a short-sighted and potentially dangerous practice for the theatre people to pursue; this decrying of war films at a time when the screen is being flooded with them. It is true, of course, that war films, as well as the war itself, no longer excite the public with their novelty, and that from now on, and certainly for a period after the war ends, there will be an increasing demand for "escapist" entertainment in the form of frivolous musical-comedy and romantic farce; for Bob Hope’s wisecracks and Betty Grable’s legs in technicolour. Probably the producers are making plans to meet that demand, but the industry is now fully geared-up for the making of war pictures, and if peace were to come to-morrow, it would still take them a considerable time to throw over the switch from serious themes to gay ones, It may be, too, that they have banked on a longer war than they are going to get, and that somebody will lose a lot of money as a result. Anyway, peace will almost certainly find them with much material for war films still on their hands, and some still in production. So for their own sake, if not the public’s, I suggest that our theatre people might be wise to steer clear of this anti-war-film line of advertising — especially when their attractions really are war films, and jolly good ones at that. * 2 * HIS idea of selling a film for what it is not, instead of for what it is, seems to be infectious at the moment, It also has intriguing possibilities. In the same period as those two war films I’ve mentioned were being screened, another theatre was announcing that Phantom Lady is a "Horror" Picture OR a "Crime" Thriller BUT a Highly Ingenious Story _ Based on Feminine Pi Definite, Appeal to Women Going further, I would say that this film is NOT based on Carlyle’s "French Revolution" or Fabre’s "Social Life in the Insect World"; NEITHER is it a screen version of the "Decameron" or Ibsen’s "Ghosts"; and that any resem--blance to "Alice in Wonderland" and | "The Three Musketeers" is purely accidental. BUT it is a darn good thriller | about a crime with Definite Appeal to at least one man. :