Evening star., 1944-03-22

screening of 'Tunisian Victory" Y
rather oddly.
The subject of his brooding w
for posterity to understand what
than for those who studied Caesar.
campaigns in the original Latin. Hi.
comparatively simple operation O!
carving Gaul into three parts alway.
has remained obscure-or worse-ir
the minds of 80 per cent of those
who have subsequently studied it
"Tunisian Victory" which shows
North Africa being cut into more
pieces than a picnic pie by the
American, British and French forces
is clarity itself.
In the production of "Tunisian
Victory" the American and British
special film units have examined not
merely the total detail of the elab-
crate and intricate military opera
tion, but have done an interesting
educational job in the overall as
poets of the campaign. One of the
most fascinating and dramatic ele-
mentS of their picture is that which
deals with the meaning of the op-
Grafton, meaning brilliantly clear
in the wild cheers and the ecstatic
faces OF the peoples thus liberated.
II the picture lacks the intensity
OF focus of Desert Victory its
predecessor, it nevertheless tells a
larger story. Whether, it speaks
eloquently of what mud means, or
of what mail call means, to the
soldier, it has about it the deep sense
that this war will have left behind
1t a motion picture record that
should make future wars less likely.
Scipio's, Hannibal's and Caesars
certainly did not.
y y X
The tie-up between the past, the
present and the future seems to be
in the atmosphere of the office to-
day. For instance, the spectacle of
Raymond Massey playing rela-
lively small part in '"The Scarlet
Pimpernel," which reopened today
at the Little Theater, had a special
quality about it derived from the
fact that Mr.. Massey also became
an American citizen. His citizen
ship at the time of his work in the
Leslie Howard picture - Howard's S
favorite, by the way-would not
have made the news.
Since then, Mr. Massey has
played many prominent roles, the
best OF them Abe Lincoln in Robert
Sherwood's play and motion pic
ture, and has been in his second
war from which he was recently
discharged for disability.
Time straggles on, or something.
1t is not known at the moment
that Gary Cooper can get away
from his current chore in Hollywood
to attend the world premiere of
THE Story of DR.. Wassel" at Con-
stitution Hall here on April l
under the auspices of the Navy
League for the benefit of the Amer
lean Red Cross. But the affair win
be by no means without its celebri-
ties. There will be the original
character, DR.. VESSEL, of whom
Cooper is the screen counterpart.
And there also will be Cecil B. De-
Mile, who directed the picture, and
who is becoming more and more of
an actor, even to the point of CO.
starring with Charlie Mccarthy on
the radio.
Cooper's presence is promised if
he can be smuggled briefly out of
his current assignment with Inter-
national Pictures.
80
The mail of drama desks which
usually is full of pin-up girls and
notes on the draft status of their
opposites is being frightened these,
days by strange new set of items.
They are those which deal with the
Shrine Circus which opens at Uline's
arena on Monday night. just today,
for instance. there's a memo which
begins:
Bearded lions are big sissies
giant cobras can be shrugged off as
a bad dream, but Bengal tigers are
the shortest possible cut to death
and destruction.
Information department: Whose
voice was that I recognized at the
screening of 'Tunisian Victory"
asked the voice of a critics wife
who was sure she had heard one of
the narrator's before.
Burgess ~Meredith's,' the critic
said.
Why don't you print that9" the
critics wife asked. There are no