GENERAL CABLES

Grey River Argus, 24 November 1945, Page 3

GENERAL CABLES

LONDON, Nov. 22. Brigadier R. G. Loder Symonds was killed when a Mosquito in which he was a passenger crashed after taking off from Sourabaya airfield. The pilot was also killed. Twenty-two soldiers and nine members of the R.A.F. crew were killed when an India-bound Liberator crashed at Blackdown' Hill, Devon. All the occupants were killed instantly except one who died on the way to hospital. The plane which had taken off from Ilminster, six miles away, did not gain sufficient height to clear the hillside, and struck a tree and caught fire. WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 General Eisenhower, appearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in support of the 1,350,000,000 dollars' U.N.Pj.R.A. appropriation for 1946, declared that if U.NR.R.A. did not help the ravished nations they could not help feel that not only had the United States failed them, but that the hope that the solution of world problems was through United’ Nations’ action was illusory. He added that his observation of Germany had shown that U.N.R.R.A. was operating with steadily increasing effectiveness. LONDON, Nov. 22. The chief of the Persian General Staff is leaving for the headquarters of the Russian armies in Azerbaijan. Convoys of Persian troops, guns and supplies are standing by on the frontier of the province ready to move in as soon as a settlement is reached between Moscow and Teheran. The sum of £10,000,000 is being spent by the British film industry in a productive drive. British films are said to be more popular than ever before and there is so great a demand for them that the Government is to help speed up the reconversion of requistioned studios. Derequisitioning has already been hastened and rebuilding has been placed on equal priority with Government rebuilding — without affecting the prime priority of housing. Licenses have been granted for importing studio equipment, since the lack of this has cut British production to 25 per cent, of the pre-war output. For the first time in cinema history British films will shortly predominate at London’s leading West End theatres.

The three organisations primarily responsible for the drive are Mr. J. Arthur Rank’s group, Lady Yule’s British National, and the Ealing Studios. New films include “I know Where I’m Going,” a romance set in the Hebrides with Wendy Hiller and Roger Livesay; ‘‘The Wicked Lady,” a period costume drama featuring James Mason, Patricia Roc, and Margaret Lockwood; Noel Coward’s “Brief Encounter,” with Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard; “Sealing Wax” and “Rake’s Progress.” featur-. ing Rex Harrison and Lili Palmer. The most elaborate film will be “C'aeser and Cleopatra,” a Shavian spectacle in Technicolor, which cost over £1,000,000. It is the most expensive film yet made in Britain. Vivien Leigh. Stewart Granger, and Claude Rams ere the star..

An ambitious plan is being developed in London to fly the entire casts of West End theatrical productions to Australia and New Zealand for short seasons in each country. The actress, Marie Noy, who is at present starring in Euripides “The Trojan Women,” is one of the prime movers. She is closely associated with “The Company of Four,” which hopes to extend theatrical appreciation by enabling theatregoers in the Dominions to see first-class /plays with original casts. The Company of Four comprises the Arts Council of Britain, the Cambridge Arts Theatre Trust, Ghlndebourne Productions, Ltd., and Tennants Plays, Ltd. Miss Ney said she hoped to see the plan operate a.s early as possible—probably during 1946, when the air travel situation improves. She pointed out that Australia and NevZealand were frequently waiting a long time to see London productions, and then with different casts. Many artists hitherto had hesitated to visit Australia or New Zealand when they were achieving or gaining success in London because of a prolonged absence endangering their careers.