_ Rasho-mon
_ Blood. It won a major award

_ beatniks are at it again!

_ Over 100 generals and admirals of the new West

_ German armed forces are former high Hitlerite officers,

_ Over 70 cerved in Hitler’s supreme command. Many. are

_ accused or convicted war criminals.

Bundeswehr employs: nearly 2,000 former senior and
| junior officers of the hated SS.

There’s no doubt: the best recommendation for com-

“ ‘mand in Adenauer Germany’s “next war” is to have

gicen beaten in the last.

The West German

Top Japanese film
to open at Varsity

NE OF Japan’s finest films,

' The Magnificent Seven
_ (Seven Samurai) will receive
_its B.C. premiere at the Var-
sity Theatre here on April 6.
_It is sponsored by the Fed-
eration of Pacific Film So-
cieties, Japanese Canadian
_ Citizens’ Association and the
_ Extension Department of UBC
in conjunction with the Odeon
_ Theatre.
The picture was directed by
_ Akira Kurosawa, who made
and Throne of

at the 1954 Venice Internation.
al Film Festival.
Briefly, the story concerns
_ members
peasant village who take mea-
sures to protect themselves
from bandit raids.
Following the village elder’s
advice to “find a hungry
Samurai” a delegation shops

_ for warriors who are not too-

proud to fight for board and
room — all the impoverished
peasants can afford to pay.
z e
ne by one the Samurai are

of a 16th-century,

recruited, humorous touches
sharpening the grim necessity
of the villagers’ errand. After
the residents’ initial fears, the
Samurai are gradually ac-
cepted into village life. Then,
at_great cost, the Samurai lead
the peasants to _ victorious
resistance against the bandits.

The Magnificent Seven stems
from the Jidai-Gekai genre;
ie, period or costume drama.
It converts thrice . familiar
genre into original artistic
expression and searching philo-
sophical statement. At the
same time, the dramatic ex-
citement of love and adven-
ture, the subtleties of human
relations, are not ignored.

In sum, this masterpiece is
the realization of director Kur-
osawa’s long-held ambition to
make an action picture with-
out sacrificing human values.
He converts traditional hero-
worship and glorification of
militarism inherent in the
Shinto-influenced Jidai-Gekai
to the trenchant polemic
against it.

\

’ placed on efficiency,

OPEN FORUM

IWA_ negotiations

IWA MEMBER, Vancouver,
B.C.: The appointment of Mr.
Justice J. V, Clyne as chair-
man of MacMillan and Bloedel
is an indication of tough
struggles ahead for our union.
The fact that the operators
can afford to pay this judge a
reported $75,000 per™ year. to
hold the line on wages should
bring home the necessity of
getting that 20 percent in-
crease in wages that our
union is asking for.

All the stories we used to
tell about vicious speedup, dis-
crimination and poor working
conditions seem rather pale in
comparison with today’s drive
for more profits. The working
force in many.operations has
been cut to the bone. If a
worker is taken away for any
reason his job is filled by a
foreman. Push buttons have
increased and the number of
workers has been cut down
considerably.

Management is looking for-
ward to the happy day when
one worker will do the work
of ten. That day is getting
closer. All the emphasis is
and a
few speed-crazed workers are
sometimes found complaining
to management about other
workers who are not of the
greyhound type. This, of
course, is right down the boss’
alley and puts the union in a
bad light—the boss can claim
that he didn’t fire the man, it
was his fellow workers who
‘did the dirty work.

Now is the time for all mill-
workers to lay aside their
personal differences and con-
centrate on winning that 20
percent increase. We can only
do this by developing greater
unity on the job. Let’s iron
out our differences and flatten
out the bosses!

Fight Bill 43

worsen Vancouver,
B.C.:_ The boss class thinks
Bil] 43 is going to be the
answer to the workers’> de-
mands for a living wage and
decent working conditions.
They wouldn’t be so sure of
themselves if they were to
listen to the discussions around
the mill on-this question.

The workers are talking
about a general work stop-
page. It is spoken about
openly, as the best way to
show the Bennett government

. that workers are _against Bill

43.

Discussions are going on all
the time in the mill, and it
is clear that the workers feel
that. the attacks on the IWA
and Teamsters by Smallwood
in Newfoundland are linked
up with the attacks of the
monopolies and the Socred

government against labor in
this province. Workers are
beginning to see the connec-
tion as part of a national
drive by big business to use
the -capitalist state (govern-
ments, courts and police)
backed up by the boss press,
to smash labor.

Bill 43 will get the treat-
ment it deserves, provided our
union leadership lives up to
its responsibilities and heads a
militant struggle against it.

Facts and figures

B. J., Vancouver, B.C.: The
year. 1958 was the year re-
ferred to by management as
the year labor got completely
out of hand. Unless there was
restrictive legislation (said the
bosses) labor, with its de-
mands, would wantonly ruin
Canada’s economy.

Yet a careful look at gov-
ernment statistics reveals that
in 1958 there were over 1,500
labor contracts which came up
for nenewal ‘compared to 375
agreements in 1957.

In all the talk about “in-
creased labor unrest” the fact
that more than four times as
many contracts came. up for
renewal in 1958 was purposely
overlooked.

Ban missile bases

READER, Victoria, B.C.: The
Peace by Peaceful Means
Society in Victoria has sent a
protest to Prime
Diefenbaker against the gov-
ernment decision to buy U.S.

Minister ~

missiles and build missile ne
in Canada.

The Society held its first
annual meeting recently and
reviewed the progress made
during its first year of exis-
tence. In its letter to Diefen-
baker it was suggested that
Canada would lose her “politi-
cal and economic independ-
ence” to the U.S. under the
missile plan, and the question
was posed: “Why must we
ape the negative posture of
defense adopted by the Uni-
ted- States?”

“Somnie of the decisions ar-
rived at:

@ Canada should recognize
the Peoples’ Be DURE of
China.

@ Canada sneha withdraw
from NATO.

@ Canada should stop build-
ing war material and use the
money to help improve Can-
ada’s economy.

@ Canada should give more
aid to undeveloped countries.
@ Members should write let-
ters to local newspapers and
to MPs urging them to speak
out for peace.

~ The Peace Society is spon-
soring a public lecture March
26 at 8 p.m. at New Kirk Hall,
680 Courtenay Street, Victoria,

‘at which Mrs. Vera Brittain,

noted British authoress, will
be the guest speaker.

People interested in further-
ing the cause of peace are in-
vited to join the Peace by
Peaceful Means Society to en-
able it to become an even

more effective voice for peace.

Here on the shore
Where never was war
Six simple blocks of stone
Hold her craven face
And the signs of her race,
Lovely, neglected, alone.
Here once she walked,
To the fortunate talked
In lines all living and
free; :
And the chant of her kind
Ever churns in my mind .-
For she was what I long
to be:
A poet with roots
In her people—with fruits
As full as Canadians
_ know.
Why waste in this space
In the paradise-place
Where in life she so liked
to go?
‘Let the tribes send
Let the poets mend
The scene that the
sculptor began!
Let us leave written wrong
And return to her song,
For it nourished the
freedom of man.

March 20, 1959 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—RAGE 5