PICTURE INDUSTRY

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 9, 11 July 1934, Page 12

PICTURE INDUSTRY

COMMITTEE'S REPORT

CENSORSHIP QUESTION

The report of the committee which recently investigated .the. motion picture industry in New Zealand was discussed in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon. In the main, the discussion centred, around the question of censorship over which there was a variety, of. opinion. . The debate was carnqd.on.till the adjournment at 5,30 o'clock.

Mr, .A, .Harris (Government, Waitemata) said that it was interesting to note that during the depression picture theatre receipts in New Zealand had decreased, while receipts in England had increased. Tho committee considered that the existing'contract was unreasonable and inequitable, and a licence should be refused unless a contract suitable to both' parties was brought down. It was' thought, also, that the rejection rights 'should be increased from 5 per cent, to 25 per cent. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr. M. J. Savage) said he- wondered whether some pictures were- censored because they were of an industrial nature and might have an advanced effect on the minds of the average citizen in New Zealand. Probably some were censored because they dealt with the industrial system of Eussia. "I don't care where a picture comes from, I want information, and I think the people of New Zealand are looking for information," he said. "I think we should be foolish to allow ourselves to be buried under the screen of censorship with the impression that the censorship is not doing sufficient to protect the moral fibre of the community." lio thought the minimum charge was a move in the right direction. He suggested that the Government should consider whether it would be better to do away with the appeal board and institute a direct method of censorship by people qualified to express an opinion upon a picture from the educational point of view and other aspects. Mr. J. A. Lee (Labour, Grey Lynn) said it had been shown that tho censorship in New Zealand was the highest in the world. He advocated a classification. Thqse who said.that the. committee had done nothing to give the public bettor pictures had not r«ad the report.

Mr. A. E. Ansell (Government, Chalmers) said that it would have been better for the country had the regulations relating to licences (which had been declared ultra vires) been still operating. Parents had a duty regarding censorship, and it was the parents' duty rather than the censor's to see that children did not see improper pictures.

Mr. H. Holland (Government, Christchurch North) said it seemed that the larger picture suppliers wanted to crush out the smaller ones. The Government should take a hand in the regulation of tho number of theatres.

Mr. A. J. Stallworthy (Independent, Eden) said that the committee had attempted to'whitewash everybody and everything. He thought the minimum charge was welcome. The cinema should be given its fullest legitimate scope in the educative and social interests of the' community.

The debate was interrupted by the tea adjournment.

Alexander Thomas Gorric appeared b^oro Messrs. W. Grcig and J. T. Bcnge, J.P.s, in the Upper Hutt Court today charged with having an unregistered motor-car, and driving without a licem-e. Ho was fined £1 on one charge and convicted and ordered to pay costs on the other.