FILM CRITICS.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 220, 16 September 1919, Page 10

FILM CRITICS.

WANT GOVERNMENT CONTROL.

CHILDREN AND THE CINEMA.

TWO MUCH SENSATIONALISM.

PLEA FOR SEPARATE THEATRES.

So intimate has become the connection between the "movies"' and the everyday life of people that the question of the influence of pictures for good or bad has quite superseded the old-time contro- j versy about the influence of the stage. The "pictures affect a very much wider field, owing to the fact that they have such a fascination for children, and matinees have made theatre habitues ot voting people who formerly would have "had as much chance of goinsr to the Lord Mayer's banquet as to a theatrical performance. Naturally the matter of pictures came ! up at the "Municipal Conference in Wellington, and some very frank criticisms were offered. Miss Melville, of Auckland, thought the ! censor of films was not performing his duties to the satisfaction of the community. Phe deplored the "absolute rubbish" brought in from America under the heading of "drama," and she attributed much of the juvenile crime in New Zealand to the class of picture shown. Miss ; Melville thought it would be a very sen-1 ous thing if we were to bring up the children with a taste for "sloppy American drama of a pernicious type," and is reported to have alleged that the films I were controlled by a trust, which could j brinfr them in as they liked. i

Mr. Ebbett, the Mayor of Hastings,] who said "we are living under the threat I of a combine.*' and Mr. King, the Mayor j of Devonport, were the mover and sec-1 onder of a remit which was passed, -urjrinsr that the importation and distri-; mition of films should be nationalised and j controlled by the Government. I WHY THEY COME FROM U.S.A. ! "There is no trust in Xew Zealand," said Mr. Phil Hayward, of the Strand Theatre, and manager fo" Haywards, Limited, this morning, to a " Star" reporter. "In addition to the so-called ' combine' there are four companies in competition for the film business, and I may mention that two of them have solely American capital behind them. I can say, without hesitation, that the standard of pictures in this Dominion is higher than it is in any part of the world. There is no place where there is such a high standard of cens-orship. And when these people talk about sensational drama it makes mc think that they cannot have been to the theatres of late. The taste for the sensational is a thing of yesterday. Nowadays the popular films in Xew Zealand theatres are not the sensational ones. The popular fare now is the liffht comedy drama. And when they talk about Ame ican films they must remember that the war , is only just over, and the English pro- I ducers have not yet started to turn out anything worth speaking about. The Xew Zealand exhibitors have buyers in London and other European centres, and you may be sure they are alwa-vs on the lookout for jjood stuff. We only give the pponle what they want. As a matte" of fact, the only good Ensrlish film released during the war was Bairnsfather's 'Better Tile.' Some of the .American producers have gone across to England, and it is quite possible that we will have a better selection of English subjects when they get to work."

NATIONALISATION SUGGESTED. Mr. A. E. Coe, -of Everybody's Theatre, thought that the Municipal Conference in Wellington had done a. public service in calling attention to the difficulties that surrounded theatre proprietors in obtaining suitable films. "For I believe," said Mr. Coe, "that this supply, moulding as it does, public opinion to an extent hitherto only dimly recognised, is of immense importance to the community. Tlie question should not only be viewed from a moral,' but also from an aesthetic standpoint, good taste—being, to my mind, as important as good morals. At the present time, there are a great many good films, that owing to the foreign" trade methods are never seen in this eountrv, and I believe that if the purchase and distribution of such films were undertaken by tbe Government that the innovation would'be welcome by the public as at certainly would by a large majority of theatre proprietors. Mr. Ebbett de">erves the thanks of the community for directing the attention to the operation of the so-called film combine or trust but there are other excellent sources of film supply available, the only trouble being that these are not sufficiently numerous.' J

A LESSON FROM GENEVA. Miss Butler, headmistress of the Girls' Grammar School, was of opinion that the public were entirely to blame for the sort of thing which was being shown m the theatres to-day. If they continued to patronise a performance the proprietors would continue to give them the style of film they applauded. As far as children were concerned she would like to see more educative films shown but she could quite see that so long as pubhc taste remained as it was the proprietors were not going to put on anything of the kind.

Miss Butler suggested that the best way out of the difficulty was to follow the lines or regulations in force in Genera, where the Government prohibited children under six years of age from attending any theatre. Children between the ages of six and fifteen were admitted to certain theatres at certain hours, and even in their case the class of nlm shows was controlled by the authorities. That seemed to her the best, solution of a difficult problem. With the present class of performance she could not approve of vounopeople being allowed to go to the picture theatres, and she thought there should be very distinct legislation on the point There were heaps of historical romances that would be interesting to children Why not stage them? And then there were topographical and scientific subjects, which could be made most attractive and interesting. "IE IT WORTHY?" When the moot point was mentioned to Mr. H. G. Cousins, of the Auckland Training School, he said he thought the proportion of over-sensational pictures to those developing what might be called the more stable interests of life was altogether too great. It must be remembered that children attended the pictures week after week, and he felt that they must create in the children's minds quite a false world. There were many films that might be quite suitable for adults which were quite unsuitable for children, and they were quite out of proportion in the programme. In choosing literature for education purposes Plato would not only ask: "Is it true?" but: "Is it worthy?" The Greeks relied on stories of patriotism and heroism in teaching the young, and anvthinc

unworthy was considered unsuitable to ! be brought under the attention of their ! children. It was just the same with the pictures. Much that was shown was more or less true, but from the point of view of educating the young it was unworthy. There should undoubtedly be some | sort of control in the interests of the coining generation. One way woulel be to license only certain theatres as places where children would be admitted. In such theatres not only would the pictures have to be specially chosen, but the arrangement would have to be supervised. There might be so much in a programme that the child would finish up with a mere jumble of ideas. While it woulel be wrong to at*empt to interfere with the liberty of grown ups, who must choose the : r entertainments for themselves, he was strongly of opinion that children should not be sacrificed for the conveniene-e of parent.-. In the ease of mothers who took their children with them because they had no place to leave them, he would si'ggest creches. Mr. Cousins made a strong plea for the children in the bnckbloc-ks to whom the cinematograph was the mean* of opening up a new world. If anything could be done in the way of getting small cinematograph plants to these ou'/ of the way districts he was sure it would! he a source of not only great pleasure I but °f instruction. j