GUIDE TO GOOD READING Christmas list cut by publishers’ conversion to war propaganda CAPSULE REVIEWS ‘Bold’ film only melodramatic NO WAY OUT Advertised widely as the “bold- est” of the current cycle of Holly- wod films on the Negro question, No Way Out succeeds only in be- ing melodramatic. It could have been an exciting and revealing inquiry into the meaning and or- igins of anti-Negro violence and into the persons and social forces behind “race riots.” Instead, reality is disstorted and given an aura of the incredible. While some antiNegro stereotypes are dissipated, others are strengthen- ed and perpetuated. ‘ - Devotion of the Negro family unit gets perhaps its best screen presentation to date. But even here there is the implication»com- mon to a number of films on the Negro question, that the solution to discrimination lies with the individual and his personal quest for success. Central weakness of No Way Out is to be found in its portray- al of the anti-Negro hoodlum and of the “race riot” he provokes. Wilmark, acting the hoodlum is shown as totally demented, a sick and diseased product of big city slums. Of course anti-Negro' pre- judice is a sickness. But it is a social disease. Point of the film is that such prejudice flourishes only in the slums, Thus the myth is perpetuated that the working class or poor white acts as the enemy, of the Negro while the Negro’s only friend is the sympathetic middle- class white, in this case the chief. resident at the hospital. There fs not the Sightest suggestion of the Negro-white unity that in many instances has stopped out- breaks of anti-Negro violence. It should be added that Widmark’s continuous diatribes against the Negro people, full of abusive lan- UU UU ee ee 0 a a et 0 tt et a PEE ENE EUEUEN A] Christmas Card A familiar British Columbia motif has been adapted by Av- rom, noted Toronto artist, for this Christmas card which is on sale here only at the People’s Cooperative Bookstore, 337 West Pender Stret. guage, are badly, even shockingly handled. In the name.of ‘real- ism,’ there is constant reiteration of the vilest anti-Negro epithets. This is carried to an extreme which can have no justification in genuine realism: * * * AMERICAN GUERILLA IN THE PHILIPPINES Tyrone Power plays Ira Wol- fert’s naval ensign who is strand- ed in the Philippimes in 1942 when his battlescarred torpedo boat is sunk by Japanese planes. He is befriended by Filipino guer- illas, who are good-hearted indi- viduals but as the film points out, are really amateurs needing the - guidance of American -officers. Real hero of the picture, is MacArthur whose deathless pro- mise “I Will Return” is uttered over and over in the manner of a religious chant by the entire cast. The general’s signature on the back of a package of cigarettes is also importantly shown in many scenes. Whatever else the audience thinks of American Guerilla in the Philippines, they, will not soon forget.the pack with Mac on the back. DL OE MEE Eat EE TE OO TE Ee TTT OAT TT AT Unde Pe ee TATE TTT et TT MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW! New Year’s Party GABARET ST YEE ELECTRICAL WORKERS CENTRE : 111 Dunsmuir St. Saturday, December 30, 9 p.m. to ? FUN, FAVOURS, DANCING TO GOOD ORCHESTRA $5.00 per Couple Tickets: People’s Cooperative Bookstore - 337 W. Pender St. AUSPICES: 20th CENTURY PLAYERS CLUB. ¢ De eS EVERYONE LIKES to “curl up with a good novel’ and, al- though conversion of the publish- ing industry; ‘with few ‘excep- tions, into a medium of war prop- aganda has shortened the list, the Peoples’ Co-operative Bookstore offers a fine selection of fiction to Christmas shoppers this year. Here are some of the titles: Winged Seeds, by Susan Prit- chard, a novel of working class life in the Australian goldfields: The Dead Stay Young, by Anna Seghers; Land of the Leal, by James Barke, a keen study of Scottish life through three gener- ations; The Storm, by Ilya Ehren- burg; Pelle the Conqueror, py Martin Anderson Nexo, the great Danish writer; The Diplomat, by James Aldridge; Face of a Hero, by Howard Fast. For the reader who prefers non- fiction, here are some _ books which are worth perusing: On the Drumhead, by Mike Quinn; All Quiet pn the Kremlin, by George Marion;Popski’s Private Army; Scottsboro Boy, by Hay- wood Patterson; Strike Strategy, by John Syeubin; and High Trea- son, by Albert Kahn. * * * IN RECENT months a number of American photographers and cartoonists have produced books which make Christmas shopping an easier task. Among the most entertaining are Fractured French, by Richard Taylor ($1.50); White Collar Zoo and Campus Zoo, clever animal photographs ($1.25); Fellow Citi- zen, a series of baby photographs ($1.50); Miaou, cat studies ($1.25) ; Yours Ever, dog studies ($1.25); Monster Rally, by Charles Adams ($3.50); Sizzling Platter, by Pe- ter Arno ($3.50); And on the Eighth Day, by Abner Dean ($3.50); A Pocketful of Humor, by Bert “Lancaster (75); and Best Cartoons of the Year ($3.25). All these books are available here at Peoples’ Co-operative Book Store, 337 West Pender. i= eT UMNO COG OUI “LITTLE GOLDEN THIS CHRISTMAS GIVE BOOKS FICTION THE FREE — THE PROUD AND Howard Fast’s latest novel — $3.50 PELLE THE CONQUEROR by Martin Alexander Nexo — Four books in one volume — An epic of working class writing now available for the first time in English — $6.50 SELECTED WORKS OF MAXIM GORKY — The Mother, Artamanov Business and Eariy Childhood all in one volume — Special, $2.50 BY JAMES BARKE Land of the Leal — $2.50 Wonder of all the Gay World — $3.50 Wind that Shakes the Barley — $3.00 Song in the Green Thorn Tree — $3.00 All four books at a special price — $10.00 WINGED SEEDS by Susan Pritchard — An Australian writer who should be better known in Canada writes of the gold fields “down under” $2.50 THE DIPLOMAT by James Aldridge — A brilliant study of diplomacy — $4.50 THEY LIVE AGAIN — A fine novel of the Resistance by Claude Morgan — $1.75 ¢ BY ILYA EHRENBURG The Storm — $2.50 Fall of Paris — $2.50 OUR LIVES — A fine anthology of American writing — $2.50 NON-FICTION SOVIET COMMUNISM by Sydney and Beatrice Webb — Now back in print in one large volume — $6.00 ~ STRIKE STRATEGY by Join Steuben — $3.75 BASES AND EMPIRE by George Marion — New third edition — $3.50 ALL QUIET ON THE KREMLIN by George Marion $3.50 WHAT IS LIFE by J. B. S. Haldane — A Marxist study of life — $2.25 : SOVIET SUCCESS by Dr. Hewlett Johnson, Dean of Canter- bury — Now $1.50 POLITICAL ECONOMY by John Eaton — A recommended Marxist study — $2.75 (cloth), $1.50 (paper) ALL MY LIFE by A. E. Smith — The autobiography of a great Canadian working class leader — $2.50 (cloth), 70c (paper) FEAR, WAR AND THE BOMB by Prof. Blackett — Now $1.50 MISCELLANEOUS : Leather edition of ROBERT BURNS — $4.00 ' STANDARD BOOK OF HUNTING AND SHOOTING — $5.95 STANDARD BOOK OF FISHING — $5.95 Bartletts’s FAMILIAR QUOTATIONS — $8.00 Bartholomew’s CITIZEN ATLAS — $20.00 CHILDREN’S BOOKS Age 3-6 ; : BOOKS, WONDER BOOKS, BONNIE BOOKS — Dozens of titles to select from — Each 39c Age 6-9 HIDDEN ANIMALS — $1.50 EGG TO CHICK — Highly recommended — $1.56 PETERSHAM STORY BOOKS of trains, ships, wheat and other subjects — 24 titles — Each .49c¢ - Age 9-12 and up STORY OF YOUR BREAD — $1.95 STORY OF YOUR COAT — $1.95 : HOW THE AUTOMOBILE LEARNED TO RUN by lin — $1.95 CLIMBING OUR FAMILY TREE — $2.50 : BY M. ILIN: How Man Became a Giant — $3.00 Giant at the Crossroads — $3.00 — Giant Widens His World — $3.00 Send for our Christmas catalogue CHRISTMAS ORDERS POST-FREE (Please enclose 3 percent Sales Tax with all mail orders) OPEN TO “4 P.M. — People’s Co-Operative Bookstore 337 West Pender Street VANCOUVER, B.C. a mie Sere owiehe tah = PACIFIC TRIBUNE — DECEMBER 8, 1950 — PAGE 1@