Cinema Attendance And Censorship

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30793, 3 July 1965, Page 7

Cinema Attendance And Censorship

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, July 2.

The growing number of television viewers and increasing public interest in other forms of entertainment are attributed by the Internal Affairs Department to the decline in cinema attendances and the closure of several cinemas in suburbs and small towns last year.

In its annual report, tabled in Parliament today, the department says the few high-

quality “prestige” films being produced to meet the demands of a more discriminating public managed to maintain attendances at city theatres—but failed in smaller places because the people had already seen them during long runs in the cities. “In smaller places, most cinemas are operated by independent exhibitors and there are at present differences between them and the film distributors over the times of availability of high-quality films and hire charges involved," says the report. “If the parties are unable to agree, it is considered that the matter is one to be put before the Film Industry Board.” The report says that last year, 242 feature films were approved without cuts, and 1906 cuts were made in 182 feature films, 182 trailers, 34 shorts and 358 television films. “Of these, excisions made on the ground of sex formed a greater proportion of the total than in last year’s report (39 per cent compared with 32 per cent),” says the report. Films cut for violence formed a smaller proportion—s2 per cent compared with 56 per cent.

“This is largely because excisions for sexual assaults have been classified under sex rather than violence,” it says. The report says there has been an increase in cuts for perversions “of all kinds.”