"BLAME THE CINEMA.'"

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 117, 20 May 1933, Page 5 (Supplement)

"BLAME THE CINEMA.'"

EFFECT ON" CHILDREN. Every so often religiously-minded people write to the papers protesting against the incalculable harm being done in the cinema 'to the younger generation. In view of the recent Edinburgh Municipal Cinema Inquiry, whose report was published in these columns recently, it is extremely interesting to note the report of the British Government's Commission oil Educational and Cultural Films, which discusses the influence of films on the life and habits of the whole civilised world, and declares in general and in particular in it 6 favour.

In its report, the commission gives as its considered opinion "tliat the cinema lias an infinitely wider scope than either the stage or pop ilar literature, and a much greater influence on the mentality of people who do not normally analyse tlieir emotions, hut absorb what they see and hear uncritically, provided it supplies sufficient cheerful entertainment —it is to-day a major influence on the public consciousness." In view of th-e mass of prejudice which the film industry has had to overcome, this report is particularly valuable. That same prejudice received a. shrewd blow when the former British Home Secretary, Sir Herbert Samuel, stated early last year that "my expert advisers are of the opinion that on the whole the cinema conduces more to the prevention of crime than to its commission, as it keeps boys out of mischief and gives them something to think about."

Recent remarks of a Supreme Court judge, who attributed the delinquency of a juvenile offender to the influence of gangster pictures will remind many readers of the historic "Punch" joke about the two burglars. A pair of the country's most seasoned crooks, these fellows were seen in full flight with a policeman close on their heels, when one yelled to the other: "Xow, don't forget, Egbert —if we're caught, we saw it in the pictures I" In view of his Honor's statement, added interest is given to the report of Dr. Frank Astor, a United States national child welfare field inspector, who records that in all types of films not a single instance of his work showed detrimental influence coming from the screen. If we needed any more evidence of the cleanliness of the cinema's influence, we have only to turn to that authoritative body, the British Board of Film Censors, who, in last year's report, declared that "the youth of to-day, which has grown up un ler the guidance of the cinema to a large extent, is better than the youth of an earlier generation when there were no such entertainments."