Vice Admiral Gordon Campbell VC, DSO

Vice Admiral Gordon Campbell VC, DSO & Two Bars (1886 – 3 July 1953) was an English naval officer, later a writer and politician, who was a recipient of the Victoria Cross.

He was educated at Dulwich College, which he attended between 1898 and 1900. He then joined the Royal Navy. In 1917, by the age of 31, he had reached the rank of Commander during First World War when the act for which he was awarded the VC took place. On 17 February 1917 in the north Atlantic, Commander Campbell, commanding HMS Farnborough (Q.5) (one of the "mystery" Q ships) sighted a torpedo track. He altered course and allowed the torpedo to hit Q.5 aft by the engine-room bulkhead. The 'Panic party' got away convincingly, followed by the U-boat. When the submarine had fully surfaced and was within 100 yards of Q.5—badly damaged and now lying very low in the water—the commander gave the order to fire. Almost all of the 45 shells fired hit the U-boat which sank. Q.5 was taken in tow just in time and was safely beached. Read more on Wikipedia

Campbell wrote several publications, including the successful My Mystery Ships published in 1921:

And an Introduction by Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly. Illustrations from photographs and sketches and diagrams by Lieutenant J. E. Broome. An interesting account by Campbell in his own words of his experiences on board the mystery ships in which he served. Mystery ships were camouflaged to appear like peaceful merchant ships, but with real guns that were hidden until a few seconds before opening fire, or more frequently opening fire the instant the guns were disclosed. They cruised on the trade routes hoping to encounter an enemy submarine so that they might attract her attention, and then when the submarine came to the surface to sink her because of heavier armament. He relates the encounters with the enemy, both successful and unsuccessful and how his crew were the only ones who, not only once, but twice, succeeded in sinking an enemy submarine after their own ship had been torpedoed. Kessinger Publishing, 2011

Gordon Bowker states that Lowry and brother Russell were taken by their elder brother Wilfrid, a part-time officer in the RNVR, to see an unidentified Q-ship in the Mersey sometime in 1918/19. (Pursued By Furies Pg. 16). Lowry must have retained an interest in Q-ships as they appear in the short story 'Goya The Obscure' when Lowry notes an advert; "Mystery Ship VC Visits Wallasey" (Pg. 273). This relates to a lecture given by Vice Admiral Gordon Campbell at Wallasey Town Hall on Friday, January 10th 1930. The advert noted by Lowry appeared twice in the Wallasey News on December 21st 1929 and again on December 28th 1929. A short reminder also appeared inside the paper on December 28th as seen below:

There is no record of Lowry attending the lecture though he may have attended as could have been home in Caldy after his first term at Cambridge University. The date of the lecture is significant as it shows that he was collecting newspaper headings/signs for inclusion in 'Goya The Obscure' during this period. 'Goya The Obscure' was published in June 1930 in Venture 6.

A report on the lecture appeared in the Wallasey News on 18th January 1930 with the headline: Beating the Submarines - Admiral Campbell, V.C., and the "Mystery Ships". The event was organised by the Mersey Mission to Seamen to raise funds. There was a full attendance at the Town Hall to hear the one and half hour illustrated talk by Rear-Admiral Campbell who gave a "thrilling account of some his own experiences". Below are extracts from the newspaper account:

......The dire perils which fraught the means of coping with the submarine menace during the Great War by "mystery ships" were graphically recounted........

....In view of recent attempts at stark realism in books on the war, ostensibly with the objective of promoting peace, the nature of Rear-Admiral Gordon Campbell's lecture assumed a special importance. In its grim vividness it militated towards such an objective...

...The Mayor (Alderman J.G. Storey) was present and at the conclusion of the lecture proposed a vote of thanks to the speaker..."Rear-Admiral Campbell has told us of deeds of heroism," he said, "that will live long as the British flag flies; deeds of which every man and woman in Wallasey is proud, and always will be, if only for the fact that two Wallasey men took part in the gallant action under his command."........Mr Martindale (Wallasey), who served under Admiral Campbell, sat among the audience, in which was the mother of another man who served under the Admiral, named Morrison. Wallasey News 18th January 1930.

Q-ships appear later in Lowry's novel Under The Volcano. The character Geoffrey Firmin, the Consul in Lowry's Under The Volcano was a Lieutenant-Commander of the Q-Ship S.S. Samaritan during WW 1. In the novel, Firmin is haunted by his involvement in the deaths of a captured German U-Boat crew by placing them in the furnace of the Samaritan. Read more on Malcolm Lowry @The 19th Hole

Y'lang, Y'lang

Lowry uses the words "Y'lang, y'lang" to describe the sound of a bell ringing in his short story 'Goya The Obscure'; "and the Canning Dock, the sinister bell of warning singing out its desolate nostalgic phrase, y'lang y'lang:, y'lang y'lang, - The voice of the chiming bell-buoy chiming and wallowing and rolling..." (Pg.278) and "A woman passed. Y'lang y'lang. 'Excuse me Miss, are you going anywhere?' " (Pg. 278). Lowry revives the  words in his novel Ultramarine;  "and the Canning Dock, the sinister bell of warning singing out its desolate nostalgic phrase, y'lang y'lang y'lang y'lang. ... tolling, enforcing his sad solitude. 'Ware Shoal! A woman passes. Y'lang y'lang. Norwegian liner aground in Mersey!" (Pg. 70). Lowry also uses the words in a letter to Gerald Noxon dated 1952; "Time for the train that "goes a long way," i. e., toward Port Moody and points east. . . y'lang, y'lang." (Collected Letters Vol 2 Pg.)

Lowry would have been aware that Ylang-ylang was a tree found in Far East which is a one valued for its perfume and is considered to be an aphrodisiac. Lowry would have read a reference to a tree in Penang mentioned by J. Johnston Abraham's in his The Surgeon's Log  - a book Lowry refers to in the short story 'Enter One In Sumptuous Armour'. (Psalms Pg. 231).

Lowry appears to be linking the tree's aphrodisiac qualities to its pronunciation sounding like a bell to develop a complex sexual allusion. The use of sexual allusions is a theme that runs throughout 'Goya The Obscure'. The bell is warning Joe Passalique of the dangers of having sex with a prostitute as he drifts around Liverpool - "A woman passed. Y'lang y'lang. 'Excuse me Miss, are you going anywhere?' " (Pg. 278).

How To Be Happy Though Dead

Lowry refers to a fictional book in Dana's drunken ramblings to the German sailor Popplereuter in Chapter 3 of Ultramarine; "Read my collected works first, several thousand volumes.....paying special attention to my masterpiece, How To Be Happy Though Dead. "

Lowry's reference is a joke most likely upon a series of books by Reverend E.J. Hardy including How To Be Happy Though Married and How To Be Happy Though Civil.

Manila

Manila Bay is a natural harbour which serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines.The bay is considered to be one of the best natural harbours in Southeast Asia and one of the finest in the world.

The Port of Manila dates back to Spanish and pre-Spanish rule of the Philippine Islands. It is recorded that Manila and the Philippines had trade relations with most neighboring countries at least as far back as the 9th to 12th centuries. Major trading partners included China and Japan, with ties to India through the areas that are now Malaysia and Indonesia. The Spanish-controlled Port of Manila handled trade primarily with China and other East Asian countries, with Mexico, with Arab countries, and directly with Spain from the 16th to mid-19th century when the port was opened to all trade ships. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry visited the port between August 10th and 14th August 1927 on his voyage to the Far East aboard the Pyrrhus. Lowry arrived from Foochow before sailing onto Singapore. The stopover was one of the longest on the voyage - Yokohama (17 days), Dairen (5 days) and Singapore (5 days outward bound and 5 days inward bound).

Lowry refers to Manila in his novel Ultramarine; Barcelona I knew as well as......Manila or Surabaya." (pg. 94); "Yes we are homeward bound after Manila." (Pg. 113); "I had an experience like that on the Plato - in Manila - last voyage..." (Pg. 135) "Oor, you can buy cigars dirty cheap in Manila, boy." (Pg. 177) and "Manila, eh, reminds me of Cebu." (pg. 177). Later Lowry refers again to Manila in his filmscript for Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night; "MANILA—GOVERNOR WOOD WAS REPORTED SERIOUSLY ILL HERE." (Pg. 148).

Stan Hugill refers to the port in his book Sailortown:

Leaving Nippon behind let us now head for the Philippines. We have noted the fact that during the windjammer days Manila was an occasional port of call for whalers, the case oil traders and so on, but between the wars trade grew in leaps and bounds and Manila harbour was never empty of ships. The dock area, or Tondo, was fairly notorious for assaults on ship-returning sailors, but the town lacked the number of seamen's pubs found elsewhere int he East. There was a rather well-got-up joint called the Mariner's Club, of which the writer was once an evening member, but apart from one or two saloons like the New York bar what a sailor calls 'real dives' didn't exist, although outside the city's limits, near the village of Kulikuli, many large brothels thrived. Of course, there was a cabaret Santiana, said to be the largest in the world, but here the girls were easy on the eye and hard on sailor's pockets. (Pg. 336).

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Due to its large harbour and its strategic position along the East-West sea trade routes, Colombo was known to ancient traders 2,000 years ago. It was made the capital of the island when Sri Lanka was ceded to the British Empire in 1815, and its status as capital was retained when the nation became independent in 1948. In 1978, when administrative functions were moved to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Colombo was designated as the commercial capital of Sri Lanka.

The Port of Colombo fell to the British in 1796, when they first arrived on the island. However it remained a Kandyan Kingdom military outpost until it was surrendered in 1815. The Port was made the capital of the new British crown colony called Ceylon. The British decided to build houses and civilian buildings rather than making it into a military centre, giving birth to the modern Port of Colombo

In 1912, the Port was converted into a sheltered harbour, and the Colombo Port Commission was established in 1913. Much of the city was planned during the British occupation of the Port of Colombo.

Lowry visited the port on the homeward leg of his Far Voyage arriving from Penang on the 30th August and leaving on 1st September 1927 en route to Suez. Lowry's only reference to Sri Lanka was in a letter to David Markson dated 10th Setember 1951; "...(Though I've been to Ceylon, Likewise Formosa. Likewise China & Japan. Also Dollarton). (Collected Letters Vol 2 Pg. 433).

Stan Hugill in his book recalls the sailortown area of Colombo:

Travelling farther East we come to Colombo. Here, around the Pettah or market area, were mainly beer houses and jewellers who specialised in selling rubies, emeralds and such like, or in the transforming them into necklaces, bracelets, and ear-rings for the benefit of seamen. "Eet weel make a nice-a gift for your sweetheart, sahib", they would softly croon into one's ear, then produce a bottle of beer to help one make up one's mind. Years ago in Hill Street there were many brothels occupied by Sinhalese girls which seamen liked to visit, but in the thirties, I think, they were closed by the police. Sailortown Pg. 325

Red Lion, Perim

Lowry refers to a pub on the island in his novel Ultramarine"; "Perim in the Red Sea, they have red-headed n...... I don't know if any of you fellers ever been ashore there. There's one pub, the Red Lion. And its as flat as a flipper and bloody hot. We took a chap out there once to be a signalman”. (Pg 175.). The pub remains unidentified to date though there was hotel as seen above on the island. Read more

Lowry did not stop at the island on his voyage to the Far East in 1927.

Red Lion is the name of over six hundred pubs in the UK. It thus can stand for an archetypal British pub. The lion is one of the most common charges in coats of arms, second only to the cross, and thus the Red Lion as a pub sign probably has multiple origins: in the arms or crest of a local landowner, now perhaps forgotten; as a personal badge of John of Gaunt, founder of the House of Lancaster; or in the royal arms of Scotland, conjoined to the arms of England after the Stuart succession in 1603.

Tsingtao

Former western postal name of Qingdao, China a major seaport, naval base, and industrial centre on the Shandong Peninsula on the Yellow Sea. China conceded the area to Germany in 1898, and the Kiautschou Bay concession, as it became known, existed from 1898 to 1914.

After a minor British naval attack on the German colony in 1914, Japan occupied the city and the surrounding province during the Siege of Tsingtao after Japan's declaration of war on Germany in accordance with the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. The failure of the Allied powers to restore Chinese rule to Shandong after the war triggered the May Fourth Movement. The city reverted to Chinese rule in December, 1922, under control of the Republic of China. The city became a direct-controlled municipality of the Chinese Government in 1929. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry visited the port between July 29th and 1st August 1927 on his voyage to the Far East aboard the Pyrrhus. Lowry arrived from Dairen before sailing onto Keelung.

Lowry refers to the port in his novel Ultramarine; "He was thinking of the first time he had seen Andy in the booth, where he had been talking about a girl at Tsintao, on the bathing beach there." (Pg. 25); "A white motor boat came curtsying out of the harbour, rolling nearer and nearer: as she rounded the stern of the Oedipus Tyrannus her name was visible, Mabel-Tsintao." (Pg. 28); "In Tsintao I defrauded a Chinaman of a bottle of Batavian arak, weeping afterwards, when he refused publicly, to shake hands with me." (Pg. 93/94) and " 'Aw, you mean Tsintao, boy' ' No, I don't mean Tsintao' 'E means Tsintao all the bloody same.' (Pg. 161).

Stan Hugill in his book recalls the sailortown area of Tsingtao:

Tsingtao, in China, having been taken over by the Japanese after the First world war, was in these days very Japanese in character, although the imprint of its previous owner, Germany- with a dash of Russian, and a bottom layer of China - was also present. In the early thirties it was quite a busy port and consequently had many drinking dives fro seamen. The first one, outside the dock gates, was the Port Lunch. Up the Kuan Hsieh and Liao Cheng Roads stood many more , with brothels in Lin Hsing Road. Here we give some of the better known of these joints: cafe Ginza, the Korean Bar, Sapporo Cabaret, Slick's Bar, Jimmy's Bar, Bright Eyes, Kismet, the St. France, the Kiharu Baru, and the New Bluejacket Bar.

In the Lin Hsing Road were the 'cages' with Japanese joro gazing outwards while they knitted, embroidered, or chatted to each other. Korean kisnangs or Geisha, all of whom, unlike Japanese Geisha, were harlots, were also to be found in houses in this street. (Sailortown Pg.332).

Foochow

Former name of Fuzhou the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Fuzhou became one of the five Chinese treaty ports following the 1842 peace treaty which concluded the First Opium War, becoming completely open to Western merchants and missionaries. It declined in importance due to the sand bars and shallows in the Min River delta on which it is built. However, it was still an important regional port until World War II. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry visited the port between 6th August and 7th August 1927 on his voyage to the Far East aboard the Pyrrhus. Lowry arrived from Keelung before sailing onto Manila. Lowry made no reference to the port in his works or letters.

Trocadero Cinema

Trocadero, New Brighton 1934

Lowry uses the name Trocadero for the cinema in Tsjang Tsjang (Dairen) which Dana, Norman and Popplereuter visit in their drunken drift around the port in Chapter 3 of Ultramarine; "Trocadero" (Pg. 37);  "It appears that the mate wanted to go to the Trocadero, and the skipper thought it was a bore." (Pg. 39);  and signs for the cinema are seen on pages 81, 85, 104 and 109. There is no evidence to date there was a Trocadero Cinema amongst the 8 Japanese owned cinemas in the Dairen in the 1920's

The name originates from the Palais du Trocadéro which was built on the hill of Chaillot for the 1878 World's Fair in Paris. The palace's form was that of a large concert hall with two wings and two towers; its style was a mixture of exotic and historical references, generally called "Moorish" but with some Byzantine elements. Read more on Wikipedia

The name Trocadero became popular in England for the naming of cinemas in the 1920s - examples can be found in London, Rusholme, Leicester, Blackpool, Whitstable, Southport and Derby. Lowry would have been aware that there were 2 examples near to where he lived in the 1920's - in Camden Street, Liverpool and Victoria Road. New Brighton. Lowry probably frequented the Trocadero in New Brighton with Tess Evans during 1927.

The New Brighton Trocadero was formally opened on 1st June, 1922 by the Mayor of Wallasey, Alderman Augustine Quinn. The first film shown was 'Perjury', staring William Farnum (1876-1953). Music was provided by the Tracadero Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Mr. Bescoby. The acting manager was Mr. C.H. Hankinson, who had previous experience with the Hippodrome and the Tivoli Theatre. The cost of admission were 6d, 9d and 1/3.

The Trocadero was built from reinforced concrete and was of fire-proof construction. The main frontage was executed in cream tinted terra cotta and the central portion, which rose above the entrance, was finished with a heavy pedimented gable and well proportioned windows. Either side were lock-up shops surmounted by a plain parapet. Throughout the length of the frontage in Victoria Road, was a wrought-iron and glass verandah to provide shelter in bad weather for patrons queuing outside.

The cinema was capable of accommodating some 900 people inside in what was considered at that time, to be the most luxurious surroundings. The main entrance to the cinema had marble paving which provided access through mahogany swing doors that lead into a spacious hall panelled in keeping with the entrance doors. Leading directly from the hall were the entrance doors to the auditorium and immediately to the left was an elaborate staircase, with its massive balustrade. The stairs led to the foyer on the first floor, which in turn gave access to the luxurious balcony which had been constructed on a slope so as to ensure every seat had a clear view of the screen.

The inside walls were of simple and restrained style. The main piers were run up as plasterers finished with enriched brackets from which sprung arched ribs of decorative plasterwork across the ceiling. The intervening wall spaces between the plasterers were richly panelled in modelled plaster work leading up to an effective treatment over the circular windows, and surmounted at the eaves by a well-proportioned classic cornice. The infilling to the ceiling was also effectively broken up by a series of panels and enriched ventilating gratings. The proscenium front and arch was boldly treated forming a fitting frame to the silver screen and its drapers. The tip-up seats were upholstered in blue corduroy velveteen and finished with mahogany backs and arms. Heating the cinema was provided by a low-pressure hot water system, whilst the air conditioning comprised a blower fan to provide fresh, warm air at a low level to eliminate floor draughts. Read more on History of Wallasey

By coincidence, the Trocadero, New Brighton showed 2 films in October 1927 which Lowry mentions in his work - Rex Ingram's Mare Nostrum and The Amateur Gentleman starring Richard Barthelmess. It is possible that Lowry saw these 2 films in New Brighton after he returned from his Far East voyage and prior to him going to study with E.E. Kellett in Blackheath.

Olga Tschechowa

Olga Konstantinovna Chekhova, née Knipper (1897 -1980) was a Russian-German actress. Born Olga Knipper, she was the daughter of Konstantin Knipper, a railway engineer and the niece and namesake of Olga Knipper (Anton Chekhov's wife), both Lutherans of ethnic German descent. She went to school in Tsarskoye Selo but, after watching Eleonora Duse, joined the Moscow Art Theatre's studio. There she met the great actor Mikhail Chekhov (Anton's nephew) in 1915 and married him the same year, taking his surname as her own. Their daughter, also named Olga, was born in 1916.

Two years after the 1917 October Revolution, Chekhova divorced her husband but kept his name. She managed to get a travel passport from the Soviet government, possibly in exchange for cooperation, which led to permission to leave Russia. She was accompanied by a Soviet agent on a train to Vienna, then she moved to Berlin in 1920. Her first cinema role was in Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau silent movie Schloß Vogelöd (1921). She played in Max Reinhardt's productions at UFA, the same studios where Fritz Lang directed Metropolis (1927). She made the successful transition from silent film to talkies. In the 1930s, she rose to become one of the brightest stars of the Third Reich and was admired by Adolf Hitler. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to the Olga Tschechowa in his novel Ultramarine when Dana, Norman and Popplereuter enter a cinema in Tsjang Tsjang (Dairen); "'Hullo,' I said, 'that's next week. Look what we've got today, for Christ's sake. Olga Tschechowa in Love's Crucifixion. What do you make of that, Watson?' 'Olga Tschechowa in Love's Crucifixion,' spelt out Popplereuter..." (Pg. 96). However, the 3 seamen only appear to see a "short" before the projector breaks and they leave the cinema before the main feature. Later, a drunken Dana meets Olga Solugub, the White Russian prostitute, she shows him her card; " 'Olga Sologub.' Olga Sologub. No relation to Olga Tschechowa? No? Not Olga Sologub - Love's Crucifixion?". (Pg. 106). Later, Lowry refers to the film again when Dana recalls him and Janet walking around Egremont; "Later, however, avoiding Egremont Ferry as they ascend a street of houses built on an incline to Brighton Road, which runs parallel to the promenade, as they waver at the King's picture-house, with its peeling stucco, where they are showing on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Love's Crucifixion, with Olga Tschechowa....." (Pg. 131).

Love's Crucifixion 1928

Love's Crucifixion (Pawns of Passion in USA or Liebeshölle in Germany) was a 1928 film directed by Wiktor Bieganski, and Carmine Gallone, produced by Erda-Film GmbH (I), starring Harry Frank, Henri Baudin, Oreste Bilancia, Hans Stüwe, and Olga Tschechowa. The film was released in USA May 26, 1929, Germany August 8, 1928, Singapore 13 November 1928, Japan April 18, 1929 and in England in May 1929.

Lowry refers to the film in his novel Ultramarine when Dana, Norman and Popplereuter enter a cinema in Tsjang Tsjang (Dairen); "'Hullo,' I said, 'that's next week. Look what we've got today, for Christ's sake. Olga Tschechowa in Love's Crucifixion. What do you make of that, Watson?' 'Olga Tschechowa in Love's Crucifixion,' spelt out Popplereuter..." (Pg. 96). However, the 3 seamen only appear to see a "short" before the projector breaks and they leave the cinema before the main feature. Later, a drunken Dana meets Olga Solugub, the White Russian prostitute, she shows him her card; " 'Olga Sologub.' Olga Sologub. No relation to Olga Tschechowa? No? Not Olga Sologub - Love's Crucifixion?". (Pg. 106). Later, Lowry refers to the film again when Dana recalls him and Janet walking around Egremont; "Later, however, avoiding Egremont Ferry as they ascend a street of houses built on an incline to Brighton Road, which runs parallel to the promenade, as they waver at the King's picture-house, with its peeling stucco, where they are showing on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Love's Crucifixion, with Olga Tschechowa....." (Pg. 131).

Lowry has transposed the film from 1929 back to 1927, the time setting for Ultramarine. Lowry may have done this for several reasons: the linking of the name Olga; the fictional Olga is a White Russian as was Olga Tschechowa both escaping Russia after the revolution; the title of the film ties into Lowry's use of crucifixion and love; the film provides a tension between Dana's drunken meeting with a real "Olga" and him and Janet seeing the celluloid Olga together at the Kings Cinema; the use of images from the film - the escape across the snows of Poland link into Dana's fantasy of rescuing Olga Sologub:

Olga's shadow ran before her along the snow. I saw her stir the samovar and sweep the kitchen and break the ice to get more water. I saw how in the deep dark cold winter her mother put more wood in the central stove and threw her wolfskin coat on her daughter's bunk to keep her warm. I heard her brother's merry shout, as he chopped wood, and saw him blow his hands. I heard the tinkle of sleigh bells, and saw snow, light as wool, falling from the eaves. (Pg. 118)

Checkova In Tearful Film
Film Guild Cinema Shows Dull Movie in Pawn's of Passion

Pawns of Passion with Olga Chekova, Sidney Suberly, Henry Baudin, Hans Stever, Lola Josane, directed by carmine Gallone, story by the Director.

A dull piece of cinematography is "Pawns of Passion", a film which is helped little by its title and less by its cast, of which Olga Chekova is the leading player.......

The story is one of mother love. But such a mother as has not been seen hereabouts since Belle Bennett brought in the lachrymose gushers with "Stella Dallas". Miss Chekova, as Anna, is separated from her young son in the Russian revolution. The boy is picked up, curiously enough, by the spurned lover. Anna wanders all over Europe looking for her son.

Why she should leave Russia, where they were separated, to seek him in Germany, Poland and France, is reason enough, for another scenario. On a false scent she tries to find him in Paris, and failing this, she attempts suicide in the Seine, but is saved by an artist. The painter takes her to his atelier, helps her find her son  and marries her which is the path of all motion pictures tread, ot trod, some years ago.

Miss Chekova is a passive performer. She seems inhibited by a set of rules prescribing soul-searing dramatic tactics. Why the painter casts aside the witty and decorative model for the adipose Anna is another baffler that only the casting agent can answer.

The film is nicely photographed and some exciting scenes of armies clashing on a field of snow, of horses falling through thin ice, of bleak peasant villages. New York Times 27/5/1929

Lowry must have seen the film in the England in the summer of 1929 possibly in Seacombe or Liscard. It is not impossible that he was still seeing Tess Evans in 1929 though there is no documentary evidence. The film was shown at the Marina Cinema from 13/5/1929 to 15/5/29 and the Liscard Palace from 27/5/1929 to 29/5/1929. Liscard Palace is only 200m from Tess's former home at 26 Thirlmere Street, Liscard. Therefore, the reference to Dana and Janet maybe based on a real event.

Marina Seacombe: The story features Olga Tschechova who takes the part of a dancer in the Imperial Russian Ballet. She finds herself at cross purposes with captain of the Imperial Guards through having declined his advances. He joins the "Reds" in the revolution, and betrays the man whom Anna, the dancer, has married. From that point the picture becomes a succession of rapid thrills with scenes of Polish cavalry charging, and a sleigh chase across the snowy wastes of Poland. Wallasey and Wirral Chronicle 11/5/1929

Marina Seacombe: Love's Crucifixion on Monday next, transfers the attention from gay Paris to the snowy wastes of Poland. Wallasey News 11/5/1929

Liscard Palace: This is a human story telling of a Russian mother, widowed as the result of the "Red" revolution, who has also the misfortune to lose her little son. Her efforts to trace him provide scope for scenes so far different as the wastes of Poland and the gaiety of Montmartre. Star: Olga Tschechova. Wallasey and Wirral Chronicle 25/5/1929

Liscard Palace: Russia is once again in perspective in 'Love's Crucifixion'', a gripping melodrama. Starring Olga Tschechova and Hans Stuwe, booked for the beggining of next week. Wallasey News 25/5/1929