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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington N.Z. Vol. 1, No. 7 April 27, 1938

The Answer

The Answer.

Cedric Belfrage, in his book, Promised Land," (the Left Book Club choice for February) tells us why, very clearly and succinctly. The answer to the question can be expressed in one word—Capitalism.

The title of the book is one of the cleverest I have seen. The theme of the tale is the history of Hollywood from its beginnings to the present day—thinly disguised as fiction. Hundreds of girls flock to Hollywood—to the "Promised Land," the city of glamour and glittering fame—and end up in an establishment such as Madame Betty's. Their "Promised Land" turns out to be hollow and empty, the glamour they had dreamed of mere tinsel; the love they had longed for dull, erotic play, But the title has further significances. Like flashes of light in darkness, in the conversations of his characters, Mr. Belfrage reveals the solution, which can be expressed in one word—Socialism.

When the first settlers straggled into the valley near which Hollywood now stands.—not so very long ago—They little realised that in a few years the eyes of the world would be fixed upon them, that millions of hearts would flutter at celluloid grins by the more favoured of their fellow-citizens. And even when the movies began to make Hollywood their "location," the townspeople ignored them. The "stars" lived a life apart, and it was only when whispers of nameless sins and orgies began to circulate that the laymen grew alarmed.