OPEN AIR FILM

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLXII, Issue 15443, 2 September 1943, Page 4

OPEN AIR FILM

ENTERTAINING AIRMEN PICTURES IN THE TROPICS (Official Correspondent) GUADALCANAL. Clearings hacked from jungle, or carefully made in coconut plantations, are theatres in which night after night, thousands of Allied servicemen in the Pacific see the latest films from the United States. There is scarcely a camp, from Guadalcanal to Fiji, that has not its own theatre, o*r one handy, to which officers and men flock nightly for virtually the only recreation available.

The lates' films, some of them not yet seen in New Zealand, are provided free by the American motion picture industry. They are screened in surroundings more idyllic than any Hollywood producer ever imagined, and to the most appreciative audiences in the world—servicemen whose links with home, and v ith civilisation in general, are few.

There is a beautiful simplicity about these tropic screenings. A clearing is made, usually on a. slope, an improvised screen is rigged up and made fast to two convenient j trees, a rough projection box hastily knocked together, and power laid on. perhaps from a motor generator that chugs noisily in the background. The rest is up to the audicrce. There is no elaborate foyer, nr pretty usherette, and no plush scat, Nobody peddle® ice cream or chocolate, and, best of all, there is no charge for admission. Those who wish to enjoy the luxury of a seat must provide their own. The hardier souls sit on the ground, and at the end of each reel stand hastily to stretch cramped legs. The remainder bring deckel* airs, boxes, buckets, home-made seats fashioned from “acquired” materials, and even small crates “borrowed” from an adjacent store. Tu some* open-air theatres coconut tiees have been felled and arranged in rows to provide seating. Surroundings are romantically tiopical. Those seated in the improvised theatre can see the tall palms outlined against the sky, the white stars that seem so much brighter than those in New Zealand, and the fireflies as they wheel and zoom flashing their tiny blue-green lights. Bats sometimes soar across the screen, black and silent on their wide wings, and the voices of Hollywood blend strangely with the night noises from the rearby jungle. Screening! are always humorous, whether the film be serious cr comic. The usual rules of decorum do not apply, and any airman who finds himself differing from opinions expressed by some celluloid man or woman promptly says so, loudly and clearly. 'Strong exception is always taken to anything that purports to show tropical life as an endless round of romance and beauty.

Airmen have a full share of that impromptu sense of humour once thought to belong solely to the British soldier. In a. lull bet wee ij two reels at a recent screening ap AC2 rose "nd demanded: “Is there a doctor in the house?” The medical officer, cursing his luck, stood up, to be greeted with a chorus of “Hello Doc. Enjoying .the show ” The appearance of a pretty girl on the screen is the signal for an immediate outburst of appreciative whistles, shouts end catcalls. But perhaps the romantic young hero ot every film suffers most. The amount of free advice that is hurled at him in each love scene is little short of amazing, p.nd while some of it borders on f he personal, the comments of the men add to the amusement of the whole audience, and have never yet been quite sufficient to fuse the projector.