Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Thursday 30 May 1935, page 9


REPORT ON FILM COMPETITION

CA N BIRdIUtA, Wednesday. The Australian film, "Heritage" Is described by adjudicators In the 1931 Commonwealth film competition as a constructive effort in Austrahan film development, both in its selection of local material and in its presentation. The report of the adjudicators, Mr. I. G. Mackay (chairman), Miss B. Tildesley, and Mr. K. Wilkinson, was issued to-day by the Minister of Customs ('Mr. White). Dealing with "Heritage," which gained the first prize, the report stated that it showed fine pictorial quality and excellent camera work. The large theme had been skilfully handled so that the effect was Inspiring, and the wealth of material was not felt to be redundant. There were, however, patent weaknesses in the acting, and the dialogue was often stilted, both in compositlion and in utterance. "The Silence of Dean Maitland." which won the second prize, had well acted passages of strong drama. The continuity was workmanlike, music was judiciously used, and some of the outdoor scenes were very pleasant. The story was its weakest point, because of the old-fashioned melodrama, bristling with Improbabilities and often over-sentimental.

In "Clara Gibbings," the third prize winner, there was a certain sparkle in dialogue. Th? acting was amusing and competent, but the story was taken from an English play without adequate adaptation, and the English atmosphere was not completely realised. Generally, apart from the prizewinners, the films did not show' the advance in production and selection of material hoped for. Scenarios "A loose definition of the term "scenarin" resulted in a large but generally poor quality, entry for the 1934 film scenario competition," said Professor Cowling, adjudicator of the competition. Professor Cowling recommended that if another competitlion is arranged by the Commonwealth a definition of the term "seenario" should he set out. If a rigid definition was made the number of entries would be greatly reduced, but all entries would be worthy of consideration. In the 1934 competition there were 240 entries, but only 21 were of high standard. Another recommendation was that in any future competition it should be stipulated that winning scenarios would be considercd for production.