SHORTER NOTICES
Spotlight on Films. By Egon Larsen. (Parrish. iss.) MR. EGON LARSEN has bravely set himself, in the course of some three hundred pages, not only to trace the entire history of film- making—from its inception in the peep-show booth, through the monochrome silence of its adolescence, to an articulate and Techni- colored maturity—but also to explain to the cinema-goer the complex mechanism of a modern studio and the individual contribu- tion of the two hundred and seventy-six craftsmen and others who, he tells us, may be engaged in making a single film. In an enter- taining survey of fifty years of film-makers and their methods, perhaps the most interesting section is an analysis of the political motives underlying the choice of subjects. Mr. Larsen relates how the industrial magnates first became aware of the enormous propa- ganda potentialities of what was then generally regarded as a toy, and how the stories they financed were cunningly devised to per- suade the worker that diligence and sobriety paid a handsome divi- dend, the villain of the piece being always the rascally union official. Mr. Larsen's historical journey is adroitly condensed, and few will quarrel with his selection of milestones worth remembering. For convenience these are summarised in a check list of film classics from all countries which the reader is advised to see as and when they may be revived. The shooting script, the " process shot " and many other mysteries are clearly explained, and the author earns special gratitude for an authoritative pronouncement on the difference between a producer and a director. For full measure he has added a glossary of technical terms and a generous display of excellent " stills " The only door in. the communal workshop which, despite a somewhat misleading title, mercifully remains unopened is that of the " star dressing-room." The actor and his activities off-screen have, Mr. Larsen very properly feels, been sufficiently discussed elsewhere,
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