The Home Forum

Radio Record, 13 May 1938, Page 42

The Home Forum

Mirams’ Insurance E. S. Andrews (Wellington): As one of "nearly a quarter of a million readers" who puy fourpence n week, partly for 60-odd pages of — the brightest journalism jin the country and partly for the famous "Mirams In surance against Picture Flops," I crave space to defend a profitable investment. If I huy books or bootlaces or perambulators or anything else, I ean look the goods over before any cash changes hands. Not so with the pictures, Ifa picture is a flop, that’s just too bad — for me, [ can go on year after year paying out innumerable onedand-sixpences, spurred on by an occasional "Dead End" or "Nothing Sacred," but on the whole getting nothing but mental and

moral indigestion in return for the expense, That is why I regard the share that Mr. Mirams gets of my weekly fourpence as a kind of social and sesthetie insurance, His eritieal mind stands guard ‘between me and a host of fatuous films, It must be quite unprecedented for a New Zealand paper to stand so uncompromisingly firm behind g member of the staff who, using his technical and literary ability in his daily work, has run foul of a powerful vested interes:. I liked the "Radio Record" before: | respect if now, The candid crities like Mr. Mirams haye shown over and over again that the movie magnates do not know their own job, that only once or twice in 100 tries can they make a picture that hangs together as a smooth and finished piece. They are so obsessed with their billions of dollars, their galaxies of stars, their super-superlative ballyhoo, that they can’t produce the goods: they still have to learn that it takes more than a million dollars, a handful of expensive stars, and S000 feet of flickering colour-film to make a eonVineing picture, The movie people retort that they give the great big-hearted publie what it Wants, But do they? They flood the (theatres with banal nonsense, they soak u ready-made audience in an expensive und platitudinous display of "spectacles" and "heart-throbs" for a gener‘ation, till perception and taste are deadened, and then eall the eause the effect, The truth is that the pnblie has never been given enough good picfhres to get used to them. And by good pictures I do not mean "goody-goody" or "pure" or "educational" films, but films that, no matter what aspect of life they portray, have some sort of artistie integrity and completeness. There are only two solutions. The lum business can reorganise itself to serve the community instead of doping it; or the Press, by honest, impartial und capable reviewing, can so stimulate the critical faculties of the publie that audiences will demand better films, and set them. The first, if the action of Columbia Pictures is any guide, is impossible; the second, whieh the "Radio Record" is atfempting so well, is more likely to be snecessful. So here are my congratulations — to (Gordon Mirams and to you on your strong bid fop better pictures. More power to your pens! P.S.--Somewhere about the middle of this effusion, in honour of Mr. Mirams, readers will stand and sing "Land of Hope and Glory." Or, better still, they could play it on the gramophone, Good Luck ! "Kilmgoer" (Wellington): Until Gordon Mirams become the New Zeuand "Radio Records" film. critie. { always imagined all such folk

tu be insincere animals who fed a doting public on yards of boloney, fresh from the ovens of the film magnates, I pictured them as doing this work in between lighting one cigarette from the stump of another, or after coming from bluffing their way into u free show. But I found one exceptiou in Mr, Mirams! Until this young man came-into proininence, New Zealand had never known a real film critic. Why? I suppose there were many reasons. I suppose, again, that most newspapers were too "lousy’’-that’s a good word, isn’l it? to spend a few pounds on employing a reliable man when a youth would do. If the "film critic’ wanted some reyiews he just trotted over to the office of the film company with the biggest advertising budget and behold! he had tons of film matter shoved into his hands! Continue your good work, Mr. Mirams, and don’t think that the pubJic is surveying it with apathy, You’ve got the filmgoers behind you in your struggle to present reviews as they should be presented. We're so tired of all these "stupendous," ‘colossal,’ "magnificent" film pages in other publications, Good luck to you. Good luck to your editor and general staff in being courageous enough to set alight to a "honza"’ conflagration. Not Written By Money "Truth in Zournalism (Wellington) : Somebody should give you a slap on the back for having what it takes to back up your film writer, and letting your readers in on the reason. Daily newspapers do not like falling out with the film ‘interests: it means the loss of nearly a page of advertising every day, so the public gets its film news on the "you-give-us-a-good-ad., aud we'll-give-you-a-good-writeup" idea, said writeup, inecidentally, being provided by the theatre manager, That, and his ad.» is his big job for the day, except when he has to come to the rescue of somebody With a weak picture, by writing a nie letter about it to the Press, or to his Wellington boss, whose "pull" is usuaily strong enough to have it published. May I say how plessant it has been to find that there is at least one journal in New Zealand which does not let money write its film news, Protest "Typirtes" (Wanganni). We wish to place on record our protest against the banning of your tilm eritie, Gordon Mirams. The reviews in the "Reeord" are an unbiased guide for filmgoers and if Mr. Mirams is expected to write the type of "criticism" which we find in the columns of newspapers, the intelligent filmgoer will have no standard by Which to judge the pieture he wishes to see, Unbiased eriticism of eurrent pietures ix So very Tare that we feel that there would be a real loss to the "Record" if Mr. Mirams departed from his present film poliey, We wish to congratulate Mr. Mirams on his articles, which we greatly appreciate,