IN FILMLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18275, 16 December 1922, Page 8 (Supplement)

IN FILMLAND.

"Six Cylinder Love," one of the most successful stage plays of the current -ear in America, has been purchased ■ by mt. William Fox, and "ill be P™d u <* d .. a * a screen plav very shortly. "Six Cylinder Love" is a delightful farce, and offcis , unusual opportunities for screen prcscntation.

Between pictures Duston Farnum, like J his brother, William, spends most ot his j time on the water. His famous power- • boat, Miss Los Angeles IL, credited with being the fastest ocean-going speed cratt in the world, has done 64 miles an hour in rough water. Recently while in a rceatta off San Pedro, racing m a heavy sea, the craft shipped water and would have sunk with all on board had not a steam yacht passed a line and towed the boat to safety.

An admirable film, illustrating rome of j the most important aspects of f mnisti . national life, has lately .been completed and will, according to present intentions be shown in London at the beginning of next vear A portion of it was displayed with "great success to the diplomatists experts, and journalists assembled at Genoa for the conference last spring, and since then many new pictures have been added. A series of excellent photographs illustrate the principal industries of f inland : that of paper-making, for example.: is traced from tho felling of the pine in the forest to the production of the finished article, readv for export, while other pictures deal with Finnish dairy farming and agriculture. The pictures of the streets. public buildings, and harbour of Helsingfors, and those showing the Iniatra torrent and other examples of Finland's austere but beautiful scenery, should be ttn encouragement to tourists, to visit the country. The film would not bo complete if it failed to record the notable successes of Finnish athletes in the great inter- j national competitions of recent years.

A golden eaglo which took part for six weeks in the production of a fiim is inow -I the London Zoo. He was presented by the Welsh Pearson Film Company, and the cinema play in which he appears is " Romany," for the staging of which the Duke of Atholl permitted the use of his Highland estate. 'Hailing from the Pyrenees, the bird was purchased in London and taken with the company to Scotland, with the original intention of releasing it. after it had fulfilled its duties, to join its British brethren of the Highlands. On arrival, however. it was found that not only was there a nest of golden eagles in the mountain? nearby, but that the inhabitants of tho district strongly objected to the liberation of the bird, whose visit they described as " carting coals to Newcastle." It played its part, and was made a great pet of by the company, which- included a number of genuine gypsies. This ha*, apparently, had the effect of taming the eagle, for the keeper of the birds of prey at the zoo says, though golden eagles are particularly dangerous, he has no cause to fear the new arrival.

The shadows of St. Paul's Cathedral were driven away for a few hours recently a dazzling glare that made the nave brighter than the street. Unsuspected beauties discovered themselves in corners that had been dark for ages; painted ceilings blazed with colour. All this was done for a film. Pathe Freres took the first moving pictures of the interior of St. Paul's. The organ notes of the afternoon service had scarcely died away, when the Cathedral was invaded by a strange army—camera men bearing tripods and cameras, electricians busy with great lamps and coils of wire* and directors giving swift orders in unaccustomed whispers. Suddenly, with a hiss and a splutter, the Klie<zli~hts, the Cooper Hewitts, _ and the 50D.0C0 candle-power "sun-arcs" shone out, flooding the cathedral with the cold, clear light of the studio. Many thousand feet of film were used in the catherdal to make a perfect 1000 ft. reel showing every beautiful feature, including the old "Tijon" iron gates in the chancel, the memorial to the choir boys who fell in the war, and manv of the tombs and architectural beauties. The work was done between services and at night. The film will be shown in theatres throughout England for the benefit of the St. Paul's restoration fund.