THE CINEMA
" The Princess and the Pirate." At the Leicester Square.— "Hollywood Canteen." At Warners. — " They Were Sisters." At the Gaumont.—" Report from Burma." Generally released.
The Princess and the Pirate is not the cleverest of the Bob Hope films but, more fully than his previous productions, utilises what may be called the catharsis of the chase. There is verbal humour as well as technicolored horse-play on the Spanish Main, but I found that most of the wry Hope quips and the sotto voce cynicisms were drowned by floods of laughter from an audience anxious to snatch at the slapstick rather than wait for the subtlety. The plain fact Is that wit in the cinema has never quite matched the achievements of comedians in gaping flight from some ludicrous danger: the tunny face in rapid motion is still the most profitable formula. The Princess and the Pirate is an uproariously farcical yet oddly congruous mixture of costume play and current Hollywood sophisti- cation, and for the fans there is a delightful ending which may be lost on the irregular cinema-goer.
I find it quite extraordinary that an industry capable of the tasteful lunacies of this film should be able also to produce Holly- 7:mod Canteen, in my opinion the most nauseating piece of work to reach the screen for many a long day. This film revue attempts he deification of the film-star to such purpose that American veterans of the Pacific War are shown swooning away at the very thought of being able to shake hands in a Services Canteen with screen actors and actresses who graciously present themselves in the awe-inspiring flesh. Moreover, we are assured, on behalf of the fighting man, that the kindness of such "big guys " to us " little guys" (mvalided from Pacific horrors) is evidence of the greatness (I democracy. They were Sisters provides yet another opportunity for Mr. James Mason to plumb the oily depths of domestic villainy. He appears as a selfish young man wooing and winning a loving spouse who later, in middle-age, he drives to drink and suicide. His beastliness and cunning cruelty are not only unrelieved but apparently purpose- less, however, and if the desire for money and professional power were at the root of -the trouble, surely we should have seen more of the villain amongst his cronies. To have thus rendered the plot a little more probable and life-like would enormously have increased the morbid power of the characterisation, but nothing short of com- plete rewriting could have helped the stagey, flatulent dialogue.
Report from Burma underlines the comparative inadequacy Elf British front-line camera reporting. This M.o.I. film tells the story of fighting through the monsoon rains, of bridging the Chindwin, and of the solution of heart-breaking problems in transportation. But the shots of the fighting do not compare with the kind of material that is being sent back from the Pacific Islands in the U.S. theatre. Presumably we are using fewer cameramen than the Americans and the inevitable effect is to minimise in the cinemas the extent and importance of the British effort. Major Frank Owen contributes a virile commentary—sometimes perhaps over-reminiscent of the self- conscious understatements of Mr. Quentin Reynolds—but in these matters, words cannot compensate for action.
EDGAR At4sraY.
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