Britain by Carol Reed and by Garson Kanin for America : suffering, as it inevitably did, from the episodic nature of the material from which it was formed, it nevertheless had virtues to commend it, quite apart from its appropriateness to the occasion : no studio reproduction could possibly recapture the greatness of the hour as De Gaulle strode down a liberated Champs Elysees or the thrill of riding with the first British tanks into jubilant Brussels or the utter degradation of Belsen. "Listen to Britain" was a short documentary made in 1942 to illustrate civilian life in Britain during the war : selection of subjects, editing, and the effective use of the sound track combined to show what a serious loss to British film-making was the untimely death in 1947 of its director, Humphrey Jennings. "David Copperfield" was frankly disappointing at second seeing : the complete black-out at the end of every sequence seemed crude and old-fashioned : the American cast "hammed" Dickens almost to the point of unamusing caricature, so that long before the end of its 130 minutes ' I was resolving never again to be taken in by a film corporation's billing of its film as a "School Classic". On the other hand Harold Lloyd's silent film, "Safety Last", had worn extremely well : richly inventive of visual humour it served to remind us that the "talkies", too often content with verbal humour, which, after all, is obtainable, if not so readily accessible, on musichall and stage, have virtually robbed the world of a source of laughter that was unique to the films : the famous sequences of the climb up the face of the store—surely a classic piece of filming—does much to substantiate the philosopher who said that we only laugh because we are relieved and glad to think that it is not ourselves who are in the predicament we are watching. F.J.W.
ANOTHER SCHOOL POLL Some four years ago a "gallup" poll was held in the School, and it was decided to hold another this term. The poll aimed at obtaining the views of Peterites on a variety of subjects. A hundred people were interviewed, twenty from each House, groups of four being interviewed from each level in the House. The poll can thus be guaranteed to be fairly representative of the opinion of the School. The compilers wish to thank all those who so willingly and readily answered the questions put to them, and who helped to make the poll a success. The first four questions were asked four years ago, and the results were compared. The 1948 figures appear in brackets.
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