1 HE CINEMA
Short Films
BEFORE the war the short documentary was an article for which a wide public existed but for which no theatrical market had been organised. Then came the war-time need to utilise the cinema as a channel of information, and the Government obtained screen space for the free exhibition, firstly of a weekly five-minute Ministry of Information film, and later of a monthly fifteen-minuter. Now a situation has developed in which many official documentaries are being distributed on a normal commercial basis. Makers of short films have for many years argued that a demand for their work existed and could be built up on a commercial scale, and the war has brought evidence of the success of a very large number of M.o.I. films.
This week the cinemas are showing two new official productions. A Harbour Went to France (the Ministry's monthly free release) gives a simple and clear account of the construction and assembly of one of the prefabricated harbours which formed a vital part of our Second Front planning. The great concrete and steel edifices are shown under construction and later being towed into place.. Simple diagrams illustrate the disposition of the harbour components —breakwaters, piers, quays. Then comes the great June storm to damage but not to destroy the work ; and the unloiding of the
precious cargoes continues. V.i, an film being commercially released, is an account of the flying bomb attack against London. It contains sensational pictures of the projectiles being shot down by A.A. guns and aircraft. But there are also the flying-bombs which hurtle on through the exploding shell-bursts. Many of these we see arrive over London and dive down into the buildings ; then comes the mushrooming column of smoke, and the camera approaches the broken bodies and homes. The commentary could well have been more reticent for I believe that even American audiences prefer *understatement in films of this kind. After all London is not looking for sympathy.
The box-office appeal of films like A Harbour Went to France and V.i is, of course, much assisted by the spectacular nature of the stories told. Yet they are not especially outstanding amongst recent documentaries. There is no reason to suppose that success- ful short films cannot be forthcoming also in peacetime, for peace, too, has its excitements. The question of whether there will be after the war a commercial market for the quality of short film the Government has sponsored, depends on a number of factors. Today the shortage of new features has to some extent improved the com- mercial demand for shorts but there are still many exhibitors who, feeling they must continue to offer their patrons a double-feature programme, substitute not shorts but an old re-issued film for the second feature. There is evidence that powerful sections of the film trade would welcome the disappearance of the double-feature programme but a great weight of habit and conservatism still remains to be moved. A bold lead will have to be given by one of the big cinema circuits before the change will be made. •
The abolition of the second feature (almost always a mediocre film) would be the most effective means of encouraging the short. Another need is to improve the conditions under which short films are marketed and the terms offered for them by distributors. The sponsorship system (both official and unofficial) has resulted in the development of the short film to a level of quality demanding greater production expenditure than can be recovered from the tiny fractions of box-office revenue at present allocated to supporting items on the programme. To a large extent this system of allocation is a matter only of exhibitors' and renters' book-keeping and repre- sents no real reflection of the worth or pulling power of the films. If short film production is to be maintained on its present level of quality-and social service a readjustment will have to be made. One solution supported by a considerable body. of opinion is that encouragement should be given to British shorts by introducing legislation in the Quota Act now due for renewal whereby the quota of British short films which renters must acquire to balance their American imports should be made up only of films on which reasonable expenditure has been incurred. By this means the practice of producing cheaply simply in order to fulfil quota obligations,
could be largely eliminated. EDGAR ANSTEY.
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