TALKING PICTURES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20366, 21 September 1929, Page 12

TALKING PICTURES.

THE EFFECT ON SPEECH.

CENSORSHIP CRITICISED.

MR. HENRY HAYWARD'S OPINION.

The need, which was Urged in the. Legislative Council this week for a censorship of talking pictures in order to prevent loose speech being introduced to common usage, was discussed by Mr. Henry Hayward yesterday. Mr. Hayward expressed disapproval of the present system under which films were censored by one man only. He considered fears that the speech of New Zealanders would be affected were ill-founded in view o! ; improvements in articulation being insisted upon by producers. A serious objection to the present system of censorship was the fact that it was carried out by one person and not by a committee, Mr. Hayward said. Exhibitors had to abide by the judgment of one man, and this meant that, he was the sole arbiter on the worth of a film. There were undoubtedly defects in certain films, but there was a definite move for better productions, especially since the introduction of talking pictures. Critics of the films were outspoken in their condemnation on frequent occasions, but the perfect film was not yet evolved. Producers were still striving for artistic The chief studios were not. content* to turn out "slap-dash" work, and even as with the legitimate stage there were standards by which work was judged.

Good English Conquering.

The language used in talking films was causing considerable concern, it being held that it was liable to have a detrimental effect upon speech, in New Zealand. "There is no doubt-that the language spoken in talking films is improving daily," Mr. Hay ward said. "Strangely enough, instead of American 'twang' conquering, the English language is steadily gaining ground on the screen. The victory is with us. This is proved by the latest films from America. The American likes good English. It must be expected we shall have American 'twang' in films depicting the New York underworld, for instance. It would not be appropriate otherwise." American producers realised they had to cater for the whole English-speaking world, and fears that bad speech would have an adverse effect upon audiences were quite unwarranted in view of recent developments. , One large studio was employing 200 English instructors, the whole tendency being to secure as perfectly spoken English as possible on the part of actors.

Censorship was inclined to be carried to unwarrantable extremes. One of the best talking pictures ever made, "Alibi," was being shown in every part of the British Empire, yet it had been banned by the New Zealand censor. The English censorship board was composed of well-known persons, including Mr. T. P. O'Connor, and it had seen fit to release this film. Here, again, an individual's opinion dictated what the whole of New Zealand should see.

The Public the Best Censor.

"The public is the best censor of moving pictures, as .they, are in all .the. other :artSj"lMr. Hayward said. 4 1 know it is necessary in the interests of'the .community to liav6 some way of combating* indecency, but this should bo left to the police." There was always a great difference .of opinion among individuals over the merits of a film. If six men were to see a picture and each give his own opinion of it without consulting the others, there would almost always.be a wide divergence of views. The moral welfare of children was a strong inducement for censorship. However, the number of children attending evening performances was very small. Special programmes for children had been given in Auckland, but these had not been as successful as was hoped. The Auckland Film Society, whose members included leading educationists and churchmen, was cioing much 'to encourage good films, and Lady Alice Fergusson had also given her aid. There was a difficulty as far as the children were concerned,' but it had to bo remembered that children did not regard things' in the same light as did adults.

Lessons from History.

"Censorship only means : the arbitrary judgment of one individual, human, and subject to human prejudice and bias as all of us are,". Mr. Hayward added. "Censorship banned 'Pilgrim's Progress' and threw the author into gaol. Calvin, great man though he was, censored the works of Martin Servitus and burned the writer at the stake. Censorship banned the work of our greatest lyric poet, Shelley, and expelled him from Oxford University. It-forbade the reading of the •books of Thomas Pain and outlawed the author who wrote grandly 'The World Is My Country, To Do Good My Religion.' It banned Zola's heroic defence of Dreyfus and outlawed the writer. "Censorship prohibited the great philosophical plays of Heftrik Ibsen until publio opinion censored the censorship. Censorship is a one-man tyranny and dangerous to art, science, literature and human progress. Mussolini believes in censorship and liberty of expression ia dead in Italy to-day. The Russian Soviet believes in censorship with grim death penalties and personal liberty is dead today in Russia. There may be film posters which offend public taste. So there are book covers of decadent magazines; so there are sex novels, infinitely more' objectionable than any stories ever screened; so there are newspapers which live and trade on the dirty evils of human life."