play into

THE FILM version of Shakes-
peare’s Julius Caesar is.a double
triumph.

It is a triumph for Shakespeare,
whose study in power politics and
demagogy comes across as an
urgent, topical drama of tremend-
ous power — fresh and compel-
ling even though half the lines
have found their way into the
language as popular quotations.

It is a triumph, too, for the
director, Joseph L. Mankiewicz,
who has made a great play into a
fine film without losing the poetry
and without merely photograph-
' ing a stage play.

Mankiewicz is a first-rate direc-
tor who has specialised in films
with a preponderance of dialogue
over action. In Julius Caesar he
shows that moving the camera
can give a new sense of tension
and intimate insight into char-
acter.

He is magnificently, served by
his actors. James Mason is a fine
Brutus—the honest man who be-
comes a tool of an ambitious
clique.

He manages to convey the qual-
ity of character that makes Brutus
the most respected man in Rome
for his integrity, and handles
Shakespeare’s words with real
understanding. °

John Gielgud, too, is admirable
_ as the waspish leader of the con-
spirators, Cassius, who . envies
Caesar’s power, schemes his mur-
der and achieves a measure of
dignity only when the game is up
and the bid for Caesar’s power
has failed. nae

Most controversial piece of cast-

ing is that of Marlon Brando as.

Mark Antony, Caesar’s friend,
who wins the allegiance of the
Roman crowd with his calculated
demagogy and makes’ war on
Brutus and Cassius when Caesar
has been murdered. meee

This film establishes beyond
doubt that Brando is an actor of
great power. He establishes the
character of Antony unforgettab-
ly by his physical presence alone.

XN , .
SALSBERG URGES PRESSURE ON GOVERNMENTS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF

Julius Caesar--great
tine film

Shakespeare’s drama.

an

MARLON BRANDO |
Actor of great power

.

The decision to give him the role
was q bold stroke that justifies it-
self,

Yet while he ‘is undoubtedly
one of the most powerful charac-
ters in the film, he is one of those
least happy with Shakespeare’s
lines, and sacrifices a good deal
of the poetry to gain his effects.

In a long cast studded with
wellknown players there are some
pleasant surprises. Edmond 0Q’-
Brien makes the small part of
Casca, one of the conspirators, a
telling piece of characterisation.

Mankiewicz’s greatest success,
however, is his crowd — one of
the most important parts of
It is -no
mere bunch of extras but an
animate, fickle group of individu-
als who give the play its proper
balance.

In two hours this MGM version
gives us Julius Caesar almost in-

tact, with not much more than the

odd scene of comic relief missing.

It manfully resists the tempta-
tion to add too much in the way
ef spectacle, giving little more
than a few battle scenes which
are justified in rounding out the
drama. :

It is a fine achievement.
—THOMAS SPENCER

BOOKS

o-

ccc |

Jet aircraft pioneer received
little encouragement for ideas

THE AUTHOR of Jet — the
Story of a Pioneer, Sir Frank
Whittle, is himself the inventor
and pioneer of the jet engine (or
more properly the gas turbine)
in Britain.

His achievement has been a
major factor contributing to Brit-
ain’s lead over the United States
in civil aircraft.

Sir Frank Whittle was born in
1907 of a working-class family
living in Coventry, and at the age
of 16 was accepted as an appren-
tice to the RAF at Cranwell.

When he was only 21 he was
thinking in terms of aircraft fly-
ing at 500 m.p.h:!

His first proposals made to the
British Air Ministry in 1929 for
gas turbine propulsion were cool-
ly received. However, Whittle
patented his idea in 1930, but five
years later he was able to renew
it at a.cost of $25 out of his own
pocket. :

In the RAF he made good pro-
gress, and after outstanding suc-
cess in an officers’ engineering
examination was sent to Cam-
bridge. ig

During this period work began
on the jet engine and a company,
Power Jets, was formed in 1935.
Whittle was allowed to continue
his work on his invention, and by

. 1938 the engine was showing it-
_ self to be a workable proposition.

The air ministry placed a de-
velopment contract,’ but | from

‘PERSONAL INTEGRITY’

This is the Short Sherpa,
and the first to fly with an

a new British iet now undergoing tests,
“aero-isoclinic’ wing.

Rotating wing

tips replace conventional ailerons and elevators.

then on Whittle was faced with
obstacles and problems.

Private companies to whom
much of Power Jets’ work was
sub-contracted were continually
trying to get commercial advan-
tage from the new development.
At the same time civil servants
placed obstacles in the way of de-
veloping this jet engine.
_ Most interesting of all is
Whittle’s letter to Sir Stafford
Cripps, then minister of aircraft
production, in 1943, advocating
nationalization of jet engine pro-
duction.

All that happened was nation-
alization of Power Jets, which, in
Whittle’s ewn words, resulted in

DERELD

its being “smothered .to death,”
while large aircraft companies—
Rolls-Royce, De Havilland, Arm- -
strong-Siddeley—made large pro-
fits from the production of en-
gines based on Whittle’s inves-
tions. ;

The book is a little technical im
parts —which could hardly be
(avoided in telling the story of a
very technical invention.

It also presents a challenge te
us all—how to ensure that the
ability of men like Whittle is
given full scope without the han-
dicaps he experienced, and how
to use such ideas for public good
and not private profit—-ALLAN
ROCKE.

Librarians take stand against
witch-hunting, support Marshall

THE B.C. LIBRARY Association ~
took a strong stand against witch-
hunting members of Greater Vic-
toria Library Board on Sunday
last week when it decided to in-_
form all library groups in Can-
ada and the U.S. of the “personal
integrity” of John Marshall, dis-
missed bookmobile director of
Victoria Public Library.

At a special meeting here at-

. tended by members from all parts

of B.C. and including one mem-
ber who came from Alberta, this
resolution was adopted:

.“Sound personnel procedures

must imply the assumption that
the employment or dismissal of
any person shall be based only
upon the competence fo perform
the professional and technical
duties involved and that any per-
sonal beliefs become pertinent
only when they interfere with the
quality of the service rendered;
“That we as an organization go
on record as firmly believing in
the Canadian ethical and legal
concept that a man must be con-
sidered innocent until he be prov-
en otherwise and we highly de-
precate and condemn the present
attempt to damage a Person’s re-

CULTURE

‘Why should National Ballet have to appeol for fina

WHY SHOULD the National
Ballet have to appeal for help to
keep itself alive? This is the
question J. B. Salsberg, LPP mem-
ber of the Ontario legislature,
asks in qa letter sent to news-
papers across the country. And
he points out the need for “gov-
ernment aid that will make pos-
sible the further development of
a distinctly Canadian expression
in the_arts.”

Salsberg’s letter reads: ,

“The recent appeal for financial
aid to the National Ballet Com-
pany and the Toronto Symphony
Orchestra prompts me to write
_ this letter to your publication. _

“The appeals for help should,
of course, meet with the warmest
response but, it seems to me, that
what we also need is quite a bit
_ of indignation \and the directing
of such indignation into positive
and constructive channels.
_ “Why should Miss Celia Franca

have to appeal for help to keep:

the National Ballet alive? Why

should her company wander
about from one building to an-

‘other because of the lack of a

permanent studio? Yes, why
should these and other hardships
and indignities be forced upon
the Ballet Company, the Toronto
Symphony Orchestra, our dram-
atic groups, painters, sculptors,
composers and writers, in the
richest province of our immense-
ly rich country? Why, indeed?

_ “I know that our Ontario situa-
tion is not an isolated one and
that the Massey Report contains
a number of proposals to make
things a bit easier for our strug-
gling artists. But so far, nothing
practical has come from the Mas-

“sey Report’s minimum proposals.

“Everyone concerned with the
development of our artistic and
cultural life must, of course, join
hands in an effort to get action
from Ottawa. But what of our
own Ontario government? Why
should it not assume a fair por-
tion of responsibility for the de-

velopment of our talents and the
flowering of our arts?

“I think that it should and 1
know. that it could well afford
it, but I also know that it will
require a lot ‘of public pressure
to get it to do its evident duty.

“This letter, as you see, is
quite frankly an appeal to you
and your readers to help develop
an articulate and effective public

demand on our provincial gov-

ernment to enter this field
permanent manner.

“That the Frost government
should contribute liberally to the
present appeals of the Ballet and
the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
and other Ontario institutions,
goes without saying. But it is
not enough for the government
(which has annual surpluses of
up to $58 million) to throw a
lifeline. to a sinking cultural or-
ganization. t

“What is required is govern:

in a

ment aid that will make possible

va

. lack of financial

the further development of a dis-
tinetly Canadian expression in
the arts—so necessary to combat
the overwhelming U.S, influence;
so desired’ by our artists, writers
and musicians; so thwarted by.
sustenance. The
surfeiting of our people with the
shoddy products of U.S. commer-
cialized art makes the plight of

* our struggling Canadian cultural

institutions all the
lenging. ,
“During the 1952 session of the
Ontario legislature, I urged the
establishment of a special branch
for cultural activities within the
department of education, the ap-
pointment of a full-time, compe-

more chal-

tent director for that branch and —

the setting aside of a minimum of
$250,000 a year for the work of
this branch. :

“Now that we are in a new
session of the legislature, and
with the plight of the Ballet and
Toronto ‘
fresh in the minds of the people,

Symphony Orchestra

putation without proving that he
has failed to maintain the ethics
of his profession or meet his ob-
ligations as a citizen.” -

The meeting decided to give a
letter of recommendation to Mar-
shall after hearing his statement
on his dismissal by Greater Vic-
toria Library Board,. ostensibly
without reason but coincidental
with a smear campaign in the
daily press attacking his alleged
left-wing affiliations. —

A full report will be made to
the Canadian Library Association
by Flora McLeod, who represent-
ed the association at the meeting.

\ +

ncial help?’

J. B. SALSBERG, MPP |

Develop Canadian expression —
it should be possible to create suf-
ficiently. strong pressure on the
government to bring about ac-.
tion along the general lines of
my proposal.” ne read

: PACIFIC TRIBUNE — MARCH 5, 1954 — PAGE 4