clear war.

‘UERNICA. Here is a section of Pablo Picasso’s famous
hural depicting the horrors of the Fascist war in Spain.
t is a powerful denunciation of all war and carries a
ely message against today’s crazy drive towards

“BOOKS

CITIZEN HEARST
By W. A. Swanberg

From the outset it was ap-
arent that ‘ ‘Citizen Hearst”
‘Was no ordinary book, as laud-
Ory pre-publication  refer-
Nees cropped up in the Hearst
ress and William Randolph
€arst Jr. called it ‘‘an honest
d entertainingly written
ork.”
You might conclude from
ch evidence that the book is
whitewash \ of the elder
€arst, but it is not quite so
ple. Swanberg has gather-
a mass of facts and assembI-
them with a narrative flair,
ut the discerning reader can
‘Orm his own judgement as he
inically examines Swanberg’s
Chnique in making Hearst
€m less evil than he was.
He is given to passages like
ese:
“He (Hearst) was true, and
© was false. He was a puri-
an, and he was a libertine.
€ was democratic, and he
as kingdly . . . he was great,
d he was contemptible.”
And then again: “No one
ith his love for children and

AVID SIQUEIROS, Mexi-
N artist in jail as a political
isoner, collapsed recently. He
S been in pain with liver
4 acks and his eyes have been
| Subling him. An appeal has
n launched for telegrams to
€xico Ambassador Rafael D.
. Colina, 88 Metcalfe Street,
“ttawa 4, Ontario, demanding
; Weiros’ be transferred to a
Spital,

Hearst book becomes
pology for fascism

animals could have anything
but a kind heart.” This sort of
testimony is offered seriously.
Conceding that Hearst was
kind to animals, this virtue
would loom large if his voca-
tion were animal breeding. But
he was a publisher and a politi-
cal manipulator whose predi-
lections for encouraging Amer-
ican imperialism and promot-
ing American fascism are ob-
viously not balanced by a
kindness to animals.
Swanberg becomes most ten-
dentious in treating Hearst’s
relationship to fascism. ‘“The
fascist - minded Father Cough-
lin” was given friendly public-
ity in the Hearst press due to
“the priest’s hatred of Com-
munism and internationalism.”

The interest in Huey Long
is dismissed as a vagary; the
friendly interview with Hitler
in 1934 is touched on with re-
markable brevity.

The principal thrust of the
book seems to be to remove
the fascist taint from the
Hearst name and this is, of
course, what has the greatest
meaning for contemporary
Americans, this is what made
the Hearst name the sinister
symbol of evil for. millions
now alive. Given the attempt
of the right extremists to pick
up where Hearst left off, his
relationship to fascism still is
the live political issue.

Hearst Jr. can recommend
the book, despite its detailed
exposition of his father’s chic-
anery and demagogy in stam-
peding the country into war
with Spain, despite its recital
of Hearstian fraud and corrup-
tion, because of the most sensi-
tive issue—fascism.

By the same token, . because
of its studied attempt to ab-
solve Hearst of this greatest
sin, presenting him as a mixed
up “old Jeffersonian” and
“worshipper of individua 1
liberty,” the book becomes an
apologia for American fascism.

e AL RICHMOND

PICASSO NOW 80

By JOHN BERGER

aga, in Spain. His father
was a drawing master. He
showed exceptional talent ata

_| very early age.

In°1900 he visited Paris and
soon. afterwards. settled in
France, where he became one
of the outstanding leaders and
creators of modern French art.

He has never, however, for-
gotten that he is Spanish.

He is now probably the most

‘; well-known and respected art-

ist in the world.

‘He has become this, at least
partly because he is an exam-
ple, quoted by millions, of how
an artist tan speak for his
country; his beliefs, his com-
rades.

The first time he spoke in}:

this way was when he painted
“Guernica” and other works
dealing with the Spanish Civil
War.

A me *

“What do you think an artist
is?” he declared when being in-
terviewed in the _ spring of
1945. “An imbecile who has
only his eyes if he’s a painter,
or ears if he’s a musician, or a
lyre at every level of his heart
if he’s a poet, or even if he’s a
boxer, just his muscles?

“On the contrary, he’s at the
same time a_ political being,
constantly alive to heart-rend-
ing, fiery. or happy events, to
which he responds in every
way.”
' Since
spoken.

1945, Picasso has

Die was born in Mal-;

|

in his works many

On October 25 Pablo Pic-
asso’ was 80 years old. In
tribute to the famous paini-
er we publish this article by
John Berger, British paini-
er, ari critic and TV per-
sonality.

times for all those who demand
peace.

He has eared on the theme
of War and Feace itself; he has
painted his protests about
Korea; his peace doves. have
flown all over the world.

® * *

During his life, Picasso has

painted in many different

styles. But, whatever the style,
he has always taken reality as
his starting point.

Unlike so many of his con-
temporaries, he has never be-
come an abstract painter and
taken refuge

has never in

PABLO PICASSO

World honors great —
artist on birthday

metaphysics. |

His art can be iconoclastic,
tender, harsh, voluptuous, an-
gry, analytical—but it is al-
ways based on the assumption
that it is man who makes
sense of the universe.

Picasso has done more than
any other artist to destroy an@
replace the standards of 19th
century bourgeois art. He be-
lieves in progress and has a

vision of the future.
* * *

For many years now he hag -

realised that to contribute to
the future a political man must
also be a Communist.

He joined the French Com-
munist Party in October, 1944.

“My adherence to the Com-
munist Party follows logically
on my life, on all my work. Be-
cause, I am proud to say, I
have never considered painting
as an art of agreement, of en-
tertainment,’’ said Picasso then.

“I have wanted, through
drawing and colour, as these
are my arms, to penetrate al-
Ways deeper into knowledge of
the world and of men, because
this’ knowledge liberates us
more each day.”

Above all, Picasso is a man
of imagination who believes in
life. ‘

This quality of his genius is
summed up in some lines by
the great French poet Eluard,
who was Picasso’s friend:

“Upon your closed eyelids

Stars gather

Sleeper see how life is vain

If life is not in everything.”

Classic Film Society brings
meany excellent films to city

zINE films and the Societies

which show them have re-
cently become something of a
fad in Vancouver, under_ the
influence of film festivals and
related factors. More specific-
ally, Vancouver Film Society
has become the fad and this is
a good thing. But on the nega-
tive side, the 16mm group —
Classic Film Society—has been
all but swamped in the pro-
cess.

This is particularly unfor-
tunate, because it is Classic
which has the most responsible
approach to films as. expres-
sions of ideas as well as films
as art. Classic film showings
always seek to provide more
than just a good evening’s en-
tertainment.

Their programs also are
you think, Whether the sub-
ject is Asia or Europe, Com-
munism, Capitalism or what
have you; besides written pro
gram notes, discussions are or
ganized for those who like to
compare their ideas and reac-
tions with others. ‘Classic has
been a Society in the full sense
of the term; not merely a pri-
vate theatrical showing.

Aside from the Polish film

. @
Crime up

Crime shot upwards in Cana-
dian cities last year — more
than 12 per cent above the pre-
vious year. Big increases were
recorded in murder, breaking

and entering, theft and rob-
bery. :

with which they opened last
month, Classic’s current season
includes the outstanding Japa-
nese anti-war film: Harp of
Burma (made by the director
of this year’s Vancouver Film
Festival winner, Fires on the
Plains); Berlin, Symphony of a
City, a remarkable document-
‘ary from the pre-Hitler Weim-
ar Republic;; Passion of Joan
of Arc, a major statement on
the theme of authoritarian op-
pression centred around this
famous historical figure; films
on art; early French films;

GINA LOLLOBRIGIDA
(above) was among 1,000 peo-

ple in Rome recently who
squatied on the pavement in

protest against banning of the
French pacifist film: “Thou
Shalt Not Kill.”

many shorts; and an earlier —

Vancouver Film Festival win-
ner: Come Back Africa, a dev-
astating examination of Apart-
heid made secretly in the
South African Negro commun-
ity. t

This is the sort of program
that Pacific Tribune readers
will enjoy and benefit from,
while their participation will
help keep this valuable artistic
organization in existence. All
showings are on Fridays at 8
p.m. Memberships are $4.25 for
the balance of the season. They

‘may be secured by phoning RE

8-4217 or at the Kitsilano High
School Auditorium (2550 West
10th Ave) this Friday ———
(November 3).

@ N. E. STORY. «

Do plants have |

nervous systems?
_ After 20 years studying
plant physiology Soviet scients
ist Ivan Gunar has concluded
that plants have a regulating.
system which operates like the
nervous system of an animal.

In one experiment, leaves
withered by drought received
photosynthesis almost as soon
as the roots were watered —
long before the water reached
the leaves.

Gunar believes that electri.
cal impulse moving at speeds
of around 60 feet an hour —
compared with the few feet

an hour travelled by nutrients -

earry information round
the plant. i

November 3, 1961—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 9,