THE WORLD STATE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20217, 30 March 1929, Page 7 (Supplement)

THE WORLD STATE.

A WELLSIAN FILM NOVEL. |j Let pessimists see in the development j j of the cinema a menace to art and litera- | j tare and to cultivated appreciation of \ either. No such defeatist creed appeals ; to the robust optimism cf Mr. H. G. j Wells, who believes the film to be the. : art form of the future, when, stepping ; forward from the mere spectacle and ;; the mere story, it shall oecome an intel- J; lectual and aesthetic entertainment. i Years ago, Mr. Weils " had a joy-ride in an aeroplane over the Mcdway and . prophesied Lindbergh." Now he pro- , poses himself to be the pioneer in the 1 film-sky and to cleave through its air I a flight that, whether a brilliant success, j or a brilliant failure, shall show the way \ to the band of producers earnestly await- J ing a sign from above. Two years ago a certain Mr. Godal ; aporoached Wells with what he considered a marketable title, The Peace of the World." and suggested that he should write a scenario for it. The suggestion ; was adopted, but the first synopsis though it pleased Mr. Godal, by no means satisfied the author's fertile brain. The more he studied text-books on film pioduction and contemporary "releases," the : more he became convinced that the pos- j sibilities of the medium were far greater , than had been supposed. Also, ample J financial backing was promised for what- ! ever elaborate and expensive devices he i might suggest. Thus was born " The King who was a j Kin"-," a novel which describes in i scenario-language a contest between Man J the Maker, and Man the Destroyer, j typified by a quarrel between the two imaginary states of Clavery and Agraviai. j Agra via possesses the only colcomite do- | 1 posies outside the British Empire, j | America is therefore backing Clavery in the dispute. But the King of Clavery has been brought up in America and has imbibed ideas of a patriotism transI cending the local varieties. He settles the matter by amicable arrangement, but not before he has shot in cold blood Prince Michael (the Destroyer). The devices employed for different erects sound extraordinarily effective, but it is easy to see why the idea is presented to the world in book form. For the difficulties in the way of production are enormous. Mr. W ells is nothing if not provocative, and when he describes national flags as " patriotic symbols that sustain the base spirit o£ nationalism" he is asking for trouble. Not that he cares. "It is urged against the present production of this film that people's minds are unprepared for the World State. But that is exactly why this synopsis has been written. There are phases in the history of human thought, anil this present time is one ot them, when mankind seems to be in a conspiracy not to see things that are written on the skv. . . . The life of the fifteenth

century ha 3 passed already beyond the comprehension of mankind. A day will come —, in d it is no very distant day—when the warring world of ours will be equally inconceivable to the imaginations of men," One may not go all the way with Mr. Wells—one may even violently disagree with, some of "his sledge-hammer statements —but that he is stimulating and suggestive not even his worst enemy can deny. " The Kins Who Was a King-." by E. G. "Wells. (Benn).