The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-15
BY TUCTE NEVILLE
NEA Service stkff Correspondent

| @A@A@N
 NEA Service stkff Correspondent
 Hollywood-Twe miles from
 London on the Oxford road, the biz
 sound stages of the Denham studio
 stand out so prominently that
 they're used as landrnark by day.
 flying German bombers. You'd
 think that movie people in such q
 spot would have Q hard time keeping
 their minds on their work. Gabriel Pascal. producing and di- recting e. B. Shaw's Major Bar bara," didn'5t care particularly, how ever, except that noise of gunfire and planes botched Q lot of the sound track and forced him to dub in about e third of the dialog. (For that matter, the Hoys Office was almost equally troublesome. Its disapproval of several parts of the script, which Parcal says he receiv- cd six weeks late, forced him to re- shoot 20 sequences)
 In the security of America, Pas cal says he realizes now what un- reasonable demands he made of cast and crew in tho painstaking pro- duction of Q picture which few be- lieved ever could be finished. He also believes he recorded more emo- tional intensity, brought out spir- itual qualities which couldn't have been done here. The swarthy, heavily-accented, Hungarian -born director has developed an ascetic horror of rich, luxurious Hollywood, which he fears is skiddlng into ar- tistic degeneration.
 AND ART
 If privation and toll and danger are good for the creative soul, It's no wonder that Major Barbara" is o swell picture. They had plenty of trouble, beginning with c five-weeks location trip at the time of Dunkirk and the fall of France. Back at Denhaln, the leading man was so certain that invasion was coining that he walked out and joined the army. So all the film was scrapped, but Pascal wasn't sorry after he suc- ceeded in getting Rex Harrison as the new leading man.
 Everybody in the company did war work of some sort-two nights O week on the roofs, or patrol duty and two prominent members of the cast were actually in service. Rob- ert Newton, who comes pretty close to stealing the picture, is an or. dinary sailor il tho British navy. Pascal arranged several short leaves for him but failed in a promise to the commandant at Plymouth to get Newton back at Q certain hour. To square that, the producer hadl to promise to preview the picture at the naval base. His proudest recollection now Is thot when an air-raid warning sounded during tho showing not one of some $500 men left the auditorium.
 FROM GUN TO CAMERA
 There was more serious trouble, though. over the acting services of David Tree, who belongs to an anti, aircraft gun crew iil London. Three times went ip and brought him out from his battery" Pascal re- called. And the last time, when we were almost finished, got him without an order from his corn- manding officer.
 "That afternoon Q sergeant came to the studio with an order for Da- vid Trees arrest as deserter. I delayed the sergeant and had him shown around the rest of tho studio while we made the last couple of shots. Then I told David and he was so scared that he rushed back to his battery in> his makeup and costume. I tried to explain to his officer, but 1t was no good. David was confined to quarters for two 50 much for being ab- sent, but because he forgot his uni- form"
 Wendy Hitler, the star, had to pass two military air fields on her