WAR AND ITS HORRORS

Evening Star, Issue 20555, 6 August 1930, Page 7

WAR AND ITS HORRORS

GRAPHIC, GRIM, AND TRUE FILM •JOURNEY’S END’ AS TALKIE FOR REGENT. • Journey’s End,’ the most-discussed play. of the century, is said to repeat its.success as a sound film production, which will be screened to the public for the first time in the dominion at the Regent Theatre to-morrow. As a play, * Journey’s End was an immediate success wherever it was staged: in fact, it is still being played by fiftv-five companies in twenty-one languages. The Prince of Wales stated after seeing the play that it was the best he had ever seen, and the osCrown Prince of Germany has seen it six times. Records were broken m all parts of the world, the play having passed its five-hundredth performance in London during March. It ran lor over 100 performances in Berlin, ana in several other German towns. . Now, on top of the success of the play, comes the talking screen version, the first in history without an actress in the cast. Over fifty of tho players have medals and decorations, and all the actors, except the German prisoner, are British. . ‘ Journey’s End ’ is true. It brings the war home as has no other product of stage, book, or screen. .Here is grim realism. If it can but drive horn© the reality of all this, one will better understand emotions of these strange men on the stage. Any soldier can tell you names of several counterparts of these stage people. For the lighting soldier under gunfire has seen men’s hearts steeled in the furnace, strong men wait in cowardice and fear as a morning glory before the rays of the sun. _ He has himself endured every emotion from the heights to the depths of human possibilities. Love in the front iinesr Fear? Yes, but bidden as Captain Stanhope, of ' Journey’s End ’ hides it, behind a cloak of hardiness. Why. there is not even time for tears. Why should Stanhope waste tears over the body of his friend when ho faces the probability of joining his former college mate in the Great Beyond the moment ho steps from the dugout’s shelter? That is the psychology of war. And ‘ Journey’s End ’ is the most satisfacrory exposition of that psychology yet to ‘have come to tho eyes oh ears of on© who was there, one who helped chase Gomans many a mile at the lanyard of a “ 75.” Incidentally, seekers after peace over the world have in this drama a most effective preachment against war . It should be translated into ad languages, sent into every country. There is but one drawback to this scheme: ‘ Journey’s End ’ is so real, so graphic, so grim, and so true that nobody who was not “over there” will believe it! It has been acclaimed by reviewers the world over as the last word in reality and humanness. Its simplicity and directness and unprecedented “ kick ” resulting from these two qualities have made it the’ greatest stage play of the century. In producing the ad-dialogue screen version, Tiffany adhered * religiously to the original stage script, and the result is, according to those who have seen the picture, that viewing it on the screen is equivalent to spending two hours in the front-line trenches. In order to obtain the effects necessary to bring about these results of realism, Director James Whale and Supervisor George Pearson went to unusual lengths. Since all the action of

the picture would be in the mud cf the trench and the dirt and dim light of - the dugout, it was absolutely essential that all the players thoroughly, familiarise themselves with these surroundings; Consequently, all rehearsals of various scenes, all staff conferences, and all production business that would ordinarily take place in the- well-ap-pointed studio offices actually took place in the trenches and the dugout. Mason, the cook (played by Charles Gerrard), spends all his off-stage time in the play in the small kitcnen-pitl off the main dugout. The pit: is never: shown either in the play or the picture, hut Whale and Pearson, insistent upon maintaining true front-line atmosphere, decreed that Mr Gerrard should spend his off-set time in a dug; out specially constructed, for him off the-main dugout. He could not step out into the fresh air for a'smoke; he had to remain in the cold, dismal and cramped quarters the author had written for him. Consequently, when he made his camera appearances, ha looked as though he had been just where ho-was-supposed to he. Another - innovation : introduced by Wl’ap and Pearson was their strict order to members of - the cast never to cait each other by their real names, even before, betweehj or scenes. No one addressed Colin Clive either as Colin or Clive. He was Stanhope, tha .name of his character in the picture, to one and all. The same rule applied to the rest of the cast. Constant application of this rule made impossible any lapses of memory; the men called each other by their character names ' naturally and easily. The cast is headed by Colin Clive,who originated the role of Captain Stanhope in the original London company, and who was loaned to Tiffany through the courtesy of the London producer, Maurice Browne. The other players are lan Maclaren, David Man. ners, Billy Bevan, Anthony Bushell, Robert A’Dair, Charles Gerrard. Thomas Whiteley, Jack Pitcairn, and Warner Klinger.