Live At Studios For Raid Safety

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 247, 18 October 1941, Page 15

Live At Studios For Raid Safety

r*ANS of film negative still arrive from England, where the motion picture industry, normally accustomed to thrills, ballyhoo and confusion, seems to have thrived since the war began, states a New York critic. Although many of the British stars and technicians joined up in the first weeks of the war, the cameras in the English studios have continued to grind despite air raids and fires. It was not due to any shortage of talent, but to a direct hit scored at Denham, that this studio recently shut down temporarily. It was the first studio forced to close its gates. That England still delivers the films is illustrated by "Major Barbara," which heads the impressive list of pictures produced there since the outbreak of hostilities in 1939. During this period, many English films have reached American audiences, among them "Night Train," "U-Boat 2§," "Convoy," "Pastor Hall," "Thief of Bagdad," "Haunted Honeymoon," "Proud Valley" and "Girl in the News." The most recent import from the beleaguered isles is "Frightened Lady," from Edgar Wallace's popular mystery thriller. Penelope Dudley Ward, who has been, seen by American audiences on the screen in "Major Barbara" and "The Citadel" and on the Broadway stage in "French Without Tears," is the lady of the title in this latest British melodrama.

Uce in Mmke-up Rooms Migg Ward writes that during the production of. the film, the cast, which includes Marius Goring, Helen Haye and Felix Aylmer, turned their make-up rooms into apartments and lived at the studio. Each studio employs a 24-hour shift of roof spotters and fire fighters, and film shooting does not cease with the blowing of the air-raid siren. The director

waits until the raiders approach the environs of the studio before he orders his unit to the shelters constructed under all studios at Welwyn, Shepperton, Ealing and Denham. At Denham there is a miniature Maginot Line under the stages, complete with air-conditioned, bombproof, gas-proof shelters with entrances large enough to drive a car through. Players, director and technicians all report to work with gas masks, which are kept handy on the set. Location shots are difficult these days and certain Governmental buildings and historic places in England can no longer be photographed. For instance, in the current production of "Disraeli," the House of Commons, which in reality is not very far from the studio, had to be reconstructed on the set. Cameras Still Grind There is plenty of action, however, around the studios. At the moment, the British producers have completed cutting a score of new pictures, many of which will soon be unwinding on screens in this country. The most promising in this group include Carol Reed's production of "Young Pitt," with Robert Donat; "49th Parallel," with Leslie Howard and Raymond Massey; "Ships With Wings," a sequel to "Convoy," with the same cameraman, Roy Kellino, supervising the photography; "Hatter's Castle," with Robert Newton; "The Prime Minister," with John Gielgud, Diana Wynyard and Will Fyffe; H. G. Wells' "Kipps," with Michael Redgrave, "Spitfire" and "Jeannie."