River Plate Battle Basis Of Topical Film

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 175, 19 April 1940, Page 5

River Plate Battle Basis Of Topical Film

r pilE naval battle which ended in the destruction of the Graf Spee was the foundation on which I lie film. “For Freedom.” was constructed. It has been designed to combine propaganda and entertainment. Originally, the film was to cover European history liver the past twenty years, culminating in the River plate action.

Shortly after the commencement of production, tin- merchant marine captains who were prisoners in the Graf Spee, returned to London. They were immediately placed under contract to appear in a reconstruction of their experiences during Hie battle. Very shortly afterward the navy was again iu tin? headlines with the rescue of British prisoners from tile Altmark. About this time also lI.M. ships Ajax and Exeter arrived at Plymouth.

Mr. C. M. Woolf, of G.8.D., grasped the importance of these stirring incidents, and the Altmark affair was added in Hie script and 15 officers witli 3i)() ratings from the personnel of the Ajax and the Exeter were placed under contract with the approval of the Admiralty. These men are now appearing in the film re-enacting the actual roles they played during the Graf Spec* tight. In addition to these rion-professlonai actors, Will Fyffe lias been 'given the principal role and will • appear as a newsreel editor. Production has been speeded up, and the film will soon be seen iu New Zealand.