BRITISH TALKING FILMS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21951, 12 May 1933, Page 5

BRITISH TALKING FILMS

RAPIDLY DEVELOPING INDUSTRY FACTORS IN PICTURE PRODUCTION AN INCREASING WORLD DEMAND

The first representative of the British motion picture industry to visit New Zealand on a definite trade mission Is Mr Henry Mason, of London, who in company with Mr A. M'Gowan, of Greater Australasian Films, left for the north yesterday after a visit to Dunedin. Mr Mason has'been actively associated with the film industry in Great Britain since the early days of silent pictures and has seen it grow to its present proportions. He has no illusions about the way in which British productions lagged behind those of Hollywood for so many years, and stated to a Daily Times reporter yesterday that, even as recently as the early days of the talking film, British producers could not compete with the Americans.

" To-d;vy it is different," he said, " and Great Britain is turning out from the Elstree and Shepherd's Bush studios films which are equal to the best of the productions from across the Atlantic. T can remember when exhibitors in England were taking millions of feet of American film a year, and British producers endeavoured to persuade Fox, Universal and Paramount to take a percentage of British productions for their chains of theatres. . The American companies politely but firmly refused, saying they were not good enough. Now it is a different story. British films are selling in America on their merits and British producers do not have to chase after the business. It is now a case of " How much will you take for that film?" instead of the years-old complaint, " Your films are no good to our people." The Americans were bidding against each other for the best of the British films and were paying high prices for such productions as " Bill the Conqueror," " Rome Express," " Sunshine Susie," and "Trouble in Paradise." This meant a large inflow of American capital for the production of more British films, and a further strengthening of the already strong position of the industry. " Australia and New Zealand," said Mr Masoii, " have returned a pile of money to England for films, and I can safely say that no other part of the Empire, or for that matter the world, has done more to help the British film industry. In fact, British films have taken on in these two countries even better than in England itself, and the business is on the increase all the time. It is because the market here hasdeveloped so strongly that I have come out on my present mission. The industry in England considers that the market in Australia and New Zealand is now important enough to warrant personal contacts of the kind that I am trying to make." Speaking of British films on the Continent, Mr Mason said that they were beginning to make excellent headway, despite the language difficulty. It was not a very formidable task to eub-title a film in Italian, French or German for the benefit of special audiences, and this was being done on an increasingly large In England, where a certain quota of British films must be shown by law, the English producer was finding a rapidly expanding market. The quota j provided for at the moment was 10 per cent., this figure having been raised from 5 per cent, in 1928. In 1927 it could be said that there were _no British pictures showing at all in the Old Country, whereas to-day the quota was being exceeded everywhere, and the average consumption of local production was from 20 to 25 per cent.; of the total, showings. Moreover, there was no sign as yet of any diminution in the growing popularity of the British film. "It would do New Zealanders good to see the British studios at Elstree and Shepherd's Bush, especially in view of the extravagant propaganda and deecriptive hyperbole that are published about the Hollywood industry. "Britain," said Mr Mason, " has found the material for good pictures, evolved the right type of screen player, discovered competent directors, secured the necessary capital, for the erection of suitable studios, and is now meeting the American on his own ground. "There is something satisfyingly substantial about the British studios. Built in brick, designed specially for sound work, and provided with every modern device and appurtenance, they present a far more permanent appearance than the average corrugated iron barn which represents the ordinary American film factory. At Shepherd's Bush there are five costly and elaborate studios, all of which are frequently in operation at the same time. We have the directors to control them, the players to fill them, and are now able to produce the type of film that the English audience wants. Of course, the British studios, like the American, still make poor pictures. They still have their failures and sometimes films that are not up to standard find their way on to the market, but these things cannot be helped, as some of the most promising productions prove most disappointing when they are seen in the projection room. Asked if the British studios would ever be able completely to oust the American product from the dominions markets, Mr Mason said he did not think so, and, in any case, he was quite sure that that was not the intention of the British industry. It should not be forgotten that America made excellent pictures, some of the best in the world, and they would yet make better. Germany and Russia were also making films, and many good ones. The ideal of the industry should be the selection of the best from all countries and the gradual elimination of all second-class stuff. There was room for them all, and he felt sure that audiences all over the world would prefer a variety of films from different sources to the products of only one country. Even if the British industry aimed at the monopolisation of British markets that would not be easy on account of the constant exchange of stars which was one of the features of present-day production. American extravagance in the matter of salaries and contracts was now a thing of the past, and instead of engaging stars for a period of years contracts were generally confined to about six months, thus leaving six months of the year for the player to do as wished. Many of the " top-rankers " like Charles Laughton, Jack Buchanan, Herbert Marshall, .leannctte Macdonald, Konald Colman, Marlene Dietrich, and others went backwards and forwards across the Atlantic, making films now in England, now in America. Most of | them were good films and with common attractions in the form of popular stars 1 they must meet with a general demand lin the same places. That is the explanation of the appearance sometimes of players who are regarded as essentially English in American films and vice versa.

Mr Mason, who is a film trade journalist and proprietor of the Impartial Film Report, a trade publication similar to Harrison's Reports in America, of which it was the forerunnner, says he has been reviewing the latest British and American productions, and is convinced that Britain no longer lags behind. The Gainsborough, Gaumont, British International, and British Dominions studios were producing films as good, and in some cases better, than the best of the American studios,

and had the advantage over the Americans with British audiences that they were able to impart the British flavour which audiences all over the Empire were so anxious to get. The point he would like to stress, however, was that notwithstanding the strides already made, British pictures were not all outstanding, any more than American pictures were poor. There was good and bad on each side of the Atlantic, and the fortunate exhibitor was the man who could " pick the bad ones coming and side-step them."