FRENCH FILMS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 420, 11 July 1947, Page 5

FRENCH FILMS

Sir-I read with pleasure the appreciative commentaries of your film critic on French pictures, which reach this country in too small numbers and too late. . Having enjoyed the whole gamut in pre-war Europe and getting enthusiastic reports of new films almost every week, makes me realise that French pictures are gaining ground in many countries in spite of the finandial stranglehold of American film magnates on the European market. It may be of interest to know that these first-rate pictures were, and still are, produced by near-bankrupt and tottering companies, The heroic battle of French genius is familiar to us from the history of her reactionary painters, but I don’t think that it is generally realised that a similar battle is being fought for cinematographic art. With the New Zealand public lies the choice and the opportunity to inherit the astounding wealth of French culture. It may be patriotic to promote a preference for British pictures, but why take © the second-hand article when British art leans so heavily on French genius? The pathetic efforts of American and British | producers to lacquer their wares with a French shine should become evident to anyone who has had the opportunity to see a representative range of contémporary French pictures. It is given to the French to produce such lasting mas. terpieces in such a delightful, matter-of-fact way, for theirs is a real bi mn vital and alive.

DUTCHMAN

(Duntroon),