BERNARD SHAW FILM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26028, 17 December 1945, Page 3

BERNARD SHAW FILM

SOME HARSH CRITICISM PRODUCER NOT PERTURBED (N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent.) LONDON. Dec. 14. The £ 1,300,000 film of Bernard Shaw’s “Caesar and Cleopatra’’, has been received, as one commentator remarked, with “roars of silence” by the critics. What the public will think of it is yet to be seen, but critics left no room for doubt about their opinions and while some praise it more condemn it. Here are some comments:— News-Chronicle: A dismal ordeal. The story is garnished by ugly and distracting technicolor. This is the ill* advised result of trying to “ outspectacle ” and bedazzle Hollywood. The Daily Mail: “ What is this hocus* pocus”—aline spoken to Vivien Leigh as Cleopatra—sums up my feelings at the end of two hours of wondering Never have I seen crowds so dully handled and fighting so unconvincing. The technicolor is skilfully used. The thought of sitting through it again would not appeal to me. The Times: This film is handsome and nearly always Shaw, but hollow at heart.

The Daily Herald: A gorgeous sweeping technicolor 1 spectacle. The Daily Sketch: Does the finished film justify such lavish expenditure 9 Regretfully I say “No.” Gabriel Pascal, who produced the film, is not perturbed by the criticisms. “ They came ready to bury Caesar, but they cannot bury Bernard Shaw. They are not worthy to polish his boots,” Pascal said with- scorn. “ I am utterly not interested in what they write. I make my pictures for the common man, not for the intellectual, snobistic -clique.- My master is Bernard Shaw, and it is my duty to present to the world the truth about this greatest writer of the epoch. I do not give a damn what the press thinks. Whatever the critics say, that picture will be a tremendous success. It has style, beauty, and Bernard Shaw. Not only that, but it will raise the standard of our pictures. It will run for years. They told me I was mad when I started the production of ‘ Pygmalion ’ before the war, and I had to put £12,000 of my own money into it to get it finished- But ‘ Pygmalion ’ was a huge success, and so will ‘ Caesar ’ be. I cannot help it if the people do not like it. I nave done my best, and there it is.” Mr J. Arthur Rank, who provided the money, was nearly as outspoken as Pascal about the mixed reception the film received. “ I do not care, what the critics say about my films so long as they take notice of them. All these adverse comments will do the film good. I am sure it will be a tremendous success, here, in America, and all over the world.”