FILMS IN CANADA

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 9, 12 January 1932, Page 11

FILMS IN CANADA

HOLLYWOOD TASTE

CENSOR'S REPORT

VIGOROUS CRITICISM

The Ontario Government last year, through its Board of Censors of Motion Pictures, examined a little over 2000 films.. Of these nearly 650 wore approved only after excisions and: revisions, and 96 were not'passed at all.

"What public taste in films has been formed in Canada and tho United States, which," says the board's report, "continue to be one . country so far as American'distribution is concerned, is almost entirely due to 'Hollywood.' The statement of the distinguished Englishman who delivered the Watson lectures at Oxford this year, to tho effect that there appears to be a definite tendency in the United States, notwithstanding that English is the national language, to develop an art and: literature-owing nothing to England, may account for certain recent tendencies in motion pictures produced in the, United States. ..-.-••

. "While the board inclines to the view, in examining films, that the treatment of certain subjects is the test, rather than the subjects themselves, it has been impressed-by the appearance of certain films,. regarded by the trade as.'supers' ■with 'big names,' which are .intellectually-fraudulent. The superb acting of.the principals seems to be the justification of tho portrayal of the sordid story, but- the false sentiment expressed must have an unwholesome effect if such films are approved in any number. That this is recognised by some, at least, in the United States trade is evidenced.by the following from a statement in a New York trade journal by Jeannette Stratton Porter: —' . ..-''. The sinister thing about these pictures .is that they are dressed up to appeal to one's 'sense of. beauty and artrstry-rrapte.d by- handsome-■ men. and gorgeously .■; gowned women capably directed j attr.aetivo sets lavishly decorated, intriguingly lighted, and marvellously, photographed. .But such -stories! ■'. After, uncontrolled living, and loving, everything cnd3 well and they live happily ever afterward; ; no apparent.reason in .the. .world ..to ■ the flapper and her escort viewing it casually, why they should not 'go forth :and do likewise 1 In a way, making pictures,is like sowing seeds—Kine cannot'be sure which will take root, nor what will grow. But producers can keep their consciences clear by giving us only invigorating, respectable pictures. Sordid, foul stories should not be written or published, but the -fact that they are does not constitute a logical or reasonable excuse for picturising them. We do not want bur pictures to achievo the state of degradation our stage did. Producers fight censorship, yet. sexy, salacious pictures cry for it with open arms. Is it significant or not that two' years ago seven States wero considering censorship, and this year twenty State legislatures arc concerned with that!-vital problem?' ■

"Gangster .films and those in which lawlessness was emphasised and the perpetration of crime portrayed in detail wero: largely responsible for the increased number of film subjects not approved. Talking films in the past three years have given currency •to words from the gangster and underworld, which have- increased, if they have not enriched our vocabulary. The promiscuous display' of rovolvors . and general portayai of 'gun toting' remains prominent as measured by the standards of Canada, where the carrying of weapons .is. illegal and marks the possessor as a potential if not an actual criminal.'" ;

The report adds that, owing to the: preponderance of United States films, nearly every screen stpry, which' includes prosecutions or deals with the administration of justice portrays American judicial procedure, and, with nothing tq distinguish the actions from those in any English-speaking country, there is a definite tendency, .. to leave the impression that, these methods are British. The cumulative' effect of such presentations was bad, giving to the mass mind the impression that such methods /wevailed in Canada. British films dealing with such themes, it is pointed out, afford a striking contrast.