FILM OF THE WAR.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 1 December 1925, Page 7

FILM OF THE WAR.

THE BATTLES OF YPRES

FOUR YEARS IN THE SALIENT,

LONDON. .Oct. 15

An interesting .British pietuie J.s mow being shown in London, and in due course it will, no doubt, find its naj into the Dominion. It would seem an si 1 most impossible accomplishment to film the store of Ypres Salient, but this has been done with commendable ron!ism. and save lor a touch ot melodrama in the made-up attacks, there is not much to find I a nil with. At au\ rate, the picture gives to thus,.. who never saw the hattieiront a very vivid idea of what modern warfare is like. This is a picture which received such a rough reception in Dublin a i'ew clays ago. Possibly, rea'ity would hardly Ihj convincing. A certain dramatic license is necessary. The battle scenes must have been taken at a time when the ground in the salient, though not much recovered from the four years of constant pounding, was none the less fairly dry. Tims, we have so'diers running at high speed. It is doubtful if any soldiers in all tbe later actions Mere ever aide to run over the shellpocked earth and the clinging mud of the Salient. Again, effectiveness “ obtained by concentrating men in groups, which no good leader would have allowed. -Still, the realism of well extended lines, each man the eo'our of tbe clay over which lie toiled, would hardly be convincing in a moving picture. Again, though the bursting shells of the picture have a remarkable similarity to the real thing so far as the smoke is concerned, there is no displacement of the earth, and artillery and infantry are constantly evading annihilation in a way they could never have done in actual warfare. The bright harness of the artillery horses, and the speed at which they make their advances, are other things that might strike a critic; and. last of all. the absence of any men tioii of New Zealand troops in the atcions at Belle Vue Spur and Passchendaele might lead a New Zealander to wonder if the compilers of the picture had studied the campaign cfereful’v. However, one has to remember that there were other troops in front of Passchendaele at various times. WAR OFFICE PICTURES.

The story begins in October, 1914, and a number of films taken at the time by the War Office are incorporated in the picture. These having th e real hallmark upon them are probably as interesting as the other parts of the li'm, though naturally they are taken behind the lines. Thus wo have the march of a section of the “Old Contcmptibles’’ returning to 1 take up the new line opposite Ypres; the 7tli Division is seen marching past th t > Cloth Hall in October of 1914, before a. sing'e shell had fallen near the historic building. Other original pictures show the vi'lagers making their pathetic retreat before the oncoming German Army. Strange to say, there is also included in the film an authentic picture of the German troops advancing through a shattered French village.. Many of the other scenes behind tile lines are also origin a', including the_ interesting series dealing with the visit of the King to the - battlefields, which appears to have been very thorough'}’ filmed. With the aid of maps, diagrams and sub-headings, the various stages of the Ypres campaign are clearly defined, and particular incidents in each of the battles are portrayed very cleverly. There is the counter-attack on the 2nd Worcestershires. and the recapture of Gheluve’t; the gas attack on April 22, 1915. in which tip. Canadians were so conspicuous; the blowing up of Hill GO, which is very effectively pictured; and scenes from the Battle of Messines. The warfare of the Third Battle from Jn'y 31 to November 10. in 1917. is noted for the struggle against mud. It must lie frankly confessed that this element has not been brought nut very effectively. 'I he condition of the country. of course, could never he the same again. Still, in other ways, the fighting of this period is we'l depicted. The asaults on “pill-boxes,” the work of the tanks, a number of isolated incidents of courage, the attacks on Passehendnele Ridge, are all near enough to re ah’ tv to give a very good idea of what actually happened. Further scenes are shown of - the last attack of the Germans on April 9. 1919, and the withdrawal of the British line nearer Ypres. DESTRUCTION OF ZEPPELIN. Although the infantry lias pride of [Viice in the j net or ini record, the cavairy in the early days, and the artillert throughout the campaign, are not forgotten. Many of the pictures of tins artillery at work are authentic. In addition, the work of the Royal Air Force i s pictoria'lv presented from time to time and .an ingeniously arranged film shows the destruction by an aeroplane of a German Zeppelin. The whole film takes about two bears to show, and the life and struggles in the Salient during those four e ventful years are very effectively portrayed.