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DANCE.

~ FISHERMEN’S
pt See

138 EAST CORDOVA

“ ORCH ESTRA

se FAVORS

* SMORGASBORD
- Tickets on sale at
Pacific Tribune office

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Double: $3.50

EMPHASIS ON CANADIAN BOOKS

Choral, dance,

drama groups

score at Book Festival

THE PROGRAM offered at the

‘Book Festival, sponsored by the

People’s Cooperative Bookstore
Association and held at Hastings
Auditorium here last weekend, was
perhaps the best and most suc-
cessful in the four.years since this
annual event was inaugurated. It
must be noted, however, that al-
though the program was deserving
of far wider support, it attract-
ed only a relatively small part of
the progressive movement in this
city.

The Labor Youth Chorus, which
opened the program with a group
of folk and other songs, showed
the marked advance this group has
made over the past year, under the
leadership of its conductor, Arne
Jonsson and through the unre-
mitting work of its accompanist,
Mrs. Kay Rankin, who has been

ON THE SCREEN |
Film insult
to Australia

HOLLYWOOD has now estab-
lished a standard drill for bring-
ing the delights of film production

to the remote corners of the Eng-

lish-speaking world.

Having put Ould Oireland on
the map in The Quiet Man, with
Maureen O’Hara, drunken locals
and a mush - mush - mush - toora -
liaddy, it has now done the same
for Austrylia in Kangaroo.

And what are the essentials of
Hollywood’s Australia? Why,
Maureen O’Hara, drunken locals
and a_ tooral-i-ooral-i-ooral-i-ay.

It’s the same the whole world ~

over.

The _ essential
features of Australians, as Holly-
wood sees them, are that they
play two-up, herd cattle, suffer

from droughts, and tend, to be

escaped convicts.

Show them doing all these things ©

at the end of the last century and
throw in kangaroos, aborigines,
laughing jackasses and cockatoos
and for Hollywood purposes
you've got all of Australia that
could possibly matter.

This Technicolor epic of the
wild colonial boys was filmed in.
Australia and some of the harsh
beauty of the plains, with their
startling | olors,. reaches. the.
screen. For this, for the. kan-
garoos, and for the authentic
aborigines’ rain dance the film is
yorth seeing.

“But Rik expat to be thrilled
by the fusty old melodrama Holly-
wood deems suitable for the Aus-
tralian setting. It’s that old one
about the rich cattle man seeking

his long-lost- son and thinking he’s

found him in an armed robber on
the run.

Nursing a pure but hopeless
passion for Maureen O'Hara, the
young man confesses his deception
and elects to stand trial like a

man after redeeming himself iby
_ repairing the windmill in a stiff

breeze.

Miss O’Hara, we are igiven to
understand, will marry~ Chips
Rafferty, an honest trooper who
lurks
large moustache and has, in ad-
dition to his other sturdy virtues,

the only genuine Australian ac-—

cent for miles around.

Finlay Currie does his consid-
erable best to make the drunken
and gullible cattle man. credible,
but doesn’t quite success. Peter
Lawford is the foolish young man
and Richard Boone the smooth-
tongued gambler who seems to
have strayed in from a Western

. film.

distinguishing’ .

with the group since it was first
formed.

Students of the Mara McBirney
Studio delighted the audience with
their two contributions, a classical
ballet selections from Aurora’s
Wedding and a primitive dance
of Haitian origin.

The discussion Canadian
books, with Bert Marcuse taking
fiction and Bert Whyte non-fic-
tion. was marked by some inade-
quacies. Too little ‘time was al-

on

lowed for the reviews and in con- |

sequence the ground covered by
the reviewers was quite restrict-
ed, there being many important
omissions. It was particularly
unfortunate that the time was not
extended to permit | discussion
from the audience, for exception
must certainly have been taken to
Marcuse’s cosmopolitan approach
in his introductory remarks to the
question of what constitutes good
Canadian writing.

(Readings by Shelah Martin and
Harry Gofsky from The Scalpel,
The Sword, by Ted Allen and Sya-

_ney Scott, emphasized this fine

biography of Dr. Norman Beth-

» une as one of the most outstand-

ing Canadian books of the year.

The program was concluded
with a skit, The Case of the Bulg-
ing Bookstore, written by Kay
Edwards and Allan Ross and pre-
sented by a group drawn from
Vancouver Theatre of Action and
the People’s Cooperative Book-
store Association. A delightful
satire on the. People’s Cooperative
Bookstore, it kept the audience
laughing from. the opening lines.

John Stanton, béard chairman
of the People’s Cooperative Book-
store Association, was master of
ceremonies, %

A puppet show, hugely enjoy-

ed by an audience of some 50 chil- .

dren, and.an. excellent talk of
children’s books given by Bette
Fee rounded out the program at
the Saturday afternoon session.

ARAGON, SARTRE SIGN MANIFESTO

Writers sink differences —
In. joint peace appeal -

TWO GREAT French writers of
vastly differing political views
have joined forces to issue an ap-
peal for support for the People’s
Congress for Peace in Vienna.
‘They are the Communist poet
Louis Aragon and the virtual high
priest of existentialism Jean Paul

Sartre, who are supported by 17
other famous French writers, in-

cluding Jean Cocteau.

* These have issued a manifesto
calling for the ending of the cold
war.

Delegates to the Vienna Con-
gress, which opens on December.
12, should be fully aware of the
wide variety of viewpoints exist-

ing in their own country on the

question of peace, states the mani-
festo.

OPERATE OWN NARROW GAUGE RAILWAY

uncomfortably behind a

‘Other signatories to the mani-
festo include Charles-. Spaak,
Simon De Beauvoir and Rene-Jean
Clot.

Jean Paul Sartre is the leader
of the existentialist group of writ-
ers and artists which arose after
the war. (One of his plays, No.
Exit, was produced by Totem
Theatre here this year.)

Jean Cocteau is a poet, noyel-
ist and film director.

Many .British writers are playt >

ing an active part in preparations

for the Vienna congress. Speak-
ing at a public meeting in Lough-
ton recently James Aldridge.

‘author of The Diplomat, described

it as “a congress of patriots.”

Polish children run model village
with post office, phone exchange.

A MODEL children’s village

visited regularly by Polish young-
sters on summer and school vaca-
tions during the year has been set

“up at Podgrodzie near the Baltie¢

coast. The village. combines all
the fun of a fair with the job
of self-government. :

Under the care of trained per-

sonnel, the children have the op-

portunity of taking responsibility
in a world of their own size. All

_the village’s services and facili-

ties — post office, telephone ex-

change, circulation of newspapers

and magazines—are managed bt
the children. They also learn to

“organize plays, games and enter-
*

tainment.

Before erftering the village for
their vacations, all of Podgrodzie’s

young citizens,are examined by —

doctors. The youngsters are then
housed in six-room cottages situ-
ated in'a forest of pines. They
have their own athletic fields,
playgrounds, amphitheatre and
amusement park as well as a 350-
seat movie. ¥.
The greatest attraction is the

‘Village narrow - gauge

railway
railway which runs for nearly two
miles. Together with the village

port and its boats, the railway is
operated solely by the children.

who also have the job of main-
taining stations, rolling stock and
equipment. Road and street. traf-

fic is directed by the youngsters.

The children make and enforce
their own laws. Their system of
self-government. resembles the
People’s Councils—Poland’s local
organs of public authority. Child-
ren’s Councils, elected by all Pod-
grodzie residents, govern in each

of the four districts that make —

up the village.
* * *

THE BOLESLAW BIBRUT
Youth Palace in the industrial city
of Katowice is another example of
the new Poland’s many projects
designed to assure its children
after-school recreational and cul-
tural facilities. Opened in part
in July, 1951, and since then ex-
panded, the Youth Palace now oc-
cupies an entire square block and
was built out of_funds contribut-

‘formances.

_ ed by local trade unionists and the

government. :
Each week some 10,000 child-
ren use its facilities. The build-
ing has 64 rooms and studios de-
voted to all sorts of hobbies. The —
well-equipped biology, physics and
chemistry laboratories provide
the youngsters with unusual op-
portunities to investigate on theit —
own the world of everyday natural

' phenomena.

_ Athletic facilities include a large

gymnasium and. swimming pool.

The library contains several thous-
and volumes. A toy-lending set
vice makes it possible for children
to borrow toys for home use.
The music department. is among —
the most popular. In addition tO.
other instruments, a number of
grand pianos aré ‘available for
practice. Youth Palace symphony
orchestras have been organiz'

and rehearse regularly in prepara-

tion for concerts and ballet pet —
The dramatic group
produces plays in the Palace
theatre which has a_ revolving

stage and can seat a thousand

people.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — DECEMBER 5, 1952 — PAGE 8