7 FEBRUARY 1958, Page 8

I HOPE, though, that Mr. Fairbanks will not allow his

project to lapse when the walls are breached. There is a lesson to be learned here from the British film industry. in recent years the Ealing comedies have won the same reverence in the United States as French films used to inspire here before the war; and as the language barrier is not absolute, they have been widening their audiences, particularly in New York. Yet British producers have now reverted to making pseudo-American films—with some grotesque results. The Ealing formula, too, is being permuted, rather than developed. The result is that British films are losing their high reputation abroad. It is significant that in the critics' lists for the Best of 1957, British films were rarely even considered.