When fascism takes over in a
Society, it seizes control of much
More than the state apparatus,
Even the arts are not exempt, and
Mn fact are a prime target of such
Tegimes, which recognize the
Power of theatre to mold public
Opinion.

This theme, until now un-
treated by the numerous Euro-

} Pean films which have recently

shed new light on the rise of
fascism in the Thirties, is
Presented with spellbinding
Téalism in the Hungarian film
Mephisto. The winner of several
Intemational film awards, this
Semi-biography by Klaus Mann,
Son of author Thomas Mann,
Was suppressed until the making
Of the film precipitated publica-
ton of Mann’s novel last year.
Mephisto is the story of an ac-
tor whose ambition allows him to
pense with his principles, a
Process which puts the lie to the
thesis that art somehow rises
above the political realities of the
day. It is also a chilling reminder
Of more recent occurrences, such
aS in Chile, when fascism takes
Over and ruthlessly seeks to exter-
Minate all that is progressive in
the arts.
Hendrik Hofgen (Klaus Maria
dauer) is a young actor in-
Volved in the left-wing theatre of
Hamburg in the 1920s. Intensely
Creative and innovative — he is a
Proponent of the then novel idea
Of removing the ‘‘barrier’’ bet-
ween audience and actors —
Ofgen seems the epitome of the
artist committed to social change.
But Hofgen also possesses —
_9F ls possessed by +—a driving am-
ee ‘

Films

Anti-Nazi film
is ‘spellbinding’

bition to achieve fame beyond his
modest acclaim as a ‘‘provincial”’
actor. He has no trouble acting
off the stage as well as on it, and
uses these talents to successfully
woo and wed Barbara Bruckner
(Krystyna Janda), the daughter
of a well-to-do, influential left-
wing professor (Martin
Hellberg).

Hofgen’s persistent jockeying
for position pays off, and lands
him the cherished part of
Mephistopholes in Goethe’s
Faust as a member of the State
Theatre in Berlin. As long as the
political climate holds, the now
nationally acclaimed actor con-
tinues his espousal of left-wing
causes, and is a frequent guest at
Communist Party rallies.

But as the Nazis rise to power,
Hofgen finds it expedient to shed
his earlier professed convictions
and adopt those of his former
enemies. This change does not
happen overnight. Director
Istvan Szabo skilfully depicts the
gradual moral decline of a man
whose acting dazzles even
himself, so that he believes his
justifications for selling out his
principles and former friends.

This transformation — a sur-
face change, since Hofgen’s basic
insecurity and ambitions are con-
sistent throughout — is virtually
completed in the film’s final
scenes when the actor, now direc-
tor of the State Theatre, reinter-
prets Hamlet in the Nazi mold.
He has risen to this new height
with the backing a Goering-like
General (Rolf Hoppe), the Nazi

in his ambitious rise to fame, actor Hendrik (Klaus Maria Brand-
auer) plays Faust’s Mephistopheles in a scene from Mephisto.

chief who wins Hofgen’s services
with skilful flattery. Once the ac-
tor is in his grip, however, the
General can easily dismiss him
with contempt. Such is the fate,
Mephisto seems to tell us, of sell-
outs.

The history of Mann’s novel is
a story in itself. Written in 1936
when the author was in self-
imposed exile in the Netherlands,
it was understandably banned
from publication by Hitler’s
government. But successive at-
tempts to publish Mephisto after
the war also met with failure. It’s °
chief character was considered to
bear too close a resemblance to
the real-life figure Gustaf Grun-
dgens who had been a left wing
actor during the Weimar
Republic but had accommodated
himself to Hitler’s Third Reich

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Reasonable Charge
and rose to fame again in post- URE
war Germany.

A court order preventing the
novel’s publication in 1963
revealed just how Nazi and neo-
Nazi sentiments have persisted in
official circles in West Germany.
The judge declared that the Ger-
man public was not interested in
‘fa false picture’? of post-1933
theatre by an ‘‘expatriate.”’

That ban has been challenged }
by the publication of the book in
December, 1981, and. by. the
release of the film. The novel has
become a bestseller in Europe.

_ Mephisto, an excellently acted
and photographed version of the
novel, is running at the Bay
theatre in Vancouver for at least
another month.

— Dan Keeton

CONDOR’S PAINTING & build-
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Phone 433-1145. A progressive firm
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Complete printing services. Bro-
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LEGAL SERVICES

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157 Alexander St., 2nd Floor, Van-
couver. 682-3621...

400 gather in final tribute to ‘Pritch’

For more than 35 years Harold
Nitchett was barred from
hembership in the union which he
ad helped to build and had served

4 its founding international presi- .

at. But last Saturday, Interna-
10nal Woodworkers regional
na €sident Jack Munro paid tribute
lit Pritchett as a man who, early in
‘©; “pledged himself to the
Storic momentum of the B.C.
T Movement to which he was to
“ontribute so greatly.”
ch ers in the labor movement
Ose different systems than
‘old, Munro said, ‘‘but his pass-
th 18. a powerful reminder to us all
at the historic momentum which
©Ombines us is a stronger, deeper
ae than theissues which separate

= Some 400 people, many of them
ng union leaders, gathered in
Pyrpleton auditorium Aug. 21 in
tchett’s memory and to hear
| Unro and Communist Party
pes Maurice Rush pay final
bute to the lifelong unionist and
amunist.
by e2rold and a handful of others
Uild the foundations of my
po.” Munro said, emphasizing
. tchett’s leadership of the 1931
one? Mills strike which “stands
Ut in North American labor
w, Ory as one in which” despite the
sening depression, major
Nomic gains were achieved.

«|. Against opposition that
included forest industry manage-
ment, the government, the police
and the AFL, he and others
fashioned a union,”’ Munro said.

“In its early years, it was as
much denounced for its insistence
on human solidarity as for its
political stance. It was still in the
Thirties that the IWA hired East
Indian and Chinese organizers. . .
In 1943, Harold headed a delega-
tion to Victoria to demand the ex-
tension of voting rights to all
adults. :
“In 1946, the [WA led B.C.
labor’s post-war resurgence with a
magnicent strike. . .”” he said.

Pointing to the 1948 split when,
under the threat of a international-
imposed administration, the
regional leadership including
Pritchett broke away to form an
independent union, Munro noted
that ‘few at this gathering are
unaware of the events . . . which
came to separate us.”

But, he added, those events
“cannot now obscure Harold’s
great contribution to labor or
diminish in the slightest Canadian
labor’s obligation to his memory.

The IWA international journal
International Woodworker, also
paid tribute on the front page of its
Aug. 12, 1982 issue. International
president Keith Johnston noted

that Harold was a “significant

figure’’ in the history of the union
and the North American labor
movement.

Communist Party leader
Maurice Rush eulogized ‘‘Pritch’’,
as he was known, as a man who
was ‘‘a natural leader with tremen-
dous organizational ability, great
courage and principle.

‘His name belongs with that of
Arthur Evans, Harvey Murphy
and great leaders in the labor move-
ment. He leaves an outstanding
and imperishable legacy in the
history of B.C. labor,”’ he said.

Rush also pointed to the events
of 1948, recalling that the cold war
“drew many into its campaign’? —
including employers, government,

leading media figures and.

unionists.

. For the IWA the cold war cam-
paign culminated in the events of
1948. And as a result of that split
which, he said is “‘widely regarded
as a mistake, many Communists
including Harold Pritchett were ex-
pelled.”’

A message from the central ex-
ecutive of the CP noted that it was
‘a mark of Harold’s character’
that he went back into the industry
to work even after he had been
stripped of union membership.

Rush emphasized that in the
years following 1948, ““Pritch’’ had
been a member of various leading
committees of the Communist Par-

.

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Available for rentals. For reserva-
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Ph. 254-3436.

ty, including the central committee,
and was devoted to the Tribune,
distributing it regularly and raising
$500 for the financial drive even in
the final months before his death.

‘His life is an example for the
new generation of working class
and Communist leaders,”’ he said.

Congratulations to Nelson Vega and Heather on the
birth of Nicholas Daniel Aug. 23, 1982 in Lions Gate
Hospital, North Vancouver. Birth weight 7 lbs., 9 oz.
Baby and parents in good health.

This addition to the human race was welcomed by
grandpa and grandma Bernie and Audrey Keely who
wish to thank. Amada Reygadas for her able
assistance.

RANKIN & COMPANY

Barristers & Solicitors

4th Floor, 195 Alexander St.,
Vancouver, B.C. V6A 1N8

682-2781
Offers a broad range of legal services including:
@ Personal Injury and Insurance Claims @ Labour Law
@ Criminal Law

@ Estates and Wills

@ Real Estate and Conveyancing
@ Divorce and Family Law

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—AUGUST 27, 1982—Page 7

eat Mngt sae pier it