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The Roots of Heaven: a film

about elephants and liberty

ee Se OeERCIAL film re-
viewers pretend to be con-
fused by The Roots of Heaven,
but what the author is saying
is as plain as the ears on the
elephants which figure so
largely on the screen.
p And it is a fascinating story,
especially considering _ its
“source: Romain Gary who, in
addition to being a novelist is
a convinced DeGaullist and the
French consul in Los Angeles.
Gary premises a character
named Morel who is embarked
on a one-man crusade that is
about es quixotic. as any you
could find: he is out to save.
the elephants of French Equi-
torial Africa (and other places)
from extinction at the hands
of man,
~The elephant is the strong-
est living animal, and the most_
free. To him it is a symbo] of
freedom and life and beauty
and he objects to its being ex-
terminated to “keep the world

ers.’*:

_ in billiard balls and letter open-
ee 5

>

Mocked and ridiculed as a

_ erackpot, Morel can get only
_two signatures on his. petition.

The first is that of a prostitute; .

_...the second that of a former
Z
BDL

British Army officer who is

drinking himself to death.
But his crusade gains. pub-

licity when an American tele-

vision personality on safari gets

shot in the buttocks by Morel,
and he gains other followers.
One of them, significantly, -is
the leader of an African na-
tionalist movement. In the ele-
phant, he sees the symbol of
freedom for his people.

What started as a_single-

handed effort to stop the
slaughter of elephants begins
rapidly to assume larger pro-
portions — both on the screen
and in the mind of the audience.
The man who started out as a
starryeyed “idealist” becomes
(as other crusaders in their
turn have become) a “menace”
who must be stopped and, when
he can’t be stopped, captured
dead or alive.
~The drunken Englishman
(played with great charm by
Erro] Flynn) puts it this way:
“He’s not out to save the ele-
phant!. he’s out to save hu-
manity — for we’re in danger
of. extinction.” -

And this is the literal truth,
which the author has- deliber-
ately put in the mouth of an-

other character who cannot be
taken seriously (for isn’t he a
sot?), any more than one can
take seriously a crusader fol-
lowed by a harlot named Min-
na (Juliette Greco) — or is
her name Mary Magdalen?

In the course of this story,
there is something said — and
much more implied — about
the race toward nuclear des-
truction; about the French co-
lonial administration o& Africa;
about the ivory business; the
international press (represented
by Eddie Albert, who will do
anything for a good story and
picture — until he too learns
that there are some things more
sacred than “the press’), and
some “high society”. characters
on the safari between drinks.

In the role of Morel, Trevor
Howard is literally superb —
and very moving Orsen Welles
(who gets buckshot in the butt)
provides a telling short por-
trait of a self-important TV
personality, and John Huston’s

direction is generally percep-.

tive — if the pace is some-
times slow. :
But here again, the play’s
the thing, Don’t miss it. _
—DAVID. ORDWAY

A woman's heart |

O woman’s heart, what keeps you beating so? What is
it like, this love you give or seek? ~ x
What do you believe? What sustains you so? What is

it you want?

In what are you irresolute? Steadfast? Speak!

“What keeps you beating so?”

Knowing that the reason for
my existance has been fulfill-
ed and little beings call me
Mother; the hope and trust that
the guidance which I try to
give my child will help him
to remember his heritage,
proudly; the hope that some-
day he will comprehend the
great ideals and noble strug-
gles of the working class and
become a living working part
of it where he shall find all
truth and beauty, the meaning
and purpose of life itself.

“What is it-like this love you
give and seek?”

Love in a woman’s heart is
like* the sweet elan that sym-
phonies can bring to lift the
soul; its beauty is like the sight
of white hand clasped in
friendship with the black; like
the beauty of a mother nursing
child; like all the loveliness in
fields of golden grain; and
like the beauty of seeing a
mighty throng standing in ova-
tion, for a comrade’s eloquent
demand for justice and for
right, for freedom and for
peace.

“What do you believe?”

That souls of men have now
begun to stir in harmony with
every heart and vibrate per-
fectly together to make the
dearest wish of each become
the profound good of all, and
when the final triumph comes,
each human heart will sing in
joyous praise of common man,
the builder of socialism and a
lasting peace.

“What sustains you so?”
he. love-of him whose
gentle heart has taught me how

—IVAN FRANKO,, 1875.

to live, who loves me for things
I am and want to be; by the
animation in a child’s face and
his deceptively simple ques-
ticns; by music and a book; by
my daily work; by the voice
of millions crying out for peace.
“What is it you want?”

A world at peace! I want
my sisters in Asia and Africa
to find their freedom and an

end to their poverty and suf-

fering; I want all my. sisters’

in Canada to become free of

the worry and hardship that
unemployment has brought to
so many thousands; I want all
women to facé life courageous-
ly and let not our minds be

dominated by the advertising .

moguls who profit in the mil-
lions on the unnecessary fears
and anxiety of woman ap-
preaching advancing years; I
want my country to develop a
culture that will teach that

life is precious, and show our

young as they approach man-
hood and womanhood that
family life is sacred, that love
and marriage is a noble and a
beautiful thing and not as they

constantly see it in the movies,

TV and shallow literature.

“In what are you irreso-
lute?” Only in the degree that
I can still love those who have
through thoughtless and care-
less words and misunderstand-
ings hurt my family and me.

“In what steadfast?”

In the belief that we will be-
come even stronger and give
our children and future gen-
ations a world that shall be-
come a haven of peace for play
and quiet study, for creative
thought and happy endeavour.

MARION PHILIPOVICH

Publish huge edition of
Sholom Aleichem's works

HE 100th anniversary of
Sholom Aleichem will be,

celebrated in the Soviet Union
by publishing .the author’s
complete works in Russian in’
a six-volume set over a period
of two years. :

The first volume which went
on sale two weeks ago, was in
part subscribed to in advance
of the actual sale. The portion
allocated to Moscow was sold
out in 45 minutes. Total run of
the first edition will be 250,000.

A volume of selected works
of the famed Yiddish folk
writer is also being published
in Yiddish in an edition of 30,-
000. :

There is nothing in the whole
capHalist world to compare
with this popularization of the

_ works of a Jewish writer. <

Simon Yevgenev, chairman -

of the Commission of Litera-
ture for Nationalities, working
through the Writers’ Union,
gave me this information in an
interview. Samuel Galkin, a
leading Jewish writer, told me
that not even in the United
States has such a large edition

of Sholom Aleichem in Yiddish |

ever been published.

Yevgenev was busily en-
gaged in preparations for the
March 2 concert evening, part
of a month-long celebration,
when I saw him. The event was
sponsored by a- committes of
Russian and Jewish writers of
the Writers’ Union, the ministry

of culture and the Soviet peace |

committee.
MARK FRANK

March 6, 1959 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 5

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