TV Affecting Country Cinemas

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31113, 16 July 1966, Page 3

TV Affecting Country Cinemas

(N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON, July 15. More cinemas are closing, mainly in provincial towns and country areas, says the annual report of the Department of Internal Affairs. The number of television viewers is still growing and further closures are possible. The report says that the popularity of high-quality, general-appeal films has grown to the point where one film, “The Sound Of Music,” is now in its second year of screening in two cities. “My Fair Lady” and “Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines” have had seasons of more than six months, and several others have had long seasons. Fewer Cuts The censor last year examined 5681 films, representing 2746 hours’ running time. Of the 362 feature films examined (439 in 1964-5) 78 were from Commonwealth

countries, 143 from the United States, and 141 from other countries. The number of theatre shorts also decreased slightly, but television films examined increased from 3690 to 4074, the major increase being in short films. Of the excisions made by the censor, 80 per cent were because of violence or sex. But there were fewer cuts in spite of the increase in the number of films. Five Lotteries In the eight months since the Government introduced continuous sales of Mammoth lottery tickets, five Mammoth lotteries have been drawn, says the Internal Affairs Department’s report. Sales have settled to a steady pattern. During the year 47 Golden Kiwi lotteries were drawn, compared with 52 in the previous year. This decline seemed to be because of the continuous sales of Mammoth lottery tickets, says the report. Gross sales of Mammoth and Golden Kiwi tickets were £4.4 million, and prizes totalled £2.3 million. The net

profit after payment of prizes, lottery duty (£443,700), commission (£387,500), and expenses (£129,200) was £l.l million. Fire Protection The law as it stood gave local authorities adequate power to demand that all buildings had proper, built-in, fire protection, a committee set up to investigate the matter had concluded, the report said. A survey was being made by both the Counties’ and Municipal Associations to ascertain the extent to which local authorities used their powers to demand proper standards of built-in fire protection in buildings.

The committee thought it might be necessary for local authorities and chief fire officers to be legally required to work more closely together. This was being investigated. Also being investigated was legislation governing the provision of automatic fire alarms in accommodation houses and commercial buildings, and the possibility of making local authorities responsible for fire safety in

factories. This was at present the responsibility of the Labour Department. Cross-Purposes Although 22 Government departments and as many other State and statutory bodies dealt with local government, there was no effective machinery to co-ordinate them beneath Cabinet level, the report said. As long as individual departments followed independent courses of action, they would occasionally work at cross-purposes. The department had first drawn attention to these points in 1959, when it proposed the formation of a central co-ordinating authority. Fewer Unemployed Unemployment benefits dropped considerably during the last financial year, says the Social Security Department’s report. The number of benefits granted was 1237, compared with 1855 the previous year. “Unemployment continues to remain at a low level and the figures show some -Hu-

provement over the preceding year,” said the report. Family benefits were paid for 944,461 children. The number receiving age benefits was 94,224. A year earlier it was 95,274. Trust’s Task The magnitude of the task facing the Historical Places Trust is increasing every year and its responsibility is formidable, says the trust’s annual report to Parliament. “Time is always against the trust —decay advances too quickly and a site or building may be required urgently for other purposes,” it says. “Sometimes our intelligence system is not sufficiently sensitive or far-flung to provide adequate notice of a threat to an ancient monument or significant building. “The processes of pleading and persuading are often ineffective,” it said. Referring to the reduction of £3OOO in the trust's Parliamentary grant, the report said: “We hope this tendency will not develop into the pattern of a shrinking annual grant and an expanding assistance for selected undertakings.”