Evening star., 1942-06-10

of authenticity, for his brief role in
Builders"
Authority for his real trade is
Sidney Bernstein, London cinema
operator, who escorted Builders"
and three other recent English doc
umentary films to this country. Mr..
Bernstein, who showed the pictures
to local press group, not only con-
f1rmed the fact that the fellow al
ways had been builder, but was
forced to add, with regretful hon.
esty: But now he wants to be an
actor"
It Is one of the interesting quail
ties of the most recent officially ap-
proved English documentaries, as of
their predecessors, that imply that
every Englishman is a latent or
frustrated actor. It was an aspect
Of Target for Tonight" from which
professional moviegoers recovered
only after they had written many
columns Of astonishment and
praise.
Builders" offers several other,
though lesser, examples of the same
latent skill. The chap who operates
the steam shovel and speaks some
praiseworthily idealistic words in be-
half of the postwar world for which
he is fighting is just steam shovel
operator in real life. And the ditch
digger who plays effective comedy
grumbling part is just a ditch
digger.
Whether they, too. have acquired
q hankering to become actors, Mr..
Bernstein did not say.
Ek
Builders incidentally, Is not the
best film of the lot of four which
Bernstein brought with him from
London. For its dramatic revela-
tion Of civilian participation in
total war, "A Tale Of Two Cities" is
more impressive. An expert job of
assembling, it edits Russian and
English films into a forceful narra-
tive account of how London's
bombing experience became enor-
mously useful to Moscow when came
its turn to be bombed by the Ger
mans. And shows what a job Of
resistance the Russians are doing
out of their own tnviolable spirit.
Mobile Engineers" which shows
how English specialists in machine
tool operations are stepping up the
productivity of women and other
neophyte personnel in war plants,
is hardly picture which general
movie audiences are likely to see.
Even the rather pretty (some Of
them) girls in overalls are unlikely
to hide the fact that machine tools
are dullish subject to the average
movie customer.
The most inspired piece Of film
craft in the latest set of documen-
taries (Which are called "factual")
for this departments enjoyment
and its money, is Listen to Brit
ain" It amounts to an illustrated
sound track, the sounds of war
behind the lines where civilians
fight. They have been gathered
into 10 minutes of complete fasci-
nation, the lark's evening song, the
click Of q semaphore, the gigantic
painting Of heavily laden freight
engine moving slowly through a
blacked-out countryside, the kissing
steam of straining factory machines,
the lunch-hour songs of factory
workers after midnight, all the loud
and little noises of q desperately
energized people. It's rather won-
derful, we thought.
When supporting roles come up
for Judgment at the end of the
movie year, that of Ernest Anderson
as Parry Clay, the studious colored
lad in I'm This Our Life" will be
remembered by many. Washing
tonians should remember that young
Anderson is local boy, q brilliant
student at both Francies Junior
High and Dunbar High School,