WHEN PUSH COMES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 126, 30 May 1944, Page 4

WHEN PUSH COMES

FILM UNITS READY

TO FOLLOW ALLIED ARMIES (0.C.) SAN FRANCISCO, May 21. Mobile units are ready to move up with the invasion. To tell the story to the oppressed peoples of Europe, motion-picture outfits, with newsreels in native languages, are moving into position to follow the Allied armies into Nazi Europe.

This was the picture of part of America's psychological warfare work being done by motion pictures as described in Los Angeles by Mr. Robert Riskin, former film writer, producer and present head of the Office of War Information's overseas film division, who has just returned from four and a half months in the European theatre.

Mr. Riskin proposed to spend ten days in Southern California searching for workers to do a series of pictures being planned for reconquered Europe. These writers and directors some of whom would stay in California and others proceed to London, will help make pictures about war participation of governments-in-exile. "These films will be about the part played, in the coming victory by the exiled Governments and their armies now fighting, or ready to fight with the Allies. We could not very well portray the underground, because we don't know enough about it. Our political point of view in these pictures will be that outlined by our State Department."

Mr. Riskin described the work already done by the film division in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. Italians, he said, received the 40 features sent this far very enthusiastically." "They wanted those about Deanna Durbin, and especially "The Great Dictator." The reason for their wanting to see the Dictator, he said, is that "for 20 years they had been stopped from burlesquing public officials. They wanted to see a burlesque of Mussolini to make them feel they were free again." American movie units have to work fast when they enter an occupied zone, Mr. Riskin explained. First, they confiscate all enemy film. Nazi movies are eliminated. Some Italian film is censored. Finally, theatres are resupplied with American films. "Obviously, our emohasis now is in Europe," Mr. Riskin said, "but we have a skeleton staff all ready for work on films for the Asiatic theatre."