recorded a comparatively rare instance of debracation in a rugger sequence, but the light was not good enough for us to use it. But I would like to pay a tribute to Field in particular—his was the moving spirit as well as the moving camera !—and to Mr. Craine for invaluable technical assistance; and in only a slightly lesser degree to the boys who comprised the film unit and the projection team. The enthusiasm and ingenuity of boys when engaged upon something in which they are interested are quite amazing. It is a sobering thought for a schoolmaster. Films seen this term have been of varying quality. "Dead of Night" was first-class by any standards, made at a time when the cinema was in its hey-day and could command the best brains and the highest skills in its service. It was not difficult to feel that the men who made this film cared about it. One boy maintained afterwards that the Basil Radford-Naunton Wayne episode, funny though it was, destroyed the atmosphere of the whole film. I see his point and in logic, concede it. I certainly welcome this evidence of serious film-viewing. A programme of short films followed, some silent, one an amateur production. On the whole, it was not a very rewarding evening. "The Birthday Present"—produced for Ealing Studios by an uncle of a boy in the audience—I had not seen before and I enjoyed it so much that I am unable to say more about it and must wait until I see it again before I can begin to think where its quality lay. May I commend the practice of seeing good films more than once? It was not altogether a frivolous choice that brought "Oh ! Mr. Porter !" as the last of the season's shows. The London Film Society has recently been presenting a whole series of Will Hay films to its members : and this is generally acknowledged to be his best. But even so for the greater part of its length it smacks too much of photographed Music Hall, with the camera rarely more than four feet away from the once famous team, Will Hay, Moore Marriot, and Graham Moffat. The result is tedium, for which, however, the last ten minutes of the film did much to compensate. That train ride can be compared with the famous one of the Marx Brothers, and no higher praise can F.J•W. be given it.
THE SCHOOL FILM
One of the most interesting features of the Science Exhibition was the public premiere of the School Film, the performance of which had to be made almost continuous in order to cope with the "boxoffice demand". The idea of making a film about the School originated, as might have been expected, with the acknowledged connoisseur of the cinema, Mr. Wiseman. His was the guiding hand throughout, and it is his professional touch in the direction, which lifts the film above the ordinary standard of amateur productions. 29
