AUSTRALIAN WOMAN'S UNIQUE JOB

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 30, 3 August 1940, Page 17

AUSTRALIAN WOMAN'S UNIQUE JOB

FILM CENSOR'S VIEWS ON THE CINEMA

j However, it is not such a pleasurable task as it may seem, for, as Mrs. Hansen explains, "a censor can never relax." "It is quite a strain listening to the dialogue and watching the action for hours on end. We must concentrate the whole time, and there is an atmoI sphere of great tension at the screenings," she said. Before Mrs. Hansen became a film i censor she was a member of the Eduj cation Department, and she taught in various New South Wales schools for about two years. Mrs. Hansen also attended history and English lectures at the Sydney University for two years. JOB PLEASANTER NOW. According to Mrs. Hansen, the technical improvements in film production during recent years have greatly assisted the censor. "We can watch many feet of film now without noticing any undue eye-strain, and also the quality of the actual pictures has improved so much that the job is"more pleasant."

Mrs. Hansen started her censorship career when the talkies were just be-

The only woman film censor in Australia is Mrs. H. Hansen, of Sydney, who has been attached to the Commonwealth Film Censorship Department for eight years, writes a "Sydney Morning Herald" correspondent. Mrs. Hansen has a job which many ardent film fans would envy. She sees an average of three feature films on five days a week, in addition to numerous gazettes, short subjects, and newsreels. If you are mathematically inclined you will deduce that in eight years she has seen more than 6000 full length films.

"In those days it was quite a simple matter to read the dialogue, but now, with the popularity of sophisticated comedies, the dialogue is so swiftly spoken it is increasingly difficult to hear every word," she said. Mrs. Hansen confesses to being emotional, and has often been reduced to tears by some particularly sympathetic acting. However, generally speaking, she enjoys comedies. She also likes the more educational short features, which she considers are both informative and entertaining. NOT FOR CHILDREN. When she is not working at the Censorship Department, Mrs. Hansen concentrates on bringing up her 14----year-old son David, who is a pupil at the North Sydney Church of England Grammar School; playing golf; knitting for the soldiers, and reading.

Mrs. Hansen definitely does not approve of very young children going to the pictures. "So often parents do not bother to consider whether or not a film is suitable for their children. They should always pay heed to the Censorship mark."