MOTION PICTURES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 228, 26 September 1945, Page 3

MOTION PICTURES

QUALITY OF PROGRAMMES DEBATED IN HOUSE SATURDAY PROGRAMMES MENTIONED (P.A.) Parliament Bldgs., Sept. 24. Mr. F. Langstone (Govt., Waimarino), in the House of Representatives to-day, referring to expenses connected with the licensing of the motion picture industry, deplored the fact that many of the programmes screened in New Zealand were “amazingly silly.’’ He said there was a lot of tommy rot shown, wnicli made one ashamed to find one's self in a cinema viewing it. He did not know if the Government, or the Government of some other country, could do something about the quality of films, but something ought to be done. Motion pictures should be full of value. Films should be the most useful vehicle of all time for informing and educating the public. It made people angry to see much of the nonsense that was screened for them. Unfortunately, the censor's powers were restricted to dealing with obscenities and indecencies. Mr. J. Thorn (Govt., Thames): It is the people’s tastes that are wrong. Mr. Langstone also sounded a warning against the extent to which picture theatres were falling under monopolistic control. Mr. W. J. Polson (Opp., Stratford): We are under a tribute to America for a tremendous sum,

Mr. Langstone: I believe there is some arrangement between the parent body in America and subsidiaries here. That matter needs looking into. New Zealanders were concerned about the extent to which amalgamation was leading to monopolistic control of cinemas.

Mrs. Hilda Ross (Opp., Hamilton) felt that the present type of picture screened, particularly on Saturday afternoons, was unsuitable for children, and asked the Minister to try to raise the standard, particularly where children were concerned.