PUT IN ORDER

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 33, 8 February 1940, Page 13

PUT IN ORDER

HOLLYWOOD'S HOUSE

EFFECT OF THE WAR

One of the results of the outbreak of war was to make Hollywood set about putting its house in order, according to Mr. Cecil Mason, Australasian manager of Columbia Pictures, who is on a visit to Wellington.

"At the outset," said Mr." Mason, "there was a tendency to pull up on production and mark time to see how things were going. America felt the pinch in the early stages, because the English theatres were allowed to open only on very restricted time, and even on that restricted time' the public were very hesitant about fioing into a picture theatre for fear of the cities being bombed Now, however, the Government has allowed the theatres to open up on nearly normal time, and business is very good in England, because the public want some relaxation from war news.

"During the period that Hollywood was scared about the future it set about putting its house in order. That was badly needed, because they were spending money so freely and with no thought of economy, and the war pulled them up with a round turn. Now they are carefully watching costs, and getting the best value for their money. For instance, we would produce a big picture, and probably, in order to get a 10,000 ft feature, we would take a quarter of a million feet, but now we carefully comb all the script before we start, and cut it down at least 20 per.cent."

Mr. Mason said that although foreign markets were naturally difficult on account of the war, he felt that the standard of production would continue, and if there was to be any cutting down it would be of films not in the first grade.

Mr. Mason is over here in connection with the release of the film "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," to be shown: in Wellington on March 1. "It is the biggest thing we have done in years," he said. "It deals with the American Senate in comedy vein, but it caused quite an uproar in Washington when we had a screening there, because the comedy is written around political graft, and some of the senators took exception to it, with the result, of course, that public attention was focused on it. Consequently it was a sensation in America." The leading stars in the film are James Stewart and Jean Arthur.