EAST AND WEST.

Waikato Times, Volume 114, Issue 19124, 8 December 1933, Page 4

EAST AND WEST.

“ It is a frequent complaint about tbe cruder sort of film turned out for American or European amusement that'it is apt to give a wholly wrong impression of our Western civilisation to the peoples of the East and of Africa,” comments the Manchester Guardian. “How is the white man to carry his burden with dignity if a large part of his womenkind is depicted for the delectation of the Bantu as frivolous and even faithless? How establish the rule of law among backward races if Serowe is seen to be a haven of peace compared with Chicago?

“ We do not so often reflect that the Eastern peoples may have their own grievance against the film; but it has just been firmly propounded by the representative of Ib’n Saud’s Arabia at an international film conference that included members from Turkey, China, Egypt, Persia, and Siam among other nations. Ho complained that ‘no single film was made anywhere that gave an Eastern man a decent part. He was always the concentration of vice.’ “ The protest might perhaps have come more fitly from the spokesman for China, for it is unquestionable that the film has followed readily the ancient tradition of the stage in rarely introducing a Chinese unless there is need for a subtle and heartless master of crime. If suoh sensitiveness grows, the film producer of the future looking for a world market may find his style badly cramped by the limitation put upon his choice of a villain.”