Better Movies Overseas?

"The boys overseas are now getting plenty of pictures, good pictures," said Major General Frederick Osborn, Chief of Army Morale, upon returning last week from a 23,000-mile tour of the Pacific war theater.

Further to quiet complaints the Army Pictorial Service proudly pointed out that Jane Eyre (TIME, Feb. 21) was released to the China-Burma-India circuit in December.

Such bits of Army evidence were encouraging. But the Navy still lagged far behind. Many of the movies shown to sailors and marines (and many soldiers) in forward areas have been: 1) bad; 2) old.

Some recent Navy showings:

>On a troop transport going into Tarawa: Ladies' Day, with Patsy Kelly, Eddie Albert, Lupe Velez, Max Baer. Newsreel: capsizing of the Normandie, Manpower Boss Paul McNutt addressing the 1942 American Legion convention.

>On a battleship in the South Pacific: Mr. Big, in which some teen-age cutups finally convince their teacher that jitterbugging is more important than an education.

>At a South Pacific base: Hold Back the Dawn, wherein the sheep-eyed Mr. Charles Boyer repeatedly repels a beautiful, though patently wicked, brunette (to the hoots of its sailor audience who had not seen a white woman in a year).

>On a Navy tanker in the Central Pacific: China, with Loretta Young. The hero blows up a mountain, snuffing out a Jap division, to the skepticism of the audience.

>At Pacific bases, miscellaneous Grade Bs with the NRA eagle and the motto "We Do Our Part" on the title. Movies rate just after food and mail from home in morale value.

In the more rugged spots--far in advance of the "country clubs" like Pearl Harbor, Noumea, Kodiak--movies are the only form of entertainment. The poorest show will draw a full house. Often 4,000 to 5,000 men will sit on wet ground, sometimes in pouring rain, through an entire feature-length picture.

Waiting for What? At most bases and on most ships of war it is necessary to arrive half an hour early to get a seat. Various games may be played while waiting. One of these is "Chase Me," with flashlights. One spectator will flash his light on the blank screen. Another spectator flashes another beam. Then the chase around the screen begins. This can be funny when played by two experts. Another game, invented by the marines in New Zealand, is played with white rubber balloons, which are inflated and batted through the air. The object is to hit the balloons with lighted cigarets. This game keeps every spectator alert, lest he find a glowing cigaret down his neck.

Musicals which display a lot of beautiful, rounded female flesh are preferred by the troops. Favorite actresses: Lana Turner, Betty Grable, Maria Montez. In the case of these three, the plot and the vintage of the picture do not matter. Least favored of all: war movies.

Now that more attention is being paid to soldiers' tastes, the Army Pictorial Service insists that improvement in the quality of movies will soon be noted by everybody. It could be. Millions of soldiers, sailors and marines hope so.

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