TOO MUCH NEWS ABOUT THE MOVIES?

Radio Record, Volume XII, Issue 32, 20 January 1939, Page 32

TOO MUCH NEWS ABOUT THE MOVIES?

"Record" Reader Says Yes, "Record" Says No... Americanised Version Of "Alice In Wonderland" . . "Let's. Broadcast More Oe "New Zealand Talent? :

(Te Awamutu): I WwW. have recently been . looking with increasing disappointment each week upon the encroachments being made in the "‘Reeord’’ by .the . films and think that this week the culmination was reached. The title ‘Film Record’? would have’ been more appr opriate than ‘‘Radio Record.’’ In the issuc. dated January 6, ‘no fewer than six pages (approximately quarter of the total space given to reading ‘matter) were devoted to news’ and articles concerning the ‘movies.’ This, however,. was not the most re-. grett able of the case, for ". the front:page article, presum-, ably. that. intended: to create. ‘most interest, dealt with tlie films. . ) Glancing over. prev ious **Records’"’ at random; I -see such frent-page headlines as ' "Was Hitler Bluffing?’’ ‘‘Can: : New Zealand .Be Taken??? ‘"‘Can Churches Save the World?’’ and ‘‘Fine Old Eng- — jish Gentlemen’? (the — lastnamed being a particularly interesting and lucid account of radio propaganda in Germany) -all good artieles -worthy of the paper’s reputation for. sound reading matter. ., And this week? "The Sereen’ s Star-Crop’ for 1989.’’

What: a eid: come-down! Sureiy ‘the great Wolscy himself ‘i Inew no greater fall than this! ‘In one respect, the ‘‘Record"’ is: unique. © Persons desiring information about Hollywood ‘stars are apt to find it in every . journal and~ publication at. some time: ‘or other, but. ‘persons » ‘seeking information. about such radio celebrities as. Tauber and ‘the Comedy Harmonists rely. Solely upon the ‘‘Record,’’ and, ‘presuming that they are as. eager for news about their favourites as ‘are the * filmlovers, would it not. be more , logical to reduce. the film’ news to a. minimum and ‘concentrate more upon that type of matter, ‘which is admirably suited to. -the ‘‘Reeord,’’ and. which con--‘stitutes. its most . interesting part? me 7 "[W.,. of Te is obviously not a film fan himseif, but this should not lead. him ‘to. over.look the fact that the’ greater per‘céntage of ‘our population are keen picture-goers. In fact, New Zealand is one of the most movie-

minded countries inthe world. is ‘the policy of the to cover. all fields’ of . entertainment, ‘and also deal with items of general news interest. Most" film-goers are ° also radio listenérs, though, in the case of this particular correspondent. ‘the" reverse. does not seem. to. apply. ° Also, when ‘he: "praises. the. publication. of .such ‘articles ‘as "Was Hitler: Bluffirig?" ‘and : "Can Churches Raye the World?" how:

mJ can he logically reconcile this, with his desire for a purely "Tadio paper? -Kd.] "Ahlus" Cheshire Cat (Palmerston North): On a recent evening I tuned in to 2ZA Palmerston North to hear ‘‘Children’s Songs,’’? which proved to be songs and excerpts from ‘‘ Alice in Wonderland." Well done, no doubt, but both singer and narrator had most atrocious accents. A cultured American voice is delightful, ~-but this was pure "tlarleywood," and we shuddered to hear the dear friend of our childhood called "Ahlus." In this country thqusands of pounds are spent annually by the educational authorities on teaching our children pure vowel sounds, but what is the good if so much of this other stuff is broadcast? To-night I heard another item from the same station, children’s singing games, and was told "Tarmy is gonna play tarps." Isn’t it possible to ohtain records for children given in plain man’s English? Local Talent M.P.C. (Masterton): ‘‘Let’s Build a Nation-Buy New Zealand-made Goods.’’ I have often heard that these days. May I make a_ suggestion to 2ZB: ‘‘Tet’s Encourage a Nation--Broadcast More New ZeaJand Talent." Every Saturday night. Station 2ZB presents "Radio Pie’-the best session of the week. Why? Because it’s all New Zealand. Giye us more Reg. Morgan, Lou Paul, Maori performers ‘and. local artists. Surely there is no need for, the broadcasting .of American "singers," especially the women, in preference to real "Enzedders," who are, at least, worth listening to. "Let’s Build -a Nation-and Broadcast New Zealanders for New Zealanders," ° ro School Uniforms Mother (Auckland): When about to ‘buy school ‘uiiiforms, mothers

aré ‘advised to find’ -oitt éxastty what constitutes the uniform: . For. example, at two. large. "Anckland ' schools, the uniform ‘for ‘boys is. "special school cap,.belt and socks with school colours,. navy blue shirt and. ‘trousers, . black: . shoes." ‘No mention i is made of. pullovers. or. blazers. ". These are . extras, and need not. ‘be purchased. On. being shown the ‘pegulation". pullovers, tT paid nearly. 30/- for two for my boys... ‘Though ~one boy. is delicate and cannot. ‘play -very much,-his pullover ;soon.. fell into’ holes. It was examined by an expert, who said short pieces of wool had been ‘used, and: naturally the wéak places soon wore, After all; I had no aeed to buy these ready-. ‘made pullovers, as I could have knitted .them from good-quality wool, with school colours, ete, Anyone who knits will know the advantage of: being able. to reknit parts-.of sleeves, when. worn, ., The modern child "hates darns." Also, note . the cut of the navy flannel shirts. . ‘Some are very nar-, row at the back, and soon tear . down.’ ‘the ‘sides; though the. yoke appears wide enough, material .is "saved". below. School. caps should be marked inside.with white ink-. though. sometimes . it is advisable to wear : the cap inside. the shirt when not on the head! Breakfast Music’ S:K.M. (Port Albert) :’ Just a few lines in answer to "Swing" (Mataura) in your valuable publication of December 30 last, in which he appears to be somewhat upset in regard to a letter under my nom-de-plume of the previous week, in which I had. the temerity to complain of what radio treated us to in the breakfast session. I am asked by him to prove my Case. It is somewhere in the vincinity of 65 years since I struggled with what is known by _ students of Buclid as the "pons asinorum," and fortunately was able to prove the problem to the satisfaction of the dominie. IT may have deteriorated somewhat since those far-off days in my ability to prove my case, but fortunately your correspondent goes most of the way to help in my task when he asserts that, "for quite a while there has never been a time when there has not been a letter from some person about the amount of jazz and crooning that comes over the air." Unfortunately, your correspondent does not pull up when he has pr actically proved my case for me, but goes on to add to the troubles of a somewhat distracted editor and Director of Broadcasting by making a . comparison between what my digestive organs have to put up with and the similar organs of our friend himself, owing to the | further delinquencies of radio. Between the lot of us, dear Mr. Editor, I am sure all will agree, your lot is not to be envied. The Churches R.B, (Auckiand)::I read with interest the Bishop of Wellington’s message on "Can ‘the Churches Save the World?", in which he says yes. While I agree with him on "me pvints in his article, I fail to see what . theChurches are ‘doing to bring about peace, I think that the Churches have badly failed in their duty tothe world, because. they have.gone _ away. from. the fundamental principles of Christianity and have become a commercialised institution, I cannot see where the Churches are giving any encouragement ‘to |

the youth of to-day to put into operation real Christian principles such as .help your fellow-men and do unto others as you would like them to do to you. .Those principles, if carried: out by the Churches, would _ be very fine indeed, but they do not carry ‘them out.. 1 have ‘also been | informed by ministers of the ‘Church that some clergymen have . shares in. armament factories. If. that is 'g0,..it does not ‘seem " to- me that ‘they are trying to ‘bring about peace, In conclusion, I should like to suggest that the root. cause of _all' our ‘trouble is a faulty economic money system, and when we get a decent, economic system we will have true Christianity, both in and ‘outside the Churches,’ and_ the Churches can play ‘a. big part towards. obtaining that if they 80 desire. Things. That Ma tter: ". Mater’ (Christchurch) : AS-a: ‘fairly frequent listener to -the’ Com-. mercial stations, may I offer them a small suggestion regarding their programmes. I know that they ¢mploy competent people to organise their programmes; but no’ doubt an occasional suggestion ‘from the veriest dayman is occasionally. useful. The suggestion is this. , would like to see the ZB stations paying more. attention to "things that matter," such as international. affairs, questions of general interest in ‘the world today, and. so on. There are so many matters. of import which are just burning to be treated intelligently over the air. There’s no. reason, in. my opinion, why. a radio forum should not be instituted. This is only a ‘suggestion, but I hope the. NCBS authorities. will .see their. way to doing something about it.’ "’Deplorable"’ Reader (Thames): I was amazed to read ("Record" 13/1/39) "that an ex-New Zealand doctor. by the name of Robert Briffault has published a book which is nothing less than a bitter tirade against the British Empire. From what you say about him, Briffault is _a Britisher born. Certainly he seems to owe a degree of the success he has attained in life to his experience and education in New Zealand. It is all the more deplorable, therefore, that he should thus attack our great Empire. He gains pm a,

nothing by it.: From what you say he appears to have alienated even American opinion. Is.all this antiBritish. sentiment whichis being broadcast throughout the world the result: of our bloodless defeat .at Munich? If so, then it seems we have to. blame Mr. Chamberlain for attacks like that of ‘Briffault.

What Do YOU. Think About {t? . READERS are invited © to take advantage — ‘of the Home Forum for the expression of their. views. Letters, . which should. he. as brief ‘as possible (maximum approximately 200. | words), should . be ‘ addressed to the Home Forum, c/o ‘‘Radio Record,’’ Box 1680, . Wel- . lington. . tao