The Young Farmers' Club

precision and innocuousness of a tiddlewink, inside the cab of the engine he was driving. Both were uproariously funny at times, but neither could have hoped to rival the sustained artistry of Chaplin as revealed in the dance of the bread rolls in "The Gold Rush" or in his attempts to cope with the disintegration of the conjurer's table in "The Circus".

For the first film Mr. Waine provided the traditional piano accompaniment : for the second, he entered into a Dobson and Young partnership with Mr. Crews. Between them they provided over the loud speaker so masterly a combination of Mascagni (tender) and Wagner (valiant) that at least one latecomer upstairs thought it was a genuine sound track professionally added to the silent film.

For the rest—"Mr. 880" was a pleasant reminder of the best type of routine film that the Americans used to make so well before they became self-conscious about the competition of television. With the vast resources of Hollywood behind it, it was no effort to move from private apartment to the United Nations Building, from restaurant to Coney Island. Above all, it was a story about pleasant people, charmingly played with deceptive ease by the chief players concerned.

Usually when a film concerns itself with fantasy, it does so with a light and humorous touch. "Pandora and the Flying Dutchman" took the latter's re-appearance off the Costa Brava rather seriously— which meant, in effect, that, other members of the cast being equal, the film stood or fell by the playing of James Mason as the Flying Dutchman. Fortunately he sustained his part, and with it the whole film, more than adequately : and for good measure there was a good bull-fight quite impressively done and Tssa del Mar provided a charming setting for the story. But a few touches of humour would have been very acceptable.

The School film, which we are making, continues to grow, although the weather has been a handicap to both athletic activities and the filming of them alike. The Head Master has made us a generous offer of financial support which we shall most gratefully accept next term as soon as it is clear that we are achieving something really worth while. This sum combined with the profits from the film shows of this season and next should give us ample funds for our purpose. F•J•W.

THE YOUNG FARMER'S CLUB

Leader: K. G. COULTHARD, ESQ. Chairman: T. M. JENKINSON. Vice-Chairman: W. I. MACDONALD. Secretary: J. S. BOTTERILL.

Librarian: D. P. COLES. Treasurer: R. W. PEACOCK. Committee Member: R. R. BALDWIN.

The emphasis this term has been on sheep farming. At the first meeting of the term, 23rd January, Mr. Oliver, a livestock husbandry officer, spoke on "sheep breeding for wool and mutton", illustrating his talk with slides.