Do Not Disturb

One of the most effective documentaries of World War II, a two-reeler called The Pale Horseman, was still going begging last week. Movie audiences were seeing it in only a few of the nation's big & little picture palaces.

The Pale Horseman, originally put together by OWI Overseas, is bold-faced propaganda. Its message: there are millions of war-battered people in Europe and in Asia who must have food, shelter and medical supplies at once. The Allied armies and UNRRA have done what they could, but the U.S. people must do a lot more.

The narration of the film is sharp, simple and unsentimental. Some of the unposed shots are as moving as any the war has produced: a sobbing woman, a bony child trembling with malnutrition and fever, old people living on a diet of garbage and misery. The film adds up to 19 very disturbing, very uncomfortable minutes.

The U.S. public is not likely to see the film until Washington officialdom decides definitely that it wants the U.S. public disturbed. Until Washington makes up its mind, commercial distributors don't like to run the risk of making regular audiences uncomfortable. Meanwhile, clubs and other private organizations may rent or buy prints of The Pale Horseman through Brandon Films, Inc., 1600 Broadway, New York 19, N.Y.

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