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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 11, No. 5. April 28th, 1948

A Cage Of Nightingales

A Cage Of Nightingales

Photo of a group of female performers in poka-dot dresses

The present low in films caused by the utter sterility of the Hollywood studios and to a lesser degree of their English counterparts, is only too rarely broken by the introduction of a first-class Continental production.

We have recently been rather fortunate in seeing Le Kermesse, Nine Bachelors and Grande Illusion. Now, the Cage of Nightingales comes as a worthy link in a chain of good and socially useful cinematic entertainment. The film as such deals mainly with the experiences of a young schoolmaster who is sent to an institution for young male delinquents, and is faced there with a tough assignment, not only in the form of the pupils who are placed under his charge but also in the opposition he encountres from a sadistic headmaster, whose solo motto appears to be: "Spare the rod and spoil the child," Our hero of course disagrees with this punitive form of treatment, and in turn succeeds in gaining the boys' confidence and affection by inducing them to take up organized leisure activities such as choral singing which the producer manages to introduce most effectively without even the aid of an orchestra. The accent is definitely on simplicity set against the Spartan background of the boys' school. The voices, in particular that of the young soloist are superbly chosen, and their rendering of some old Breton folk-songs is amply impressive and successful. The film, in my opinion, is a triumph of good production, the photography is well above the ordinary, the scenes are shot very accurately against simple background material, it is fast moving, and above all it contains an adequate portion of really excellent humour. My only criticism is directed against the sound which could well be improved, although it may be assumed that "dubing will always present some difficulty in this respect and detract from the quality of the original. But on the whole, the local patrons may consider themselves fortunate that this film has reached this country through the keen efforts of Mr. Scheinwald, it definitely belongs to the "must see" category.

—G.W.