NEWSREELS ARE SPICE TO THE PROGRAMME

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 225, 19 June 1936, Page 16

NEWSREELS ARE SPICE TO THE PROGRAMME

Although the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences makes awards for the best motion picture and player of the year, it does not recognise the newsreels as coming within its scope. Yet the purpose of the screen as a medium of news and information was markedly advanced in 1935 by the character and range of the newsreels which kept pace with the general upward trend in motion picture quality. Among the historical documents which newsreels have made for posterity recently arc the death of King George V. and the accession to the throne of King Edward VIIL; the crisis in the League of Nations; the progress of the Italo-Abyssinian war; the resurgance of Germany, and the tragic implication of a world arming for the next conflict..

A LL these events and the everyday • zs - affairs which go to make news, states “The Argus” (Melbourne), have been mirrored impartially to motion picture audiences the world over. In other ways there has been an improvement in these short subjects which rightly are “the spice of the programme.” Each day sees the newsreels achieving a higher standard in sound and photography. The necessity of moving recording apparatus in a heavy truck to the scene of action does not cause a loss of motion in this sphere of picture entertainment. It has brought the newsreels to a pitch of perfection that five years ago seemed almost impossible of attainment. The increasing success of these films is in no small measure due to variety of subject, because, on analysis, it is the ever-changing scene which proves attractive.

Few people realise the work and organisation behind a newsreel, but all can readily appreciate what a contribution to the future and what an assistant to the present are these splendid animated newspapers. The camera cranks turning on the news items for the benefit of the public demanding Short subjects have introduced the humorous commentator, best exemplified in the voice behind the Gaumont-Bri-tish Cine-Magazine, which invests the most trivial incident with interest. Then there is the dramatic voice

heard in “Adventures of the Newsreel Cameraman” and Lew (“Dialect”) Lehr, creator of the Fox Movietone dialect films. ' Lehr’s is the voice behind “Newsettes,” “The Magic Carpet,” and “Adventures of the Newsreel Cameraman.” The trouble with these short films is that they are not short enough, but he keeps his many subjects to reasonable length. But it is in his “dialect” descriptions that Lehr really shines. ■What he says, even if it is unintelligible, is screamingly funny. In his “Unnatural History” he takes some defenceless animal and passes derogatory remarks about it as the action progresses in an exaggerated Teutonic accent. A sample comment on a sea elephant being introduced to a zoo is as follows: “Vincennes, France. A world famous visitor slitched into town to-day—Mr. Oscar Q.'Diddlepuss. of the South Polar Diddlepusses. A distinguished family of hors d’oeuvre inhalers” . . . That’s his style, and although opinion as to his humour may be sharply divided, he can claim to be original in his newsreel treatment. In Australia there are several newsreel and short subject theatres —or “theatrettes” —which are very popular. The programme lasts from an hour to an hour and a half, and consists of newsreels, travelogues, and usually a comedy. So far, they have not been tried out in New Zealand. They are excellent for filling a spare hour.