Evening star., 1939-01-15
Wanger Adds
New Slap
At Films
Cinema's Hereto
Unsilenced by
Furore
By Jay Carmody.

Somebody in Hollywood is always
speaking out. At the flick of a re-
porter's notebook the cinema's great
and small figures break out with
observations on a wide variety of
subjects. They are virtually Wanton
in their readiness to discuss ideal
husbands, ideal wives, marriages
versus career, favorite salad, the
best-dressed man and vice versa,
love for the simple life, the dura-
bility of swing music, and sometimes
the. dirt about their neighbors.
Rarely does any one in Hollywood
discuss pictures from critical view
point. Even some of the towns
professional critics are reluctant to
commit so slight heresy as to
imply that film is less than STU
pendous OF course there always is
Douglas Churchill (Who works just
across the page) to strike balance;
but even Mr.. Churchill can Stand
assistance in project so vast.
He gets it this week from Walter
Wanger. Mr.. Wanger is an indie
pendent producer, a sort of violent
auxiliary to United Artists. His ma
jor concessions to Hollywood are
polo shirts and hatleSSneSs. Other
wise he is agnostic and very articu-
late. His agnosticism and articu-
lateness cover wide variety of SUBJ
jects, but not with more admirable
vigor than the quality of recent
pictures and what ought to be done
about them. Says Mr.. Wanger:
THE truth is that films, travelling
In pretty much of a rut, have lost
their connection with the life of the
people, with the temper of the
times"
From there Mr.. Wanger goes on
to point out that the newspapers,
the radio and the newsreels all
manage to be vastly more dramatic
than the movies today because they
are mirrors of current experience.
He thinks it is very silly of the
cinema makers to permit the exist
ence OF such a situation. The same
material of which the most COM
pelling headlines are made is avail
able to the screen. Mr. Wanger
gets furoius when he contemplates
the timidity which diverts film max
ers from its USE Of the self-im-
posed, fear-imposed censorship of
the industry, he says:
In the invigorating air of our
great democracy, we have volun-
tarily conducted our industry along
the lines of totalitarian state. AS
a result Americans get in the main
only such lifeless entertainment at
home as they might get from the
so-called creative elements of Ger
many and Italy"
Screen as Free as Press
Is Producers Ideal.
Mr.. Wanger's dream is a free
screen, one that enjoys the same
freedom as the press. 1t is more
than dream. For him it also is a
fight.
His two major pictures of the last
year reflect his attitude. They were
Blockade" and "Algiers" The
former represented his insistence
upon the right to use the dramatic
material of the Spanish civil war,
the latter his effort to demonstrate
that the films could handle psyche
logic material with dramatic effect.
Blockade" of course, was by far
the more significant picture, al
though artistically and commercially
it would up inferior to "Algiers." :"
And to great many less ambitious
and idealistic pictures, it probably
need not be said
Whatever fortune it failed to
make, or other distinctions it failed
to win, Blockade" undoubtedly was
the most sensational picture of the
past year. The furor it caused was
considerably greater than that of
any half dozen other Hollywood
features.
Mr.. Wanger anticipated the con-
troversy that developed. Personally,
he admitted to having no relish for
wounding those with contrary points
of view. Moreover, in a chat before
the release of the picture, he was
(See CARMODY, Page F-30