Laeramle Donation
Ai.77
THE CINEMA
THE CINEMA
ITS PRESENT POSITION AND
FUTURE POSSIBILITIES
BEING THE
REPORT OF AND CHIEF EVIDENCE
TAKEN BY THE
CINEMA COMMISSION OF INQUIRY
INSTITUTED BY THE
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PUBLIC MORALS
LONDON
WILLIAMS AND NORGATE
1917
0. TAH NQSTRAFD
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED,
BRUNSWICK 8T., STAMFORD ST., S.E. 1,
AND BUN6AY SUFFOLK.
INTRODUCTIQ'N-
HISTORY OF THE COMMISSION
IT is necessary to a right understanding of the objects of the
Commission that we should briefly explain why it was initiated
by the National Council of Public Morals. The Council had
published in June 1916 the report of the National Birth-Rate
Commission giving the results of its three years' inquiry into the
causes and effects of the declining birth-rate, and had presented
it to the Government. The Rt. Hon. W. H. Long, M.P., President
of the Local Government Board, in receiving the Commission
said
" My first duty, and a very great privilege it is, is, on
behalf of the Government and on behalf may I for a moment
voice something much wider and much larger than the Govern-
ment ? on behalf of society in the country, to thank your Com-
mission for the splendid work which you have done. The last
speaker referred to the financial cost of this work. I venture to
say, although I do not for a moment doubt that the burden in
this respect was a heavy one, that the good which you have
done by your inquiries and by your report cannot by any possi-
bility be measured in terms of money.
" I am confident that, if you have done nothing else, and I
think you have done a great deal more, you have stirred the minds
and the hearts of men in so profound a way that even the most
careless, the most indifferent, cannot be deaf to your entreaties
or regardless of your suggestions." ^
Many leading articles and reviews appeared in the Press of the
United Kingdom and America on this Report, from which two
extracts may be given.
Church Times : " A Royal Commission was demanded. An
even more characteristically English method, however, has been
preferred. The National Council of Public Morals, one of those
unofficial organisations which are the pride of English endeavour,
undertook the work ; the offer was welcomed by the Government,
officials of which were instructed unofficially to lend all possible
aid."
New Statesman (Dr. Sidney Webb) : " The National Council of
Public Morals has done a great public service. The Commission
has produced the most candid, the most outspoken, and the most
v
M109746
vi INTRODUCTION
impartial statement that this country has yet had as to the
extent, the nature, and the ethical character of the voluntary
regulation of the marriage state which now prevails over the
greater part of the civilised world."
The Council, as that Commission more fully disclosed, is a
composite body of religious, scientific and educational leaders,
and its objects are felicitously expressed in the words of H.M.
King George V which form its motto
1 '"' The L Foundations, of National Glory are set in the homes
y icf-rthe ^pettjrte. i They^will only remain unshaken while the-
*? -family life of lir-Vacfe 'and nation is strong, simple and pure."
Amongst the various branches of the Council's work it has for
some years been deeply concerned with the influence of the
cinematograph, especially upon young people, with the possi-
bilities of its development and with its adaptation to national
educational purposes. The Bishop of Birmingham, the President
of the Council, took a leading part, together with the Rev. F. B.
Meyer, D.D., the Chairman of its Executive in the first Cine-
matograph Congress at the Olympia in 1913.
It is well that we should again recall the principles, as set out
in its reports, upon which the Council conducts its operations.
We have striven in and out of season to remove the emphasis
from rescue to prevention and from prevention to construction.
We have sought, not to come out into the streets and with clamour-
ing to strike the evil on the head, for the effect of this policy has
been, whilst appearing to clear the evil away in one place, to
drive it to take deeper root underground and to spring up again
with tenfold more vigour elsewhere. We have rather set ourselves
to undermine the evil, to get at the deeper causes in character,
low ideals, ignorance, and false prudery. And in so doing we have
expressly desired to win the sympathy of the men and women
who are writing our books, are catering for public amusement,
edit or own our newspapers, and have under their control
the vast machinery for instantly and effectively reaching millions
of people. We have seen the folly of making enemies of those
who control these great and potent agencies by indiscriminate
denunciation, by standing upon a lofty pedestal and playing the
superior part, censoring, denouncing, imprisoning. The law
must be enforced and constantly pressed up to the level of public
opinion, and we have all along taken our share in doing that work.
But our deepest concern has been to help all those whose enter-
prises are calculated, when run on a low level, to foster the merely
animal nature, especially of the young, to raise the whole tone and
character of their industries, as well as to get rid of the obviously
indecent thing, which is by no means the greatest danger we
have to fear.
Acting on these principles, we resolved to lose no opportunity
of dealing fully with the cinematograph. Our previous work
had prepared the way of approach. Although known to be stern
INTRODUCTION vii
enemies of the evils we all deplore, we have happily been known
to be as earnestly desirous of encouraging the better thing, and
dealing fairly and honestly with all men. Our record, especially
our Commission on the Birth-Rate, and our principles brought
the leaders of the cinematograph trade to seek our help. Here
is a great invention with as yet unrealised possibilities for the
healthy amusement and education of the people, which is in-
fluencing the lives of the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants
of every city, town, and remote hamlet in the United Kingdom :
why should we stand aside, or merely denounce and alienate the
men who run it, and only call upon the police to censor it ?
Much more than this was required of us. We were invited to
meet representatives of the whole trade, and to discuss frankly
the best means of getting rid of whatever evil elements existed,
and of meeting the demands of the best public opinion for a higher-
class programme, for more suitable exhibitions for children, for
the suppression of certain evils which had thrown themselves on
the cinema halls as they had on other places, and which the war
had accentuated, and also for the establishment of a censorship
which would give legitimate freedom for the proper development
of the cinematograph whilst rigorously cutting out undesirable
films. We met the trade, and fully and openly discussed these
proposals. We carefully studied the whole subject and situation,
discussing them with Government and educational authorities,
and we met many times to confer upon them. We saw that we
all ought to know much more about the character, extent, and
the influences of the cinematograph. There was clearly a strong
case for thorough and impartial inquiry. This the leaders of
the trade saw and heartily welcomed as the best means of obtaining
the results we all desire. But the Council resolved not to propose
the matter themselves, but to wait until the various sections of
the trade should themselves ask us to establish such an inquiry.
And in due course we received the following letter
"199 Piccadilly, London, W.
" November 24, 1916.
"At a meeting yesterday of the Cinematograph Trade Council,
representing the Cinematograph Exhibitors' Association of Great
Britain and Ireland, Ltd., the Incorporated Association of
Kinematograph Manufacturers, Ltd., and the Kinematograph
Renters' Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Ltd.,
" It was Resolved :
"That the National Council of Public Morals be requested to
institute an independent inquiry into the physical, social,
moral, and educational influence of the cinema, with special
reference to young people.
"(Signed) A. E. NEWBOULD."
On receiving this the Council met, and resolved to accept the
invitation, subject to certain conditions, one being that our
viii INTRODUCTION
inquiry should not be used in any way whatever to interfere with
the proposals x for a Home Office censorship, and that it was
perfectly distinct from that question. That condition was
accepted by the trade, and has been loyally observed. We also
made it known at the Home Office when we mentioned the
matter of the proposed inquiry, together with the draft terms of
reference and suggested names of the Commissioners, and invited
them to appoint a representative. This was done some time
before the matter was finally decided and before any notice had
appeared in the Press. When it was also mentioned to the Home
Secretary, Mr. Herbert Samuel, M.P., at a private interview on
Friday, October 27, 1916, he expressed his pleasure that the
inquiry was to be undertaken. At subsequent meetings our
Council decided upon the persons who should form the Com-
mission, upon the exact terms of reference, and arranged all its
details. We did not invite any member of the trade to our
Council meetings. Our action was taken independently of them,
and the Commission was appointed solely by the Council, and
its report has been presented to and is here published by the
Council. The Council undertook the whole financial responsibility,
and has not asked for nor received any financial help from the
trade.
MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION
The following are the Members of the Commission appointed
to undertake the Inquiry. It should be noticed that we included
three members of the trade, nominated, at our request, by the
Trade Council.
The LORD BISHOP OF BIRMINGHAM (President).
Rev. PRINCIPAL ALFRED E. GARVIE, M.A., D.D. (Vice-President).
Lt.-General Sir R. S. S. BADEN-POWELL, K.C.V.O., K.C.B., LL.D.
Sir W. F. BARRETT, F.R.S.
Rev. CAREY BONNER (General Secretary, representing The Sunday
School Union).
Sir EDWARD W. BRABROOK, C.B. (President, Child Study Society,
London).
Right Rev. MONSIGNOR CANON W. F. BROWN.
Mrs. BURGWIN (late Superintendent Special Schools).
Mr. C. W. CROOK, B.A., B.Sc. (President, National Union of
Teachers).
Commissioner ADELAIDE Cox (representing the Salvation Army).
Mr. A. P. GRAVES, M. A. (representing and Chairman of the Repre-
sentative Managers of L.C.C. Elementary Schools).
The Rabbi PROFESSOR H. GOLLANCZ, M.A., D.LiT. (representing
the Jewish Community on the National Council).
Dr. C. W. KIMMINS, M.A. (Chief Inspector under the Education
Committee of the London County Council).
1 We now know that these proposals had been virtually abandoned before
the Commission began its sittings.
INTRODUCTION ix
Mr. W. GAVAZZI KING (Secretary, Cinematograph Exhibitors'
Association).
Sir JOHN KIRK, J.P. (Director of Ragged School Union).
Mr. SIDNEY LAMERT (Director, London Film Company, Ltd.).
Rev. F. B. MEYER, B.A., D.D., \ representing the National Free
Rev. F. C. SPURR. / Church Council.
Mr. A. E. NEWBOULD (Chairman, Cinematograph Exhibitors'
Association; Director, Provincial \Cinematograph Theatres,
Ltd.).
Mr. T. P. O'CONNOR, M.P. (Chief Censor).
Dr. C. W. SALEEBY, F.R.S., Ed.
representing the Incorporated Society
*
Rev. W. E. SOOTHILL, M.A. (representing the Young Men's
Christian Association).
Rev. JAMES MARCHANT, F.R.A.S., F.L.S., F.R.S., Ed. (Secretary).
TERMS OF REFERENCE
The Terms of Reference to the Commission were as follows
1. To institute an inquiry into the physical, social, educational,
and moral influences of the cinema, with special reference to young
people; and into
2. The present position and future development of the cine-
matograph, with special reference to its social and educational
value and possibilities.
3. To investigate the nature and extent of the complaints which
have been made against cinematograph exhibitions.
4. To report to the National Council the evidence taken,
together with its findings and recommendations, which the Council
will publish.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND THANKS
The National Council desires to tender grateful thanks to the
witnesses, some of whom travelled long distances to give evidence,
and all of whom most willingly accepted the invitation of the
Commission to attend, and in some cases prepared elaborate precis
of their proposed evidence for the convenience of the Commis-
sioners. It is to be regretted that owing to the great shortage of
paper it has not been possible to publish all these precis in their
entirety.
The Council desires to express its appreciation of the kindness
of His Majesty's Foreign Office and of the Commissioners of
H.M.'s Dominions in obtaining for their use the Regulations
of the Cinematograph Censorship in force in other countries;
of the Chief Constables of the United Kingdom whose valuable
memoranda appear in Appendix III; and of the London County
Council for allowing its Chief Inspector, Dr. C. W. Kimmins, M.A.,
to serve on the Commission, and for sending a representative of its
Licensing Committee to give evidence before the Commission.
x INTRODUCTION
The Council wishes to offer its warmest thanks to the National
Review Board of New York for undertaking an inquiry on their
behalf into the effect of Cinematograph Exhibitions upon Juvenile
Delinquency in the United States, and for offering to send a
representative to England to confer with the Commission.
The Cinematograph Trades Council has rendered every assist-
ance in its power, has produced all documents and films necessary
to the inquiry, has freely answered every request for information,
and its officials have willingly submitted to extensive cross-
examination. For this assistance the Council desires to offer
its best thanks ; and in particular to Mr. A. E. Newbould, Chairman
of the Exhibitors' Association, who has rendered conspicuous
public service in working for the highest interest of the industry
and the country.
The cordial thanks of the National Council are tendered to
the Council of the Institute of Civil Engineers for their generosity
in placing their excellent Council Chamber at the disposal of
the Commission for its sittings ; and to Mr. J. D. Tippett for the
use of his private theatre for the inspection of films and posters
kindly collected at considerable trouble by Mr. F. R. Goodwin.
The Rev. T. M. Thornton has gladly and freely assisted the
Commission in many ways, for which the Commission and Council
are very thankful.
Finally, the National Council would respectfully beg to be
allowed to express its profound gratitude to the President the
Lord Bishop of Birmingham; to the Vice-President the Rev.
Principal A. E. Garvie, M.A., D.D., and to every Member of the
Commission for their eminent services whole-heartedly given to
this extensive and difficult investigation, the value of which we
believe will be gladly acknowledged by the whole nation. 1
On behalf of the National Council,
JAMES MARCHANT,
Director and Secretary.
20 Bedford Square, W.C.
July 16, 1917.
1 It has been decided to keep the Commission in being for the
purpose of furthering its recommendations and co-operating with
the Censor with respect to the Advisory Council. J. M.
LIST OF WITNESSES
No.
Name
Page
1
MR. F. R. GOODWIN.
Chairman of the Cinematograph
1-28,
Exhibitors' Association (London
81-91
Branch).
2
MB. J. G. LEGGE.
Director of Education, Liverpool.
28-46
3
ME. CECIL HEPWORTH.
Managing Director, Hepworth
46-55,
Manufacturing Co.
74-80
4
MR. JOHN D. TIPPETT.
Managing Director of the Trans-
56-74
atlantic Film Co., Ltd.
5
MR. W. P. WESTELL,
Letchworth.
92-97
F.L.S.
6
MR. N. BISHOP HARMAN,
Senior Ophthalmic Surgeon to the
97-104,
M.A., M.B., F.R.C.S.
West London Hospital and the
116-118
7
ONE OF THE EXAMINERS.
Belgrave Hospital for Children.
Board of Film Censors.
104-116
8
MR. JOHN KAY, B.A.
Head Master of " Major Lester "
118-126
County School, Liverpool (Re-
presenting National Union of
Teachers).
9
MR. J. W. BUNN.
Head Master of Cloudesley L.C.C.
126-132
School, Islington (Representing
National Union of Teachers).
10
Miss MARGERY Fox.
Representing the Head Mistresses'
132-138
Association.
11
The REV. The HON. E.
Head Master of Eton.
138-142
LYTTELTON, M.A., D.D.
12
The Very REV. W.
Dean of Worcester.
143-151
MOORE-EDE, D.D.
13
SIR ROBERT WALLACE,
Chairman of the County of London
151-156
K.C.
Sessions.
14
MR. SPURLEY HEY, B.A.
Director of Education, Manchester.
157-171
15
MR. EDWARD NICHOLLS.
Director of Music for Cinema
171-174
Theatres.
16
MR. RODERICK Ross,
M.V.O.
Chief Constable of Edinburgh.
175-183
17
REV. THOMAS HORNE.
Rector of Syresham, North Hants,
183-185
and Senior Chaplain of the Show-
men's Guild of Great Britain
and Ireland.
18
MR. CECIL LEESON.
Secretary of the Howard Associa-
186-191
tion.
19
MR. W. ARTHUR NORT-
Council of Kinematograph Manu-
191-197
HAM.
facturers and the Renters' Asso-
ciation
20
SCHOOL CHILDREN.
197-203
Xll
LIST OF WITNESSES
Name
Page
MR. F. W. BABNETT.
SCHOOL CHILDREN.
MRS. GARNETT.
MR. J. BROOKE WILKIN-
SON.
MR. JOHN MASSEY.
MR. CHARLES PASCALL.
MR. JOHN HILL.
REV. W. E. SOOTHILL,
M.A., and MR. OLIVER
H. McCowEN, B.A.
MR. J. GRANT RAMSAY,
F.R.E.S.
MRS. HENRIQUES.
The RT. REV. BISHOP
WELLDON, D.D.
MR. T. P. O'CONNOR, M.P.
MlSS VlCKERS.
MR. A. E. NEWBOULD.
DR. C. W. KIMMINS,M.A.
MR. PERCIVAL SHARP,
B.Sc.
MR. J. A. SEDDON.
MR. R. H. FASTNEDGE.
MR. LEON GASTER.
MR. W. GAVAZZI KING.
MR. A. P. GRAVES, M.A.
REV. CAREY BONNER.
Probation Officer, Westminster
Court.
Invalid Children's Aid Society and
Children's Care Committee.
Secretary, British Board of Film
Censors.
Probation Officer, Old St. Court.
Past-President of the United Bill-
posters' Association, etc.
Past-President of the United Bill-
posters' Association.
Religious and Morals Work Secre-
tary, Y.M.C.A.
Principal of Institute of Hygiene.
Hon. Sec. Oxford and St. George's
(Jewish) Girls' Club, Commercial
Road, E.
Dean of Manchester.
Chief Censor of Films.
Holborn Local Association of
Children's Care Committees.
Chairman of the Cinematograph
Exhibitors' Association of Great
Britain and Ireland.
Chief Inspector under Education
Committee of the L.C.C.
Directpr of Education, Newcastle-
on-Tyne.
Organising Secretary, Cinemato-
graph Exhibitors' National
Union.
Licensing Department, London
County Council.
Hon. Sec. of the Illuminating
Engineering Society, Editor of
The Illuminating Engineer.
Secretary, Cinematograph Ex-
hibitors' Association.
Chairman of the Representative
Managers of L.C.C. Elementary
Schools.
General Secretary of the Sunday
School Union.
203-209
209-210
243-244
211-213
213-217
217-220
221-225
225-226
226-234
234-239
239-241
242-243
244-259
259-262
262-272
272-282
282-287
288-294
294-296
297-299
299-302
302-305
305-311
CONTENTS
PAQB
INTRODUCTION ........ v
LIST OF WITNESSES ....... xi
PART I
THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSION
SECTION I
MORAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE CINEMA
The Standard of Judgment Special Considerations regarding the
Cinema as a Place of Amusement The Charge of Indecent
Conduct The Moral Danger of Darkness Action of the
London County Council Action of the Home Office Re-
butting Evidence The Means of Dealing with the Evil
The Character of the Films Need of a Stricter Censorship
Difficulties in the Way of Improvement The Special Claims
of Children Special Inquiry Regarding the Influence of the
Picture House on Children Juvenile Crime Thefts to pay
for Admission Imitative Crime Causes of the Increase of
Juvenile Crime Conflict of Evidence No Connection dis-
covered between Cinemas and Juvenile Crime A Close Con-
nection The Connection not so Certain Difficulty of estimat-
ing Influence of a Film A Special Inquiry regarding Juvenile
Crime The Replies of Chief Constables Wrong Ideas of
Life and Conduct Special Provision for the Young The Value
of the Picture House The Alternatives to the Picture House
The Influence of the Picture House in decreasing Hooligan-
ism The Cinema as a Counter-attraction to the Public-House
Findings xxiv-xlvii
ADDENDUM
The Use of the Cinema in Religious and Social Work The Testi-
mony of the Y.M.C.A. Use in a Church Propaganda by the
Films xlviii-1
SECTION II
THE CINEMA IN ITS RELATION TO THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN
Introduction The Effect of the Cinema in regard to the Physical
and Mental Condition of the School Child The Evidence of
Experts with regard to the Value of the Cinema for Educa-
tional Purposes Should Children attend the Cinema ? Should
there be Separate Performances for Children? The Educa-
tional Film^ Films of Educational Value in which the Interest
is not Predominantly Educational The Film Story The
School and the CinemaPossibilities of the Use of the Cinema
in Education Analysis of Expert Investigations Summary
Findings li-lxx
xiv CONTENTS
PAGE
ADDENDUM
The Place of Music in the Picture House Ixx-lxxii
SECTION HI
LIGHTING AND BYE- STRAIN
Eye-strain and other Ill-effects due to the Darkness of the Halls in
Cinemas Scientific Evidence as to the Lighting of Cinema
Theatres Findings Ixxiii-hcxix
SECTION IV
TRADE CENSORSHIP AND ORGANISATION
History of the Censorship Working of the Censorship The In-
tentions of the Present Censor The Present Position Negotia-
tions with the Home Office The Attitude of the Trade The
Reorganisation of the Trade The Defects of Local Censorship
and Regulations The Censorship of Posters . . . Ixxx-lxxxvi
SECTION V
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Suitable Conditions Suitable Films The Reasons for a State
Censorship The Objections to a State Censorship The Con-
ditions of a State Censorship Continuance of the Present
Censorship .... Ixxxvii-xcii
NOTE OF RESERVATION xciii
PART II
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
Witnesses :
MR. F. R. GOODWIN
Chairman of the Cinematograph Exhibitors' Association
(London Branch)
Effects of War Companies and Capital Cinema Attendances
Picture " Palaces " Regulations and Authorities Film Pro-
duction Cinemas, a counter-attraction to Public-house
Sunday Opening Cinema compared with the Theatre Cafes
and Lounges Complaints against Cinemas Molestation of
Children London County Council's action National Union
of Women Workers' Inspection of Cinemas, and Report
Central and Local Authorities Fire Precautions Films and
Districts Indecency Lighting of Boxes American Films
Interest and Travel Pictures System of Cinema Inspection
Children's Performances Posters Cinemas and Drink Com-
plaints of Indecency Lighting Cinematograph Exhibitors'
Association Undesirable Films Local Regulations . . . 1-28
Sunday Evening Entertainments London County Council Con-
ditions Sunday Programmes Sunday Labour Letter to Sir
George Cave Undesirable Visitors Posters Lighting Un-
desirable Visitors Registration Cards Indecent Behaviour
Sunday Entertainments and Charity 81-91
CONTENTS
xv
MR. J. G. LEGGE
Director of Education, Liverpool
Liverpool Regulations Joint Committee on Juvenile Crime
Educational and Recreative Aspects of the Cinema Super-
vision of Films for Children Juvenile Delinquency The
Cinema and Education Admission of Children without escort
Music in Cinemas Cinemas and Drink Attendance of
Children Juvenile Theft " Comic " Films " Love-making "
Scenes
PA8E
28-46
MR. CECIL HEPWORTH
Managing Director, Hepworth Manufacturing Co.
Cinematograph Possibilities Limitations of British Manufacturers
Films dealing with Crime " Injudicious Control " Authors
and the Cinema Growth of the Cinema Industry American
Products
46-55
Lighting Local and Central Authorities Interest Films Undesir-
able Films Educational Films Authors and Films Police
Censorship 74-80
MR. JOHN D. TIPPETT
Managing Director, Transatlantic Film Co., Ltd.
Growth of the American Industry Comparisons with England
Authors and Producers Education and the Cinema United
States Regulations Exclusive Films Religious Pictures
Admission of Children Sunday Opening Customs Tax Ameri-
can Films in England American Cinemas Improper Films
Film Costumes Censorship Educational and Travel Films
Cinema Licences " State " Censorship Indecent Exhibitions
Serial Pictures Authors and Producers Educational Value .
56-74
MR. W. PERCIVAL WESTELL
Experiment at Letchworth Type of Films Exhibited Nature and
Educational Pictures with Lectures Children's Essays Be-
haviour of Children
92-97
MR. N. BISHOP HARMAN, M.A., M.B., F.R.C.S.
Senior Ophthalmic Surgeon to the West London Hospital and Belgrave
Hospital for Children
Effects of Cinema Exhibitions upon the Eyes of Children Glare
Flicker Rapidity of Motion Concentration Duration of
Exhibition Suggested Protective Provisions Optimum Posi-
tion Limits to Attendance Value of Intervals .
97-104
Approved Distance from Screen Effects of Visual and Mental
Fatigue Ideal Cinema Buildings 116-118
ONE OF THE EXAMINERS IN THE FILM CENSOR'S
OFFICE
Principles of Censorship Excluded Subjects Indecorous Dress
Forms of Certificate Procedure of Examiners Rejected Films
Elimination of Objectionable Features Nudity Diverse
Opinions concerning Films Films depicting suggested Immor-
ality Effect upon Examiners' Eyes 104-116
xvi CONTENTS
MR. JOHN KAY, B.A.
Head Master of " Major Lester " County School, Liverpool
(representing National Union of Teachers)
Investigation of Lancashire Teachers' Association Cinema Influences
Moral, Physical and Educational Crime Films Educational
Films Sanitation Distinction between Films for Adults and
Children Vulgar Pictures Educational Values Effects of
Cinema upon Children 118-126
MR. J. W. BUNN
Head Master of " The Cloudesley" L.C.O. School, Islington
(representing National Union of Teachers)
Evidence gathered at Hoxton School for Mentally Defective
Boys Drawing Lesson Experiments Educational Value of
Cinema Popularity of the Picture House Vulgar and Sensa-
tional Films Excuses of Juvenile Offenders Influences upon
Mentally Defective Children 126-132
MISS MARGERY FOX
Representing Head Mistresses' Association
Educational Aspects Amusement for Children Instances of Objec-
tionable Films Sensational Films Influences of Cinema upon
Children 132-138
THE REV. THE HON. E. LYTTELTON, D.D.
Educational Aspects Principle of Education in Relation to the
Cinema Relative Influences of the Cinema upon Different
Types of Boys Exclusion of Children advocated Hedonistic
Films Intervals between Pictures Explanations of Pictures . 138-142
THE VERY REV. W. MOORE EDE, D.D.
Dean of Worcester
Worcester Cinema Investigation Report Teachers' Inquiries Most
Popular Type of Film Recommendations Origin of Inquiry
Films objected to Lighting Censorship Children's Enter-
tainments 143-151
SIR ROBERT WALLACE, K.C.
Chairman of County of London Sessions
Sessions Court Impressions Indecent Pictures Non-existent Inde-
cent Behaviour Promenades and Standing Room Undesirable
Crime Films Instances of Misdemeanours Suggested Reme-
dies Censorship Juvenile Delinquency Lack of Parental
Control 151-156
MR. SPURLEY HEY, B.A.
Director of Education, Manchester
Manchester Investigation Juvenile Crime Statistics of Child At-
tendance Manchester Licensing Regulations Suggestions
Sanitation Recreative Facilities for Children Crime Films
Children's Entertainments Supervision Censorship Lighting
in Cinemas Physical Effects of too Frequent Attendance . . 157-171
CONTENTS xvii
PAGE
MR, EDWARD NICHOLLS
Director of Music for Cinema Theatres
Music in Cinemas Local Regulations Excluding Orchestras
Musical Entr'actes Popular Music accompanying Films . . 171-174
MR. RODERICK ROSS, M.V.O.
Chief Constable of Edinburgh
Cinemas in Edinburgh Popularity Nature of Complaints Received
Juvenile Crime Objectionable Films Communications from
Chief Constables of Dundee and Aberdeen Statistics of Juve-
nile Crime Stiggested Cause of Increase Nudity in Pictures
Undesirable Films Cinema counteracting Drunkenness . . 175-183
REV. THOMAS HORNE
Rector of Syresham, North Hants, and Senior Chaplain to the Showmen's
Guild of Great Britain and Ireland
Itinerant Film Exhibitions Juvenile Delinquency Trade Censor-
ship and the Home Office Religious' Pictures American Films
Censorship 183-185
MR. CECIL LEESON
Secretary of the Howard Association
Juvenile Delinquency Criticism of Cinema Sensationalism Sug-
gested Imitation of Crime Attractiveness of Cinema and Thefts
Hygienic Conditions Hooliganism 186-191
MR. W. ARTHUR NORTHAM
Member of the Council of the Kinematograph Manufacturers'* Association,
Member of the Renters' Association
Definitions of Trade Terms Methods of Film Selection Reviewers'
Records Methods of Film Distribution American Manufac-
turer Renter of Films Film Viewers British Industry . . 191-197
SCHOOL CHILDREN
Attendance Prices of Admission Seating Accommodation Films
Preferred and Disliked by Children 198-203
MR. F. W. BARNETT
Probation Officer, Westminster Court
Influences of War Conditions Juvenile Crime Prohibition of Chil-
dren from Cinema Undesirable Home Influences Cinemas a
Counter-attraction to the Public- houses Cinema Audiences
Suggested Improvements Films for Children .... 203-209
SCHOOL CHILDREN
Four Schoolboys Type of Pictures Preferred Position of Parents . 209-210
MRS. GARNETT
Invalid Children's Aid Society and Children's Care Committee
Cinema Attendance at Woolwich and Greenwich Films Portraying
Pilfering Recreation and Play Centres Home Surroundings . 211-213
b
xviii CONTENTS
PAGE
MR. J. BROOKE WILKINSON
Secretary, British Board of Film Censors
Board of Censors Censorship of War Films Statistics of Films
dealt with Formation of the Censorship Board Appointment
of Censor Censored and Uncensored Films 213-217
MR. JOHN MASSEY
Probation Officer, Old Street Court
East End Districts Home Conditions Cinema Attendance
Juvenile Crime Crime Films Social Values of Cinema
Indecency 217-220
MR. CHARLES PASCALL
Past President of the United Billposters' Association
London Billposters' Association Censorship of Posters Committee
Cinema Posters Posters outside Cinemas 221-225
MR. JOHN HILL
Past President of the United Billposters' Association
Constitution of Censorship Committee Results considered Satis-
factory 225-226
MR. OLIVER McCOWEN, B.A.
Y.M.C.A. Worker in France
Cinemas in France Diminution of Drunkenness resulting Character
of Films Appreciation of Soldiers 226-227
REV. W. E. SOOTHILL, M.A.
Religious and Morals Work Secretary, Y.M.C.A.
" Questionnaire " Educational Films Vulgar Films Religious
Films Censorship Sunday Opening Effects of Cinema upon
Juveniles Concluding Observations 228-234
MR. J. GRANT RAMSAY, F.R.E.S.
Principal of the Institute of Hygiene
Educational Possibilities Hygienic Conditions in Cinemas
Mental Hygiene Scientific Films Experiences with Children
Physical Effects 234-239
MRS. BASIL L. Q. HENRIQUES
Hon. Sec. Oxford and St. George's (Jewish) Girls' Club
East End Conditions Housing Conditions and the Cinema Sensa-
tional Films Objectionable Films Objectionable Behaviour
at Cinemas 239-241
THE RT. REV. BISHOP WELLDON, D.D.
Dean of Manchester
Educational Possibilities Cinema preferable to Public-house
Cinematograph in Schools Sunday Performances . . . 242-243
CONTENTS xix
PAGE
SCHOOL CHILDREN
o Girls and Two Boys Films Preferred Ventilation . . . 243-244
MR. T. P. O'CONNOR, M.P.
Chief Censor of Films
Appointment Examiners Code of Censorship Difficulties of
I Censorship Elimination of Objectionable Features Censor-
ship and the Home Office " Crook " Films Instance of Re-
jected Crime Film Letter to the Trade Term of Appoint-
ment Nudity in Films Educational Value of Cinema
Features excluded from Films Propaganda Films Censorship 244-259
:
MISS VICKERS
Holborn Local Association of Children's Care Committees
Cinema Attendance in Central London Questions answered by
Children Film Preferences Time Limit for Children's At-
tendance Lighting Special Children's Performances . . 259-262
MR. A. E. NEWBOULD
Chairman of the Cinematograph Exhibitors' Association of Great Britain
and Ireland
Charges against Cinema Juvenile Crime Indecent Conduct
Illumination Censorship and the Home Office Model Regula-
tions British Manufacturer The Nature and Extent of the
Charges against the Industry 262-272
DR. C. W. KIMMINS, M.A.
Chief Inspector under Education Committee of the L.C.C.
Investigation of Children's Interest in Cinema Analysis of Re-
sults Extracts from Essays received 272-282
MR. PERCIVAL SHARP, B.Sc.
Director of Education for Newcastle-upon-Tyne
The Function of the Cinema Juvenile Crime Censorship Edu-
cation and the Cinema 282-287
MR. J. A. SEDDON
Organising Secretary Cinematograph Exhibitors' National Union
Constitution of National Union Labour Aspect of Industry
Objects of the Union Principles of Organisation Uncensored
Films Censorship 288-294
MR. R. H. FASTNEDGE
Licensing Department of the London County Council
Powers of Control over Cinema Lighting New Regulation
Sunday Performances Inspection of Cinemas .... 294-296
MR. LEON GASTER
Hon. Sec. of the Illuminating Engineering Society, Editor of " The
Illuminating Engineer"
Lighting of Cinema Theatres Principles to be observed Eye-
strain Full Lighting between Performances Vision of Lantern
Operators Suggested Distance for Children from Screen . 297-299
xx CONTENTS
PAGE
MR. W. GAVAZZI KING
Secretary Cinematograph Exhibitors' Association
Explanation of Letter sent to Exhibitors Copy of Letter Con-
ditions under which it was issued Misunderstanding arising
therefrom 299-302
MR. ALFRED PERCEVAL GRAVES, M.A., F.R.S.L.
Formerly H.M, Inspector of Schools, Chairman of the Representative
Managers of L.C.C. Elementary Schools
Educational Aspects of Cinema Suggested Methods of Use The
Value of the Cinema in Teaching 302-305
REV. CAREY BONNER
General Secretary of The Sunday School Union
Sunday School Union Investigation " Questionnaire " Classified
Summary of Replies Sunday Opening Lighting and Ventila-
tion Position and Attendance of Children Character of Films
Effects of Cinema upon Children The Cinema and Juvenile
Delinquency 305-311
APPENDIX I
Cinematograph Censorship Regulations in France, Russia, Italy,
Spain, New Zealand, New York, Norway, Sweden, New South
Wales, supplied to the Commission by His Majesty's Foreign
Office and the respective Dominion Commissioners . . . 313-331
APPENDIX II
Note based upon an investigation in New York dealing with the
Influence of the Cinematograph upon Juvenile Delinquency,
by Mr. Edward M. Barrows, of the People's Institute . . 332
APPENDIX III
A Hundred and Eighteen Replies to Memorandum of Inquiry ad-
dressed to the Chief Constables of the United Kingdom con-
cerning the evidence of Chief Constable Ross of Edinburgh . 333-372
PART I
THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSION
WHILE no one to-day would venture the suggestion, so com-
monly made a few years back, that the popularity of the cinema
is no more than ephemeral, it may be doubted if there is even
yet sufficient realisation of the strong and permanent grip which
the picture palace has taken upon the people of this country.
All other forms of recreation appeal only to a section of the
community, but the lure of the pictures is universal ; while the
cheapness and accessibility of the houses make it possible for the
masses to indulge in this enjoyment almost to an unlimited
extent. In the course of our inquiry we have been much impressed
by the evidence brought before us that moving pictures are having
a profound influence upon the mental and moral outlook of millions
of our young people an influence the more subtle in that it is
subconsciously exercised and we leave our labours with the deep
conviction that no social problem of the day demands more
earnest attention. The cinema, under wise guidance, may be
made a powerful influence for good ; if neglected, if its abuse is
unchecked, its potentialities for evil are manifold.
The figures presented to us in relation to the industry are
bewildering in their immensity. Carefully tabulated returns of
attendances have been kept, and these show that in this country
there are no fewer than 1,075,875,000 attendances at picture
shows in the course of a single year. In the British Isles there
are approximately 4500 theatres with a mean seating capacity
which affords accommodation for one in every thirty-seven of the
population. On the basis of these figures the entire population of
the United Kingdom visits picture shows approximately once each
fortnight. About 5000 new ," subjects " are issued each year,
and some 70,000,000 feet of film are running through the
projectors of the country each week. From 80,000 to 100,000
persons are directly engaged in the various branches of the trade
The cinematograph industry has been aptly likened to an
international circulating library business of which each country
forms a branch station. The films which are exhibited in our
houses go the rounds of the world, literally from China to Peru.
In considering the literary and artistic qualities of the pictures,
xxi
xxii THE CINEMA
it is necessary to bear in mind that they are produced to meet
the taste of the great mass of the people.
The functions of the cinema are broadly three recreative,
educational and propagandist. Of these the recreative is at
present the most prominent, but to this aspect of the cinema we
have not exclusively directed our attention in this inquiry. We
recognise quite clearly that it would be a mistake to throw on an
industry commercially conducted for private profit the onus of
leading public opinion, and indeed no claim is made that the
leaders of the industry desire or are competent to undertake this
work. Accordingly, educational and other authorities in the
country might well consider how far they can assist in raising
the whole status of the cinema, and to assist them in this endeavour
has been a main object of our inquiry.
In accordance with the terms of reference from The National
Council of Public Morals, the Cinema Commission of Inquiry began
its work on January 8, 1917, and finished July 9, 1917. It has
examined forty-three witnesses, representing all the different
interests involved in the inquiry, as well as a number of boys
and girls. In addition to the weekly sittings for hearing witnesses,
the Commission has held a number of other sittings at a private
theatre for the inspection of the films complained of. It also
appointed Committees to visit various cinema halls, and, as the
evidence shows, caused many other inquiries to be made on its
behalf amongst Chief Constables, Clerks to the Justices of the
Peace, and among School and Y.M.C.A. workers. It has received
numerous communications from the general public in almost
every part of the United Kingdom, and as far as possible has
given attention to every complaint made. It is to be regretted
that a few of those who have most prominently identified them-
selves with the attacks on the picture house, which were the
immediate occasion of the inquiry, have refused to give evidence
so that their charges might have been thoroughly investigated,
and their validity or otherwise have been established. While
the representatives of the trade have offered every facility, the
inquiry has been absolutely independent and impartial; and we,
the members of the Commission signing this Report, submit it
with the conclusions and recommendations we have reached, in
full confidence that it will receive the unprejudiced consideration
which we believe that by its character it deserves, and which in
the moral, social, educational and religious interests of the nation
it is desirable should be given to it.
As of primary importance, we first of all report on the moral
and social aspects of our subject, dealing with the accusations
brought against the picture house. As connected with this, the use
made of the cinema by religious agencies and other movements is
briefly referred to. Next, with a view to indicating its possibilities,
we report on the educational aspects, and in this connection also
with the music in the picture house. This may be treated from
two points of view: the educational, as a means of cultivating
popular taste; and the physical, as a relief from eye-strain. We
THE REPORT xxiii
are thus led to the consideration of the conditions under which
the films may be viewed without injury to the eyes. The amount
of the light in the building has a bearing on the moral aspect of
the subject as well, since darkness may be used for evil purposes ;
in this way we have found the different parts of our inquiry
closely related. We then at the close of our Report deal with
the ideal conditions and offer our recommendations.
SECTION I
MORAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE CINEMA
THE STANDARD OF JUDGMENT
IN stating the results of our inquiry in regard to the influence
of the picture house on the morals of the people, and on society
generally, it is necessary to discriminate between what is ideal
and what is practicable. While in public amusements there
should be constant endeavour to raise the standard, and the
possibility of elevating popular taste by the kind of amusement
provided must be recognised ; yet, on the other hand, the action
of public authority cannot go very far ahead of the common,
moral judgment. While manifest evil must be repressed, what
approves itself to the highest moral sentiment cannot always be
enforced. It is this distinction that we have kept before ourselves
in dealing with the question.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING THE CINEMA AS A PLACE
OF AMUSEMENT
The picture house is the cheapest, the most accessible, and the
most widely enjoyed form of public entertainment ; it is most
popular in the poorest districts, and is attended by a very large
number of children and young people. 1 Owing to the variety of
the pictures shown, it is impossible for any person entering to be
quite sure as to the quality of the entertainment which will be
provided for him. 2 In a programme for the most part unobjec-
tionable, one film of a very objectionable character may be
shown. 3 This uncertainty must be taken into account in dealing
with the moral influence of the moving pictures. For these
reasons the conclusion seems justified that a rather more rigid
standard of judgment should be applied than to the theatre or
the music hall, where the programme is known beforehand, and
the attendance of children is almost negligible.
1 pp. 1-6. 2 p. 149 24 . 3 p. 17 104 ; p. 21 1 6 .
xxiv
MORAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS xxv
I. THE CHARGE OF INDECENT CONDUCT
A distinction must be made between moral evils incidental to
the picture house and those consequential on the kind of film
shown. The charge has been brought against the picture house
that the darkness encourages indecency, especially where there
are boxes, though this is the case in a very few houses ; x and
that the promenade or the standing room at the back of the
building, where such exists, affords opportunities for improper
conduct. 2 In 1915 there were only two prosecutions for in-
decency in connection with the cinema brought under the notice
of the London Branch of the Exhibitors' Association. 3 A pro-
bation officer of twenty-five years' experience stated that he had
known of only one indecent assault in a cinema, 4 and another
that during four years one charge of indecent assault had been
made, and that there were far more charges of indecency taking
place in open spaces. 5 A social worker in East London stated
that she had " seen the boys behave in a very nasty manner
towards the girls," and gave a specific instance of a gross act
she had herself observed. 6 Sir Robert Wallace reported that a
number of cases of indecent assault had come before him, and
that there was reason to believe that many women, shrinking
from the publicity involved, did not make the complaint they
might have made. He had had a number of letters from fathers
of girls telling of horrible things, for which the standing room at
the back had afforded opportunity. He strongly objected to any
promenade or any unnecessary moving from seat to seat. 7 This
unwillingness on the part of the public to make complaint in
such cases shows that the number of charges cannot be taken
as absolutely indicating the extent of the evil.
THE MORAL DANGER OF DARKNESS
The insufficient light in some picture houses has been repre-
sented as involving this grave moral danger. The Chief Constable
of Edinburgh, who in his statement dealt only with the indecency
or suggestiveness of films, when cross-examined replied that he
did not think it possible for immorality to take place within the
buildings, " but he had had one or two complaints of indecent
assaults having been committed," and "other chief constables
had had similar complaints." He had no doubt that this was
" due largely to the fact that the cinema is carried on in a state
of darkness more or less," 8 and agreed that "the darkness, com-
1 p. 8 25 . 2 p. 152 39 . 3 p. 14 58 : 61 . * p. 208 20 .
6 p. 220 6 . p. 240"; p. 241 34 . 7 pp. 151-2. 8 p. 178 14 .
xxvi THE CINEMA
bined with the low standard of morality of the individual," led
to indecency. 1 The Chief Constable of Dundee stated his belief
that " were due attention paid to the construction of the premises,
and the highest degree of light consistent with the proper working
of the lantern insisted on, cause of complaint in this respect would
be removed." 2
Similar opinions have been expressed by the Chief Constables
of Guildford, 3 Hull, 4 and Margate. 5 The Directors of Education
of Liverpool 6 and Manchester 7 concurred in desiring better
lighting for the same reason, and the latter expressed the opinion
that not only would eye-strain be relieved, but the value of the
pictures would not suffer. 8 Other evidence to the same effect
has been given. 9 In the Report of the Special Inquiry submitted
by the Rev. Carey Bonner, the following statistics were given :
70 per cent, of the replies reported lighting good ; 20 per cent,
of the replies reported lighting insufficient or bad, and 10 per
cent, as only fair. 10 Our conclusion from this evidence is that the
degree of lighting has a large bearing upon the decent or moral
conduct in the theatre. Cases are not unknown where misuse of
the premises is entirely traceable to the dim character of the
lighting. Given adequate illumination, this misuse disappears.
ACTION OF THE LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL
In 1916 the London County Council, moved thereto by " some
very terrible although somewhat ambiguous charges " regarding
" the molestation of children," n took action. At first the County
Council proposed that seats from which all adults should be ex-
cluded should be reserved for children unaccompanied by adults. 12
When the exhibitors pointed out the difficulties this would in-
volve, the County Council waived the proposal, and accepted
the suggestion of the trade that in every hall there should be
an attendant, bearing a distinguishing badge, whose solq duty
during the time the premises were open to the public should be
to look after the children attending the hall. 13 A suggestion from
the Chief Commissioner of Police to the Home Office also led
the London County Council to add the regulation that the lights
should go up after every picture. 14
ACTION OF THE HOME OFFICE
The Chief Commissioner of Police arranged with the National
Union of Women Workers of Great Britain that a systematic
1 p. 179 16 . 2 p. 179. 15 3 p. 352. * p, 356. 6 p. 360.
6 p. 42 127 . 7 p. 165 10 . 8 p. 170 38 . 9 p. 13426; p. 156 56 ; p. 240 30 .
10 p. 307. u p. 8 27 . 12 p. 9 28 . 13 p. 9 28 .
MORAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS xxvii
visitation of all the picture palaces should be made. The 248
halls in London were visited. 1 In sixty-six a special children's
attendant was seen. 2 In eighty-three separate accommodation
for children unaccompanied by adults was provided. In sixty-
six cases the darkness would have made it difficult to dis-
cover cases of indecency. In thirty-nine cases the structure,
viz. dark corners, boxes, use of curtains, etc., might afford oppor-
tunity for indecency. 3 While in the West End halls few children
were seen, in the suburban halls there were many, even children
in arms, especially on Saturdays and Sundays. The halls
seemed to the visitors for the most part unnecessarily dark; in
a few cases also the ventilation was bad, and the buildings dirty.
" No instance of any act of indecency is described by the lady
visitors." " The general conclusions," says the Chief Com-
missioner, " at which I have arrived are that it is very desirable
that the regulations as to children's attendants and children's
seats should be strictly enforced and that consideration should
be given to the question of better lighting, ventilation, the pro-
hibition of expectoration, the exclusion of children in arms, and
finally, that steps should be taken to institute an efficient censor-
ship so as to prevent the exhibition of films calculated to familiarise
the young with ideas of violence, crime and immorality." 4
REBUTTING EVIDENCE
Mr. Goodwin, representing the Exhibitors of London, asserted
that in many cases the charge should never have been made.
" When investigation is made it is usually found that the alleged
misconduct is nothing more than the privileged manifestation of
affection between the sexes." 5 He maintained that the danger
of indecency was no greater in the cinema than other places of
public resort. 6 In reference to the kindred evil of solicitation,
he stated that steps were taken to eject any woman who used the
standing room or moved from seat to seat for any such purpose,
even although there was in case of mistake the risk of heavy
damages. 7 He also expressed the opinion that more light would
give more opportunity to women for solicitation, 8 and that there
was the danger of spoiling the picture. 9 He stated that the London
Branch of the Exhibitors' Association had approached the Home
1 Although in this Report other matters are referred to besides the question
immediately before us, we have thought it best to summarise the Report as
a whole.
2 In some of the high-class West End houses no children's attendant would
be found for the reason that they do not cater for children, and no child
unaccompanied by an adult is admitted (p. 10).
3 Cf. pp. 178-9 11 16 . 4 pp. 10, II 30 . 5 p. 83. 6 p. 14 3 .
7 p. 87 37 ; s ; p. 267 7 . 8 p. S 22 ' 4 ; p. 19 136 -. 9 pp. 21-2 161 - 4 .
xxviii THE CINEMA
Secretary with suggestions for dealing wit the evil, 1 and he
assured us that the trade is endeavouring to prevent the misuse
of the picture house for any evil purposes, as it is in the interest
of the exhibitor to maintain the good reputation of his house,
and nothing could be worse for him than that it should get a bad
name. 2 It is anxious to do all in its power to comply with the
present regulations, and to accept any new regulations, if neces-
sary, to abate the evil as far as possible. 3 Last year it issued to all
the members of its organisation an urgent recommendation that
there should be immediately installed, " (a) a separate light in
each box; and (b) a glass panel in the door of each box." In
very few of the theatres are there boxes, and it might be desirable
that these should be altogether prohibited, a course that the
authorities concerned are said to be contemplating, if by the
means suggested the evil is not removed.
Mr. Cecil Hepworth, a representative of the trade, urged a
number of technical objections to the increase of light beyond a
certain point in the lighting of the halls. He maintained that
the analogy with a scientific lecture hall was not complete, and
mentioned as an increase of the difficulty the smoking in the
halls. He agreed that some places might be better lighted without
any injury to the distinctness and brilliance of the picture. 4 Mr.
Newbould also pressed this objection, 5 and maintained that the
prevention of indecency required only light sufficient to allow of
adequate supervision ; and he explained that by adequate super-
vision he did not mean that an inspector should be able to survey
the whole building at once, but that an attendant walking down
the aisles should be able to see the end of the seats fed by that
aisle. 6 With some hesitation he also mentioned the increase of
cost that would be involved. 7 The question of lighting in its
scientific aspects is further discussed in another section of this
report. 8
THE MEANS OF DEALING WITH THE EVIL
While this is an evil which is not easy of proof; that it does
exist in both forms of indecent assault and solicitation, there is
no doubt, although the charge has been exaggerated. But there
is no evidence that it is more prevalent in the picture house than
in other places of popular resort. This is not an evil inherent in the
picture house. It is evident that where it exists it can be restrained
by more adequate supervision and lighting, the provision of a seat
1 pp. 83-5. 2 pp. 18-19 120 ' 22 . 3 pp. 19-20 138 - 9 , 148 - 62 .
4 pp. 74-5 179 " 81 ; cf. p. 21-2 161 ' 4 . 6 p. 267 5 . 6 pp. 263 and 267 6 .
7 pp. 264 and 267 6 . 8 See pp. Ixxvi ft. ,
MORAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS xxix
for every person admitted, the abolition of standing room and boxes
where they exist, and the provision of a special attendant to look
after the children. When there are boxes, adequate lighting beyond
the control of the occupant should be insisted on. It is generally
agreed that sufficient light to secure adequate supervision can be
provided without interfering unduly with the distinctness and
brilliance of the picture. 1 Even if the picture has to suffer a little,
we think that adequate lighting must be insisted on. It is only
fair to add that by the withdrawal for the army of so many men
who had been trained for the delicate task of supervision, the
difficulty of control has been greatly increased, 2 and that in
some picture houses frequented by soldiers and women of bad
character the necessity for it has at the same time become greater.
The difficulty of turning out any undesirable persons must be
recognised, as in case of mistake a heavy penalty might be in-
curred. While women are doing excellent work as ushers, we are
of opinion that there should be at least one male attendant in
every picture house to deal with matters for which women are
obviously unsuited. It is for tne local authority to enforce such
regulations as will prevent these dangers, which, however, as far
as we have been able to ascertain do not appear as widespread as
is often assumed. We strongly urge that the public, however
disagreeable a task it be, in the general interest should help the
authorities by at once calling their attention to any house where
these exist, if on appeal the management of the house has refused
to act, as it was stated that such information would be gratefully
received and treated as confidential by the local authority. 3
II. THE CHARACTER OF THE FILMS
A still more difficult problem presents itself in the moral influence
of the films displayed. It is often asserted that the films are
vulgar and silly ; in reference to these two charges it is impossible
to set up a rigid standard of judgment. As regards vulgarity not '
only do individual tastes differ, but the conventions of different
classes vary. Indecency or obscenity can be repressed by public !
authority ; vulgarity can be got rid of only by the elevation of
popular taste. Worthy people find silly what they have not
enough sense of humour or of the ridiculous to appreciate ; and
are offended by the joke which they themselves fail to see. It
must be remembered that the picture house is a place of amuse-
ment, and if it makes people laugh, it cannot be condemned on
that account. It is much easier to define and therefore to deal
1 p. 267. 2 p> 267. 3 p. 296 25 .
xxx THE CINEMA
with indecency or obscenity ; and that this evil should be rigor-
ously excluded from the cinema all our witnesses who expressed
an opinion were agreed. Several witnesses did give specific in-
stances of films that they themselves regarded as coming under
this condemnation. But even where indecency or obscenity, as
the law would define it, may be avoided, there often is a suggestive-
ness in dealing with " sex " relations which for the large number
of youthful spectators attending picture houses must be regarded
as objectionable. 1 A committee which in the city of Worcester
has been investigating the question reports that " some at least
of the cinema exhibits for instance, in ' Society Dramas,' and the
like are helping to lower the standard of reverence for women,
and familiarising the minds of our young people with loose ideas
of the relations of the sexes." 2 This statement was entirely en-
dorsed by the Dean of Worcester. 3 As far as possible, when any
film was specially mentioned as objectionable, some members of
the Commission saw it. One film which had been condemned
by several local authorities was seen by some of the members of
the Commission in order that they might form an independent
judgment of it for themselves. They needed to see only a part
of it to be convinced that from beginning to end it offensively
obtruded sensuality. Other films condemned without reserva-
tion by one of the witnesses were also carefully examined ; while
in some respects objectionable, they were not felt to be so bad that
public opinion generally would support their entire prohibition.
It is to be regretted that in drama and novel as well as film the
" sex " interest is often made so dominant, unmodified by other
interests as it is in actual life. To exclude it altogether must be
confessed practically impossible in the present condition of public
opinion. But at least such reserve may be insisted on as will
prevent a film being a stimulus to sensual desire, not in the sexually
morbid, whom it would be impossible always to keep in view, but
in the normally constituted youth and maiden.
NEED OF A STRICTER CENSORSHIP
While the evidence as a whole could not justify a charge that
many films, objectionable on this account, are exhibited, and
while we recognise that the previous Censor and his examiners
discharged their difficult duties with the desire to protect the
public, yet the evidence before us shows that there is a need for
a stricter censorship than has been exercised in the past. It
would be in the long run in the interests of the trade itself that it
i p. 134 27 ; p. 240 38 . 2 p. 143.
MORAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS xxxi
should free itself from any ground of reproach, 1 and we have
evidence before us that a stricter censorship is now being exercised. 2
Evidence was submitted to prove that the posters advertising
the films are often much more objectionable than the films them-
selves, 3 when they emphasise the sensational or sensual aspects.
At present the Trade Censorship does not touch these at all, and
the Billposters' Association controls only the posters that go on
the public hoardings. And, therefore, posters on the front of the
hall itself are altogether uncensored, but steps are being taken to
deal with this evil. 4
DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY OF IMPROVEMENT
It is well in conclusion to state the practical difficulties which
have to be met in bringing about an improvement, so as to avoid
unreasonable advice or hasty action which would imperil the
continuance of the picture house as a cheap and popular form of
amusement.
1. It has been insisted again and again by representatives of
the trade that exhibitors can only provide profitably what the
public will take. They state, for instance, that the public does
not to any extent want the educational film. This contention
cannot be allowed absolutely ; the danger of the position of the
purveyor of public amusements is that it inclines him to rate both
the intelligence and the conscience of his patrons lower than they
actually are, or at least can possibly be made. 5 But the education
can be only gradual, and time must be allowed for it.
2. The following consideration has been pressed upon us.
As more than 90 per cent, of the films being now shown in
British picture houses are American, 6 and as the British market
is only a negligible fraction of the market of the American pro-
ducer both at home and throughout the whole world, 7 a raising
of the standard here without a corresponding rise there, would
mean that the picture houses might be deprived of the supply
they need for the constant change of programme twice a week.
It is not at all likely that the American producer would take the
trouble to make special provision unless at a greatly enhanced
price for a market so small as the British is, if it so differed in
its standard from the American as to make any considerable
portion of the American output unacceptable. It is just as
1 p. 63 44 ' 6 . 2 pp. 244-6.
8 p. 18 112 ' 18 ; p. 24 198 ; p. 29; p. 85 1 ' 3 ; p. 135 28 ; p. 208 19 .
4 pp. 221-5. 5 p. 6; p. 67 82 " 8 . 6 p. IS 72 ' 80 .
7 pp. 195-6 2 -'. There are 30,000 cinemas in the United States as com-
pared with 4500 approximately here.
xxxii THE CINEMA
unlikely that for many years to come it would be at all possible
for the British manufacturer to supply more than a small proportion
of the total number of films constantly required.
Mr. Newbould, who gave evidence on behalf of the trade, did
not admit without qualification the suggested improbability of a
sufficient supply of British films for many years to come. ' There
is a big public demand for British films, but it is not articulate,
and British manufacturers are working under serious commercial
difficulties as against the American manufacturer, inasmuch as
they have great difficulty in selling their productions in America.
A joint advertising campaign urging the public to insist on seeing
British productions, together with the setting up of an efficient
sales organisation for^theliandling of British-made films in America,
would, in my opinion, quickly result in at least 50 per cent, of
the films shown in this country being of British origin, while the
development of the American sales of such films would enable the
British manufacturer to expend more money on his productions."
Mr. Seddon, the organising secretary of the Exhibitors' Association,
was asked the question : " Seeing that the vast majority of the films
that come into the country are American, how are they to be made
to conform to the standards that we should like here?" and an-
swered, " Well, I should say the best means would be to cultivate
home production." When the objection was urged : " We are told
that the home manufacturer is struggling against this competition
and that he does not see his way to crush it? " he took up the
challenge in the words : " The proposition is that we, as an
Association, are out to make the business reputable and respectable,
and we are anxious for censorship so that the public and the trade
will have confidence in the man who has been appointed as Censor
because of his experience." 2 As regards the improbability of the
American producers making special provision for the British film
market, one suggestion may be offered. The closer relation between
this country and the United States, a result of the calamity of the
war, from which we expect riot a little good in the future, lead us
to hope that we on this side of the Atlantic may be able by closer
co-operation with those on the other side who are equally interested
in the morals of the people, to raise the standard in the produc-
tion of films there even as here. The same expectation may be
cherished as regards our Allies, France and Italy. This is as prob-
able at least as the assumption that so utterly impracticable a
standard of censorship will be set up in Great Britain as would
exclude so large a proportion of American films that British pro-
ducers would be quite incapable of making up for the shortage,
1 p. 266. 2 p. 293 22 ' 3 .
MORAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS xxxiii
and picture houses would need to close for lack of films to show.
Our proposals, while insisting on the elevation of the standard,
recognise the practical difficulties of any too hurried change.
3. A third difficulty which deserves passing notice is this :
that the exhibitor cannot in most cases see the films for his house
before they reach him, but must depend on others for the selection
of them. " Each of the trade journals (three in number) print
reports on all important films, and most of the others ; but even of
the unreported films (unreported because of lack of space) there is
a synopsis." l We have been informed that the Cinematograph
Exhibitors' Association issues weekly to its members a list of
films which have been carefully viewed, and this list contains only
films which could be shown to persons of any age. Besides this
agency, two classes of viewers are employed. " In many instances
exhibitors engage the services of individuals or a staff whose sole
work is that of viewing and passing judgment on films." 2 Those
exhibitors who cannot afford to maintain such a staff employ " the
free-lance viewer." " There are a number of viewers, both male
and female, who spend their time in viewing films for many theatre
proprietors, and whose reports can be purchased by any exhibitor
who wishes to subscribe to such service." 8 While the viewer's
main concern is commercial, i. e. to choose the films which will be
most attractive to the kind of spectators the picture house is
catering for, it is not exclusively so. " He will tell you whether
it is sensational, and whether it is bordering on the immoral. All
the viewers in the trade are looked upon as censors." 4
III. THE SPECIAL CLAIMS OF CHILDREN
As the picture palace is attended by a larger number of children
than any other form of public amusement, their interests must be
more fully considered here than elsewhere. While it would be
impossible to require that all exhibitions should be determined by
exclusive regard for children, yet care must be taken to protect
them from what would be morally injurious to them. Many of
the public authorities are realising their duty in this respect,
although they have been prevented by legal difficulties from giving
full effect to their good intentions.
SPECIAL INQUIRY REGARDING THE INFLUENCE OF THE PICTURE
HOUSE ON CHILDREN
A special inquiry was made on behalf of the Commission by
the Rev. Carey Bonner, General Secretary of The Sunday School
1 p. 194. 2 p. 193. 3 p. 194. 4 p. 197 1 *.
xxxiv THE CINEMA
Union, among Sunday-school teachers and others interested in the
welfare of the young. In respect to the character of the films
he states : " The reports are characterised by impartiality, and
even where some objection is taken to certain films, due admira-
tion for the good ones is expressed. In dealing with the 'crook'
films the observer noted the enthusiasm of the youngsters when
the wrong-doer was brought to book. Many testify to the greater
care now exercised by proprietors in showing better-class films.
Seventy-five per cent, replied that in the pictures seen there was
nothing they deemed injurious to children. Another 7J per cent,
replied similarly, but with a slight modification, such as ' for the
most part,' or 4 many were silly ' or 4 inane,' but not harmful; or
' out of twenty-eight films viewed, only two were objectionable.'
The remaining 17 J per cent, considered that the pictures they saw
were (for the most part, at any rate) objectionable, or were, in their
judgment, likely to be harmful to young people. In the more
general answers under this heading, several visitors strongly ob-
jected to details of crime being shown ; others objected to ultra
sensationalism or the exhibition of impossible or dangerous feats
of daring ; and others to the 4 innuendo and suggestiveness ' of
several of the situations in sex problem films." x One film which
was specially objected to was seen at a children's matinee. 2 The
result of this inquiry is, on the whole, reassuring as regards the
kind of entertainment provided. This report also refers to another
charge against the cinema, to which we must next give fuller
attention.
JUVENILE CRIME
It is very strongly alleged and widely believed, that the picture
house is responsible for the increase in juvenile crime, and that boys
are often led to imitate crimes (larceny or burglary) which they
have seen in the pictures, or to steal money that they may
pay for admission. Here we must again distinguish between the
incidental and the consequential.
(a) THEFTS TO PAY FOR ADMISSION
There is nothing so peculiar to the cinema that only by its
attraction are children led to pilfer that they may be able to pay
for admission. Children steal to buy sweets, or " penny dreadfuls,"
or any object on which their hearts are set. Even a picture house
quite unobjectionable in every respect might exercise such an
attraction. The only way to obviate this evil would be to abolish
the picture house altogether, or to banish children from it, or to
1 p. 308. Cf. p. 143. 2 p. 17 104 .
MORAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS xxxv
make admission free, or to make it so " deadly dull " that no
child would want to go there. But is the charge true, or true as
generally as it is represented ? One probation officer declares that
the statements of children as to why they stole are not to be
taken too seriously, as sometimes these are suggested to them by
others, and they are only too ready to accept any excuse that they
think will secure for them more lenient treatment. " Sweets,
cigarettes, tram rides, music halls as well as picture palaces are
the reasons frequently given for stealing." x Another probation
officer says : " As soon as these thefts have been effected, the
confectioner's shop is the first place visited. Then sometimes
the picture show, or, if the money stolen was sufficient, the first
houses of the music halls are commonly patronised." 2 Sir Robert
Wallace, however, takes the charge much more seriously. " The
boy goes there day by day, and the result is that he exhausts his
own money first, and then arises that which has been so frequently
the case, he then takes his employer's money to go, and he is
starting that criminal career." 3
But can the cinema as such be held responsible for the evil,
assuming even that it exists more widely than the evidence
before us has given us any reason to believe ? On the one hand,
the miserable conditions at home and in the streets in which
many of these children live account for the irresistible attraction
of the picture house, which brings some brightness into a very
drab lot. On the other, the lack of parental control and other
elevating moral influences explain how some yield so very easily
to the temptation.
(b) IMITATIVE CRIME
To the other charge against the picture house we now turn :
that it is what the boy sees there that suggests, and even stimu-
lates crimes, such as larceny or burglary. It is admitted that
the young mind is very responsive to suggestion, and ready for
imitation. 4 Risk, danger, adventure, boldness appeal to the boy.
Sir Robert Wallace gives two cases from his own experience of
such imitative adventurous crime. In the one case a youth of
seventeen years had committed six burglaries, in which he had
stolen watches and jewellery to the value of 80 or 90, of which
he had not realised a single penny. His circumstances were
such, the witness alleged, as to exclude any other motive than
the impulse to do himself what he had seen done in the picture
houses, which he visited almost daily. In the other case two
1 pp. 218-19. Cf. p. 41 119 - 23 ; p. 120 7 ; p. 130 34 .
8 p. 205. 3 p. 154 40 . Cf. p. 212 7 8 . * p. 120 4 ;p. 141 82 ; p. 309.
xxxvi THE CINEMA
youths, seventeen or eighteen years of age armed with a stage
pistol, entered a shop, and under the threat, " Your money or
your life," made the owner hand over the contents of his till.
There, too, the only reason that the witness could assign was
the wish to do themselves what in the films they had seen done. 1
Such cases must, however, be regarded as exceptional; although
their possibility does afford a good reason for the rule now adopted
by the Censor of Films, that no film shall be exhibited in which
the method of a crime is presented, nor any in which crime is
the dominant and not merely a subordinate interest. 2 A probation
officer expresses himself very moderately on the question : " So
far as films depicting burglaries, robberies, and other infringe-
ments of the law are concerned, I have this to say where a good
home influence is wanting, then I think quite possibly such films
may have a pernicious effect on the young. It must be borne
in mind that children who are looking at these pictures are at
the impressionable period. Their home life does not provide
for the inculcation of the cardinal virtues, and in a large number
of cases they are children of unhealthy body and mind. In such
cases films of this type may give a wrong impetus to the imagina-
tion of the child. These films, though possibly harmless to adults
and not providing any practical information even to the children,
may in some cases stimulate the imagination in an undesirable
way. Even in these films it is necessary to point out that the
moral lesson is always satisfactory. It is always demonstrated
that vice brings its own penalty in suffering, both for body and
mind. I have never seen any film in which the contrary result
was illustrated, and undoubtedly this spectacle of inevitable
retribution must tend to offset the fictitious glamour of wrong-
doing." 3 Another probation officer does not even admit the
connection between the cinema and crime to the same extent :
" The films chiefly complained of, crime and ' crook ' films, have,
in my opinion, little if anything to do with the increase in juvenile
crime. Let any keen observer attend a cinema when a ' crook '
film and detective - story is shown and listen to the children's
cheers when the crook has been run to earth and punished. To
my rriind the effect is neutral, if anything, and almost forgotten
in the pictures that follow. 4 The children of this district could
learn little, if anything, about crime from such films. They see
and hear very much more in their miserable so-called homes,
1 pp. 152-3 40 . 2 p. 245; pp. 249-50 16 ; p. 251 25 . 3 p. 205.
* Evidence submitted by Dr. Kimmins shows, however, how retentive
the memories of the children are, p. 275. The sensational and romantic
parts are said to be longer remembered than the comic, (p. 129 19 ).
MORAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS xxxvii
and sometimes in the places of detention. They recount to one
another their exploits." l
CAUSES OF THE INCREASE OF JUVENILE CRIME
One of the witnesses indicates as one of the greatest causes of
juvenile crime and of the increase of it the receiver of stolen
property. 2 A reason given for the recent increase of juvenile
crime may be mentioned : " The main cause is the absence of
the fathers, and I want to say that history is only repeating
itself. During the South African War for two years I had boys
under my control whose fathers, being reservists, had been called
up for service." When asked if at that time there were no
cinemas, the witness added : " I do not remember any. In a
number of cases I also find that the mothers go out to work,
and I have known cases where families of nine and ten children
have been left entirely to the care of a girl of twelve or thirteen
years of age, and even, in some cases, these children are left at
night." 3 There are other economic and social changes due to the
war, which must be recognised as factors in the increase of juvenile
crime. 4 There has really been an increase of juvenile crime, but
not so great as the numbers of delinquents would indicate ; for
on the one hand children are now brought before the courts for
offences which cannot be called crimes, and on the other a greater
number of persons is now engaged in keeping the young in the
right way, sometimes with too great zeal. " There has been a
tendency in recent years to increase the variety of offences with
which children may be charged. For instance, children are now
charged with wandering, with being without proper guardian-
ship, with being beyond proper control. Our streets are now
more rigidly supervised than ever before. There is a large and
increasing number of officials whose duty it is to watch over child
life. In many cases the zeal of these officers was not always
tempered adequately by humanity and expediency." 5 The
problem is far too complex to be solved by laying stress on only
one factor, and that probably a subordinate one, among all the
contributing conditions. 6 Many well-meaning persons who bring
such charges have neither the knowledge nor the skill for difficult
social investigations. Even in those cases where a crime can be
shown to be imitative of what has been seen in the pictures, the
whole blame must not be cast on the cinema. On the negative
side we must take account of the absence of the restraining moral
1 p. 219. 2 p. 220 2 .
3 pp. 207-8 13 ' 15 . Cf. p. ISO 19 ; p. 184; p. 242 2 .
4 p. 204. 5 pp. 204-5. 6 p. 37 82 3 .
xxxviii THE CINEMA
principles which a good home and wise training would supply, and
which in so many cases are altogether lacking. On the positive side
we must recognise the superfluous energy of youth, and its spirit
of adventure, which are often deprived of lawful and useful outlets.
The cinema suggests the form of the activity rather than pro-
vides the impulse to it. That same impulse, unless rightly
restrained and wisely directed, in other circumstances would find
some other form. There is genuine insight in the remark of a
probation officer : " From my personal experience with these
cases I am of the opinion that generally the evil of certain pic-
tures has not been so much the cause of the crime as an indication
of a line of action to some children who, by neglect and adverse
environment, are already inclined to lawlessness." Our con-
clusion then must be, that while a connection between the
cinema and crime has to a limited extent in special cases been
shown, yet it certainly has not been proved that the increase of
juvenile crime generally has been consequent on the cinema, or
has been independent of other factors more conducive to wrong-
doing.
CONFLICT OF EVIDENCE
The foregoing conclusion may be confirmed by showing how
conflicting is the evidence which has been brought under our
notice by witnesses, or has been secured by the special inquiries
we have made through correspondence.
No CONNECTION DISCOVERED BETWEEN CINEMAS AND
JUVENILE CRIME
The Director of Education for Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Mr.
Sharp, whose, duty it is to inquire carefully into all the esses of
children committed to Industrial Schools, is most definite in
asserting that he has, in his own experience, not met with any such
connection between the cinema and juvenile crime. " I have not
during the last three years of investigation (covering 186 cases
of committal) had a single case brought to my notice in respect
of which it is alleged, or even suggested by police, school-attendance
officer or head teacher that the genesis of the wrongdoing was to
be found in the cinema show, either immediately or remotely.
I have mentioned the period of three years because that covers
the period of my work in Newcastle, up to date. I may add,
however, that I do not recall a single such instance in the preceding
ten years, during which I acted in a similar capacity in a Lancashire
county borough of 100,000 population. I have gone further, and
examined the records of my predecessors, which have been pre-
served in this office, of 76 other cases from this city area now being
MORAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS xxxix
maintained in Industrial Schools, and I cannot find any trace of
a single child whose wrong-doing has been attributed, either
directly or by inference, to the influence of the cinema show." l
A CLOSE CONNECTION
In 1916 in Liverpool a report on Juvenile Crime was issued by
a Joint Committee of justices and members of the Education
Committee. About the picture house it makes this statement :
" Nearly all the witnesses were agreed that constant attendance
at cinematograph theatres has an injurious effect upon juvenile
mind and character. Not only are children frequently induced
to steal in order to obtain admission (it is quite a common excuse
in theft or begging cases that the money was wanted for ' the
pictures '), but what is perhaps of even greater importance is
that in very many cases the intellectual morale of the child is
injured, and its powers of concentration are weakened by a too
frequent attendance at such places. It is suggested that, where
desirable, the magistrates should introduce by way of a con-
dition in Probation Orders, restrictions as to the attendance of
the probationer at cinema exhibitions. The evidence adduced
has also impressed on the Committee the urgent necessity for
continued strict supervision of the theatres and illustrative
posters, with insistence upon the observance by licensees of the
Justices' Rules and Regulations regarding films, and the attendance
of children." 2
THE CONNECTION NOT so CERTAIN
Mr. John Kay, head master of a school in Liverpool, gave
evidence regarding an inquiry conducted by the Lanes. Teachers'
Association. Regarding the charge that children steal in order
to get to the pictures, he says : " Teachers recognise that it is
most difficult to establish cause and effect, and that in many
cases the theft would probably have occurred in any case. The
picture shows only afford a ready means of disposing of part of
the booty. But two facts clearly emerge. In the first place,
children of criminal tendency in a school are found among the
most regular frequenters of the shows. Secondly, the 4 street-
trading ' class in large centres, already beset by many handicaps,
are frequent attenders at the c second house ' when their papers
or other wares are sold." 3
DIFFICULTY OF ESTIMATING INFLUENCE OF A FILM
Mr. Spurley Hey, Director of Education, Manchester, in a
paper on " Juvenile Crime," considers the influence of the cinema.
1 p. 284. 2 p. 29. 3 p. 119.
xl THE CINEMA
"It is clear that a categoric condemnation of the picture house,
even as organised at present, is impossible ; further, it would
appear that the use of films might be made an educative instru-
ment of a high order. The limits and character of subconscious
suggestions cannot be measured and defined ; and whereas certain
imitative criminal acts committed by boys have undoubtedly
been traced to a suggestive film, it is more difficult to trace the
impress on other boys who have witnessed the same film, and who
have been influenced more by the abstract courage or endurance
portrayed by a character than by the concrete acts he performed :
yet suggestion and the imitative faculty should be considered as
operative in these cases also. But it is possible to produce films
for boys which would be at once striking in action and manly in
tone, and from which, therefore, no criminal imitative action
could accrue." 1
A SPECIAL INQUIRY REGARDING JUVENILE CRIME : THE REPLIES
OF CHIEF CONSTABLES
A special inquiry was made of the chief constables of the United
Kingdom : extracts from some of their letters are given in Appendix
III. 2 The statement made by the Chief Constable of Edinburgh,
in which the Chief Constables of Dundee and Aberdeen concurred,
was submitted to them for their comment. In this statement
the chief points were these : (1) " That the cinemas as a rule
have proved to those who patronise them an educative, morally-
healthy, and pleasure-giving entertainment." (2) "That the
picture houses have been instrumental in reducing intemperance
in the city." (3) That no case had come to his knowledge of
boys being incited to crime in the desire to imitate what they had
seen on the films, although he considered that there was grave
danger in such representations, and was opposed to their being
shown to the young. (4) That he had been " unable to find a
single case where any juvenile set out to steal " for the purpose
of going to the picture house, although the proceeds of several
thefts had been so spent. (5) That sexually suggestive films are
sometimes shown, and should be eliminated ; 3 and (6) that in
some cases where a charge of indecency, or suggestiveness in the
1 p. 159. Cf. pp. 166-7 1 '. 2 pp. 333-72.
3 " Such films which contain suggestions of the kind ought, in my opinion,
to be eliminated from the cinema. It must be remembered that of the great
number of people patronising the picture house many are girls and youths
of impressionable age, and while such exhibitions may, on the majority of
persons, leave no impression, there is always the fear that in some instances
these exhibitions suggesting immoral conduct may have a deleterious effect "
(p. 176).
MORAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS xli
character of a film had been made, it was found on investiga-
tion that the representation could not be regarded as indecent
within the scope of the criminal law. 1 In this statement thirty-
eight chief constables concurred without any further comment.
Of the seventy-seven others who stated their own views in more or
less detail the majority were in general agreement with the above
statement. A considerable number, however, affirmed that cases
had come under their own observation both of theft to gain the
means of admission to the picture house and of imitation of
crimes seen in the pictures. The crime film in general, but
especially any exhibition of the methods of crime, was very gener-
ally condemned. The difficulty of bringing a film within the
scope of the criminal law for indecency was by many recognised.
The most common complaint against the cinema was the suggestive-
ness of many " sex " films ; their evil effect on youth and even
children was in many of the replies deplored. The need of a rigid
censorship was in general insisted on in order to prevent any
attempts in the stress of competition to obtain patronage by
pandering to vicious or prurient minds.
(c) WRONG IDEAS OF LIFE AND CONDUCT
Apart from the stimulus to vice and the incitement to crime
with which the picture house has been charged, a more general
accusation may be made of generally unwholesome influence on
the young. " Nearer to the charge of inducing criminal conduct,"
says Mr. Leeson, 2 "in children, is the criticism and it appears
well founded that the pictures give to children quite wrong ideas
of life and conduct. The villain is often ' lionised ' ; he does
wrong things in a humorous way, he does ' smart 'things things
the youngsters wish they had thought of doing. At the same
time, the reception of pictures such as these convinces us that the
attractive thing to the child is not the wrongness of the act, but
the humour or the cleverness of it. The cinema villain who is
villain and nothing else invariably gains a satisfactory measure
of execration from the audience ! Clearly, it is not good to present
to a young child wickedness in the guise of humour, but our chief
objection to the films is that they make children, whose thoughts
should be happy and wholesome, familiar with ideas of death
1 pp. 175-7. In answer to a question the witness stated that he did
not think it possible for immorality to take place in the building, but, that
he had had one or two complaints of indecent assaults, as had other chief
constables, and this he held to be due be the state of darkness more or less,
(p. 1781*).
2 The Child and the War. A pamphlet put in as part of his eridence.
See pp. 188-91.
xlii THE CINEMA
by exhibiting shootings, stabbings and the like. Nor are these
death-scenes merely brief incidents in the stories, for when a
character is represented to be mortally wounded the story pauses
while the children are shown an enlarged view of the victim's
features during the death agony. Owing to this deliberate
emphasis of the repulsiveness of such situations it is difficult to
see how the child's nerves can maintain their tone ; we should
look for a want of balance in children subjected repeatedly to these
ordeals, 1 and delinquency would not be unlikely. At any rate,
such exhibitions are highly objectionable for children, whether
they lead to delinquency or not." 2 The practice of showing the
enlarged view of the face so that the expression of hate, lust, pain,
grief may be emphasised seems an undesirable one. Children who
were examined by us, for the most part expressed their dislike of
tragedies, and a few admitted that they afterwards dreamed of
the pictures they had seen. 3 For younger children, at least, spch
films cannot be regarded as desirable. A counterpart to the
above statement is found in the words of a probation officer :
" I very frequently take my probationers to picture shows with
beneficial results, and the general phases of life there shown are,
in the main, what I should wish them to be for such a purpose
that is to say, they give a faithful representation of city life in
which both the failings and virtues of humanity are thrown up in
bold relief. From my point of view I should not wish to give my
probationers a view of life which was too widely different from the
actual conditions they would themselves later have to encounter." 4
When men engaged in the same kind of work reach so diverse
conclusions, it is evident how difficult it would be to lay down
rigid rules as to what films should be shown except in those cases
where stimulus to sensuality or inducement to crime is patent.
SPECIAL PROVISION FOR THE YOUNG
As we are specially concerned with the influence of the cinema
on the young, the previous discussion compels us to raise the
issue whether any, and if so what, separate provision should be
made for them. The special entertainment for children in its
educational aspect is treated in another part of the Report ; here
we are concerned only with the moral aspect. Several of our
witnesses strongly favoured the greater provision of special
1 The frequency with which some\ children attend the cinemas several
times a week (p. 129 20 ) is an important factor in their influence. Evidence
was submitted to us that the maximum attendance that could be approved
would be once a week (p. 103 26 ), or twice in three weeks (p. 43 143 * 7 ).
2 Cf p. 129 16 . 3 p. 202 24 * 32 . Cf. p. 260. 4 p. 206.
MORAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS xliii
entertainments for the young; and the suggestion found some
favour that films distinctly suitable for the young should be
marked C, just as at present films for universal use are marked
U, and those suitable for adults only A. One witness very em-
phatically expressed his dissent from the proposal of special
exhibitions for adults from which children should be excluded.
" I view with distaste," says Mr. Sharp, " proposals for differenti-
ating between exhibitions for adults only and those for children.
The child mind is intensely inquisitive, and when such dis-
tinctions are established, the juvenile boy is very anxious indeed
to see what his big brothers may see from which he himself is
excluded. It predisposes the mind of the child to look forward
with a nasty expectancy to those exhibitions which he is for the
time denied. It is, I think, unfortunate to recognise as an ex-
pedient thing forms of entertainment for adults not fit for the
sight of children." x If the provision of a special class of films and
a special kind of entertainment for children involved as a conse-
quence a lowering of the standard of censorship for the films
for adult exhibition it would certainly be undesirable to press any
such proposal. If it were possible to secure that no film would
be passed for general exhibition that was not entirely suitable for
children to see, such a proposal would not be necessary. But
would adult audiences, in the present state of public opinion, be
prepared to accept the restriction that they should be allowed
only to see on the films what it was suitable to show to children ?
In literature, drama, and art do we not recognise a distinction
between the adult and the juvenile mind, so that what might with
moral propriety be known by the one should be kept from the
knowledge of the other? 2 It has been several times stated by
representatives of the trade that special exhibitions for the young,
at which only films approved for them should be shown, are " not
a commercial proposition," and that a business carried on for
profit could not, therefore, be expected to provide them. 3 If
this need is to be met, it was urged, it must be by philanthropic
effort 1 or by public authority. 4 We urge that the question
should be reconsidered in consultation with such societies or such
authorities as may be specially interested in the youth of the
country, in order to discover, if at all possible, some practicable
means of supplying an urgent demand. 5 Otherwise it would seem
to be necessary either to have more regard to the interests of the
young in arranging the programmes for the general exhibitions,
1 p. 285. 2 pp. 189-90".
3 p. 190 20 - 21 ; p. 262"; p. 264. * pp. 261-2 10 - 16 .
5 A boys' organisation in Newcastle has its own private cinema (p.191 32 ).
xliv THE CINEMA
or to discourage the attendance of young people under twelve or
thirteen unless accompanied by their parents, upon whom must
fall the responsibility of their presence at what might prove
an unsuitable form of entertainment. 1
IV. THE VALUE OF THE PICTURE HOUSE
We are convinced that the picture house means so much happi-
ness not only to children but even to adults living and working
under adverse conditions, that any attempt at suppression would
be a grievous social loss, and that, accordingly, every effort should
be made to make all picture houses, as places of public amuse-
ment for old and young, clean and safe morally without sacrificing
their interest and attraction. The testimony of one whose work
for many years has been among the poor must be given. " In my
judgment," says Mr. Massey, " it would be a great blow to my
neighbourhood if the cinemas were suppressed or closed against
the children. Just imagine what the cinemas mean to tens of
thousands of poor kiddies herded together in one room to families
living in one house, six or eight families under .the same roof.
For a few hours at the picture house at the corner, they can find
breathing space, warmth, music (the more the better) and the
pictures, where they can have a real laugh, a cheer and sometimes
a shout. Who can measure the effect on their spirits and body ?
To be able to make the poor, pinched-faced, half-clad and half-
nourished boys and girls in the crowded slums in cities forget their
pain and misery and their sad lot is a great thing, and the pictures
do it." 2 There is also the relief to the mother. " My knowledge,"
says the Rev. T. Home, "is of tired-out mothers working hard
during the greater part of the day. They are only too glad to
know that their children are able to go to an interesting enter-
tainment such as the cinema, and that they are enjoying them-
selves out of the dangers and risks of the street." 3
Another social worker, less favourable to the cinemas on the
whole, recognises that it is better for the children in her district
to be in the picture house than even in their homes or in the
street. 4 This is a form of amusement that reaches a poorer class
than any other, and it is, therefore, incumbent on those more
favourably placed, while doing all possible to improve it, not to do
anything that would rob shadowed lives of the little brightness
that comes to them.
i See p. 233 8 . 2 p. 219. 3 p. 184. * p. 239.
MORAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS xlv
THE ALTERNATIVES TO THE PICTURE HOUSE
We must recognise that the picture house fulfils a useful and
needful function amid social conditions which press very hard
not only on the very poor, but even on the bulk of the work-
ing classes. So unsatisfactory is housing both in town and
country, that there are few homes in which the leisure hours can
be spent in quiet comfort and enjoyment. Not only are the
slums and mean streets physically injurious, but they are beset
with moral perils ; the sights seen and the sounds heard are potent
factors in the deterioration of the morals and the manners of
youth. For many months, owing to our climate, the parks and
open spaces cannot supply a refuge from the house or the street.
Apart from the picture house the only resort that is offered to
the teeming masses above the prohibited ages is the public-house,
with its constant temptation of strong drink and its no less
polluted moral atmosphere.
THE INFLUENCE OF THE PICTURE HOUSE IN DECREASING
HOOLIGANISM
Evidence has been submitted to us that the picture house has
had some influence in reducing hooliganism, and in withdrawing
custom from public-houses. " In my opinion," says Mr. Barnett,
" the closing of the picture houses, or their prohibition to children,
would have most unbeneficial results. In many cases the cinemas
are the only form of healthy recreation available, and this is par-
ticularly the case during the long winter months. The children
in question have neither the taste nor the facilities for indulging in
any sport, and if the cinemas were closed to them, so far from the
condition of the streets being improved, I am convinced there
would be an immediate and immense increase in hooliganism,
shoplifting and similar street misdemeanours. Fifteen years ago
street hooligan gangs were a real menace and problem. Now
such gangs are quite unknown in my district." 1 This opinion is
confirmed by other evidence submitted to us. 2
THE CINEMA AS A COUNTER-ATTRACTION TO THE PUBLIC-HOUSE
The same witness declares : "I think it is obvious that the
cinemas are a strong counter-attraction to the public-house." 3 All
the witnesses questioned agreed with this opinion. 4
" The public-house proprietors," says Mr. Massey, " have made
1 p. 205. 2 p. 167 17 . 3 p. 206.
4 p. 34 2 *; p. 89 50 ; p. 176; p. 179 17 ; p. 183; p. 208 18 ; p. 226 2 .
xlvi THE CINEMA
a complaint that the picture palaces have interfered with the
takings, and one man told me that he lost from 15 to 20 a week." 1
It must be observed that no picture house has a licence to sell
intoxicating drinks, and no pass-out checks are given as in the
theatre. 2 It reveals a deplorable condition in many districts that
in the opinion of some social workers even the least desirable
picture house is a better place for the children than their homes
or the streets, and that no thoroughly wholesome entertainment
is being provided for them, especially in winter. While we have
had sufficient evidence to show that there is need of much
improvement as regards many picture houses, yet it is cheering
to find that in the judgment of some of our witnesses there has
been a marked improvement. The Rev. T. Home, who has
known the industry from its very commencement, is confident
that there has been a great improvement, and that there will be
a still greater. He, in answer to a question, also expressed his
conviction that the organised trades of the cinema industry " will
in reasonable time deal with anything that is undesirable. 3 This
view is confirmed by the Rev. A. Tildsley, who has watched
the growth of the industry from its beginning, and rejoices in
the improvement that has been made.
FINDINGS
1. While we recognise that there are difficulties in securing
the necessary improvement, we do not admit that these are
insuperable. Improvement is imperative.
2. While the charges of indecency have been greatly exag-
gerated and the evil is not nearly as widespread as is often
assumed, yet that it does exist must be admitted, but not to
any greater extent than in any other places of popular resort;
and the regulations in force in London to suppress it should be
made of general application.
3. Not only should the local authority enforce existing regula-
tions, and regulations which after due inquiry and conference
may be added, but the public should assist the local authority
by calling attention to any disregard of them, or any acts of
indecency.
4. A much stricter censorship than at one period prevailed is
necessary. Steps have now been taken to effect this improve-
ment. The censorship should include not only films, but also
the posters advertising the films.
5. Owing to the large number of children visiting the picture
1 p. 220 4 . 2 p. 19 123 * 8 . 3 pp. 183-5.
I
MORAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS xlvii
uses, special care is necessary to protect them from what
would be morally, as well as mentally or physically, injurious to
them.
6. The charge that the children are induced to steal in order
to pay for admission cannot be regarded as a condemnation of
the picture house itself, for (a) the same objection might be, and
has been, offered to any object of desire or form of pleasure that
powerfully affected the child; (b) even if the money stolen is
spent in the picture house, it must not be concluded that the
money was stolen for that purpose, and it is found that such
money is used for other enjoyments; (c) it must also be recog-
nised that the picture house is often used as an excuse, when it
is not the reason for the theft.
7. Regarding the connection of the cinema with imitative
juvenile crime, there was presented to us conflicting evidence
some asserting as emphatically as others denied any general
nnection. Our conclusion is that such a connection does exist,
hough to a limited extent. It is not, however, a necessary
connection, and not exclusive of many other factors too often
ignored, because less obvious to the untrained observer of social
phenomena.
8. Apart from " sex " and " crime " films, an injurious effect
is produced on -young minds by the excessive sensationalism and
frightfulness of some of the films shown, and the wrong ideas of
life and conduct often suggested.
9. It is evident that additional provision should be made for
the young, both as regards arranging special exhibitions for them
and securing suitable films to be there exhibited.
10. Despite the practical difficulties in making such provision,
we urge that educational authorities and societies interested in
the welfare of youth should co-operate in the endeavour to meet
the need.
11. Compelled as we were in our inquiry to give special atten-
tion to the alleged defects in the picture house, we have been
convinced by the amount of testimony offered in its favour of
its value as a cheap amusement for the masses, for parents as
well as children, especially as regards its influence in decreasing
hooliganism and as a counter-attraction to the public-house.
12. The abolition of the picture house, as advocated by
some, is impossible, even if it were desirable, as in our judgment
it is not. On the other hand, we are strongly of opinion that
not only is improvement practicable, but also of great national
importance.
xlviii THE CINEMA
ADDENDUM
THE USE OF THE CINEMA IN RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL WORK
ONE matter which was brought under our notice in evidence
submitted to us, although it was not one of the subjects which
we set before ourselves for inquiry, was the possibility of the
use of the cinema in connection with religious and social work.
In reporting that evidence we do not offer any opinion whether
directly religious teaching can be suitably given by this means.
The Rev. T. Home favoured the use to a large extent, but added :
" I might point out that some years ago I wanted to get the
picture of the Life of Christ, but the price put upon it was
prohibitive." 1
THE TESTIMONY OF THE Y.M.C.A.
The Y.M.C.A. includes cinema entertainments amid its varied
beneficent activities for the army during this war. The experi-
ence of three of their workers may be given, even though it must
be recognised that the conditions are quite abnormal. The first,
" C," says : " The so-called religious film is a very doubtful
quantity. It leaves room for tremendous improvement, and
seems to be received generally as a caricature. On the other
hand, films of national events from which lessons may be drawn
are of undoubted value, and I think that spme of the " booked"
films also lend themselves to a good story-teller as a very great
aid indeed in matters religious." The second, " O," is much
more favourable : "To an unlimited extent many an empty
church might be filled if it were equipped with a cinema or other
means of ocular demonstration for the purpose of illustrating the
speaker's remarks, and in my opinion every church should have
one." The third, " M," enters into further details : " It is
important, however, to let the men know definitely what they
are to expect, i. e. a religious service at the end of the cinema
picture. From experience it has been found that the men do
not go out after the picture is finished, but that they all stay,
with few exceptions, to the religious meeting. On the other hand,
suitable films can be procured which lend themselves as a suitable
subject for a lecture or a distinctly religious address actually
given whilst the film is being shown. Existing films treating
biblical subjects are not recommended; but films adapted from
the works of well-known authors of fiction are procurable. These
pictures are always popular, and result in a large demand by the
men for books from the Y.M.C.A. library of the same title as
1 p. 185.
RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL WORK xlix
the film. The moral of the pictures is good, I believe, and leaves
a good impression on the men." l
Mr. McCowen, the head of the Y.M.C.A. work in France, gave
this testimony to the influence of the cinema : " We have noticed
that the cinema in France makes a very remarkable contribution
to the behaviour and the moral of the troops. I have repeatedly
had testimony from town majors and men in charge of the
discipline of the various places, that the opening of one of these
cinemas in a town has meant an immediate diminution, amount-
ing in some cases to 50 per cent., in drunkenness and crime. In
one town at the northern end of our line we opened a cinema;
the * drunks ' there had been at a hundred a night, and the town
major told me that the night we opened they went down to
sixteen, and they have not gone up to twenty-five. In another
town, not twenty miles from that, the town major said it meant
an immediate diminution of crime to the extent of 50 per cent.
In our large reinforcement camps, where the men are sometimes
for three weeks or a month with nothing to do, it is the greatest
boon in the world for them to get in and have a good real laugh,
and spend a pleasant hour without the drink." 2
The testimony of Mr. Yapp is most favourable : "If properly
run a good cinema is helpful in town or city, as it occupies time
and attention that might be spent in worse ways. Its influence
may be positive and altogether helpful. For large out-of-the-way
camps, particularly in Flanders, France, Egypt and Mesopotamia,
we have found our cinema a perfect godsend." 3
The conditions in which and the supervision under which these
entertainments are being given are admittedly exceptional; but
the experience of the Y.M.C.A. is worth recording as an en-
couragement to similar efforts elsewhere. It is not suggested for
a moment that the picture house run for profit can or ought to
be used for religious teaching. All that can there be required
is that there shall be nothing morally injurious.
USE IN A CHURCH
The Rev. Carey Bonner in the course of his evidence submitted
a statement by the Rev. A. Tildsley of the Poplar and Bromley
Tabernacle, who for seventeen years, from the beginning of Sep-
tember to the middle of July, has conducted a Pleasant Thursday
Evening for the People, at which he has used the cinematograph
with assured success. His testimony is : " Speaking for my own
church and district only, I can honestly say that the cinemato-
1 pp. 229-30. 2 pp. 226-7. 3 p. 228.
d
1 THE CINEMA
graph entertainments have been a great help to my work, and
real enjoyment to the people. I have had testimonies from the
police that Thursday evening was one of the quiet times, because
so many people were at the Tabernacle. The local librarian has
given me the same testimony. Each Thursday at 5.30 p.m. the
children of the district come in good numbers and pay a penny.
... I have seen to every programme and every detail myself,
and I honestly state that I do not know of one solitary case
where these pictures have had a detrimental effect on child-life
in my district."
PROPAGANDA BY THE FILMS
There can be no doubt that in the films there is offered to
social, moral and religious movements an effective means of
popular propaganda. Films dealing with moral and social
problems have recently been prepared. While very great care
will need to be exercised so as to avoid any danger of making
known to the ignorant the evil which is being exposed for con-
demnation, yet with due safeguards, not only as regards the
quality of the film, but also the kind of person to whom it is
shown, this agency may be recommended. The usual exhibition
at the picture house would not in some cases be suitable for this
purpose. 1 This consideration offers a suitable transition to the
educational aspects of the subject.
1 The Government has made extensive use of moving pictures in con-
nection with the various national efforts during the war.
SECTION II
THE CINEMA IN ITS RELATION TO THE
EDUCATION OF CHILDREN
INTRODUCTION
THE cinema industry is a commercial undertaking conducted
for private profit, and does not make any claim for the picture
house as an instrument of direct education. The main purpose
of the industry is to provide a healthy form of amusement and
recreation of such a nature as to prove attractive to a large number
of people, and thus ensure a profitable return for the vast amount
of capital invested in the trade. The cinema appeals to a much
larger public than any other form of public entertainment by
reason of its continuous programme and the low prices charged
for admission, ranging under normal conditions from Id. to 25. 6d.,
and varying with the position of the cinema theatre. A large
mass of the poorer population has thus for the first time within
its reach an opportunity of attending places of amusement, which
was previously impossible in consequence of the comparatively
high prices charged for admission.
Although the picture house makes no special claim to be of
direct value for educational purposes, the fact that in thickly-
populated areas about 90 per cent, of the elementary school
population from eight to fourteen years of age frequent this
form of entertainment, to a greater or less extent, makes it im-
perative that the Commission should take into serious consideration
not only the effect the cinema is at present producing on the
school child, but also the possibilities of utilising it in the future
to the greatest advantage. At present the cinema is undoubtedly
having an enormous effect for good or evil on young children,
and is affecting the work of the elementary schools to a con-
siderable degree. The cinema, moreover, has undoubtedly come
to stay, and will exert a powerful effect on the moral, inental
and social development of young children for generations to come.
We have interviewed during our inquiry many witnesses, and
li
lii THE ^CINEMA
many views for and against the cinema as affecting school children
have been expressed. On two points, however, there has been
general agreement
1. It is better for the child to be in the cinema than in the
streets.
2. The cinema provides a better type of entertainment for the
child than the music hall.
THE EFFECT OF THE CINEMA IN REGARD TO THE PHYSICAL
AND MENTAL CONDITION OF THE SCHOOL CHILD
The witnesses who have given evidence before us with reference
to the effect of the cinema upon the educability of the child in
school, complain that children who are habitual frequenters of
cinema theatres suffer physically in consequence of abnormal
excitement and late hours consequent on attendance at these
places of amusement, and in some cases also from bad ventilation
and excessive eye-strain, and thus to some extent the cinema
frustrates the efforts of the teachers. They also complain that
the interest which has been created by exciting films, in which
through the excessive peptonisation of the material presented
there is a consequent absence of much necessity for mental effort,
renders the child a more difficult subject for instruction in which
concentration and hard work are the necessary conditions of
successful teaching. There was such general agreement on these
points among educational experts, many of whom were by no
means hostile to the cinema, that we must regard such complaints
as being well founded. The development of anti-social ideas
by the cinema has been dealt with in the previous section of the
report.
THE EVIDENCE OF EXPERTS WITH REGARD TO THE VALUE OF
THE CINEMA FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES
The variety of opinions expressed by acknowledged experts
in educational matters is shown by the following selections from
their evidence
DR. LYTTELTON, formerly Head Master of Eton, says
1. " I think the influence of cinemas on adults is not good, but
on children it is positively bad." 1
2. In answer to the question, " I gather from your evidence
that you are dealing with the educational value of the cinema
as at present put before us, that really education has nothing to
1 p. 138 66 .
EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS liii
do at present, or only accidentally, with the cinema ? " he replied :
" I am afraid I can go further and say, from the nature of the
case it is bound to be bad education." 1
3. In answer to the question, " Do I understand that you want
all young people up to the age of eighteen to be excluded from the
cinema as now conducted?" he replied: "I think so." This
statement was somewhat modified on further examination. 2
On the other hand, BISHOP WELLDON, formerly Head Master of
Harrow, states : "I am quite sure the cinematograph show is
the most valuable of all educational agencies. Teaching through
the eye is the most effective kind of teaching in the education
of the young. If I may take the films which display the pro-
ceedings of the great Durbar, Delhi, it is not too much to say that
any person who saw those films saw more of the Durbar than he
would have seen if he had been at Delhi himself. Further, I
cannot imagine that teachers will be so foolish as to make a general
attack on cinematograph shows. I hope that the shows will
be more and more used in education, and I believe they are capable
of giving teaching which it is impossible to give with equal effect
by any other means." 3
MR. J. G. LEGGE, Director of Education in Liverpool, gave
evidence to the following effect
" There is some educational value in films of such subjects as
1. Scenes in foreign lands.
2. Historical incidents.
3. Travel and adventure.
4. Nature study.
5. Pictured plays and novels.
6. Industrial and agricultural life.
7. Noteworthy events of the day.
But this educational value can easily be exaggerated, granted
the most careful selection of films. The residuum of history
left after reading an historical novel is small, still less is that left
after witnessing a film. The use of the cinema for definite teaching
purposes, particularly with regard to nature study and science,
is of far more value in the case of older students who have some
conception of abstract ideas of space and time, and whose impres-
sions are not too confused by the bewildering rush of a film across
the field of vision. Much more might be done than is done at
present to present films which inculcate high qualities, such as
courage, self-sacrifice and generosity." 4
1 p. 140 75 . 2 p. U2 8 *: 82 . 242. pp. 29-30.
liv THE CINEMA
MR. SPURLEY HEY, Director of Education in Manchester,
states that films of travel, natural history and passing events,
have intellectual value as they are informative, recreative, and
arouse intelligent interest in everyday affairs. He maintains
in this connection that children are less apt to form wrong ideas
from moving pictures than from the verbal or written descriptions.
He also says : "I have taken a deep interest in this aspect of
children's welfare and education, and have endeavoured to pre-
serve an open mind in considering the effects of the films on children.
When in Newcastle-on-Tyne I inaugurated a trial scheme where-
by children in elementary schools were taken in drafts to a certain
school hall at which films were shown which had been chosen
by a committee of educational experts. In Manchester I have
frequently encouraged teachers to send drafts of children during
school hours to cinema houses showing approved films." l
MR. PERCIVAL SHARP, Director of Education in Newcastle-
on-Tyne, in referring to the cinema as an instrument of education,
says : " The subjects in respect of which claims have been made
for the educational value of the cinema are history, geography
and nature study. One recognises the value of good pictures,
whether kinetic or static, as an aid to the formation of mental
pictures of scenes geographical or historical; but to claim more
than that would be, in my judgment, confession of a very inadequate
concept of the true meaning of the study of either subject. A
much more insidious claim can be made for the cinema as an
educational aid to nature study. No doubt many very interesting
processes can be brought to the intellectual door, but I feel
strongly that the effective study of science must be based on
personal observations, comparisons, measurements and de-
ductions." 2
MR. JOHN KAY, formerly President of the National Association
of Head Teachers, is of opinion that " There does not appear
to be a large place for the cinema in primary school work. In
the essentials of instruction it can be of no service. As an in-
teresting and attractive aid, purely illustrative, to the teaching
of a small group of subjects industrial geography, travel, con-
temporary history, natural history and the like there is a small
field for it. Used in conjunction with lecture and letterpress it
can give much colour to fact and terminology, but the cost would
have to be small to justify its employment." 3
1 p. 164. * p. 285-6. 3 pp. 11&-20.
EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS Iv
R. J. W. BUNN, member of the Executive of the National
ion of Teachers, states : " I do not think that there is any
educational value in the films worth mentioning at present. Some
houses, in deference to the clamour for improving the mind,
put in films showing manufacturing processes and natural phe-
nomena, but I believe these only bore the audience and are
tolerated in silence until the real entertainment commences
again. I think that in poor neighbourhoods where the children
I need more change and variety in school work than among the
well-to-do, it would not be a bad plan to have a cinematograph
lesson once a week. It could be done by arranging for children
from three or four schools to go for an hour to a suitable
cinema, and the education authority could pay proprietors a
penny per head, exactly as they do now for visits to the baths.
I should arrange for the programme to be selected by the
teachers, and for one of the teachers to explain the films in a
few suitable words as the exhibition proceeded. The film pro-
prietors have hundreds of beautiful films illustrating mountain,
river and forest scenery, the manufacture of common articles,
etc., which they are ready to loan at any time, and there will be
no difficulty in getting the managers of local halls to admit school
children during school hours at a penny each." x
MR. GRANT RAMSAY, Principal of the Institute of Hygiene,
who has given much attention to the educational value of the
cinema, says
1. " The development of the cinema on educational lines can
hardly be said to have come up to anticipations, but this is not
altogether surprising. Messrs. Pathe Freres and other makers
have devoted much time and money to the production of scientific
and educational films, but at a great loss. The reason is simple :
school books would not be popular on bookstalls, and before
educational films can be in any demand there must be facilities
for showing them. Further development rests largely with the
educational authorities." 2
2. " Children deserve and require very special consideration
in regard to cinema pictures. They are more readily influenced
than adults, and their nerves are more delicate and more easily
exhausted. I do not think they should ever be taken to a cinema
at night, as it affects their sleep and development. I am altogether
in favour, however, of cinema- pictures for children under proper
conditions. They might, with advantage, have special theatres
1 p. 127. * p. 235.
Ivi THE CINEMA
and pictures devoted to them. I have received many proofs
that children prefer interesting and instructive pictures, such
as those shown at the Institute, to the weary dramas and other
pictures usually shown at the popular theatres." 1
The memory of visual impressions received at the cinema was
referred to in the evidence of DR. KIMMINS, who made an investiga-
tion as to the films which proved most attractive to a large number
(6701) of school children. He says : " The most striking result
that emerges from the investigation is that the older children
have a remarkable power of giving good accounts of films they
have only seen once. This is not merely a passing interest. In
one of the schools about thirty girls had promised their teacher
in 1914 not to go to the cinema during the war. In spite of this,
girls who had kept the promise were, with one exception, able
to give good accounts of films they had seen more than two years
before. This would seem to open up possibilities of great educational
developments if films could be produced which, in addition to
being of value from the educational point of view, were of sufficient
general interest to command the concentrated attention which is
evidently given to popular cinema films." 2
Miss MARGERY Fox, head mistress of the County School for
Girls, Gravesend, who is much opposed to the cinema, admitted
the permanence of impressions received, as is shown by the
following extracts from her examination
1. " Now, have you ever tested children after a time to see what
they remember of things they have seen at the cinema?"
" Yes."
" Do you find they have a very vivid memory ? Much more
than by reading a book?" "Yes. I remember an intelligent
sixth form going to see c A Tale of Two Cities,' but it ended quite
wrong, and I do not think I ever succeeded in making that form
realise what the real end of the novel was."
2. " You referred to the extraordinarily vivid impression a
cinema has on a child, and you have given an illustration of a
child remembering something you did not wish it to remember.
Is there any reason why the cinema should not give an extra-
ordinarily vivid impression of something you would like the child
to remember? " " It certainly would."
u If a film projected on to a screen can give an extraordinarily
vivid impression for evil it can also give a vivid impression for
good?" "Yes." 3
1 pp. 235-6. 2 p. 275-6. 3 pp. 137-8 5859 .
EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS Ivii
MR. A. P. GRAVES, formerly one of His Majesty's Inspectors
of schools, Chairman of the Educational Cinematograph Associ-
ation, gave the Commission suggestions for the use of the cinema
in schools
1. "As regards the elementary schools the question of apparatus
and installation arises first. In my opinion the teaching by
cinematograph should be both by the larger instrument and the
pat he scope used side by side with the magic lantern, perhaps
in an apparatus combining static and dynamic teaching."
2. " The lantern slide should be used as the first illustrations
in lessons of from twenty minutes to three-quarters of an hour
according to the ages of the children. They should be followed
by a cinematograph film which would summarise the illustrations
given by the magic lantern."
3. " The films might be inflammable or non-inflammable. /
The inflammable films cannot be presented upon the screen for
more than a couple of minutes, if that, but their pictures are
much more telling, and if by screening or some other device
they can be maintained upon the screen for a little longer, they
would be most suitable for teaching purposes, the more so as
danger from fire has been guarded against in a manner which now
makes them safe for schools. The non-inflammable films do not
last as long and do not project as good an image, but the image
can be kept longer on the screen, and if their material could be
improved they might furnish the best means of teaching. They
are specially adapted at present to daylight screens, which have the
advantage of enabling students or scholars to take notes with the
illustrations before them." *
With such a variety of opinion among experts as to the use of
the cinema in relation to the education of children, we are of opinion
that a good case has been made out for a thorough examination
of the subject by a competent and authoritative committee.
SHOULD CHILDREN ATTEND THE CINEMA?
The fact that in densely crowded areas some 90 per cent, of
the children in the senior departments of elementary schools
frequent cinema theatres, more or less regularly, is sufficient
evidence that this type of entertainment makes a very strong
appeal to the school child. The exclusion of school children
under present conditions of housing in poor districts, and of
inadequate provision of means of recreation for children out of
school hours, would be a hardship. The alternative for a large
1 p. 303.
Iviii THE CINEMA
proportion of the children would be the street, and the witnesses
we have interviewed were almost unanimously of the opinion,
which we share, that whatever faults may be found with the cinema
as it exists at present, it is better for the child than the street.
A limit of time at which children should be admitted to, or allowed
to remain in, the cinema, more especially if unaccompanied by
parents or guardians, is very necessary. We understand that
the trade would not resist a regulation for the exclusion of
children after a certain hour. 1 From every point of view it is
undesirable that the young child should remain in the cinema
(or in any other place of amusement) to a later hour than
nine o'clock. Effective regulations, which should be of universal
application, with regard to this, would to some extent meet the
natural complaints of teachers that children who remain in
cinemas witnessing exciting films till late at night are less fit
subjects for instruction in morning school.
The lighting of cinema theatres, which is discussed in another
section of the report, is of special interest in considering the ill
effect of the cinema on young children. With a higher standard
of illumination in the theatre, the physical and moral evils
would be considerably reduced. Too great difference between
the illumination of the screen and the auditorium is productive
of eye-strain and headache. Further, the more exciting scenes
of the film story produce far less injurious effects when the audi-
torium is sufficiently lighted. Darkness tends to exaggerate the
emotional effect to a marked degree.
SHOULD THERE BE SEPARATE PERFORMANCES FOR CHILDREN?
Opinions are much divided on this subject. The evidence
we have received with regard to Saturday afternoon programmes
for children has not been conclusive. In some cases where great
interest is taken in the matter, satisfactory results appear to have
been obtained, but it is stated that, as a rule, the programme
does not differ materially from that of the evening performance,
except by the inclusion of one or more educational films. More-
over, the education authorities have no control over the children
out of school, and if a child prefers an evening performance
to that of the afternoon, he will probably go to the former.
Some of the children whom we interviewed said that they would
not pay to go to the cinema if they knew the films were to be mainly
1 Mr. Goodwin stated that the trade would not resist a regulation for the
exclusion of children after eight o'clock, but pointed out that the exclusion of
children in arms would inflict a hardship on poor mothers, who must bring
their babies with them, or stay away themselves, p. 17 106 .
EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS lix
educational. The object of the child in going to the cinema is
to obtain amusement and recreation, not education. Some of
the children said, moreover, that they would welcome the educa-
tional films at the school, but not in the cinema theatre. The
child evidently thinks he is being defrauded if, having paid for
admission to a cinema theatre, he is shown films which have no
other than an educational interest. On the other hand, when
the educational interest is subordinated as, for example, when a
dramatic story is unfolded among beautiful surroundings there
is evidence that the scenic effects make their appropriate appeal
to the child. This was clearly shown in essays on moving pictures,
by young children, some of which were read to the Commission.
THE EDUCATIONAL FILM
Although, as already stated, the cinema is to be regarded
primarily as a means of amusement and recreation, many praise-
worthy attempts have been made by some producers of films to
deal with natural phenomena from the educational standpoint,
and films have been prepared in whi5h the educational interest
is predominant. Films of natural history, geographical and
historical interest, have been prepared with marked ability and
at great cost, but it must be admitted that these films have not
proved sufficiently attractive to the general public to warrant
the expenditure involved in their production. The reasons for
the failure of the mainly educational films are many. The most
important are the following
1. The public to which the cinema appeals has not sufficient
general knowledge of science, natural history, geography or
history to form that connection between previous experience and
the subject matter of the film which is so essential to vivid interest.
2. The atmosphere in which such films are introduced is highly
antagonistic to their favourable reception and to their educational
value. A film, however beautiful, of the life-history of a plant
or insect sandwiched between a Charlie Chaplin film and a thrilling
episode of the Exploits of Elaine has little chance of survival.
The interest if ever it has been aroused is soon switched off,
and a feeling of boredom results. To be effective in such sur-
roundings the film must have interests other than the purely
educational.
3. To make an educational film of real value there must be
preliminary preparation by work in the school, or the running
comment of a lecturer. The valuable film of the making of the
Panama Canal would have lost its educational value without
the accompanying lecture.
Ix THE CINEMA
Teachers and children who have appeared before the Com-
mission had little to say in favour of the educational film as it
is at present shown in a mixed programme, though some mentioned
the possibility df such films proving of educational value under
favourable conditions and in close association with the work of
the school.
We were also told by representatives of the trade that the
public would not tolerate a greater admixture of educational
films than 10 per cent, in a mixed programme. From statistics
of an investigation of the interests of children in different classes
of films, it appeared that the total number who preferred educa-
tional films was almost negligible. The small percentage of
children who liked this type of film more than any other was,
however, markedly greater among those with good home surround-
ings than among those from very poor districts. Such films were
also shown to be more popular among girls than among boys, but
even among girls from good homes only about 3 to 4 per cent,
declared a preference for educational films. ,
The Commission is thus driven to the conclusion that under
existing conditions the educational film has failed to make an
appropriate appeal to the school child.
FILMS OF EDUCATIONAL VALUE IN WHICH THE INTEREST is NOT
PREDOMINANTLY EDUCATIONAL
The evidence presented to the Commission with regard to the
purely educational film proves conclusively, as has been previously
stated, that the conditions of its appearance in a mixed programme
are fatal to its success. On the other hand, films of great edu-
cational value in which other interests of a more general character
are involved are popular, and are able to compete successfully
with films, for which no educational value can be claimed. The
official war pictures, for example, which have proved to be of
intense interest to the public, have an undoubted value from the
educational standpoint for children and adults. The popularity
of such films with children was clearly shown by an investigation
of the interest of school children in different types of film. About
7000 children were asked which moving picture they liked the
most of all they had seen in cinema theatres. Of these more
than 10 per cent, selected the war pictures, and the excellent
descriptions of such films demonstrated clearly that the children
had fully appreciated the main points and had derived great
benefit in thus being able to obtain the best kind of evidence of
what is going on at the Western Front. The child, after seeing
such films as the battle of the Somme and the battle of the Ancre,
EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS Ixi
would naturally be able to form a far more intelligent conception
of the nature of warfare than would be possible by means of
reading or class instruction. The same would apply to naval
scenes and films of polar expeditions.
It would appear to the Commission that, in the exhibition
of films which combine matters of general with great educational
interest, and which from their nature are not capable of direct
observation by children, the cinema may prove a valuable adjunct
to the school. This function of the cinema should, however, be
clearly distinguished from that of its use as a means of direct
education and as a part of the apparatus of the school. The
confusion of the two functions has led to much misunderstanding.
In the opinion of the Commission, no film of purely educational
interest, and which for its successful employment needs preparatory
work in the school, can serve any useful purpose in a mixed pro-
gramme for adults and children.
THE FILM STORY
Abundant evidence has been presented to the Commission that
there is room for much improvement in many of the film stories.
The continual harping on incidents of marital infidelity in films,
mainly of American origin, is unworthy of the magnificent oppor-
tunity offered of introducing dramatic stories of real merit.
Such films give school children and adolescents an entirely wrong
ideal of married life, and tend to give the impression that in
the upper strata of society a standard of morality exists which
is deplorable to the last degree. Drastic reform of this type of
film is sorely needed.
The cowboy and Indian films, which are immensely popular
with school children, have merits peculiarly their own. They are
crude, but they represent a lower standard of civilisation, and
appeal so directly to the primitive instincts and emotions that
their position is secure. They lend themselves, moreover, very
readily to vigorous action and rapid movement, and they introduce
a variety of experience so new and attractive to the city child
that, provided they are shorn of incidents of unnecessary brutality
and cruelty, this type of film may serve a distinctly useful purpose
and should be welcomed. It is natural, also, that films of a
melodramatic type should be popular with a large section of the
public for which the cinema caters.
The good detective story will always be popular with the normal
schoolboy, but the typical American " crook " films, dealing
exclusively with crime, do not meet the demand in a satisfactory
way. They deal too much with the sordid elements of the story,
Ixii THE CINEMA
the machinery of the police department, and the sufferings of
detectives and criminals. There is generally no interest apart
from the crook interest, and there is little or no comic relief. Wilkie
Collins and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have shown that in fiction
the detective story need not be of the " penny dreadful " type, and
there seems to be no reason why this class of story should not be
produced on the screen so as to interest and attract without being
objectionable.
The comic film, in spite of its occasional vulgarity, is mainly
innocuous, and amply serves the primary purpose of providing
great amusement. Its moral standard, moreover, compares
very favourably with that of some of the theatrical and music-
hall farces. The great success of this type of film is to a large
extent due to the ability and popularity of a famous film comedian.
The complaint of some teachers, however, that boys imitate the
actions of the film artist, and that their ideal of humour becomes
that of the low comedian, is probably well founded.
The output of film stories each year has reached such enormous
proportions l that inevitably much that is produced is of very poor
quality. The first suggestion which occurs to any one interested
in the improvement of the picture house programme is that more
of the best stories and plays of the world's literature should be
filmed in place of the silly and sordid melodrama which is much
too frequently seen. This is, however, not a practical suggestion,
because nearly all such works have already been dealt with, and in
many instances their repetition, even where most desirable, may
be barred by tangles .of copyright or trade rivalry.
The future of the film story appears to depend on an adequate
supply of scenarios of the right type, and it is greatly to be
hoped that producing firms will recognise more fully their grave
responsibility in this matter.
THE SCHOOL AND THE CINEMA
The evidence of witnesses with regard to the educational value
of the cinema has been somewhat conflicting. The general opinion,
however, appears to be that it may render assistance in the teach-
ing of such subjects as nature study, geography, and to a less,
extent in the teaching of history in the elementary and secondary
schools, and that it may be of especial value in advanced scientific
and teclmical work. In this connection our attention has been
drawn to the successful use of the cinema in the Science course at
Oundle School.
As practical work in any scientific instruction is the most
1 See Mr. Tippett's evidence, pp. 56-8.
EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS Ixiii
essential portion of the teaching, so for the cinema might be
devised a corresponding use in schools which would give it the
maximum educational value. Already a comparatively simple
apparatus is obtainable with which an amateur can take a short
film himself. This is used for recording experiments or opera-
tions in some university departments or, where the conditions are
favourable, in a school. Children could collaborate with the teacher
in arranging an experiment such as growing plants, or breeding
dragon-flies, etc., and then be present while one or two of their
number assisted the teacher to take the film. If this were done
only once or twice by each class, their interest in and understanding
of all other films shown to them would be greatly enhanced. In the
course of a year, for instance, each class might prepare the experi-
ments for one film which when complete could be seen by all the
other classes. In this way a school could get a series of carefully
arranged experiments and moving objects filmed in just the way
adapted to the classroom, and these could accumulate for inter-
mittent use at suitable times as lantern slides accumulate usefully
now. An exceptionally good film could be printed off and either
exchanged with, or sold to, other schools.
In some such way a teacher could get films really suitable for
schools, scholars would have an acuter interest both in their school
experiments and in all pleasure picture shows they saw, and a great
deal of valuable scientific instruction in light, chemistry, etc.,
could be not only imparted incidentally, but added on to something
the children know to be a part of the " real life " outside the
schoolroom.
No really serious investigation on an adequate scale has, how-
ever, been made in this country to test the value of the cinema
as an instrument of direct education. The attempts so far have
been almost entirely confined to the production of films to serve
the dual purpose of being of interest to the general public and of
educational value to children. As previously stated, the praise-
worthy attempts in this direction have not been hitherto successful,
and it cannot be claimed that what are termed educational films
have achieved such popularity as would warrant further experi-
ment in this direction. In our opinion the failure is due to the
attempt to make the film combine two functions which are incom-
patible. The films produced fail in arousing sufficient general
interest, and at the same time fail to form a useful part of the
normal curriculum of the school.
The solution of the problem appears to lie in the separation of
the two functions. In the public cinema performance healthy
amusernent and recreation should be the main function. A
Ixiv THE CINEMA
film which fails to be interesting to the general public should
have no place in a mixed programme. It may be tolerated, but
it serves no useful purpose. Nevertheless the really good pro-
gramme must have a considerable value educationally. The
school child may acquire useful information at such performances.
He is introduced to scenes and representations of natural pheno-
mena which open up a new world to him. Dramatic films , too, may
foster conceptions of courage, endurance and self-sacrifice which
may be of the highest value in the formation of character.
In this indirect way the cinema may prove, under suitable condi-
tions, a useful supplement to the school. The educational value
of the official war films and films of polar exploration cannot be
denied, yet their main interest is outside the school curriculum.
If education, however, were entirely confined to what goes on with-
in the walls of the school, a very poor type of citizen would result.
The child goes, and will continue to go, to the cinema theatre, and
no efforts should be spared to make the programme wholesome
and elevating, so that he may derive from it the maximum benefit
without in any way interfering with the function of the cinema as a
means of recreation and amusement.
The function of the cinema as a possible means of direct education
is a matter which requires the most careful consideration. Much
expert and exhaustive investigation will be necessary in order to
reach a satisfactory and authoritative solution. In France this
matter is receiving the attention of a strong commission appointed
by the Minister of Public Instruction. In England, in our opinion,
a similar commission, appointed preferably by the Minister of
Education, should be formed. Failing this, a committee of
teachers, psychologists and other experts in education, together
with representative members of the trade, should be appointed
by this Commission. Visual methods of instruction in schools
have made great progress of recent years, and the time is ripe for an
adequate investigation to be made in order to demonstrate the
part the cinema can play in this modern development.
POSSIBILITIES OF THE USE OF THE CINEMA IN EDUCATION
Without prejudging in any way the work of any committee
to be appointed to conduct a thorough investigation into the pos-
sible use of the cinema in education, it should be stated that
though comparatively little work of a really scientific character
has been carried on in this country, much has been done in
America, France and Germany. One of the witnesses has handed
in some of the literature on the subject, much of which expresses
EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS Ixv
views highly favourable to the use of the cinema for direct educa-
tional purposes.
ANALYSIS OF EXPERT INVESTIGATIONS
Those investigators who are favourably impressed with the
educational value of the cinema, claim for it the following ad-
vantages in addition to its primary object of providing healthy
amusement and recreation.
Range of Information. On the average, where other conditions
are equal, the fund of general knowledge possessed by children
who frequent the pictures is far wider and far richer than that
possessed by those who do not. Much of the knowledge acquired
may be trivial and superficial. Much of it is not. Essays set to
children upon useful information learnt at the picture house
reveal a long list of items of educational interest. Facts of
geography, history, literature, natural science, industrial processes,
social life, and current events are detailed in great variety.
Ten minutes' demonstration with the cinematograph would
impart more knowledge of some subjects in a more effective and
more interesting manner than an oral lesson which lasts for an
hour. In a few seconds the child can see the caterpillar spin' its
cocoon and break it again and the butterfly unfold its wings, the
seed germinate, the plant spring up out of the ground and put
forth buds, the bud expand into blossom, the blossom fade and
give way to ripening fruit.
No class of information interests the child so much as that
which deals with human personalities. Perhaps no form of know-
ledge is more universally required. It is true that the social con-
flicts are crudely drawn and over-simplified. But simplification
is inevitable even in the highest form of art. And the crudity
may disappear when the producer learns that his public has a
higher aesthetic standard than himself.
Accuracy of Ideas. Often the ideas formed from a moving
picture are demoristrably more accurate than those which children
had previously acquired from a verbal or printed description.
Those who have dealt with young university students know only
too well how extensively the knowledge acquired at school is based
primarily on textbooks, sentences and phrases, rather than on
first-hand observation of the objects and processes themselves.
With a concrete or material subject a moving photograph plainly
gets far nearer to reality than a textbook statement, and it
becomes possible to give a knowledge not only of the static object,
but of the dynamic process.
Visual Presentation most Natural to the Child. The information
e
Ixvi THE CINEMA
is acquired through the channel which is most appropriate, not
only to the subject matter, but to children of school age namely,
through the eye. The majority of human beings are visualisers,
and those in whom, owing to book learning, the power to visualise
has atrophied, do not cease to regret it. Childhood is pre-emin-
ently the time of vision. The educational importance of concrete
visual illustration is now an admitted principle. Many schools
have their optical lantern. The addition of motion to the picture
trebles the amount of realism thus gained, and the amount of
interest is, at the same time, enormously enhanced.
Since the eye provides a natural channel for the acquisition
of knowledge during childhood, it follows that information thus
gained can be acquired without undue mental strain. The strain
and fatigue that are reported by the children are physical in origin
and can be eliminated by the enforcement of simple hygienic
requirements.
Necessity of Preparation for Cinema Work. Undoubtedly infor-
mation is more effectively gained if two channels and two media
are employed eye and ear, pictures and words. The moving and
pictorial representation should supplement, or be supplemented
by, description or explanation in words, if not at the time, then
before or after the visit. In the children's essays the items most
frequently reproduced, and the points most clearly and accurately
expounded, are those where the information has been learned first
from a picture and then from the teacher or book, or first from
the school and then from the cinema. The vivid, concrete imagery
derived from the picture palace at once illuminates and can be
expressed in the nomenclature and formulae derived from lessons
or from print.
Many of the psychological disadvantages of the cinematograph
could be eliminated, and its benefits many times enhanced, by
correlating the subjects chosen with written and oral work.
Mental Activity. The mental passivity of the spectator is only
relative. The moving picture does not of itself depress all mental
activity. The particular pictures at present shown presuppose
merely an exercise of the mind which is comparatively feeble.
If the incidents are made so extremely obvious or familiar that
their comprehension calls forth no effort, boredom rather than
passivity is likely to result. This is actually the complaint of
many intelligent children. Even at present, however, many of
the films are by no means easy to follow unless the spectator brings
with him a habit of alert watchfulness. The occasional visitor is
amazed at the rapidity with which juvenile frequenters pick up
the thread of the story and identify the various characters, while
EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS Ixvii
he himself misses point after point and confuses one face with
another.
Training in Observation. Children who habitually frequent the
cinema undoubtedly develop a remarkable power of observation,
at least for incidents depicted on the screen. This is repeatedly
demonstrated by comparing the remarks made by such children
either during the performance or in an essay subsequently com-
posed, with the remarks of children, equal or superior in intelli-
gence, who are visiting the cinema almost for the first time. The
occasional spectator commonly finds that the changes and move-
ments take place too quickly to be grasped, or occur when his
eyes are directed to a different part of the screen, or when his
attention is busy with his thoughts and reflections instead of with
his retinal impressions. But with half a dozen visits even he can
trace within himself the gradual development of a capacity for
rapid observation.
Cultivation of the Imagination. Imagination, especially visual
imagination, is, if not trained, at least saved from atrophy by
attendance at the cinema. The cinema picture provides a rich
variety of experience for recall, and constructive as well as repro-
ductive imagination seems often to be encouraged. There is
much to be said for the possibility of filling the mind by means of
the cinematograph with a store of healthy mental imagery.
The Moving Picture as a Form of Amusement. Of all forms of
popular amusement the cinematograph undoubtedly contributes
the greatest measure to the greatest number. For many it is
almost the sole haven of refuge from a sordid round of misery
and dulness, the only glimpse of a brighter, more variegated and
more thrilling life. This point appears and reappears with
great persistence in the essays, debates and in the replies of the
children themselves. For the child the cinema means primarily
recreation, play, not work. But this must not depreciate our
estimate of its educational capacity. The two functions are not
incompatible. Recreation does not exclude instruction. Educa-
tion through play is now acknowledged as a valuable principle,
both in appealing to the intellect and in developing the character.
Cultivation of Moral and ^Esthetic Appreciation. It must be
observed that the emotions excited at the cinematograph are not
merely those of sympathy, but those of moral approbation and
aesthetic enjoyment. We not only weep and rejoice with the
heroine. We also admire the hero and get angry with the villain
and appreciate the beauty of the scenery or the magnificence
of the dresses. There could be no more potent instrument for
the education of aesthetic taste among the general public than
Ixviii THE CINEMA
an artistically constructed series of cinematograph films. Passage
after passage in the children's essays show, not only by mere
statement but also by picturesque phraseology, how genuine an
appreciation of natural scenery has been elicited by what they
have seen.
SUMMARY
According to these investigations there appear to be great
possibilities for the cinema in education. The dangers, both
physical and psychological, have already been reduced. Those
that survive seem chiefly a consequence of the picture palace as at
present arranged and the moving picture as at present produced.
Both are universally acknowledged to be imperfect. Superior
lighting, seating, ventilation, control of the admission of children,
and, above all, a higher standard in the production of films con-
sidered as works of art, should largely remove the .dangers that
remain. Any mental damage done is thus incidental to the cinema
and not essential, not an indissoluble characteristic of the moving
picture as a specific form of art. The moving picture is intensely
exciting, intensely realistic, and can cover an amazingly wide
field of information. But these very characteristics, which may
make it such a powerful instrument for evil, guarantee its future
possibilities as a potent instrument of culture.
FINDINGS
1. The witnesses interviewed were almost unanimously of
opinion that the cinema as at present conducted is better for the
child than the street. ,
2. There was general agreement that the cinema theatre is
better for the child than the music-hall.
3. The great variety of opinions expressed by educational ex-
perts as to the value of the cinema in education points to the need
of an exhaustive inquiry into the subject by an expert commission
or committee.
4. The Educational film, with no interest other than the educa-
tional, has been given a fair trial in the picture house and has not
proved to be of sufficient general interest to prove a success in the
ordinary programme of the cinema.
5. The reasons for this comparative failure are
(a) The position in a mixed programme with films of far
more general interest.
(b) The need of preparation in the school or the running
comments of an experienced lecturer.
EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS Ixix
6. The Educational films have been prepared with great care
and at great expense, and they reflect much credit on the enter-
prising firms who have produced them. If correlated with the
work of the school, they might prove of value for direct educational
purposes.
7. There appears to be an extensive field of usefulness in the
indirect rather than the direct method of education by the cinema.
8. The subjects which lend themselves most successfully to direct
educational treatment appear to be nature study, geography (in-
cluding popular scenes of foreign travel), and, to a less extent,
history. In advanced science work much use is already being
made of the cinema, as e. g. in the course of science instruction at
Oundle School and in many institutions of university rank.
9. We have been impressed by the popularity of films of war
and naval scenes and those of polar and other explorations, the
educational value of which cannot be denied.
10. The cinema can bring within the range of the child's experi-
ence a fund of valuable information which it would not be possible
to obtain by other means.
11. Evidence has been given to us of the vividness and per-
manence of the visual impressions given by the cinema to the
older school children.
12. There is much evidence to show that good scenery and
appropriate setting of film stories make a strong appeal to
children.
13. We have received abundant testimony as to the great
popularity of the cinema with school children.
14. Complaints have been made to us that ill effects, physical
and moral, follow excessive attendance at picture houses, owing
to the exciting nature and continuous strain of the performances,
and that in cases where the houses are open to children until
late hours those who attend after nine o'clock are less fit to
receive school instruction on the following day.
15. It appears that much can be done by hygienic improve-
ments in the direction of better lighting, ventilation and seating
where necessary, and the limitation of hours of attendance, to,
remove some of the objections at present made to the cinema
performance.
16. We are impressed by the necessity of a definite regulation
of universal application being made with regard to the attendance
of children under fourteen years of age at cinemas beyond the
hour of nine o'clock.
17. There is diversity of opinion as to the value of separate
exhibitions for school children. If sufficient interest and care are
Ixx THE CINEMA
taken in the arrangement of the programme such exhibitions
might prove a valuable adjunct to the school.
18. A great improvement in the nature of the film story is
urgently needed in the interests of children. This might be
accomplished without decreasing in any way the attractiveness
of the cinema programme.
19. Drastic reform is needed in the treatment of stories dealing
with "sex" questions, and such films should never be shown
at exhibitions specially intended for children.
20. We regard the adequate filming of stories of acknowledged
literary merit to be a matter of primary importance in the interests
of both children and adults.
21. We consider that amusements and recreation can exert a
powerful influence educationally. The universally admitted
principle of the educative value of play can with confidence be
applied to wholesome performances in the cinema theatre.
22. The moving picture is intensely exciting, intensely realistic,
and can cover an amazingly wide field of information. But
these very characteristics, which may make it such a powerful in-
strument for evil, guarantee its future possibilities as a potent
instrument of culture.
ADDENDUM
THE PLACE OF Music IN THE PICTURE HOUSE
THE Commission heard the evidence of a competent and
experienced musician, and also heard the opinions of other
witnesses.
The music heard in picture palaces is certainly an attraction
to the public. Its quality constantly tends to rise, and, within
the experience of members of the Commission, the supreme
pages of musical literature, such as the Overture of the " Magic
Flute " and the B Minor Symphony of Schubert, are frequently
to be heard at the best houses.
The educational value of such music would be much enhanced
if all houses adopted the practice of printing on the programme
the chief musical items to accompany given films where this
is possible.
The conditions of the work are quite satisfactory in repre-
sentative cases, comparing favourably with those of work in
theatre and music-hall orchestras, and in restaurants. Though
so near the screen the musicians rarely look at it, so that their
eyes are not injured. There is no reason to think the work
MUSIC Ixxi
unsuitable for women. The hours are such that records of
musicians' cramp are not, so far as we are aware, more numerous
than elsewhere.
The showing of pictures to musical accompaniment brings into
use a second sense concurrently with vision, and answers the
highly doctrinaire objection to the use of one sense at a time
.advanced by certain witnesses against the cinema an objection
equally applicable to reading or to hearing music. 1
Musical entr'actes of various kinds are very popular, being
commonly received with rounds of hearty applause. Many
licensing authorities object to them, 2 or to certain types of them.
One bars all singers, but admits violinists; another ineptly asks
a symphony orchestra to come without its brass instruments.
The evidence of oculists and others strongly suggests the very
great desirability of such entr'actes in relieving the tendency to
ocular strain. The Commission is of opinion that the inter-
polation of musical items, whether vocal or instrumental, is
highly desirable on this ground, especially for the eyes of children, 3
and would deprecate the continuance of the policy which dis-
countenances them and for which no comprehensible motive, if
not jealousy on the part of other places of entertainment or
offence to local interests, can be found, 4 unless it be a general
objection to anything that makes the cinema more attractive.
The possibilities of the cinema as a means of musical education
and of executive employment for musicians would appear to be
very considerable, and as yet only in their infancy. The moving
picture is quite remarkable as a test of the genuine emotional
content of music, as many musicians, amateur and other, have
noticed. Conversely, the more genuine and significant the
drama, the more inadequate is any but the best music to accom-
pany it. The musician long familiar with such works as the
" Hebrides " overture of Mendelssohn or the " Flying Dutchman "
overture of Wagner receives new impressions of their beauty and
significance when he hears them accompanied by pictures of
serene and stormy seas respectively, and therefore better realises
the inadequacy of second-rate music to accompany the authentic
movements of Nature herself. It is evident that very much
could be done in teaching the emotional as distinguished from the
technical appreciation of music by such visual accompaniments.
Further, there is the teaching of evolution and period and folk
tune involved in the use of eighteenth-century music for costume
plays, minuets of Liilly or Gluck for minuets of their periods in
1 p. 136 35 ' 8 ; p. 137", ^ p ^3 8 75 : 7. 3 p. 169 32. 4 p> 1 70 ; pp . 1 7 1_ 2 .
Ixxii THE CINEMA
the picture, Irish tunes for an Irish story, Scottish tunes for,
say, Mr. Hepworth's film " Annie Laurie," sea-songs for
sailor stories and naval films, and so on. In all these and similar
instances the cause of musical education and appreciation would
be enhanced by some means of letting the audience know what
is being played, with the name and date of composer. Good
music well played by competent musicians is much to be desired,
but where the provision of this is economically impossible
mechanical records of the best music offer a substitute for much
of the inferior music now heard in too many of the smaller halls.
SECTION III
LIGHTING AND EYE-STRAIN
THE question of the lighting of the auditorium, or, as it might
be more properly called, the spectaculum of cinemas during an
exhibition is a matter of very great importance, both from a moral
and from a hygienic point of view. Much attention has already
been paid to this matter, but more needs to be done both by the
exhibitors and the authorities, especially since there is much error
as to the amount of darkness essential for the proper exhibition of
the film. The subject of adequate lighting for the spectators,
and the need of this, have therefore received considerable atten- >
tion by the Commission, and much evidence bearing on the question
has been obtained.
EYE-STRAIN AND OTHER ILL EFFECTS DUE TO THE DARKNESS OF
THE HALLS
The report of the Investigating Committee in the City of
Worcester speaks emphatically of the serious effects of eye-strain,
headache, etc., resulting from the conditions under which the films
are shown. 1
The most important expert evidence on this point was given
by Mr. Bishop Harman, F.R.C.S., senior ophthalmic surgeon to
the West London Hospital, and ophthalmic surgeon to the Belgrave
Hospital for Children, etc. Mr. Bishop Harman stated that
" The unpleasant effects associated with the cinemato-
graph exhibition so far as they affect the eyes may be set out
as follows
1. Glare.
2. Flicker.
3. Rapidity of motion.
4. Concentration of attention.
5. Duration of exhibition.
1 p. 144.
Ixxiii
Ixxiv THE CINEMA
Some of these effects are peculiar to the cinematograph,
others are found in the same or some degree in other optical
exhibitions." l
Concerning the results of these unpleasant effects on eyesight,
Mr. Bishop Harman said : " Children may be taken to fall into
the class of the more impressionable adults, owing to their lesser
power of resistance and readier experience of fatigue." 2
As regards glare and its injurious effect on the eyes in cinema
exhibitions, Mr. Harman reported as follows
" To enhance the effect of the show the room is made as
dark as possible, the light of the lantern as bright as possible,
and the transparency as strong as possible. The light from
the lantern is projected on to the whitest possible screen, and
therefrom it is reflected directly into the eyes of the observer.
All these necessary conditions of the show are the worst pos-
sible conditions for the eyes, they all tend to produce the
maximum of fatigue. . . . Glare cannot be dissociated from
the shows. It can be reduced by providing a sufficient
illumination of those parts of the room or hall removed from
the immediate region of the screen ; by attention to ordinary
details connected with the use of fixed slides, and by care in
the degree of illumination of the hall during the interval." 3
Flicker, Mr. Harman explained, is largely due to bad films, is
most evident in coloured films and is affected by the rate of motion
of the film ; in all these points great improvement has been made
in recent years in the best cinemas. The rate of movement as
seen on the screen should be as near as possible to that of the
motion of the object depicted. 4
Concentration of attention is required in a greater degree in a
cinema show than in any other kind of exhibition. This creates
fatigue, and is especially injurious to children. The eye really sees
clearly only one point in the object looked at, and rapid but un-
conscious motion of the eye is necessary to take in the whole
moving picture; the effort to avoid blinking the eyes is an in-
dication of the effort of concentration required to follow the
pictures.
The duration of the exhibition Mr. Harman stated should be
much shorter, especially for children. " If the attention can be
forced by the thrill of the picture show, for a longer period than
is natural, the nervous effect is increased out of all proportion
1 p. 98. 2 p. 97. 3 p. 98. 4 p. 99.
LIGHTING AND EYE-StRAIN Ixxv
. . . with the length of the show." The evidence that children's
eyes do suffer from the picture shows " cannot be presented by
figures and percentages," but it exists in some cases. " Fortu-
nately the effects are temporary, and unless the indulgence be
frequent, it is easily recovered from." x
There is, however, in Mr. Harman's opinion some evidence to
show that permanent aggravation of defective eyesight may be
caused in children by frequent attendance at lengthy cinema
shows. Mr. Harman's recommendations are as follows
" So far as eyes are concerned the best protection for
the child will be secured by the following provisions : (1)
The reasonable illumination of all parts of the hall not directly
beside the screen. (2) The improvement of the movement
of the film so as to reduce flicker; and the withdrawal of
films immediately they are damaged. (3) The improvement
inv taking the picture so as to bring the rate of motion of
the objects depicted more nearly to the natural. (4) The
increase in the number of intervals to the show, and the
interposition of exhibitions other than that of the optical
lantern. (5) The limitation of shows for children' to one
hour, and the prohibition of ' repeats.' (6) The reservation
of the children's seats to the 4 optimum ' position in the
hall." 2
In reply to a question from the Chairman whether the more
light that is given to the auditorium the less danger to the eyes
of children in looking upon the films, Mr. Harman replied :
'' There is no doubt about that; that is my experience with the
cinematograph and with optical lanterns and for medical lectures.
We find these are quite satisfactory even if the room is fairly
light, provided there is a dark part round the screen and the
rest of the room is quite light enough to take down notes and so
forth." 3
Mr. Harman, in the course of his examination, emphasised the
points in his recommendations that the hall should be moderately
lighted ; that the duration of the show should be short an hour
being ample for the children, and that, as children "hang on" to
the very end of a cinema show, special seats in the best position
to avoid eye-strain should be provided for them ; that there should
be a variety in the performance, such as intervals of music, so that
the sight may be rested. 4
On the other hand, the evidence of an examiner of films under
1 p. 100. 2 p. 101. 3 p. 101. 4 pp. 102-6.
Ixxvi THE CINEMA
the censor modifies this conclusion as to the harmful effect on the
sight of viewing films. The evidence on this point is as follows
83. " MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. How many hours a day do the
examiners work? We go at ten o'clock and we work until
six o'clock, and if necessary, if the boats are late from America,
we stay until the work is done.
84. " DR. SALEEBY. Five days a week ? Yes.
85. " Seeing the pictures all the time ? Yes ; when I
joined this Censorship Board I read a letter from an eminent
authority, an oculist, warning the public not to allow their
children to attend cinema shows, as any child there for one
and a half hours would be running the risk of having its
eyesight impaired for life. I have been there four years,
and my eyesight is not stronger than it was at childhood.
I am bound to say that my eyesight is not affected. That,
I think, is one point for the cinema trade.
86. " MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. Is that the experience of
your coljeadues ? Well, they have made no complaints, but
one of them adopted the precaution of wearing green-tinted
glasses." 1
/
There can be no doubt that the rapid passing from one picture
to another, if the strain of attention is unrelieved by intervals
when the sight is rested, is the cause of much headache and eye-
strain in those who frequent the cinema.
SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE AS TO THE LIGHTING OF CINEMA
THEATRES
Mr. Leon Caster, honorary secretary to the Illuminating
Engineering Society, and editor of the Illuminating Engineer,
gave important evidence bearing on this subject. His suggestions
cannot well be summarised, and are therefore given in full.
Mr. Caster says
" The following matters appear to deserve special con-
sideration : 1 . " In the darkened condition of cinema theatres
the eye is Very sensitive to glare from bright sources. It is
therefore suggested that no source brighter than the screen
should fall within the angle of vision of the audience, when
looking towards the picture. Also that any lamps used to
indicate exits or for general lighting in the theatre should be
properly shaded.
1 p. 115.
LIGHTING AND EYE-STRAIN Ixxvii
2. " An excessive contrast between the bright screen and-
the dark surroundings is trying to the eyes. The walls and
ceilings of the theatre might therefore preferably be fairly
light in tint ; this would also assist the effect of any permanent
artificial lighting.
3. " With a view to the proper display of pictures the
lantern should be capable of giving an illumination on the
screen of not less than one foot-candle before the film is
interposed. The operator could then adjust his light
according to the nature of the film.
4. " In order to meet the views of authorities as regards
propriety, and to diminish the objectionable contrast between
the brightness of screen and surroundings, and also as a
measure' of safety, a small amount of permanent general
artificial illumination, maintained while the display is in
progress, appears desirable. A minimum of value of ^
foot-candle l is suggested. The running cost of providing
such an illumination would be small, probably within 5 to 10
per cent, of the cost of the electricity provided for the lantern
and other illumination in the theatre building. By careful
direction of light it should be possible to provide such an
illumination without prejudice to the image on the screen.
Stairs, both within and without the theatre should be lighted
to the minimum value specified above, and the edges should
preferably be white so as to be easily seen. The full lighting
should be provided between performances, but the lights should
be gradually raised or lowered by " dimmers " (resistances
gradually inserted in the lighting circuit), so as to avoid the
shock to the eye of sudden transition from darkness to
brightness or vice versa. In order to prepare the eye for
the conditions within the theatre the illumination in vesti-
bules, corridors, etc., should have a value intermediate
between that prevailing in the theatre and outside, and
all lights should be effectually screened.
5. "It is common knowledge that observation of the
screen at close quarters is productive of eye -strain. The
distance should be such that the angle subtended by the
screen at the eye does not exceed forty-five degrees, and the
angle of obliquity at which the screen is viewed should not
exceed thirty degrees. Children should not occupy, seats
which do not comply with these requirements. In view of
the irregularities produced by screens giving a certain amount
1 A " foot-candle " is the illumination produced by a source of light equiva-
lent to one candle, at a distance of one foot.
Ixxviii THE CINEMA
of polished reflection (e. g. powdered aluminium) a screen of
dead white material is to be preferred.
6. " Due regard should be paid to the vision of lantern
operators. A window provided with glass of suitable opacity
and of a nature to absorb ultra-violet rays should be pro-
vided for observation of the arc, and the eyes of the operator
should be screened from direct light as far as possible. I
desire to refer also to lighting conditions in rooms where
film preparation goes on. The industry should take steps
to secure that the conditions are hygienic on the lines adopted
in dealing with lighting of the theatrical stage."
Mr. Caster, in answer to questions, agreed that ,it would be a
good thing if a committee of his society met and advised the
Commission on the subject of lighting; insisted on the physical
injury resulting from too great a contrast between the bright
screen and the dark surroundings; and urged that the Commis-
sion's Report should recommend reduced lighting outside cinemas
as a measure of economy. 1
A paper read before the Royal Society of Arts on February 20,
1917, by Dr. James Kerr of the Public Health Department of
the L.C.C., fully corroborated Mr. Caster's views. In the dis-
cussion which followed the reading of 'Dr. Kerr's paper at the
Society of Arts, one of the highest authorities on vision, Dr. F. W.
Edridge Green, said : " That for the past twenty-five years he had
considered it a fundamental principle of lighting that in order to
see well with the centre of the retina the periphery must be
stimulated. It was absolutely necessary that this physiological
principle should be complied with in the cinema theatre, and
therefore that there should be a reasonable amount of illumination
in the auditorium without interfering with the picture on the
screen." 2
FINDINGS
1. We recommend the adequate illumination of the picture
houses whilst the films are being shown.
2. The best relative illumination of the screen and hall should
'be determined by a special committee consisting of a few members
of the Commission, together with representatives of the Illuminating
Engineering Society and technical advisers from the trade. The
1 p. 299. The arrangement of lamps to provide such an illumination could
be determined beforehand, and in case of dispute the illumination could be
readily measured and verified with an illumination photometer.
2 pp. 297-9.
LIGHTING AND EYE-STRAIN Ixxix
recommendation by the Secretary of the Illuminating Engineering
Society that the illumination of the hall whilst the display is in
progress should be one-tenth of a foot-candle appears to be
reasonable.
3. The continuous display of films extending over some hours is
extremely injurious, especially to the young and those with
defective eyesight. Hence we recommend that frequent intervals
of music, song, or other form of entertainment, should be en-
couraged to relieve the constant strain on the eyes.
4. We recommend that the front seats should be removed to
at least twenty feet from the screen.
SECTION IV
TRADE CENSORSHIP AND ORGANISATION
HISTORY OF THE CENSORSHIP
A BRIEF summary of the history of the Trade Censorship of
films may properly lead to an estimate of the present position.
Owing to the objectionable character of some of the imported
films, the question of establishing an independent censorship
was discussed towards the end of 1911, and in October 1912,
with the approval of Mr. McKenna, then Home Secretary, the
Board of Censors was established. Soon after Mr. Redford
was appointed President of the Board, and the details of ad-
ministration were accepted as* satisfactory by the Home Office.
Four examiners were appointed by Mr. Redford, and the work
was begun on January 1, 1913. Entire independence and im-
partiality were assured to, and have been maintained by the
Board of Censors. As the scheme was voluntary, it was intended
to issue a Certificate to the Exhibitors who showed only censored
films, but the proposal proved ineffective. The local authorities
were approached, and between forty and fifty have agreed to
allow only films passed by the Board to be exhibited in halls
under their jurisdiction. Two certificates are issued, one "U"
for films to be shown to any audience, and one " A " for films
suitable for adults only. The measure of public confidence
enjoyed by the Board is shown by the request of the War Office
in 1915 that all films intended for export should be submitted to
and sealed by the Board. 1 This Board passes about 97 per cent,
of all the films exhibited. 2 It has been found by experience
that to show a film condemned by the Board does not pay the
exhibitor.
WORKING OF THE CENSORSHIP
When Mr. Redford entered on his duties, he laid down only
two rules, viz. : " that the living figure of Christ should not be
permitted and that nudity should be in no circumstances passed."
1 pp. 213-14; pp. 257-S 66 . 2 p. 216.
Ixxx
TRADE CENSORSHIP ^VND ORGANISATION Ixxxi
The Examiners have been guided in their judging of the films by
the broad principle that nothing should be passed by them
which in their honest opinion was calculated to demoralise an
audience or any section of it. Guided by experience, this broad
principle has found application in forty-three reasons for re-
fusing to pass a film. 1 But it is still held that each film must
be judged on its merits, and that it is impossible to aim at strictly
logical decisions. 2 The greatest difficulty has been experienced
with " sex " and " crime " films. 3 The procedure in examining
the films is that two examiners, who are never working together
for more than a week at a time, are looking at each film ; when-
ever any part of the film seems doubtful, they consult the other
two, and only when the four agree is the film passed without being
brought under the notice of the President of the Board of
Censors. In case of any disagreement a report as to the
objection is submitted to him, and he decides whether he will
grant or withhold the certificate, or suggest to the producer
the changes necessary to make it acceptable. 4 Any attempt to
exhibit the film in its unaltered form, when the changes had
been insisted on as a condition of securing the certificate, would
be treated as so flagrant a breach of honour that the Board
would refuse to look at any other products from the same firm,
and the certificate would be withdrawn; but there has been
no occasion to take such action. 5 One of the examiners stated
in his evidence that " very occasionally it happened that Mr.
Redford took what I would call a broader view of the matter
than we did," and so passed a film to which the examiners had
taken exception ; and that " our present president has shown
a disposition to make the meshes a little smaller." 6
THE INTENTIONS OF THE PRESENT CENSOR
Mr. T. P. O'Connor, who entered on his duties as President
of the Board of Film Censors in January of this year, stated in
evidence that he " was surprised and pleased to find that the
censorship had been conducted with remarkable assiduity, usually
with great success " ; 7 and called special attention to a decision
of his predecessor as showing the scrupulous care with which he
exercised his functions. " When complaint was made to him of
films founded on certain books he made the decision that though
xhe films in these cases might in themselves be quite innocuous,
yet, owing to the lurid repute of the books, audiences might be
tempted to go and see them on false grounds, and, therefore, that
i pp. 254-5. 2 p. 104. 3 pp. 105-6. 4 pp. 106 2 , 107 3 , 109".
* pp. 108 19 , 109 2 *. pp. 114-15 78 : 80 . 7 P- 244.
Ixxxii THE CINEMA
in future it was inexpedient to allow the production of the innocent
film of a book with a lurid reputation." As regards his own
standard he stated : " The chief difficulty arises from the number
of what may be called ' crook ' films which come mainly from
America and which have been brought partly into existence by
the popularity of the detective story. On these films the ex-
aminers had already laid down some severe restrictions, as for
instance, that none of the methods by which thieves can carry
out their purposes should be exhibited. I have somewhat
extended these restrictions, and I have sent out a circular . . .
urging the trade to give as few films of this character as possible ;
and I think there is already a steady diminution in that form of
film." He expressed himself as desirous of having the assistance
of an advisory committee l and also of closer co-operation with
the Home Office and local authorities. " The Home Office should
have the right of veto of the appointment of the President . . .
and the President, if accepted by the Home Office, should have
the co-operation of the Home Office in having his decisions sup-
ported," 2 so that the 300 licensing authorities should be induced
to accept his censorship.
THE PRESENT POSITION
It must be pointed out, however, that time must be allowed
for the intended improvement to take effect. "It would take
Mr. O'Connor some months," we have been informed, " before
he could have any effect on our screens, and then years before
he could fulfil the ojbject of getting the old films replaced by
fresh ones. It is a very slow thing. Most of the things that
are showing now were published perhaps a year or eighteen
months ago, and many of the films recently passed will not see
daylight for another six months." While the appointment of
Mr. O'Connor was under consideration, negotiations were going
on with the Home Office regarding a State Censorship, but these
were brought to an end on January 24, 1917 ; and Mr. O'Connor's
appointment did not, as was hoped, receive the endorsement of
the Home Office.
NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE HOME OFFICE
Of the abortive negotiations between the Home Office and the
trade a summary account was submitted to us by Mr. New-
bould, who conducted these negotiations on behalf of the trade.
" Briefly, the proposals were : (1) A voluntary censorship under
1 p. 245. 2 p. 246.
TRADE CENSORSHIP AND ORGANISATION Ixxxiii
the control of the Home Office for which the trade was to pay
a sum of not less than 6000 a year. 1 As the Home Office had no
legal power either to enforce such a censorship as final throughout
the kingdom, or to compel renters and manufacturers to submit
their films for censorship, or to prohibit exhibitors showing films
which had not passed the censorship, these proposals offered no
improvement on existing conditions. (2) The Chief Censor and
Examiners were to be selected and appointed by the Home
Office. (3) There was to be 'a strong Advisory Committee
appointed by the Secretary of State, including representatives of
local authorities (including educational authorities), well-known
members of the general public, authors of standing not con-
nected with cinemas, with a representative of the manufacturers
and a representative of the exhibitors. One member at least
should be a woman.' The trade was asked to make observa-
tions on these proposals, and the objections the trade raised
were as follows: (1) That a Government Censorship must be
compulsory, universal in its application, and final in its decisions.
(2) That the Chief Censor should either be selected or appointed
by the Advisory Board or the Home Office in agreement with
the trade, and that one Examiner should be appointed by the
trade. (3) The trade asked for a better representation on
the Advisory Board. After very considerable delay, the Home
Office had to admit : (1) That it was unable, without legislation
(which was out of the question), to make the censorship com-
pulsory, universal or final. (2) The Home Secretary 2 adhered
to his decision that all the appointments should be made by
him, although the salaries would be paid by the trade. (3) The
Home Secretary intimated his willingness to concede three repre-
sentatives on the Advisory Committee instead of two." 3 As
the Cinematograph Trade Council could not come to an agree-
ment with the Home Office, the Home Secretary 4 did not proceed
with the scheme, but postponed it till it could be dealt with by
legislation, and intimated that he would advise local licensing
authorities " to exercise to the full extent the powers of control
which they possess under the Cinematograph Act."
THE ATTITUDE OF THE TRADE
A circular issued by the Cinematograph Exhibitors' Associa-
tion to its members in connection with these negotiations, was put
in in evidence ; as one of the sentences it contains (" The trade
1 The total cost of the present Board of Censorship, including the salary
of the President, the Examiners, and all office expenses is, we are informed,
about 5000.
2 Then Mr. Herbert Samuel. 3 pp. 264-5. 4 Now Sir George Cave.
Ixxxiv THE CINEMA
is in immediate danger from a most drastic Government Censor-
ship which will have the effect of depriving you of 75 per cent, of
the films which are most popular with your patrons "), has been
widely used to the prejudice of the inquiry on which we have
been engaged, Mr. W. Gavazzi King, the Secretary, was thoroughly
cross-examined about the meaning of it; and stated that when
the circular was issued, he and others were under the distinct
impression, from the interviews that they had had with Home
Office officials, that the censorship was intended to exclude all
films that were regarded as in any way unsuitable for children,
from a standpoint that most people anxious to purify and elevate
the picture house would themselves regard as extreme in its
rigour. 1 He and the Chairman of the Association, Mr. New-
bould, have assured us of their desire to have an effective censor-
ship of films that would meet reasonable requirements ; and the
latter expressed his opinion that " to the present organisation
should be added an Advisory and Appeal Committee, which should
be appointed by some such body as the National Council of
Public Morals in consultation with the Home Office." 2 As
regards the regulations imposed as a condition of licence by
local authorities, the same witness suggested " that a Committee
should be set up consisting of representatives of (1) The trade,
(2) the local authorities and Home Office, and (3) this Com-
mission, with a Chairman appointed by the Home Office to con-
sider these regulations and draw up a model set, which should
then be issued by the Home Office for use throughout the entire
kingdom." 3 With these two proposals we deal in our recom-
mendations.
THE REORGANISATION OF THE TRADE
The defect of the voluntary censorship in the past has been
that it could not be enforced on the whole trade. Of the 4500
picture houses in the country, until the reorganisation, only a
little over half the number was in the Exhibitors' Association.
In London the conditions were better, as 200 out of 248 were
in the local branch. 4 The best houses, however, are in the Associa-
tion. The members appear to have been loyal in carrying out
suggestions for improvement pressed upon them. In case of
disregard a member could be turned out, and this would involve
the loss of some benefits which co-operation can secure. The
Exhibitors' Association has recently transformed itself into the
National Union in order (1) to secure that all exhibitors shall
become members of it : (2) and to enforce such discipline on the
members as will protect the trade as a whole from the disrepute
i pp. 299-300. 2 p. 265. 3 p. 266. * p. 23.
TRADE CENSORSHIP AND ORGANISATION Ixxxv
and charges that a badly-conducted picture house can bring
upon it. Mr. Seddon, equipped with his long experience of
Trade Unionism, has been appointed Organising Secretary to bring
about this tightening up of the organisation. In regard to the
first object, he stated in his evidence that the Union hoped " by
peaceful persuasion and other methods known as trades-union
activity to bring them into line at no distant date." Asked to
define the methods more fully, he said, " If they did not belong
to the Union, it would be extremely difficult for them to get hold
of the things they want to show." He admitted that this power
would depend on the Union securing the great majority of ex-
hibitors as members. "If 90 per cent, are in the organisation,
then the manufacturers would want the custom of that 90 per
cent, rather than the custom of the 10 per cent." l In order that
local authorities and the public may know what houses are in
the Association, and accept its censorship, a card of membership
for display in the picture house is being issued, and also there is
to be a white list of picture houses enrolled in the Union as well
as of films passed by the Censor. 2 If any house showed films of
" a detrimental character," the Association, explained Mr. New-
bould, would oppose its being licensed. 3
THE DEFECTS OF LOCAL CENSORSHIP AND REGULATIONS
One of the strongest motives of the present endeavour to
organise the trade throughout the country generally is the
difficulty imposed upon it by the lack of uniformity in the re-
quirement of the local authorities both as regards the character
of the films shown, and other regulations imposed. 4 The con-
ditions under which the films are changed twice a week, and have
to be moved with all possible speed from place to place, make it
very difficult to comply with a local censorship. 5 With this
complaint we have some sympathy; and believe that the neces-
sity for insisting on the local censorship might be removed by a
central censorship that secured because it deserved full con-
fidence. We offer a recommendation to this end. We regret,
however, that the trade seems to regard as impracticable the
requirement that for children's performances a suitable programme
should be provided ; and we do not regard the description,
" the milk-and-water " variety, as altogether just to those who
rightly recognise the importance of protecting the young life
of the nation against any possible moral injury. 6 Some of the
regulations mentioned to us, do seem to go beyond what a public
1 p. 291 1 * 6 . Cf. pp. 255-6"; pp. 25S-9 72 * 3 . 2 p. 292 13 , 16 ~ 17 .
s p. 293 24 * 5 . * Cf. p. 22 186 ; 7 ; p. 287 9 , 18 . 6 p. 194. 6 p. 22".
Ixxxvi THE CINEMA
authority should impose. 1 It would be a distinct advantage,
as the trade desires, to have legislation that would secure some
uniformity in the requirements made. Two special grounds of
complaint as regards local censorship mentioned in evidence are
(1) the influence of " cranks " and " faddists," and (2) the
entrusting of this delicate and difficult task to the police super-
intendent. 2 While until the central censorship has gained the
assured position which we hope that as improved it will secure,
the local authority cannot be asked to accept without question
all censored films, yet it is not unreasonable . to ask that local
authorities should assist the trade in its efforts at improvement
by making a condition of licence that only films passed by the
Board of Censors should be shown in picture houses. 8 We have
already communicated with a considerable number of local
authorities, almost all of whom have expressed their willingness
to enforce this condition, and we trust that all will agree when
the censorship under the new conditions has justified itself.
THE CENSORSHIP OF POSTERS
The censorship so far spoken of refers only to films, not posters.
The Billposters' Association in 1891 appointed a Censorship
Committee on which the Billposters, Poster Printers and Theatrical
interests were represented. In spite of some opposition it has
obtained control over practically all the public hoardings, and
no poster which has not been passed by it can be exhibited on
one of these. The principles of the censorship seem rigid enough
to prevent anything objectionable appearing. 4 Over posters
which are put up on the picture houses themselves the Associa-
tion has 110 control. Although representations may be made to
the exhibitor, these may be disregarded. The proposal has also
been made that the Cinema Trade Censorship should deal with
the posters as well as with the films, 5 As the Billposters'
Association, however, would not accept this censorship for posters
to be put on public hoardings, but would insist on exercising
its own censorship, this would involve a double censorship. 6 The
cinema trade were invited to appoint representatives on the
Censorship Committee of the Billposters' Association, in the same
way as the theatrical interests are represented. 7 The negotiations
have not been concluded ; but in our judgment it is desirable
that there should be no avoidable delay, and that as soon as
possible a censorship of posters, in some respects even more
necessary than of films, should be firmly established.
i p 27 237 - 9 . 2 p. 271 56 ' 9 . 3 p. 27 244 ; p. 213. 4 pp. 221-2.
5 p. 18112-1'. e pp. 224-5 12 . 7 p. 224 8 .
SECTION V
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
{ THE ultimate problems presented by the rapid evolution of
the picture house are many and complex, but fortunately one may
define within simple terms the immediate objects of wise legisla-
tion on the subject. They are to ensure that suitable pictures
shall be shown in suitable conditions.
I. SUITABLE CONDITIONS
As regards these conditions, the Commission has heard a great
mass of evidence from which certain desiderata have emerged with
clearness. It may help if we begin by constructing an ideal, and
then see how far we can go towards reaching that ideal.
The evidence we have taken leads chiefly to these conclusions
A. The picture house should be commodious and well
constructed, thoroughly ventilated and scrupulously clean.
B. Seating accommodation should be ample to avoid the
obvious evils of overcrowding.
C. Children should be seated in the optimum position,
which is the centre of the hall, at a distance from the screen
not less than one and a half times its own height.
D. The body of the hall should be lighted sufficiently by
means of screened lights during the showing of the picture
to ensure
1. That no objectionable practices shall be possible in the
auditorium, and
2. That the eye-strain imposed by the necessity of con-
stantly watching a brilliantly illuminated object
from a dark or nearly dark locus shall be reduced
to a minimum.
E. Capable and experienced attendants should be present
in the hall to look after the welfare of the children.
F. The projection of the pictures should be in the hands of
a highly skilled operator. 1
1 It has so far escaped attention that bad projection resulting in pictures
being shown out of focus is an immediate cause of eye-strain. Owing to the
Ixxxvii
Ixxxviii THE CINEMA
G. Our ideal standard would call for a new copy of each
film at every performance, or, at least, at frequent intervals ;
perhaps it will suffice if we make a proviso that the copy shall
be in good sound condition.
H. The titles should be projected on to the screen for a
sufficient length of time to enable children to read the text
without any strain.
/. Between the showing of the different films in the pro-
gramme there should be short intervals, in which the theatre
should be suffused with light. This serves a double purpose :
the tension of the child's mind is relaxed and indecorous
behaviour in the auditorium is greatly discouraged. The
programme might be advantageously broken up by having
musical items interspersed between the films.
J. The children should visit the theatre at such an hour as
will ensure that their night's rest is not encroached on;
indeed, they should be allowed some considerable interval
after leaving the picture house before retiring to rest, so that
they may not carry straight to bed the exciting incidents
which they have just seen.
K. Their attendance at the picture house should not be too
frequent; one witness suggested three times in a fortnight
as the maximum. But the idiosyncrasies of the child must
be taken into consideration, and it may well prove that in
certain cases even three times in a fortnight may prove too
much.
L. As the picture-house performance is frequently " con-
tinuous," means should be provided to prevent children from
staying to6 long at any one visit.
M. The pictures which the children ought to see should be
exhilarating without leading to undue mental strain. They
should be rendered attractive by the beauty of the settings,
the novelty of the incidents depicted or the interest of the
scenes, and, speaking broadly, the aim should be to enlarge
the mental horizon, and whenever possible to excite the finer
emotions. The educational value of the picture-house film
will always depend on the extent to which improving thoughts
are unconsciously conveyed to the child.
N. The film which is designedly educational that is to
say, the film which is meant to teach a lesson must either
impossibility of getting mechanical repairs done in war time, many projecting
machines are at present sadly out of gear, with the result that projection
suffers. Moreover, the scarcity of both men and women is leading to young
and incapable operators being too frequently employed.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Ixxxix
be explained as it proceeds by a capable lecturer, or should
be prepared for by an antecedent course of teaching in the
school. If shown in the picture house great care should be
taken not to spoil its effect by too rapid transition to
pictures of an exciting or comic type.
0. The vestibule of the picture house may easily become a
danger point, especially in the case of young girls. Strict
supervision should be exercised to prevent loitering and the
possibility of children being accosted.
Now it is quite possible for Parliament to frame laws to carry
out all these objects so far as it is within the power of the picture-
house proprietor to give effect to them. Some of the reforms which
are most desirable are, comparatively speaking, inexpensive, but
others may prove so costly in their practical application that it
will be impossible for the picture house to continue to provide
popular entertainment as cheaply as heretofore. It would not be
difficult to draft regulations which would appear perfectly reason-
able, but which in practical application would close half the
picture houses in poorer districts. We are all agreed that cheap-
ness is the foundation of success of the picture house, and legisla-
tion which had the effect of placing this form of entertainment
beyond the reach of the million should be very slowly undertaken.
Accordingly, we recommend that, to secure uniformity of regula-
tions in regard to the suitable conditions which are practicable,
there should be a conference of representatives of the Home Office,
local authorities, the trade, and a small number of persons who
have shown special interest in the picture house to draw up a list
of model regulations ; and that these be made statutory.
II. SUITABLE FILMS
THE REASONS FOR A STATE CENSORSHIP
In regard to the censorship, we cannot help feeling that to
some extent this matter is intensified in its difficulty because of
the excellent way in which the present President of the Board of
Censors has done his work. Mr. T. P. O'Connor has taken such
pains, and has shown such initiative, that we hesitate to make
any suggestions which would imply that there was necessity for
improvement, and we should view with great anxiety any one
else in his position until he has been enabled to turn what we
may call his sketch of the position of censor into a finished picture.
Our judgment is in favour of a State censorship. The cinema
is now the most important of the entertainments provided for
xc THE CINEMA
i
the public in this country. Millions of people are amongst its
patrons, and its influence is very far-reaching. It appeals to
every class of society, and to people of all ages. It is certainly
the most democratic of the means of enjoyment at the disposal
of our populace. For its own protection as well as for the en-
suring of its continued suitability to the nation, it should have
the support and the official countenance of the State.
We want to place it in a position of real dignity. We want it
to be something more than a trade ; in fact, we wish it to be, one
of the assets of our national entertainment and recreation.
We are anxious that the cinema should be beyond all suspicion
in the mind of the average member of the public.
We deeply regret that the negotiations between the Home Office
and the trade proved abortive, and we do not think that fault
attaches to the trade because of the failure of these negotiations.
While local authorities are justly jealous of their right in
accordance with local sentiment 'to control the public places of
amusement, there are difficulties and disadvantages for the
trade in local censorship of films which we have been led by
evidence submitted to us to recognise, and many of these authori-
ties would be glad to be relieved of a duty for which they do
not possess the appropriate machinery. Accordingly it is in the
interests of the trade itself, as well as for the advantage of the
local authorities, that the central censorship shall command such
a measure of public confidence that the exercise of the right of
local censorship will become increasingly unnecessary.
THE OBJECTIONS TO A STATE CENSORSHIP
We recognise that a State censorship may be objected to on
the following grounds
1. The censorship of plays by the Lord Chamberlain has not
proved satisfactory, but objection has been made to it as on the
one hand preventing the serious discussion of moral and social
problems in the acted drama, and on the other allowing much
altogether objectionable master in the way of some reviews, farces
and musical comedies, to be presented on the stage.
2. The tendency of a Government department is towards an
official rigidity, out of close touch with and not quickly responsive
to, public opinion.
3. It is more in accord with the distinctive characteristics of
the nation to encourage voluntary self-regulation rather than
compulsory State control, unless the latter alone could achieve
what the former failed to do.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS xci
THE CONDITIONS OF A STATE CENSORSHIP
Should a State censorship be decided upon we recommend that,
in order as far as possible to meet these objections, it should be
constituted under the following conditions
1. One censor should be appointed for the United Kingdom,
not by a State department, but by His Majesty in Council, and
the person so appointed should not necessarily be a civil servant,
but one who will bring to the discharge of his duties adequate
knowledge and generous appreciation of the people whose interests
are primarily to be considered.
2. An Advisory Council, representative of public interests, 1
should be appointed, to whom the censor may apply in matters
of doubt and difficulty.
3. While the appointment of the examiners should be in the
hands of the censor, the Advisory Council should be consulted,
and out of the Advisory Council a small executive should be
chosen, with whom the censor should be in constant touch.
4. The expense of the censorship should be charged on the
Parliamentary estimates.
5. This censorship should be made final and supersede all local
censorships.
CONTINUANCE OF THE PRESENT CENSORSHIP
Pending such an appointment we recommend the continuance
of the present censorship, with some modifications.
1. There is a growing recognition by the trade that in its own
interests, apart even from higher considerations to which the
leaders of the industr^, we are assured, are not indifferent, such
reproach as can be brought against the character of the films
shown should be removed as speedily as possible.
2. The hands of the censor in giving effect to his decisions are
strengthened by local authorities when they make a condition
of licensing a picture house that it should show only films on the
white list, issued by the trade, and also by the public if they refuse
to enter a house which does not restrict itself to films on this list.
3. An Advisory Council, as previously described, should be
appointed as soon as possible by mutual agreement of the censor
and the Commission.
4. The trade censorship should apply only to films exhibited
for public entertainment and recreation. Any film for social,
moral or religious propaganda, to be shown under such conditions
1 Such as Religion, Morals, Education and Literature.
xcii THE CINEMA
as may be specified by the promoting society, should not be
subject to such censorship, but should be exhibited on the entire
responsibility of the reputable public society the objects of which
it is used to serve. Where the exhibition of such a film in a
picture house is desired, the trade Censor shall consult the Advisory
Council regarding such exhibition. A similar consideration should
be shown by him to any film, submitted by a producer not con-
nected with the trade, which has a serious educational, literary
or artistic intention. 1
H. R. BIRMINGHAM (President).
ALFRED E. GARVIE (Vice- President).
M. C. STOPES.
ADELAIDE Cox.
HERMANN GOLLANCZ.
EDWARD BRABROOK.
ROBERT BADEN-POWELL.
JOHN KIRK.
W. F. BROWN.
C. W. SALEEBY.
CAREY BONNER.
W. GAVAZZI KING.
ALFRED PERCEVAL GRAVES.
EDGAR JEPSON.
A. E. NEWBOULD.
SIDNEY LAMERT.
CHAS. W. CROOK.
FREDERIC C. SPURR.
W. E. SOOTHILL.
C. W. KlMMINS.
E. M. BURG WIN.
F. B. MEYER.
W. F. BARRETT.
JAMES MARCHANT (Secretary).
N.B. Mr. T. P. O'Connor, M.P., owing to his absence on an
important political mission in America, was away from the later
meetings of the Commission when the Report was being prepared,
and it has been found impracticable to communicate with him in
order to obtain his signature.
1 The detailed recommendations which we have made in connection with
the separate sections of our Report will be found in the following places
Moral and Social Aspects, pp. xlvi-vii.
Educational Aspects, pp. Ixviii-ix.
Lighting and Eye-strain, pp. Ixxviii-ix.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS xciii
NOTE OF RESERVATION
The three representatives of the cinema industry sitting on the
Commission, in giving their support to the findings generally,
desire to make it clear that they are supporting the principle
of State censorship on the lines indicated by the Commission
as an ideal to be worked for. They must expressly reserve for
the industry the right to oppose any attempt to set up this form
of censorship without the provision of adequate safeguards
against its many possible disadvantages and dangers.
A. E. NEWBOULD.
SIDNEY LAMERT.
W. GAVAZZI KING.
PART II
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE l
FIRST PAY
Monday, January 8, 1917,
Westminster, S.W.
The BISHOP OF BIRMINGHAM (President) in the chair.
STATEMENT OF MR. F. R. GOODWIN
PRECIS
THE present inquiry into the status of the cinematograph
industry is sincerely welcomed by those connected with the
business on its exhibiting side. We can face with serenity the
most drastic investigation. But we feel that it would have been
desirable that such an inquiry should have been held either
before or after the war, as conditions are for the moment abnormal
and unrepresentative. The business is one by its very nature
particularly susceptible to any change in public conditions. It
lives by catering for and reflecting the popular mood, and these
moods have been profoundly affected by the war. There has
been a change in the type of film demanded by audiences. Films
which in pre-war days were thought interesting and amusing
are no longer welcome; the tendency is to favour films which
would provide distraction from the stress of war conditions.
The quiet film, the placid story, does not appeal at the moment
to people whose nerves are jangled and strained by worry and
loss. They seek distraction with an avidity and a feverishness
which is quite natural but not normal. In considering the types
of films which find most favour at the present moment, this
qualifying factor of abnormal conditions must be borne in mind.
In other ways, too, the war has caused disturbances. The
whole development of the industry, which was proceeding at a
phenomenal rate, was abruptly checked. Schemes of improve-
ment and expansion had to be deferred owing to the virtual
impossibility of securing new capital. So far as the develop-
ment and expansion of the industry is concerned, we .stand in
no better position than in August 1914. In some ways we are
actually worse off.
1 The witnesses have corrected and passed the proofs of their evidence as
here printed.
B
2 COMPANIES AND CAPITAL
We have remarked on the phenomenally rapid growth of the
business. About 1908 a few men began to recognise that, in
spite of the constant predictions of impending collapse, the
business was steadily advancing. Far from showing signs of
satiety, audiences were increasing in number and in keenness.
The day of the picture " palace. s " dawned. A glance at the
record of companies registered since the beginning of 1908
which may roughly be taken as the beginning of the moving
picture boom. The figures are as follows
Year. Companies. Capital.
1908 .
1909 .
1910 .
1911 .
1912 .
1913 .
1914 .
1915 .
1916 (incomplete)
12 167,000
78 708,000
231 2,183,700
254 ' 1,214,400
400 1,627,400
544 2,954,700
314 ... . . 2,449,300
244 1,035,469 '
208 899,926
TOTAL . . . 2,285 . . . . . 13,239,895
These show a steady and rapid increase in the number of new
companies formed up to 1914. For over two years the normal
expansion of the business has been suspended ; nevertheless, the
figures indicating the present position of the business are not
unimposing and may fittingly be referred to here.
The Inland Board of Revenue accepted the following figures
as representative of the position at December 13, 1914
Number of Companies registered to December 31, 1914 1,833
Combined capital . 11,304,500
Number of Liquidations to December 31, 1914 . . 271
Combined capital 2,347,700
Net capital 8,956,800
These figures refer to Public Companies, and the following additions must
be made.
Combined capital of private enterprises 2,000,000
Mortgages and Debentures . . . 4,500,000
6,500,000
Total, as at December 31, 1914 . . . . . 15,456,800
The New Companies registered during 1915 and 1916 totalled
452, representing a capital of 1,935,395.
The number of liquidations during 1915 and 1916 was 114, and
the total combined capital may be taken at 650,000. By bringing
the 1914 figures up to the present date we have a total capital of
about seventeen and a half millions invested in the business.
In the British Isles there are approximately 4500 cinemato-
graph theatres. The seating capacity varies from 100 to three or
even four thousand, according to the district. Based on carefully
tabulated returns the average attendance per day per cinemato-
CINEMA ATTENDANCES 3
graph theatre throughout the country may very conservatively
be placed at 750. The total number of patrons per day on
this basis is 3,375,000, which gives a gross attendance for the
year, for week-days only, of 1,056,375,000. The number of
theatres open on Sunday is relatively small and has steadily de-
creased. The large majority of such houses are to be found in
the London area, and assuming a total of 500 theatres, with 750
patrons each Sunday, we have an additional 375,000 patrons per
Sunday, or 19,500,000 per year. The gross total of visitors during
the year thus becomes 1,075,875,000.
Since these returns were secured, a small number of theatres
have been closed down, owing to the war; but the number of
these closures have not, it appears, exceeded 6 per cent, of the
total, and the houses affected have been almost exclusively the
smaller isolated ones. Moreover, it by no means follows that a
reduction of 6 per cent, in the number of theatres involves a
corresponding diminution in the number of patrons.
Fully one-half of these visitors occupied seats to the value of
threepence or less, the analysed figures being as follows
ANALYSIS OF SEATS OCCUPIED IN THE COURSE OF A YEAR (WEEK-DAYS).
Value of Per cent.
Seat. No. occupied. of total.
Id ...... 78,250,000 ... 7-4
2d ...... 58,844,000
3d ...... 400,640,000
4d ...... 186,235,000
6d ...... 195,468,500
M ...... 97,812,500
Is ...... 39,125,000
.... 5-6
38-0
. 17-6
. 18-5
9-2
3-7
Total . . . 1,056,375,000 .... 100-0
It is interesting to attempt to realise what these huge figures
mean. They represent a visit to the cinema on the part of every
living inhabitant of the British Isles practically twenty-four times
a year. Roughly speaking, half the entire population, men, women
and children, visit a cinematograph theatre once every week.
The distribution of these theatres roughly corresponds to the
distribution of the population. In the city of Leeds, for instance,
there are fifty-seven cinematograph licences in force and forty-
nine picture houses actually open, with a total seating capacity
of 35,036. This represents one seat for every thirteen of the
population. Assuming each seat to be filled twice a day, it will
be seen that these figures represent a seat for every man, woman
and child of the population for one visit per week. The figures
for remote provincial districts are of course much higher, but on
an average it may be said that there is a seat in a picture house
for every thirty-five of the total population.
The number of persons engaged in the manufacture, exhibition
and distribution of films in the British Isles may be estimated at
from 80,000 to 100,000.
4 CINEMA THEATRES
Something has already been said of the type of buildings. After
the first novelty of moving pictures had worn off, audiences were
no longer sufficiently attracted by animated pictures to be con-
tent to put up with discomfort while watching them. There
began then a race to provide suitable theatres, and the modern
picture " palaces " have been the result. Drastic regulations
were quickly enforced, and it may safely be said that upon no
other public buildings has so much careful attention been given
to the questions of ventilation, heating, safety and comfort. Many
of these modern " palaces " have cost over 100,000 to build ;
the seating arrangements are the most luxurious in any public
type of building; elaborate plants are installed to ensure the
washing, drying, heating and circulation of the air; they are
provided with ample emergency exits; stringent precautions
are taken against fire, and in the main the buildings are staffed
by an adequate number of respectable attendants. Latterly,
the proprietor has found it to his advantage to provide luxurious
cafes and lounges, and it is to be noted that the general ten-
dency is to increase the type of house which offers this high-class
accommodation .
Assertions as to the way in which these theatres have been
managed would be out of place here, for that is essentially a
matter of evidence. But we must make two comments. The
first is that there has been a gratifying tendency on the part of
audiences for some years past to hold the business to strict ac-
countability. The average patron is neither timid nor inarticulate
in his criticism : a dull picture or a slow operator, both alike
have been relentlessly drawn to the manager's attention with
an imperative demand for a remedy. This democratic outspoken-
ness of the picture audiences, is a fact that cannot be too steadily
borne in mind when sweeping charges are levelled against the
business.
The second comment is that the necessity of working in sincere
co-operation with the local authorities has been constantly empha-
sised by the responsible leaders of the trade. Even when the
powers claimed by the local authorities have been doubtfully
legal, they have been acquiesced in, and on this point we believe
you will find a significant amount of evidence.
The legal control of the business has not yet been placed
on a satisfactory footing. Irritating and needless regulations of
doubtful legality have in some instances been made by local
authorities concerning programmes, particulars of films, sub-
stitutes, and synopses, etc., and lately there have been ingenious
attempts to drive the children out of the theatres by imposing
conditions regarding children's performances with which the
exhibitor cannot possibly conform. There seems to be no uni-
formity possible save an inclination to hamper and throttle the
industry. Regulations which are really necessary for the children
should obviously be imposed by Parliament after due discussion,
and should be part of the law of the land.
The trade in 1912, realising the desirability of a censorship of
FILM DEVELOPMENT 5
films, appointed a film censor, who was given very extensive
powers. In a great many cases, the right of censorship was
claimed also by the local authorities, while recently there has been
a proposal on the part of the Home Office department to appoint
another censor.
We have said something about the early character of the films.
The subjects were very short, sometimes only forty or fifty feet
in length, and were very crude both in production and photo-
graphy. Even so recently as seven years ago, we find an imposing
subject completed in a film of 450 feet in length, its presentation
occupying only seven to eight minutes ! The average comedy
of the period ran from 100 to 250 feet in length, and took from
two to five minutes to project.
How far the business has travelled since those days is easily
appreciated when one considers such subjects as " The Birth of a
Nation," "Cabiria," " Quo Vadis," " Les Miserables," and a host
of other similar films on which many thousands of pounds were
expended, which occupied anything from two to four hours in
exhibition, and were produced on a scale of magnificence and
costliness beside which the ordinary stage productions are insigni-
ficant. As a matter of fact, the early crudities are no longer to
be met with anywhere.
The number of films turned out yearly has reached a colossal
figure. During 1915 no fewer than 4767 new subjects were
issued. The total footage of new films, both " exclusive " and
" open market," provided for the exhibitors' selection is well over
6,000,000 feet per year, and over 70,000,000 feet of film are
running through the projectors of the country each week in the
year.
The question of the selection of the films which constitute the
weekly programmes is one of considerable interest in so far as it
involves the responsibility of the exhibiting trade for the type and
character of the programme shown. It cannot be too strongly
emphasised that it is not in the power of the trade or of individual
exhibitors to force upon audiences subjects which they do not find
attractive. It is the business of every manager to ascertain and
supply the type of film which appeals to his particular audience.
A good deal of complaint has been made in some quarters of the
infrequency with which films of an educational nature are shown.
When the absence of educational and instructive subjects is com-
mented on, it must be remembered that if there was a serious
demand for or appreciation of this type of film, the exhibitor
would be eager to meet it. In the main, particularly as regards
what we may term incidental subjects, it may be taken for granted
that the films being shown are strictly those for which the majority
in the respective audiences shows a preference. It is obvious
that the tastes of an audience cannot be coerced.
The cheapness of this form of amusement has created what is
really a new type of audience. Over a half of the visitors to the
picture theatres occupy seats to the value of threepence or less.
In the main, the vast majority of picture house patrons were
6 MR. F. R. GOODWIN'S EVIDENCE
not in the habit of attending any other places of amusement.
The picture house is emphatically the poor man's theatre, and
it must always be remembered, is the only organisation which
systematically provides amusement for children.
There has been a general consensus of opinion that the develop-
ment of picture houses has produced a marked improvement in
the streets. The cinematograph theatres have proved a powerful
counter-attraction to the public-houses, and the Board of Control
has shown a very practical recognition of this fact by installing
a cinematograph in some of their latest houses. Moreover, the
picture theatres have provided a centre of social intercourse for
thousands who previously spent their evenings drifting idly about
the streets, and the Chief Constables have reported a noticeable
diminution in the number of street offences. There has been a
decrease in the amount of drunkenness among those who from
sheer lack of occupation at night gravitated to the public-house ;
and this is, of course, of particular importance in connection with
the youth of both sexes. In their case, there can be no comparison
between idle lounging about the streets and sitting in a clean,
well- ventilated, comfortable theatre among decent, well-behaved
people.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
THE SECRETARY. I have to announce that the witnesses
to-day are Mr. Goodwin and Mr. Hepworth.
MR. F. R. GooDWiN. 1 Examined.
THE SECRETARY. I think it is understood that we take the
printed evidence of the witness as read.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. I think you are Chairman of the London
Branch of the Cinematograph Exhibitors^ Association of Great
Britain and Ireland ? You are also Managing Director of the Central
Metropolitan Theatres, Limited ? And the United Kingdom Picture
Theatres, Limited? And of houses at Wolverhampton, Crouch
End, Baling, Maida Vale, Kilburn, and Stamford Hill? Yes.
2. Now, your evidence has been put in and we will ask ques-
tions upon anything that may arise therefrom. I notice you
begin by rather taking exception at the time this Inquiry was
held on account of the abnormality of things ? Just that much
exception, that is all ; the time is not quite right.
3. Thereby you mean that some of the films now being ex-
hibited are not the kind of things that they possibly would have
been in past times ? I rather inferred that the general character
of the trade has not, perhaps, improved with such rapidity during
the last two years as before the war. We, in common with all,
have suffered in our attempts at advancement.
4. On the other hand you have had the opportunity of stirring
up our patriotism ? Yes ; much work has been done that way.
5. At the present time what films find most favour? What
kind, for instance, do you think is the most favourable? Just
1 See also pp. 81-91.
SUNDAY OPENING 7
now I think the most popular kind is the standard works : such
as the novelists' books and Dickens characters. As a matter of
fact, the type of film desired just now is the right sort.
6. I notice the numbers of theatres open on Sunday is small
and has steadily decreased : can you give any reason ? Yes,
there has been opposition in various parts of the country at
Lincoln in particular. They permitted entertainments until
eight o'clock, but now they have taken away the privilege alto-
gether, and that means that four or five halls have lost the Sunday
evening. That was the case, too, in Middlesex about two years
ago. You may take it that London, Brighton, Blackpool, St.
Helens and a few more towns, still have their Sunday evenings,
but on the whole there is no increase.
7. Might I ask whether the theatrical authorities have set
themselves against the opening of cinemas on Sunday? I have
no knowledge of that.
8. Can you tell me any reason why a different law should
apply to the cinema on Sunday as compared with the theatre ?
Well, if there were arguments to be advanced as distinguishing
between the two trades, it would be on the ground that such a
small amount of labour is required for the pictures as against
the theatres, and, say, the music halls. Picture performances
can be run by an operator and assistant with just a few ushers
to seat the people properly, whereas in the other case, you have
the whole of the players, which, perhaps, is a matter of ten to a
hundred people.
9. Tell me, if you can, why the smaller isolated cinemas would
be likely to fail ? They are unable to give that measure of en-
joyment that the large places are able to offer. Their ventilation
is not right, their seats are not comfortable, they have inferior
furniture, bad carpets, bad machinery, in fact, everything is old.
10. I notice you say that apparently every one in the British
Isles practically goes twenty-four times a year to the cinema ?
That is so as it seems from the figures.
11. Whatever happens you are not likely to do much better
than you are doing now? Yes, we are always hoping. The
business man, by that I mean the showman, would be rather
dissatisfied if some people came only twenty-five times a year.
You see there is scope for advancement there.
12. You say there is a seat in a picture house for one in every
thirty-five of the total population ? Yes.
13. As to the great improvements, I might almost say the
luxury of your buildings, has that been forced upon you by the
authorities, or has it been that you have had really good busi-
ness ? Good business.
14. And the better the kind of place you have your exhibitions
in, the more attractive it is ? Yes, without doubt.
15. And the association of lounges and cafes all helps? They
all help.
16. In all these places can you go to the cafe without going
in to the performance? Yes.
8 COMPLAINTS
17. And that is a good deal done ; I mean you get many people
who go merely for their afternoon tea without going into the
performance? Yes, that is so; the cafe is nicely laid out and
sometimes there is a little band, things they don't get at other
places.
18. So you are even competing with the cafes? Yes.
19. In the latter part of your evidence you rather give the
impression to me that there is some organised opposition other
than I ever considered there was ? There is much more.
20. Would you say that that is by a large number of people
or a smaller number of people who are very determined? The
latter.
21. And of what nature? The complaints are addressed to
three things : there is the character of the film and its influence
on the children ; there is the other question of children, the moles-
tation of children that has been made a lot of this last year ; and
the other thing is the undesirable character of visitors or indecency.
22. With regard to the last mentioned, the indecency : that, of
course, is assisted by the fact that the building has to be kept in
darkness during the performance ? We are not very much afraid
of that. We have had occasion to point out just recently to the
authorities in London that it is possible, purely from the point
of view of undesirable characters frequenting the hall, that too
much light is not a benefit. We have complained that if you
overstep the mark and give too much illumination, you rather
help the very undesirable people in their undesirable calling.
23. You mean they would change their seats ? It gives them
the opportunity of accosting.
24. Changing from seat to seat to get near some people they
might accost? Yes, that is what we pointed out to the Home
Secretary recently.
25. And in some places there are private boxes? Yes, but
not very many.
26. Are they as visible to the audience directly the light is
turned on as practically any other part of the building ? Yes, all
that are in my knowledge are, and I know most of them.
27. With regard to the molestation of children? In 1916 some
very terrible, although somewhat ambiguous, charges were made.
It was stated that unmentionable evils were going on in many
cinemas and more often arranged for in the cinemas and carried
out in private houses. " It is impossible to describe these evils
in public print," but, wrote a Sociologist in his magazine, " our
readers will understand that we quote a certain passage of
Scripture : ' Giving themselves over to fornication and going after
strange flesh,' " (Jude).
28. Does that apply to children? I want rather to get at
this sort or this kind of evidence or knowledge with regard to
children being molested I presume, by adults, at cinemas. " From
the information received from eye-witnesses " the reference
already quoted goes on " the amount of criminal vice carried
on in most of these places is appalling, and utterly unknown to
ACCOMMODATION FOR CHILDREN 9
the generality of respectable people. The Criminal Law Amend-
ment Act passed for the protection of young girls has been too
often entirely ignored. The convictions have been apparently
few. Worse than this, to evade the law the offence has been re-
versed and, horrible to relate, both boys and girls have been
taught to commit the offence and solicit money so that the real
culprits have escaped the law. Further evils lead to an alarming
amount of blackmailing, which has now become very prevalent
in large towns." Well, that statement was taken to the London
County Council and to the Home Office and the London County
Council consulted my association on the matter. The London
County Council reported on this matter under date December 15,
1916 : "In regard to the number of cases which have taken place
during the present year of children who have been molested by
men in cinematograph halls. In two of the cases it appeared
from the licensee's statements that it was due to the action of
the manager of the hall that the police were called in and the
men arrested. We have considered whether in order to prevent
as far as possible the recurrence of such cases the licensees should
be required to reserve special accommodation for children un-
accompanied by adults and to prohibit any adult occupying any
of the seats so reserved. A deputation from the Cinematograph
Exhibitors' Association has pointed out to us that in the majority
of cases the men would bring the children to the hall, having
made their acquaintance outside, and that such cases would not
be met by reserving special accommodation for children unaccom-
panied by adults. The deputation further stated that the sugges-
tion, if adopted, would inflict hardship on many exhibitors,
especially in the case of the smaller halls, as on those occasions
when children attended in great numbers they did not attend
and leave at the same time, and consequently, proprietors might
have to refuse admission to adults while having many vacant
seats. It would also result in the worst seats being always reserved
for children. They state that in their opinion the best safeguard
would be to have in every hall an attendant whose special duty
it would be to look after the children attending the hall."
29. Has that been done? That was done and the regulation
of the London County Council, which we drafted between us,
stipulated that : " Such attendant shall bear a distinguishing
badge, shall be on duty during the whole time the premises are
open to the public, and during such time shall have no other
duty than the care of the children in the hall." That, sir, was
the action of the London County Council. The action of the
Home Office is related in the letter from the Chief Commissioner
of Police to the Home Office under date July 28, 1916 : "I have
to acquaint you, for the information of the Secretary of State,
that in consequence of complaints received that indecency takes
place at cinematograph picture halls, I deemed it advisable to
cause a systematic inspection of these places to be made, and
accordingly, with the Secretary of State's authority, I arranged
with the National Union of Woman Workers of Great Britain
10 REPORT OF LADY VISITORS
and Ireland to undertake this work. The County of London
was divided into convenient districts and in the course of three
weeks 248 halls were visited." I break off there, if I may, to
say that the 248 halls represents the entire operative picture
theatres of London. There are 350 cinematograph licences
issued, but a lot of these are to places which do not come under
the category of cinematograph halls. To continue : " The
attention of the lady visitors was directed to the following ques-
tions : (1) Is there a children's attendant with a badge or a
distinguishing mark ? (2) Are children unaccompanied by adults
seated separately from the remainder of the audience [these two
points were included as they formed the subject of recent regula-
tions made by the London County Council]. (3) Is the darkness
such as to make it difficult or impossible to detect indecency
should any take place ? (4) Is the structure such as to facilitate
indecency, that is, are there specially dark corners or galleries,
boxes or other secluded places ? (5) Is any particular age, sex,
or class of spectator noticeable ? (6) Any observations which
appear to bear on the subject. If, say, a film of a kind likely to
produce a pernicious impression on children is seen, its name
and character should be given.
44 The following is a summary of the results of the observations
kept
44 Question 1. Sixty-six instances reported in which a special
children's attendant was seen." May I break off to say that in
some of the theatres children are not allowed in alone, whereas
in other cases children are not allowed in unaccompanied by
adults ? that is to say, in some of the high- class West End theatres
you would not find a children's attendant there because they don't
cater for the children.
30. What do you call a child? We call a child a child up to
fourteen years of age.
4 ' Question 2. Eighty-three instances where children unaccom-
panied by adults were seated separately from the rest of the
audience.
44 Question 3. Sixty-six cases quoted where darkness made it
difficult to detect indecency should any have taken place.
44 Question 4. Thirty-nine cases of opportunities for indecency
through the structure, viz. dark corners, boxes and the use of
curtains, etc.
44 Question 5. In the West End halls scarcely any children
were noticed, but in the suburban halls many children were seen,
especially on Saturdays and Sundays. Also many children in
arms were noticed.
44 Question 6. It is the general opinion of the Patrols that
the halls are unnecessarily dark, especially in the intervals between
the exhibition of the films, and that improvement could well be
made in this respect, without impairing the clearness of the
pictures. Comment is made as to bad ventilation, particularly
in the poorer districts, and, in a few cases the dirty condition of
the halls is the subject of remark.
SUGGESTED REGULATIONS 11
" It is also thought undesirable to exclude all adults from the
children's matinees and that mothers at least should be admitted
on these occasions. It is suggested that no boxes should be per-
mitted unless they are illuminated and that a regulation should
be made as to the age of children allowed in cinemas. It is
reported that in several halls of the poorer districts many babies
in arms have been seen during the later hours of the evening.
" The prevalent offensive habit of spitting is very noticeable
and it is suggested that some regulation should be made with
regard to it.
"It is considered by one of the ladies that the women at-
tendants are in many cases too young to be fitted for such an
occupation, as they would be useless on any occasions involving
panic.
" One lady suggests that children should not be seated close
to the screen as the extra strain on the eyes at such close quarters
must be very detrimental to the sight.
" The opinion generally expressed is that films depicting crimes
should be censored. It is thought that the exhibition of films
of this character is most unwise and may lead children to the
commission of similar acts. The c Charlie Chaplin ' films are
also commented on by one visitor as being vulgar and suggestive
to evil. No instance of any act of indecency is described by the
lady visitors. t
'' The general conclusions at which I have arrived at are that
it is very desirable that the regulations as to children's attendants
and children's seats should be strictly enforced and that con-
sideration should be given to the questions of better lighting,
ventilation, the prohibition of expectoration, the exclusion of
children in arms, and, finally, that steps should be taken to insti-
tute an efficient censorship so as to prevent the exhibition of
films calculated to familiarise the young with ideas, of violence,
crime and immorality."
The effect of this report was, that the London County Council
noted in particular the suggestion that the lights should go up
after every picture, and that is now an order of the Council.
31. Has that letter been considered by your Association?
Yes.
32. And have you found anything very much you could not
agree with there? No, I think there is nothing at all. We
should riot go so far as to say that " Charlie Chaplin " was con-
ducive to evil.
33. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Might I ask a question which would save
a great deal of time ? Can you give any idea of the number of
halls not controlled by your Association ? Yes, our membership
is 200 out of 248.
34. Then 200 of them are under you ? Two hundred of them
are in our combination. Now a very dreadful allegation has
recently been made against the cinemas.
35. THE SECRETARY. You refer to this : " That in fact, one
of our own secret agents " quoting the person making the
12 LOCAL AUTHORITIES
charge " was asked by the agent at one hall if he should place
him amongst the boys or the girls " ? That is so.
36. You suggest that he was asked to go amongst the girls to
commit immorality? Yes, or whether he would rather have a
boy.
37. THE CHAIRMAN. The hall has not been named ? No, we
had hoped it would be.
38. You still feel that the accusations made againsjt the cinema
are made by the smallest number of people and are of a deter-
mined character we won't say anything more than determined
I will say this of the terms of the reference of the National Union
of Woman Workers : " We have received complaints that in-
decency takes place." Does it take place? No, it does not
take place. We have not seen it at all, but what we do get is a
lot of expectoration. Well, expectoration in the East End of
London is general and also there are some circumstances which
would facilitate indecency if any one went there for that purpose.
39. And for all that your Association would deal ? Yes ; if a
light was wanted in each box, it would be there, it is not at all
unreasonable.
40. Now that deals with your statement as to the sweeping
charges levelled against your business. The necessity of working
in sincere co-operation with the local authority has been emphasised
by your trade, has it not ? Yes.
41. In regard to the general management of your house and so
on; is it desirable that the power should be left with the local
authority or should it not come from the central authority? It
should come from the central authority.
42. That is your strong feeling? Yes.
43. But at present you are doing all you can to get into friendly
relationship with the local authority? Yes.
44. There was a great deal of anxiety and nervousness, I think,
with regard to the possibility of fire being a danger in these halls,
was there not? People had a very strong feeling about that at
one time ? Yes.
45. And that has now been safeguarded against ? It is a thing
of the past, this question of inflammable material. Supposing
this room were a hall, the inflammable material is outside the
hall. You must show through a brick wall intervening, and in
London they make you fill up the aperture with a thick glass. In
fact, the operating room is a room apart. It is not an enclosure
within the hall, that is not allowed.
46. You say that certain conditions are imposed with regard
to the performance for children with which the exhibitor cannot
possibly conform. Can you tell me what those are? It would
be impossible to impose the condition that a child shall not see
a comic picture or a drama. The request then would be that the
performance should be specially selected for children only, and
while that is possible for a special performance for children, it is
not possible for the ordinary course of the business.
47. I see you say that a censor was appointed by the trade to
DISTRICTS AND FILMS 13
whom was given extensive powers. Can you tell me those powers ?
They were the fullest possible powers for every film that was
presented to him.
48. Recently there has been a proposal on the part of the
Home Office department to appoint another censor. Do you
object to that appointment if that means a censor for the whole
country? Yes, we do object unless we can have some voice in the
thing, such as in the way of an Advisory Committee, so that we
can examine the standards being set up by the censor, from our
knowledge of what we, the exhibitors, want and of what the
manufacturers want. We are afraid, if it becomes purely a Govern-
ment matter, that certain hard and fast acts and trying conditions
will be imposed, such as that a film which a child of nine can
view is the kind we shall have to show the adults.
49. You referred to your high- class and highly developed films.
Do you find that these attract the less educated parts of a town ?
Yes.
50. Just as acceptable as the others? Yes, absolutely, and
I think I see the trend of your inquiry. The finest films shown
in the West End of London in their turn go to the poorest halls
in the East of London. It is only a question of the age of a
film. There are no bad films which are made for the East End
and good films which are made for the West End. Take the
films " Quo Vadis? " and " Les Miserables; " they went to the
East End in their turn.
51. Now, take that celebrated Italian film " Cabiria." That
is really a very high- class production. Would you unhesitatingly
take that to Whitechapel ? Not "Cabiria." That did not go
to ordinary places because it took some three hours to see it
through ; but there is no reason why a showman should not show
it.
52. And do you say that the West End would sit four hours to
see one film? No, very occasionally.
53. MR. CROOK. Was " Nero and Poppaea " a very long film,
would you consider that a suitable thing to show to children ?
Yes, I think so.
54. The case of a woman trying to lure Nero ? Well, I do not
think the children would follow that particularly. They would
follow and like the marching and all that.
55. THE CHAIRMAN. You would argue, I presume, that it is
perfectly legitimate to have that on the film the things which
appear at the theatre, say, sensual dramas ? No, I would not
say that, because something can be said on the stage, but nothing
can be said in the film, and while you can hint on the stage what
adults know, you must not illustrate.
56. In order to make the thing real to the people who have only
their eyes to help them, you have to put much more detail in the
pictures than you have in the theatre ? You would have to.
57. And, therefore, there is a greater danger in the sensual
details in the film than there would be in a play ? It is impossible
to put it on the film.
14 BOXES AND LIGHTING
58. SIR R. BADEN-POWELL. Can you tell me whether there is
any record of the number of cases of indecency? Yes; in the
year that I was dealing with there were two cases in picture halls,
and these came under my personal notice. In one case a man
was given into charge at once, and was eventually found guilty.
He was an old offender and was given six months' hard labour.
The second case was a young man of twenty-one, who was found
to be an imbecile and was put away.
59. What period does that cover? That was in the year
1915.
60. MONSIGNOR BROWN. You have no records for 1916?
No.
61. There were some prosecutions I know, because there was
one near me. Yes, we got that.
62. SIR R. BADEN-POWELL. How do you judge the popularity
of a film ? By the way it is spoken of ; by the patrons and the
knowledge we get when it comes from the reviewers. Many of
us have a suggestion box in the vestibule and little notes are
dropped in that by our patrons who, perhaps, will say they don't
like a certain film, or they do like it.
63. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. I suppose that there is no more
danger of the abuse of the cinema theatre than there is in other
large congregations of human beings? No. I should say there
is less chance of real indecency taking place in a cinema than
in any other form of amusement, for the reason that there are
repeated interruptions during the whole of the entertainment.
After every reel which holds 1000 feet .and takes about twenty-
six minutes to show there is an interruption of the perform-
ance. People are coming in or going out every few minutes.
They don't all arrive when the door opens and sit down for
two hours; they are being interrupted every minute of the
time.
64. With regard to the censorship and this question we have
just been discussing, I suppose you regard this as two separate
problems ? Yes.
65. The censorship, as I understand it, is engaged simply with
the question of whether a certain film is or is not a good film
for the public to see ? Yes.
66. And the other matter is a question for the police ? Yes.
67. Do I understand you to say that the Association which
you represent has expressed its entire desire and determination
to make no changes mentioned in either the construction or
management of the the'atres that may prevent the possibilities
of immorality, such as with reference to boxes, for instance ?
No, we are not opposing; on the contrary, where boxes are
separate and not lit, we welcome the suggestion.
68. Are there any such boxes now not lit? Yes, there are
boxes which are not lit except by the general light of the theatre.
69. That you propose to change ? Yes.
70. THE SECRETARY. Are there many theatres with boxes
like this ? There are a few.
AMERICAN FILMS 15
71. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. What is the number of boxes, sepa-
rate boxes, unlit at the present moment ? The London County
Council, or, I should say, the Fire Brigade, says : " Boxes are
now quite a feature in cinematograph theatres, and plans showing
the provision of such boxes in existing theatres have been approved
in perhaps half a dozen cases within the past year. Regard is
had to the adequate illumination of boxes in reports of the general
lighting of the hall. It is doubtful, however, whether the arrange-
ment of the lighting hitherto accepted in boxes, etc., is sufficient
for increased supervision as indicated in the police report. If
increased lighting is desired in these spaces slight revision or
rearrangement, e. g. a provision of secret switches and inaccessible
or enclosed lamps, would perhaps be necessary. Comparatively
secluded spaces are also formed by the draught curtains, which
are in many, instances hung so as partially to enclose several rows
at the rear of the seating. If considered necessary, the lighting
in these could be increased by the provision of additional fittings."
That is the report of the Fire Brigade, who usually deal with
this question of lighting arrangements, to the Committee.
72. On the question of the supply of films, can you give me
some idea of the proportion between British and American films?
I would put it at 90 per cent. American.
73. I assume, therefore, that 90 per cent, of the films are
engaged rather in the description of American than British life ?
Yes, that is so, except that we are very glad to see that the
Americans are now taking films of English subjects and English
novelists.
74. And I assume also that there are films from America which
deal with scenes in Egypt and the Scriptures? Yes; you know
they sent us " The Eternal City," where most of the scenes were
taken in Rome.
75. Then we get from America many of the films founded
upon the crook ? Yes, they are very fond of that. You get the
sheriff in a Western drama or else the crook working in New
York, but in that connection the Americans are at least as wise
as our English manufacturer, as there is always the most severe
punishment at the end for the crook or a great scene of reform.
I have never seen a crime unpunished on a film.
76. I may take it that a respectable exhibitor would not accept
in England a crook playing where there was no adequate justice
done to the crook? No.
77. Don't you think it would be desirable to diminish the
villainy which represents the lawless and the revolver-shooting
life of the wilder parts of America? I do not think so. It is
a turn that we call stirring, or a thrilling Western drama just
now and again.
78. Yes, you must have wild life described. That, we think,
is to an extent educational; it shows the life in these parts.
79. Like Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show? Yes.
8^. Still, you would regard that as rather an infrequent than
a constant dish for the cinema theatre ? Yes.
16 TRAVEL PICTURES
81. Have you looked into the question of the educational
possibilities of the cinema? No, not more than as it comes
before my business, you know.
82. Have you had any films like natural history? Yes, we
usually have one of those. I have this week's " Films Released "
in my pocket, and they are always about. For the first half of
the week there are four dramas which are good films ; they have
passed the censor and earned their six marks in our combination.
There are four comedies and two interest or travel pictures. The
first interest picture is " Insect Oddities." That is made by an
English firm, and the other is a Pathe " Our Troops in South
Africa." For the second half of the week we get five dramas,
four comedies, and two interest and travel pictures; one is
" From the Ostrich Egg to the Feather Boa," and the other is
*' Views of Ilfracombe and Clovelly." So you will see the relation
is two to nine and two to eight in number.
83. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Not in duration? No; the drama
is about 1200 feet and takes about twenty-five minutes, the
troops 1000 feet, and the t4 Insect Oddities " is about 450 feet;
and the same during the other half.
84. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. Do you find the travel pictures
very attractive ? Yes, in their turn, but it would not do to put
on an hour of it.
85. Have you seen " The Advance to Gorizia " by the Italians ?
Yes.
86. A picture like that is quite popular ? Yes.
87. That, I take, is the kind of picture which as the industry
advances it would be able more and more to produce? Yes, I
should say that that is the easiest picture to produce.
88. THE SECRETARY. The cheapest, you mean? No, the
easiest. It is so easy to take current events. They are there,
and you have no brain work, no constructive work.
89. SIR EDWARD BRABROOK. I should like to understand these
statistics of yours. I see that you have a thousand million
visitors in one single year ? Yes.
90. And that a little more than half of them paid less than
threepence ? -Yes.
91. I take it that those who paid more, so far as they were
children, would be accompanied by older children? Yes.
92. You have no statistics or numbers of children who would
be in those different classes ? No, I have not.
93. I take it that the money value of the whole amount is
very nearly twenty millions. Is it possible that twenty millions
has been earned by the cinema shows? That is what I make
it out to be. That is the gross takings, not earnings; for, you
see, there are little items such as wages and that kind of thing.
94. I have seen some excellent scientific films showing the
changes in the life of insects and other scientific subjects like
that. Are they at all popular in the shows? You usually find
one in a well-selected program*me.
95. You don't think much more can be done? Do you see
ATTENDANCE OF CHILDREN 17
your way to admit the popularity of really scientific and instruc-
tive films ? I should be very happy to try it, but I fear if I
gave up more than a quarter of an hour of my two hours enter-
tainment I should bore many people and get many complaints.
96. DR. KIMMINS. Who arranges the programme of the film;
what choice have you of the kind of film you get down ? There
is an enormous choice.
97. And the proprietor draws up his own programme, does
he ? Yes, there is absolutely a free market in this country.
98. Just one other point : how is it seen whether the regula-
tions of the Council are carried out at the different houses ? By
a very diligent and efficient system of inspection, the older Fire
Brigade men, selected for marked intelligence and discretion, are
put on to evening inspection work. They visit every theatre in
London once or twice every week, and make confidential reports
of what they see to the Chief Fire Brigade Officer, who passes out
the complaints to the various Departments, whether lighting, or
misconduct, or whatever the complaint may be. These inspectors
only report on films, questions of misconduct, immorality or the
like, if complaint has been received by the Council, and if special
instructions are given to the Fire Department to place certain
matters under special observation.
99. The inspection is entirely under the Fire Brigade ? Yes.
100. MR. CROOK. The gross takings come to twenty millions.
Do you consider the industry is worth that to the country?
Twenty millions for amusement ? Yes.
101. Against the beer bill and the streets? Yes, twice the
money.
102. What proportion of children attend the cinema? Well,
I do not believe during the week-days there is more than 10
per cent.
103. W T hat do you mean by the week-days ? In many parts
of the country there is a special Saturday afternoon performance
for the children, and where in the ordinary way they would have
to pay threepence, at this performance they pay a penny. This
performance usually starts at one o'clock and is over by three
o'clock, when the adults' performance commences.
104. That is where I saw " Nero and Poppaea," at a special
Saturday afternoon performance for children? Yes.
105. Have you thought of fixing a time for children to leave
in the evening? No.
106. Don't you think it is a wise thing? Do you think it is
wise for children of twelve to be out after eight o'clock at night
in the cinema? I do not think we should resist such a regula-
tion if it were demanded. You see, there is some difficulty about
such a matter as that. I submit if the babies are nursed in
their mothers' arms it is just as well whether they are out or not
as long as they are asleep. You must bear in mind that some of
these people only live in one room, and perhaps they find it
cheaper to take a short time at the pictures. You see, it means
they have not got to light a fire at home, and that would be
c
18 POSTERS
cheaper for them. Again, mothers are at work all day in some
of the poorer districts, and they could not go out at all unless
they took the child with them.
107. I understand that the evidence of the Woman Workers
was that the babies were taken to the cinema and were crawling
about the floor? That is so in the Whitechapel district.
108. That does not bear out your remark? Well, I do not
conceive of a theatre where it is allowed.
109. We find that children come to school frequently too tired
because they have been out to the pictures the night before?
Are you sure they were not more tired before the pictures came ?
110. I find them more tired now. I have been a master some
time before the pictures came? Were they not more tired then?
111. I take it if the Government fix the time at half-past
seven or eight o'clock each night, after which no children would
be allowed in the cinema, you would not oppose such a regulation ?
We should not oppose it.
112. Has your body ever considered, not the nature of the
film itself, but the nature of the advertisement of the film ? Yes.
113. Does the censor touch these ? No.
114. Who does? The Billposters Association. They are an
extremely powerful and well-organised body, and no bill can go on
to the hoardings unless it is sanctioned by them. We welcome that.
THE CHAIRMAN. The Billposters Association has no authority
as to the bill which is on the private house, I mean on the actual
cinema palace itself.
115. MR. CROOK. That is what I am aiming at. We are in
accord with the Billposters Association, and there is only one
thing left for us to do, and that is for us to control the posters
which are put on to our own members' front halls.
116. I mean these coloured monstrosities, those shady pictures
where the revolver is very prominent and the woman always
looking very tragic ? Do you ever see such posters ?
117. Yes, the other day. Then the billposters are not looking
after their work. The tendency of these posters now is only to
illustrate the star of the performance. The posters of this year
are nearly always a photograph of the leading lady or the leading
gentleman. They are getting so well known that their photo-
graphs are used.
I mean those coloured posters of perhaps one incident in the
drama which is very highly coloured.
118. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. Is it not proposed that these
posters to which allusion has been made shall come under the
censor like the rest of the things? Yes; we have been nego-
tiating with the Board of Films censors, whether they .can take
over the censorship of the bills as well, and we are getting to a
point where that can come about.
119. MR. LAMERT. These 1,056,000,000 people can you
classify them, are they of the lower order ? No, every class.
120. In certain theatres it has been the case in the past that
there has been catering for a certain class of people who are
COMPLAINTS 19
undesirable; I don't mean loose women only, but there have
been a certain class of people going to that theatre. Now, would
that pay any cinema proprietor? No, the worst possible thing
that would be.
121. I take it that if the cinema proprietor or manager wants
to do his duty he wants to put that down ? It is his greatest
anxiety.
122. It would never pay him to have it known that his hall
was the place where loose men and women went? Quite so.
123. All these buildings practically are teetotal? Yes.
124. Absolutely teetotal ; because drink and the other thing have
gone together. There are none of them licensed ? All are teetotal.
125. Now, in theatres they have, pass-out checks so that people
can go out and get a drink? That is not done in any cinema
theatre I know of.
126. You don't have that business? There is no re-admission
under any circumstances whatever.
127. And you say they are a very sober population ? Yes.
128. They are a particularly sober class ; I mean, have you
had complaints of drunkenness ? No.
129. Now, with regard to this question of indecency. You
gave us a good deal of one criticism, and we disposed of that.
Is there any other general accusation ? The most striking accusa-
tion of the year was that of Sir Robert Wallace when he said we
were the curse of London.
130. You mean the magistrate ? Yes.
131. Is there any specific complaint beyond what one man
says in the Mile End Road about indecency which we have already
dealt with ? Is there anybody that has brought forward definite
statements that : " We know children are being molested." Is
there anything definite? No.
132. Have you had any definite complaints that can be in-
vestigated ? No ; I can give you nothing closer than the printed
stuff of Mr. .
133. If there were any complaints would they come under your
notice? Yes, any complaint we have is very carefully gone
into. We very carefully watch the Press and everything said is
brought before us.
134. And these are practically the only ones you have had to
deal with? Yes, to pin down.
135. There is the point about the darkness. You rather made
the point that if there was more light it would give more oppor-
tunities for women to do anything they wanted to do ? That is
what we fear.
136. If at the present time a man sat down by a woman it
would be pure chance ? She could not select her place. f
137. There is the dangerous point at the vestibules, in the halls.
Have they all vestibules? Yes.
138. Can it occur in the vestibules? It would not be allowed
to occur. The vestibule of a picture house is more guarded than
the vestibule of a theatre.
20 UNDESIRABLE VISITORS
139. Whom by ? By the proprietor, by the manager ; there is
always a doorman in charge whose duty it is to cry the goods.
140. Now, with regard to the question of the children. Suppose
the rule was made that the children should go out at 8.30, how
would you get them out, would you ring a gong or soun<l a whistle ?
I suppose we should deal with it. It would be an interruption of
the programme.
141. You would not oppose it? We could not successfully
oppose it.
142. MR. GRAVES. Is much injury to sight caused by the
flickering of the films and the use of worn-out films ? I under-
stand that injury has been done to the sight by that. I
understand that in Liverpool people are not allowed to sit nearer
than fifteen feet from the films. Would you recommend any
regulation of that sort ? It is not a regulation, but in most of
the theatres in London the distance is very considerably over
fifteen feet before you come to the seats.
143. There is no doubt that children will remain in the cine-
matographs. You don't turn them out, and they may sit as
long as they choose? Yes.
144. As a matter oi fact, they will sit two hours and go out
in rather a dazed condition. There is no means, therefore, of
moving children on; they can stay, you might say, for two
hours and more. Now, do you think that is a good thing ? I do
not know whether it is good for children.
145. Now there is another question, the question of the diffusion
of light ; is it not a fact that light is sometimes equally diffused
through a house, and is it not a fact that that would not lead to
any immorality? I notice that is the case in Liverpool? Yes,
but their standard is not any higher than London.
146. I am asking whether that does not happen in Liverpool,
and whether they do not do it with an object. Your suggestion
is that if you darken the hall there is less likely to be immorality
than if the hall was light ? No, that is not quite what I wanted
you to gather. I say if you get the light beyond a certain amount
you assist the undesirable women by giving them the opportunity
to accost, and that is a fact.
147. My point is that a man who brings a woman to a place
with evil mtent would prefer darkness to light ? Yes.
148. You have got cafes apparently, have you not ? Yes.
149. In these cafes are women of undesirable character likely
to go, and use them as a promenade ? No, not if they are known.
150. You l^iow that the music hall people by public regulation
lately have really turned a great number of the people out of the
promenades, and these people have unfortunately gone to your
shows ? They are trying to get in.
151. Have you any means of turning them out? Yes.
152. Your only means is by noticing their behaviour, or when
you have reason to know from the police that they are women
of that sort? No, we should detect the woman changing her
seat twice or three times. If we saw her change her seat we
EDUCATIONAL FILMS 21
should keep a watch upon her, and if she changed it again we
should eject her.
153. One question on the educational side of affairs. Apparently
the only educational authority that regulates films is the Customs ?
Yes, they have to decide whether the entertainment is educa-
tional or not.
154. I take it with an educational entertainment there are
decreased fees ? Not to my knowledge.
155. When it is entirely educational. Therefore you do not
know that the Customs are the authority which decides whether
the film is educational or not. I believe they refer it to the
Board of Education? You are dealing with the import tax on
films coming from abroad.
THE CHAIRMAN. No, the amusement tax.
156. MR. GRAVES. There is the entertainment tax? Yes.
157. And in the case of an entertainment which is purely
educational there is no tax, and the Customs regulate that tax
and decide whether that film is educational or not ? That is so.
158. Then how would you yourself decide whether a film is
educational or not in putting it upon your screen ? Have you an
educational department connected with your firms, or how do
you manage it? We have nothing in that way, but surely it
does not want any examination to detect what is an educational
film.
159. It depends upon how you use the film. Should you
suggest it is education to put upon a film the sudden growth
from an egg to a chicken, or other cases of animal movement ?
You put these things before the city child who knows notHing
about them, and you give no explanation? Yes, before that
rapid photographing is gone through there is a statement on
the screen that the eggs will take so many days to hatch, and
so forth.
160. Still, in spite of that you do not leave the statement long
enough on the screen, and therefore the child, seeing the thing,
would be much more likely to think it saw what really happened ?
Yes.
161. SIR W. BARRETT. Dealing with the question of light in
the cinema theatres, are you aware that in all theatres where
there is a screen, I mean educational theatres, the class is not
left in darkness ? The place can be perfectly well illuminated so
that they can take their notes, and yet the screen is kept in
perfect darkness ? Yes, but your halls are very small compared
with the modern cinematograph theatres.
162. Is it not a fact that the films can be perfectly well shown
while the audiences are comparatively well illuminated by shaded
lamps which are put to avoid the light falling upon the screen ?
Yes, perfectly shaded lights. But there must be no lights in the
centre of the hall. They can be at the side.
163. I have been lecturing for nearly forty years showing
lantern and microscopic slides, and I have found it is not neces-
sary for the class to be in darkness. They can take notes of my
22 LOCAL AUTHORITIES
lectures. Because your class-room or lecture hall was of such a
small size compared with the modern cinematograph theatre.
There is one hall in London I have in mind where the distance
from the lantern to the screen is 215 feet, which is the longest
throw in London. The picture there to be seen is thirty feet by
twenty-four feet. It is a tremendous area, and that hall will
hold 2000 people. Half of them would be men, and half of them,
again that is 500 people would be smoking. These are things
you have to consider, and while there is no difficulty in lighting
the sides of the hall, I see a very great difficulty in carrying on
a commercial enterprise with a fully lighted hall all over.
164. Would the audience fall off if there was more light in the
auditorium ? Not unless it came to the point that we had spoilt
the picture. If we spoilt the picture the audience would fall off
very rapidly. The only test is, can we show the picture ?
165. SIR W. BARRETT. You say the local authorities impose
irritating regulations with regard to children ? You see, there
is an attempt to ask us to provide full programmes of the milk-
and-water variety for the duration of about two hours, and we
simply cannot do that.
166. You object altogether to the local authorities ? Yes.
167. But are they not much more likely to know what is suit-
able and unsuitable than any central authorities as regards their
immediate population ? Not in the least likely. They are more
likely to be local, and being local are possibly bigoted in their
ideas, more so than a central authority which would fight out
and settle this question on a national basis.
168. I presume picture palaces pay local rates ? Yes.
169. Why, then, do the local authorities try to hamper and
throttle them? I do not know. We pay the rates just the
same, you know.
170. Does your Association extend to Scotland and Ireland ?
Yes.
171. You are aware of the case in the Dublin Police Court
some little time ago concerning one of the large and fashionable
picture palaces in which it was alleged that a film prejudicial to
morality was shown ? No.
MONSIGNOR BROWN. This gentleman said he had mainly to
do with London. ,
172. SIR W. BARRETT. I ask what security have the public
that no portion of the film may be cut out by the exhibitor before
the case came before the Court, as was alleged in this case ? I
do not think there would be any security, but that would not
stop the responsibility, as you would find from the manufacturer
whether it was originally in the film, and it could then be held
that it had been suppressed if the complainant could describe in
detail what the part was.
173. PROFESSOR H. GOLLANCZ. I understand there is a sug-
gestion of a special attendant to move about among the children
who were unaccompanied by any adult. If the molestation is
supposed to take place and does take place in the body of the
EXHIBITORS' ASSOCIATION 23
hall, how can that attendant have any power at all? This girl
or woman in charge of the children unaccompanied by adults
would attend to the children as far as possible, attend to their
little wants and keep them in order.
174. That would not remove the risk of molestation in other
parts ? It would not remove the risk of molestation if a man
brought the child in with him.
175. The question of the light has been dealt with, and you
speak about the question commercially. I should like to know
whether, scientifically speaking, the performance could not be
equally good if there was light, not only side lights, but full
lights in the body of the hall ? If you say full lights I say that
it is impossible.
176. At all events, such light as to make indecency or molesta-
tion absolutely impossible ? You can have enough light to make
indecency almost impossible, but there is a great difference be-
tween us if you mean the full, or practically full, light of a room
like this.
177. Is it scientifically impossible ? Scientifically impossible.
It is a question of standard. If this is the standard (the
lighting of the Committee Room), a picture could not be shown
here.
178. MONSIGNOR BROWN. I should like to ask a few questions
about this Association of yours. It covers England, Ireland,
Scotland and Wales ? Yes.
179. What is the total number of exhibitors in those areas ?
We have got something in the neighbourhood of 4500.
180. How many of these halls are affiliated or belong to your
Association? Slightly over one-half.
181. The remainder, are they federated or gathered into any
kind of Association ? No.
182. Are those belonging to your Association mainly the larger
and more popular halls ? They are the best, of course.
183. Will you say all the high-class halls are in it? Yes.
184. Then, after you have got your membership those outside
it are mainly the smaller or cheaper class of hall? Yes.
185. Therefore you cannot speak for them at all? No, except
what I know about London. Of the 248 in London I have 200.
186. Questions have been asked this afternoon which not only
deal with London, but range over the whole area, and I beg
leave to suggest, with all due respect to you, that some of your
questions have been answered without any personal knowledge.
I don't mean to say you have done so wittingly. The questions
have been addressed to you as if you know every question about
every hall in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales? I do not
know them all.
187. You specially represent London, and by that you mean
the Administrative County of London? Yes.
188. In London, you say, you have 248 licensed halls? Yes.
189. And you have 200 of them in your Association ? Yes.
190. Can you speak of the forty-eight outside from personal
24 POSTERS
knowledge of how they are conducted ? Yes, I have knowledge
of those halls which are not in our group.
191. How did you gain that knowledge ? I know the methods
under which they work and their regulations.
192. Have you visited them all? No.
Therefore it is more or less hearsay and not practical personal
knowledge.
193. THE CHAIRMAN. Have you visited all your own 200?
No, but I have seen most of the proprietors from time to time.
194. MONSIGNOR BROWN. When you make use of an expres-
sion that such a thing never occurred, you mean that it has not
come under your knowledge, for, you see, the fact that it has
not come under your knowledge does not mean that it has not
occurred ? Which question do you mean ?
Cases of immorality.
195. THE SECRETARY. You mean you have not heard of these
things from any of the persons who came in contact with you ?
I think I am bound to hear of them if there is any question of
a prosecution.
196. MONSIGNOR BROWN. How are you bound to hear of
prosecutions in any hall which is not yours ? We cannot take
notice of any alleged complaint of immorality.
197. I am asking, how would you know this : A mother comes
to me and says : " My child was in a hall last Saturday afternodn
and some bigger boy touched her indecently." There is no
means of knowing that ? No, unless she had gone to the manager.
198. I live almost opposite a cinema, and I have an oppor-
tunity of seeing the picture palace people. I also have an
opportunity of seeing the bills which are posted up outside. I
have seen one this morning of a girl in a certain kind of dress,
and round about are quite a number of men's heads floating in the
air, and nearly all are engaged in looking up at this girl's feet.
It is called " The Cup of " something. It is so nice to get some-
thing definite. I would propose, if you would allow me, to have
a copy of this poster sent to you (hear, hear) because there
are such different aspects of these things.
THE CHAIRMAN. It is on the building?
MONSIGNOR BROWN. It is on their display board.
199. THE SECRETARY. Then we understand you will produce
it, Mr. Goodwin ? Yes.
200. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. Is it not a fact, Mr. Goodwin,
that if any of these facts are brought before your Association
you do what you can to point out the danger? Yes, we exist
for that purpose.
201. In that way I understand you bring certain ' pressure to
bear on these halls outside your Association ? Yes.
202. MONSIGNOR BROWN. It does not follow, I think Mr.
Goodwin will admit, that every parent whose child was molested
would like the publicity of police court proceedings? I wish
they would.
203. At this hall I am speaking of there was a prosecution
FILM PROGRAMMES 25
brought against a man with reference to three little girls. He
bought them seats, and he was afterwards prosecuted at West-
minster Police Court ? Yes, these monsters- do exist.
204. There was evidence, you seem to suggest, that the prosecu-
tion had been at the instigation of the proprietors ? I said
that the London County Council said
205. What the London County Council said is not necessarily
true ? It is said and printed in this very report.
206. Now as to films. Would it be your opinion that even if
the public did like scientific, landscape or other films which are
mainly short and not of the romantic character, there would not
be time enough for them, as the programme is limited on account
of the drama and other films, which are mainly longer? No, I
do not think that is so.
207. To put it simply, do you think they are crowded out ? No.
208. How is the programme arranged ? Is it a matter of the
selection of the exhibitor? Yes.
209. It is the exhibitor, then, who deliberately in making up
the programme says : " I cannot give more than twenty minutes
of short stuff " ? I do not think that is the way he looks at
it. When I am making up a programme, if there is a scientific
picture, a picture of interest, or a picture of travel, and it is
over ten minutes in length, I view it with some suspicion as to
whether it is the class of thing I want.
210. What do you mean by " I want " ? What you would
like to see, or what you think the public will have ? I speak for
my public.
211. As a caterer, don't you feel the public pulse and give
them just as much of that as they will stand? Yes.
212. And you think they won't stand any more than they are
getting now ? I think about one-eighth.
213. Now, have your Association ever been urged to take off
undesirable films ? No.
214. Have any theatrical exhibitors been attacked for undesir-
able films ? Yes.
215. Have they, as the result of that, taken them off? Yes.
216. Would you tell me why they waited to be attacked ?
Some exhibitors would not appreciate the point of view that was
being taken exception to. There is a case in my mind of "
," and another, " ." " " is no
doubt known to all the members of this Committee. Now, the
film as a film was absolutely unobjectionable, with the exception
of one rather prolonged embrace of the two leading characters.
The exhibition aroused, perhaps, in some people's minds the
expectation that they were going to see the objectionable incidents
of the novel on the picture, all outlined and describing the sensual
stuff, and certain licensing authorities said that the film should
not be shown.
217. There was, in fact, litigation over it? Yes.
218. I think that the eye is one of the quickest avenues of
mind ? Yes.
26 UNDESIRABLE FILMS
219. Is it not one of the most dangerous avenues? Yes.
220. Can you tell me why the exhibitors selected such a doubt-
ful book as a subject for a film, even if they did not put all the
details in it ? Well, the film was made in America.
221. Are we obliged to have everything made in America?
It was not taken up generally in this country by the exhibitors.
222. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. I should just like to ask this point
with regard to " ." Where you had an objectionable
book and an objectionable film, did that not lead to a rule being
made that no film should be produced from an objectionable
book? My Association waited upon the British Board of Film
Censors, and as a result it was made a rule that no novel of an
objectionable reputation should be filmed, even though the films
may be innocuous, and Mr. Redford obtained a list of books from
Scotland Yard and from Mudie's and other libraries, to see that
no more of these films should be brought out.
223. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Would you consider it desirable to
have a film, say, arousing sympathy in the minds of the audience
with a discarded mistress, making her the attractive figure or
subject of the film ? Would you consider that desirable ? There
is such a film in existence ; it deals with Oriental scenery. There
is a film in which that is the main theme, if I may call it so.
224. THE SECRETARY. Can we have the name of the film ?
225. MONSIGNOR BROWN. I will get it for you. (To witness.)
What do you say ? Am I not to show a discarded mistress ?
226. No, my point is, are you to depict scenes in life that
would excite sympathy with people who have been living immoral
lives ? There is justice, you say, with the crook. He is punished
at the end of his career. But this mistress is discarded under all
the circumstances of pathos, and the feeling of the audience is
that she is the person who should be sympathised with? Jane
Shore was a discarded mistress.
227. I am asking your opinion? So much depends upon the
treatment of what you want to bring out. If it were necessary
that the discarded mistress should be employed to impress certain
lessons, or to show a certain phase of life which ought to be
avoided, then use the discarded mistress by all means.
228. DR. SALEEBY. Do you try to get licences for intoxicants
for the cinema? No.
229. You don't complain if you don't have any ? No.
230. Don't you think if the people who are responsible for
education or science took an interest in those sort of films that you
might put in more than one-eighth in your programme ? Yes.
231. In a country like Scotland, where there is some interest
in education, it might be that some of these educational films
might be found attractive ? Yes, I think so.
232. MR. NEWBOULD. The Cinematograph Act deals only with
public safety, but any exhibitor showing any immoral film could
be prosecuted under common law ? In the ordinary way, yes.
233. And would probably lose his licence? Yes, that would
follow.
CENSORSHIP 27
234. Is it not a fact that the main objection which the exhibitors
have to the various regulations in use by the local authorities is
because of the lack of uniformity of these regulations ? Yes.
235. And it is the object of your Association to procure legis-
lation to unify the regulations ? Yes.
236. In regard to the Home Office or so-called official censor-
ship, I believe that the objection was not to the principle, but to
the proposals in detail ? Yes.
237. THE SECRETARY. I have here some written questions
which have been submitted by Dr. Gar vie, and I will put them.
What does Mr. Goodwin mean by the needless restrictions he has
alluded to ? That one may not, if one wants to, give a bag of
lollipops to a child ; that one may not, even if one wants to,
give free passes to a certain number of people in payment for the
fact that they have shown bills in certain shop windows.
238. The giving of lollipops is an unfair attraction for the
children to come ? I do not know why they should make such a
rule.
239. It would probably have the effect that it would bring
children there to get the lollipops rather than see the show.
Why should local feeling and opinion not be recognised in the
regulations instead of treating the country as a whole? We
say again that the whole country should have one Act.
240. Is the trade not responsible for withholding certain films
that might be hurtful, or do you simply follow the demand?
Well, there is always the censorship. We have no control over
the matter, but our Association would see that a certain picture
was not desirable, and therefore we should see that it was not
shown in any hall we hold.
THE CHAIRMAN inquired whether it would be possible for the
Commission to see the films " " and " ."
241. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR (to witness). Is " " out
of existence? I do not think so. You know it could not be
played at all in forty of the towns.
242. I understand that a certain number of firms are in the
Association of which you are Chairman ? Yes.
243. And are subject more or less to the instructions and
resolutions of that Association ? Yes.
244. The principles of your Association, therefore, apply to
all the theatres represented in your Association, and one of them
is that a film should not be exhibited unless passed by the Board
of Censors? -That is so. We were strongly in accord with the
resolution, and the London County Council agreed with me that
they would place on the licence that no film should be shown in
London unless passed by the British Board. But when it came
to the Council a member opposed it because he said the London
County Council should not take any line from a body over which
they had no control. So that was lost; but I applied again
recently, and I am told, as nearly as one can have permission
without the Council endorsing it, that the licences in London
are going to be re-endorsed for next year with the condition.
28 LIVERPOOL REGULATIONS
245. May I take it that the desire of your Association is that
all the theatres and all the firms should be brought into your
Association ? Yes.
246. Have you reason to hope that will result? Yes, I have.
It is coming along ; every day now we are taking certain steps.
SECOND DAY
Monday, January 15, 1917,
THE BISHOP or BIRMINGHAM in the chair.
STATEMENT OF MR. J. G. LEGGE,
Director of Education in Liverpool
PRECIS
THE number of licensed houses in the City in the present year
of 1917 is forty-nine. The figure in 1914 was thirty-eight. The
Justices' Rules governing the attendance of children at cinenla
houses are as follows
" Children under fourteen years of age shall not be allowed to
enter or be in the licensed premises after the hour of 6.30 p.m.
unaccompanied by their parents or guardians.
" If any afternoon exhibition is held in the licensed premises
to which the minimum price of admission for children is twopence
or less, such exhibition shall be deemed to be an exhibition for
children within the meaning of these rules, and there shall be
shown at such exhibition only such films as are by their nature
specially suitable for exhibition to children. A printed programme
giving the name and, when practicable, a sufficient synopsis of
each film intended to be exhibited shall be sent to the Superin-
tendent of Police for the Division in which the licensed premises
are situated, not less than twenty-four hours before such exhibition
is held.
" At exhibitions for children no child shall be allowed to view
the exhibition from a distance of less than fifteen feet from the
screen on which the pictures are shown."
There are, in addition, rules prohibiting the exhibition of any-
thing that is objectionable or indecent, etc., etc., and for the
exclusion of children in the case of infectious diseases in a
neighbouring school.
The difficulty in the way of regulations such as these, which
was raised by the Halifax decision, Theatre de Luxe (Halifax),
Ltd. v. Gledhill, has been met in Liverpool by attaching them to
a music licence. This the Justices have power to do in virtue of
provisions of the Liverpool Corporation Act, 1889.
These regulations are good, and it is not easy to suggest any-
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 29
thing much more drastic, if they could be carried out ; but, as a
matter of fact, children under fourteen, unaccompanied by their
parents or guardians, are often smuggled in by strangers to whom
they give their penny or twopence. The principal of a Liverpool
school found that of the children in his school who attended even-
ing performances in a single week in 1916, 40 per cent, were thus
smuggled in.
The total number of children in average attendance in Liverpool
Elementary Schools is 120,399. Unfortunately there has been no
census taken by the police of the attendance of children at cinema
houses since the Great War, but two school censuses were taken
in 1912 and 1914 giving the numbers of children in attendance at
the matinee on Saturday afternoon as follows
November 23, 1912, June 13, 1914,
13,232. ll^Q. 1
In 1916 a Joint Committee of Justices and members of the
Education Committee was formed to consider the question of
Juvenile Crime. This Committee issued its report in October,
1916. The paragraph of their report relating to cinema houses
runs as follows
" Nearly all the witnesses were agreed that constant attendance
at cinematograph theatres has an injurious effect upon juvenile
mind and character. Not only are children frequently induced
to steal in order to obtain admission (it is quite a common excuse
in theft or begging cases that the money was wanted for c the
pictures '), but what is perhaps of even greater importance, is that
in very many cases the intellectual morale <of the child is injured,
and its powers of concentration are weakened by a too frequent
attendance at such places. It is suggested that, where desirable,
the magistrates should introduce, by way of a condition in Pro-
bation Orders, restrictions as to the attendance of the probationer
at cinema exhibitions. The evidence adduced has also impressed
on the committee the urgent necessity for continued strict super-
vision of the theatres, and illustrative posters, with insistence upon
the observance by licensees of the Justices' Rules and Regulations
regarding films, and the attendance of children."
There is some educational value in films of such subjects as -
1. Scenes in foreign lands.
2. Historical incidents.
3. Travel and adventure.
4. Nature study.
5. Pictured plays and novels.
6. Industrial and agricultural life.
7. Noteworthy events of the day.
1 There were 1783 children in attendance in the evening. Much fuller
statistical evidence with regard to the attendance of children at cinema
houses is desirable.
30 EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS
But this educational value can easily be exaggerated, granted the
most careful selection of films. The residuum of history left after
reading a historical novel is small ; still less is that left after
witnessing a film. The use of the cinema for definite teaching
purposes, particularly with regard to nature study and science, is
of far more value in the case of older students who have some con-
ception of abstract ideas of space and time, and whose impressions
are not too confused by the bewildering rush of a film across the
field of vision. Much more might be done than is done at
present to present films which inculcate high qualities, such as
courage, self-sacrifice, and generosity. Cinema houses do not
realise how popular with children would be films of class 6, giving
pictures of the interior of factories, works, agricultural operations,
the life of a sailor, and so forth. Boys have a perfect passion for
watching men at work.
Defects from the educational point of view are the exciting
influence of the cinematograph entertainment. It is one thing to
make education interesting, and quite another to make it exciting ;
and in modern days too much stress has been laid even on the
former. Thoroughly objectionable, from the educational and moral
point of view, are not only films depicting crimes, immorality
and fraud, but also scenes of love-making, vulgar buffoonery,
horseplay, practical joking of a mischievous type and successful
imposture, which is none the less to be condemned if it is supposed
to be comic.
It is in the recreative aspect that there is the strongest justifica-
tion for the existence of the cinema house. It presents about the
cheapest and most comfortable entertainment obtainable. It is
brought within easy reach of almost every family, and affords
an escape from inclement weather and comfortless homes. The
comic film, though generally vulgar, has its recreative value. The
cinema house is, in itself, a counter-attraction to the public-house,
and if we are not satisfied with the cinema house as the best rival
to the public-house, we must make our attack by way of better
housing (the problem which lies at the heart of all social reform,
from which we can never get away), and the provision of counter-
attractions for healthy indoor as well as public outdoor recrea-
tion ; and here it is a grievous mistake to regard the children as a
class wholly separable from their parents. The witness merely
mentions the recognised agents for children : Boys' and Girls'
Clubs, Cadets, Scouts, Guides, etc., etc. Healthy means for in-
door recreation for children and their elders might be found in
reformed public-houses, the popularising of music, including brass
and string bands, the development of the free library into a club,
rooms for the practice of art, the vitalising of museums and
galleries by the employment of trained guides, glorified gymnasia,
mixed family bathing, possibly also dancing-rooms under direct
municipal control. On the outdoor side may be mentioned play-
ing fields and recreation grounds, drill grounds (the most suitable
purpose for which the ordinary school playground can be utilised),
athletic grounds, and allotments, while in parks and also in smaller
MR. J. G. LEGGE'S EVIDENCE 81
open spaces more encouragement might be given to what may
perhaps be called formal gardening, e. g. old English gardens, rose
gardens, etc.
Finally, the effect on the problem of such measures as
1. Compulsory education schools.
2. National Service.
Both of which have much to recommend them, must not be lost
sight of. It is to be hoped that no system of continued education
will be introduced which does not secure for the adolescent popula-
tion at large one of the great privileges at present reserved for the
Secondary School boy, viz. the privilege of engaging in home work
up till .nine o'clock at night. The Continuation School system
should provide for one, or if possible two, tutorial evenings a week.
So, too, with regard to National Service. A great deal of the
physical instruction connected with this will have to be given,
and may wholesomely be given, in the evening.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. J. G. LEGGE. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. Mr. Legge, you are the Director of Education
for the City of Liverpool? Yes.
2. You have also had a long connection with education in
London? I have; I was in the Home Office for sixteen years,
and then I was head of a sub-department of the Home Office,
the Reformatory and Industrial Schools Department, for nine
years.
3. In Liverpool I see there are forty-nine licensed cinemas,
although in 1914 there were only thirty-eight. Therefore, even
during the war the number has been growing ? Yes.
4. In Liverpool who decides whether films are suitable for
children ? The Justices, and they delegate their duties to a rota
of one or two.
5. As a matter of fact, I suppose that this Committee would be
very rarely overruled by the Committee as a whole ? Very
seldom, but from what I gather from the Head Constable of
Liverpool, films do slip through even with the supervision of the
Justices, films that are not proper for the children to see.
6. Do you think that would be at all obviated supposing
children's films were regulated, say, from a single censor instead
of by local censors ? ; I think that would certainly be very effective
if for no other reason than that it would prevent films from being
rushed. The difficulty is that a man says : "I have got these
films and I am sorry I was not aware that the Justices wished
to see them, but I will stop them if after they are started you
object to them."
7. And you think if dealt with by a central authority rather
than by the various localities, it might be better? I think it
might be very effective in preventing the display of improper films
for children.
82 ATTENDANCE OF CHILDREN
8. " At exhibitions for children no child shall be allowed to view
the exhibition from a distance of less than fifteen feet from the
screen on which the pictures are shown." Is that purely because
of the eyes ; a question of the danger to the eyes ? I take it it is
also to allow full room for dispersal. I think it is a combination
of the two.
9. Now have you met in Liverpool the difficulty in the way of
regulations for children by attaching the music licence to the
cinema licence ? That is so. The powers under which Liverpool
acts in this regard are derived from the Liverpool Corporation
Act of 1899.
10. You say : " Children under fourteen, unaccompanied by
their parents or guardians, are often smuggled in by strangers to
whom they give their penny or twopence." Yes; the principal
of one of our large schools took stock of the children who entered
a picture house during one week of last year, and he found that
of the children entering after 6.30, 40 per cent, got in without
parents or guardians. They handed their money to some one to
pass them in in their company. Ten per cent, got in without any
guardian or even step -guardian. So that only 56 per cent, of
the children entering after 6.30 got in legitimately with their
parents or guardians.
11. Has any attempt at supervision been made? That is a
point I would not care to press the Head Constable very hard
upon, but it does seem that it could be very easily checked if an
example were made in two or three cases. It might be made a
positive offence for a person to smuggle a child in.
12. I notice that you would desire very much more careful
statistical evidence with regard to the attendance of children at
cinemas ? Yes, I think it is of enormous importance, particularly
from the point of view to see whether it is growing or not. One
very interesting point has come out lately over the Summer Time
Act of last year. The inspectors under the Education Committee
at Liverpool, stated as one of their arguments in favour of the
re-enactment of that provision this year, that it had a marked
tendency to keep children all through six light months of the
year out of the cinema house. When I pressed them as to what
they based their opinion upon, they said observation. Well,
observation is not enough ; one wants actual figures.
13. Your Joint Committee was formed to consider the question
of juvenile crime, and they issued this report, which is very con-
demnatory, of the attendance of children at cinemas ? I think
it is, on the whole.
14. You have handed in a paragraph of their report which is
a serious paragraph, is it not ? Yes ; in that connection, my lord,
may I mention that a better report than that of the Joint Com-
mittee of Liverpool may not be known to you. It is a Manchester
report. It is a very much more useful report than the Liverpool
one, largely because it was not the work of a committee, but the
work of one man, one office, the Education Office at Manchester.
The man had also the assistance of the police, and has drawn up
MORAL ASPECTS 83
a remarkable report from the statistics. He deals with juvenile
crime, and analyses the very question your Committee is dealing
with very ably indeed.
15. Now this paragraph : " Not only are children frequently
induced to steal in order to obtain admission ; it is quite a common
excuse in theft or begging cases that the money was wanted for
4 the pictures.' ' Now has that not become rather a thing that
a child says all over the country? I think not, because the
authority on which that statement is made by the Committee,
is the stipendiary magistrate, and he is perfectly satisfied by
questions from the Bench that the statement is well founded.
16. In every case is it usual to take the statement of a prisoner
as something which cannot be questioned ? Oh, no, this is not
based on a statement of any one who has accepted the prisoner's
statement or the accused's statement. The stipendiary magistrate
has examined the child from the Bench, and also I have first-hand
information on that point from my school attendance officers making
inquiries with regard to industrial' school cases; the parents have
complained that the parent's money has sometimes been taken
by the child, and that in many cases it is not safe to leave money
in the teapot on the mantelpiece because of the incentive which
makes them help themselves out of it for the purpose of going to
the cinema.
17. That does not necessarily condemn the cinema ? No.
18. It speaks of the attraction of the cinema, but of nothing
wrong that the cinema does. A child is so attracted to it that it
has stolen the money ? I think when the attraction reaches that
point one may take it the attraction comes out of a craving for
a stimulant, and at that age stimulant of any sort is not altogether
wholesome.
19. Then in giving your personal views on the problem you do
them under two heads, first the educational and moral aspect, and
then the recreative aspect. You therefore accept, don't you, in
taking the recreative aspect that the cinema is, after all, not
primarily an educational matter ; it is a commercial matter, and
the proprietor of a cinema has no more duty to consider the
educational side than has the theatre manager ? That is so.
20. You say cinema houses don't realise how popular all children
would think the films giving pictures of industrial factories and
works'. Could these things be done? Yes.
21. " Boys have a perfect passion for seeing men at work."
Do you think it would be an incentive towards work for a child
to see people at work in a cinema? Yes, I have a very strong
view on that point. If a child saw in a cinema illustrations of
different kinds of factories and workshops, and also pictures
showing handymen manipulating their tools and things of that
sort, and also the life of a sailor boy, then I think that would be
doing a real good thing.
22. And you think it would be a commercial success for the
cinema to conduct it ? For the children, yes.
23. Then we will turn to the recreative side. You will admit
D
34 JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
that the comic film is recreative although it may be a vulgar film
sometimes ? Yes, I feel forced to make that admission.
24. And you lay stress on the fact that a cinema is a counter-
attraction to a public-house? Yes, t and that is one of the best
things that can be said for it. (Hear, hear.)
25. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. Are you a frequenter of cinema
theatres ? No, I go very seldom. I went frequently at one time,
but I never go now except to see a particular film, and that is
never a comic film.
26. Well, do you ever go to a music hall ? I have not been to
a music hall since war began except, perhaps, to see a film, but I
have been to a good many in my time.
27. Have you not found yourself rather saddened by the comic
business of music halls ? Yes.
28. So that that applies to many classes of audience as well as
those of the cinema theatres ? Yes, but there is this difference as
I have noticed : I have never seen to my recollection a scene on
a music hall stage where the exhibition of comic horseplay was
given when the hero was a child. I have constantly seen the hero
of a comic film as a child of the Buster Brown type.
29. Well, I do not think your information is quite complete on
that point. I would like just to analyse a little the statement you
have quoted about children stealing to go to cinemas. I suppose
the eager desire of children for enjoyment leads to stealing for other
purposes as well, does it not ? Yes, for cigarettes, if nothing
else.
30. Is it not your experience as an educationalist engaged
mainly in the welfare of youth, that the confectionery shop is the
shop the child goes to with any loose money it has ? Yes.
31. I put it then, that the stealing is just a part of that general
and impulsive desire of enjoyment common to all children ? No,
I cannot quite agree there, because I do not think the child gives
up the sweet shop for the cinema. It has become a recognised
thing that a child shall have its weekly pence for buying sweets,
but this is a need that has come on top of that, and the whole
economic idea of the child is certainly disturbed by a demand to
find 100 per cent, more money in the week.
32. Before the cinema the child probably found its amusement
in the street? That is so.
33. Which might have been much more prejudicial than the
cinema ? Yes, but in the summer months I have noticed that the
effect of the cinema house has been to keep the children out of the
parks, which seems to me to be unfortunate.
34. Could not that be met partially by cinemas in the park ?
Yes, that is a very good suggestion.
35. Now, I will take you a little on the educational side, although
I think this, my lord, is not quite so relevant to our inquiry as the
other side. You are acquainted with the Berlitz system of teaching
English ? Yes.
36. May I not state that the fundamental principle of that is
the combination of the eye with the ear and the memory ? Yes.
FILM STORIES 85
37. Don't you think that system can be applied through the
cinema to many other forms of education ? Yes, I think I have
practically admitted that the film is quite as good as a picture
book to a child, but of course, I need not go so far as to say that
the moving picture is better than the picture book.
38. Would it not be better if instead of learning geography in
the old way of simply committing to memory rivers and other
particulars of nations, that the child should see on the cinema in
some form or another a picture of the city and its streets, and its
general life, and a picture of the river and the countries it went
through? I would not substitute one for the other. The com-
bination would be of value, but if I had a child educated by the old
system and another educated by visits to the cinema house up to
the age of sixteen years, I should expect the child educated on the
old system to have a very much better working knowledge of
geography than the other; in fact, an incomparably better
knowledge.
39. I do not think any one suggests you should educate the child
in the cinema theatres. The point is that the cinema would be a
very useful addition to the study? Yes.
40. You suggest that probationers should not be allowed to
attend at cinema theatres ? Well, that was a suggestion thrown
out by the Liverpool Joint Committee on Juvenile Crime.
41. I suppose you are not aware of the fact that some of the
probation officers of the large police courts actually take these
probationers to the cinemas as a reward for good conduct ? No ;
I will convey that information to, our stipendiary.
42. You object to the fact that there are not enough stories
showing courage, self-sacrifice or generosity? Yes.
43. Do you make that statement on your own personal experi-
ence or on information conveyed to you? On questioning the
police. I have gone into that matter in order to form some idea
of the variety of films exhibited on occasions when children are
expected to be present. I have not gone into what is being
displayed in the evening, in the entertainment in the second
house.
44. I suppose you would be surprised to hear that stories of this
particular kind are to be found in every programme of almost
every cinema theatre in the country ? I dare say there are, but I do
not know whose word I would take for it. I have seen stories of
adventure of the Buster Brown type, but they are not creditable
adventures.
45. You know in the melodrama that the hero does deeds of
courage and daring; you know what a popular feature that is in
all our popular theatres ? Yes, but in many of those I have seen
myself the hero is represented as exposed to certain temptations
which he triumphs over. Now the temptation on the film takes
five-sixths of the time, and the heroic triumph at the end is very
short, and the temptation leaves more impression on the child's
mind than the triumph at the end.
46. Well, I think you are addressing your mind to one set of
86 MUSIC LICENCES
ideas and I am addressing mine to another. I was not talking
of the temptation ; I was talking about the story of the melo-
dramatic type where the hero goes through a number of difficult
adventures such as setting about ten Huns at a time, and so on.
Don't you know that is a very popular form of appeal, and that is
to be found in the cinemas ? Yes, I think there is an amount of
good in it, undoubtedly.
47. And my information is that a large number of films have
been produced which give that useful addition and impulse to the
child's education, I mean the war films, and it gives them interest
in the great victories ? Well, there have certainly been some very
popular war films and also films showing munition making.
48. MR. NEWBOULD. Are you aware that the Courts have held
that when music is subsidiary to the pictures then a music licence
is not necessary ? No, the point has not been raised in Liverpool,
and in any case I think if you look at the report the powers under
the local Act are very extensive and
49. I notice you are referring to the Justices' rules in Liverpool.
Without a knowledge of your local Act it is impossible for me to
say anything, but in other places are you aware that such rules'
have been found to be ultra vires ? I know of the Halifax case,
but you mean the bringing in of those drastic rules in connection
with the music licences. '
50. My point is that if a music licence is not necessary these
conditions could not be enforced ? That is so, but as a matter of
fact I am told that no licence is ever applied for in Liverpool
without the application for music as well.
51. But if the exhibitor chose to do without music those condi-
tions could not be imposed upon his licence ? That is so, and if
the Committee like I will send them up an extract from the local
Act.
THE CHAIRMAN. Thank you, will you do so, please.
52. MR. NEWBOULD. Do you think it either practicable or
sensible that a doorkeeper should inquire into the relationship
between the guardian or the parents and the child going into the
theatre. Would you throw the onus on the cinema proprietors
to ascertain that? As the law stands I do not think the owner
of the cinema or the proprietor of the cinema can escape the onus
of responsibility.
53. THE CHAIRMAN. In answer to me you said you would
throw the onus on the police ? I would throw the onus on the police
for checking the proprietor. I would have a system by which
people were followed in and asked, and it would be ascertained
whether the person was the bona fide guardian of the child ; and
having found out a case, I would prosecute.
54. MR. NEWBOULD. In the case of a theatre holding, say, a
thousand people, all of whom are admitted in ten minutes, is it
practicable that an attendant should be able to inquire about that
in the time he has, I mean as to the relationship of the child ?
Yes ; a certain man can be told off for the work, and only a certain
number rieed be inquired into, and it can be done by having a set
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 37
of turnstiles. If, for instance, you make all the adults going to
the cinemas go in alone at one entrance, you would reduce your
problem very much.
55. Do you consider a police superintendent a fit and proper
person to censor films ? I see you say that the synopsis is sent
to the police superintendent ? I should think he is pretty good.
He is pretty good on the question of what incites to crime.
56. Are you aware that Mr. Justice Darling found that three
magistrates could not legally censor films ? No, I was not aware
of that. ,
57. It is unnecessary to ask if a police superintendent should
do what three magistrates could not legally do. Do you think
that a synopsis could be relied upon as a sufficient indication of
what the film portrays? It is rather a difficult question; it all
depends on the synopsis.
58. I see you do not think that there need be much difficulty
in enforcing rules and conditions to which you have referred with
regard to children. I suppose if they were proved to be illegal
you would consider that an obstacle to enforcing them? Yes,
naturally.
59. I see it is stated that 40 per cent, of the pupils of a Liver-
pool school were smuggled in. I also see that another 10 per
cent, got in without being smuggled, and I take it that the other
50 per cent, were properly accompanied by their parents or
guardians. Can you tell us how these figures were arrived at and
what the actual totals were ? Does the 40 per cent, mean forty
in one hundred or four in ten ? I have not got the return with
me, but you may take it from my recollection that they were
about forty per hundred in a week.
60. Do you think that any quantity of statistics proving the
popularity of the cinema can provide evidence of its moral effect ?
Yes, because it was tremendously interesting to find how many
children went three or four times a week.
61. Have you any direct evidence of children stealing money
for the purpose of going to cinema theatres ? I have this evidence,
that the stipendiary has definitely stated in public that he has had
to sentence boys for stealing money to enter picture houses.
62. Supposing that the cinema theatres were not in existence,
and ignoring for the moment the question of the war, do you know
of any other factors which would be likely to account for the
increase of juvenile crime? Yes.
63. Leaving the war entirely out of the question. Yes, I do
not think the cinema house is by any means the chief agent in
creating crime.
64. THE CHAIRMAN. Let me get that quite clear. You mean
if the cinema were conducted on the principles you hold you see
no reason that it should have any effect on juvenile crime what-
ever? It would always depend on the way it was done. If it
was done the way I suggest or on my principles, I think it would
decrease the crime.
65. MR. NEWBOULD. Does your idea of educating the child
38 MUSIC
include the total elimination of temptation? I do not think
it is possible to exclude temptation, as a certain amount is
inevitable.
66. You advocate more films of an industrial nature and films
showing sailors' life and that sort of thing ? Yes.
67. Are you aware that almost every filmable industry .has been
filmed and shown throughout the country several times ? Several
times. It should be shown continually ; there should be no show
without it.
68. Are you aware they have been shown so frequently that the
audiences say : " Take them off, we have seen them " ? You
mean adult audiences ?
69. Mixed audiences. Do you know that the films showing
the sailors' life have been shown so frequently that mothers com-
plain that their boys run away to sea ? No, that is news to me,
but if it is true I am pleased.
70. You are rather anxious as to the effect of the excitement
of these films. Would you eliminate all exciting games such as
the game of football, for instance ? No, I do not think you have
got quite clearly what I mean by excitement.
71. THE CHAIRMAN. I think it is very stimulating. It is one
thing to make it educational only, and another thing to make it
exciting. I use the word " exciting " there because I think it is
a bad mental state for a child to get into.
72. MR. NEWBOULD. You speak of the desirability of popu-
larising music. Yes.
73. Do you know any factor that has done as much to popularise
music as the cinema theatres ? Yes, there is one greater than the
cinema theatres church and chapel music.
74. You say that in view of the fact that over one thousand
million people visit the cinemas every year ? Yes, but I am speak-
ing of thousands of years of church and chapel music.
75. Is it a fact that if the Queen's Hall Symphony Orchestra
was engaged by a cinema proprietor in Liverpool, the magistrates
would not allow it to perform ? I do not know. I do not think
so ; I should be sorry if they did not.
76. Is it not a fact that in the music licences they prohibit the
use of brass instruments ? That I do not know, but I would rather
they prohibited brass instruments than string instruments.
77. MR. NEWBOULD. Is it a fact that if a cinema proprietor
were to engage Ben Davies to sing a song in a cinema theatre the
Liverpool Justices would prohibit that song? That I cannot
say.
78. DR. SALEEBY. You say in your evidence, Mr. Legge, that
the powers of concentration of a child are weakened by frequent
attendance at cinemas. May I ask whether you have observed
what degree of concentration children exhibit at cinemas ? Yes,
a child does not show much concentration at any time up to a
certain age. I have seen them very attentive at a cinema, but I
have never seen a child lost, forgetting the world altogether. I
think that comes in the later stage.
CINEMA AND PUBLIC-HOUSE 39
79. You have not seen them absorbed in a story or in a sequence
>f events ? No, I have never seen a child absorbed in a cinema
house, never in the way one sees a child absorbed in a story book.
I think the value of the visual presentation of things to a child is
very much exaggerated. I do not think they can see things up to
a certain age as after the age of puberty. I do not think a child
can see a picture properly.
80. Well, now, have you made yourself any observation, or
can you record any observation of people in cinemas who have
noted what they have heard children round about them- say, or
the questions they ask of their parents or guardians ? I heard
a girl say the other day after the Somme film, when her companion
was about to go before the end, " Oh, stay, Jack, there's a comic
film coming next."
81. You said your objection was that the shows were so stimu-
lating to the child ? Yes.
82. And later on you pressed for the exhibition of the Jack
Tar's life and so on, saying that you cannot imagine anything more
stimulating ? Yes.
83. Well, we must analyse that word. Well, I will substitute
thrilling for the first and stick to stimulating for the Jack Tar's
life.
84. It is the question of degree. Yes.
85. We were told last time and a point was made that only
one-eighth of the time spent in showing films is devoted to edu-
cation, and the proportion was so deplorably small. Now, as
an educationalist, can you mention many professed amusements
which devote more than one-eighth of the time in teaching, say,
natural history ? While I should like the cinema made as harm-
less an institution as possible, I should think that one-eighth of
definite educational effort in it was an ample proportion.
86. You raise some most important questions we have not gone
into about the cinema being a counter-attraction to the public-
house. You are, I am sure, with me when I say that the working
classes spend more on drink than they do on rent? I believe
that is true.
87. You say, dealing with the suggestion as to substitutes,
" Healthy means for indoor recreation for -children and their
elders might be found in reformed public-houses." May I ask
you very definitely whether you mean the non-alcoholic house
or the continental cafe ? No, I distinctly mean the place where
you can get alcohol.
88. I should like to know whether Mr. Legge would suggest
that the continental cafe plus alcohol is preferable to the non-
alcoholic cinema for the recreation of the family ? Yes, I do.
89. Preferable to the non-alcoholic cinema ? -Yes, I do.
90. MR. EDGAR JEPSON. In regard to the question of stimu-
lants; do you want films which stimulate the ordinary effort
only ? I say it is not a wholesome stimulant.
91. No matter how exciting the film is, it stimulates? No,
there again I think the element of excitement is bad.
40 INJURIOUS INFLUENCES
92. Well, taking the cinema as it is, would you prefer it to
continue and children to go to it, or for them to be prevented
going to it and remaining in the streets ? I would rather they were
allowed to go to it, under such safeguards as we have in Liverpool.
93. Well, are the authorities in Liverpool, while they are in-
clined to discourage children going to the cinema, are they taking
any steps to provide anything in its place? They are not dis-
couraging them going to the cinemas except to the second house,
the later house.
94. MRS. BunpwiN. What time is that; is it an evening
performance of the cinema ? The late house is defined, that is,
commencing at 8.30.
95. There are not any afternoon performances? Yes, in some
houses there are, but then the school attendances keep the children
clear of them up to 4.30 or 5.
96. Have you found your school attendance affected by the
opening of the cinema ? No, because no child can escape. We
have got more than eighty school attendance officers, and we can
have one at every cinema in the town and make raids.
97. May I ask what age you call a child ? I call it a child up
to the age of puberty.
98. You would say from five to fourteen ? Roughly.
99. Have you had any charges of indecency as taking place
in the cinemas in Liverpool ? I have only heard of one.
100. That was proved ? I do not know, it was only incidentally
mentioned to me.
101. I gather you do not think that the cinema has really any
educational value to a child ? Very little indeed.
102. You also think it rather injurious to sit within fifteen feet
of the films? Yes.
103. For the child's eyesight ? Yes.
104. You would think, too, that if there is this afternoon per-
formance, it would be rather difficult to ventilate because of the
continuous films, with the result that the atmosphere would be
rather injurious to any child ? I have been rather struck not
only with the comfort of the cinema houses, but also with their
ventilation. They are well ventilated.
105. SIR JOHN KIRK. Have you any boys or girls in your
reformatory schools who are there through the influence of the
cinema? Well, I ceased to have any connection with them ten
years ago. This has grown since then.
106. THE CHAIRMAN. On that point, is it not a fact that boys
were in reformatory schools years ago because of the hooliganism ?
There was nothing but the streets for them ? Largely.
107. SIR JOHN KIRK. Are you aware there has been an ex-
periment at the Settlement to provide cinemas for the children ?
Yes, I was associated with it.
108. It was a failure? It was not a success; but the war
cut it short, and it all depends upon the help we receive from the
teachers. If we conduct that experiment again I would associate
half a dozen of the head teachers with it.
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 41
109. Had you any difficulty in getting any particular film you
desired? Well, I had not the management of it, but I think
the head of the Settlement had a good deal of trouble.
110. Is that the only experiment that was tried there? Yes,
the only genuine experiment.
111. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Mr. Legge, would you suggest, or
do you suggest that there was any collusion on the part of the
exhibitors or the owners with these people who have smuggled
the children in; that there were any professional people to do
it? No.
112. Has that been considered specifically? No.
113. I was dealing with the investigations of this observer,
the principal of a Liverpool School. Did he give any information
of the people having taken the children in and then going out
again immediately? No.
114. That is an important point? I think it is.
115. Can you try to get some information about it ? Certainly.
116. Because it seems to me a little difficult that there should
always be at hand a sufficient number of benevolent outsiders
to take this large body of children in ? But I find it very difficult
in the present state of the public mind to try and check it.
117. I should have thought that as people have been the subject
of public charges, that the average man would have been very
careful in taking children in. As to the stealing which is said
now to be very extensive by juveniles. Is there any evidence
beyond that of the culprits in their pleading? There is the
evidence of the cases before the police court.
118. But I suppose you have a good deal of experience that
adults don't always speak the truth when they charge children
for certain purposes. Adults sometimes charge children to get
rid of them ? That is so.
119. Now take the stipendiary before whom the boy is brought
up and charged. You see the magistrate leaning over the Bench,
and he says : " My boy, why did you do that? " and the boy
says : "I did it to go to the pictures." Do you attach any im-
portance to that ? No, but I am quite sure in the case of our
stipendiary he would turn to the police and ask them if there
was any ground for it.
120. But would you attach any very great importance to the
excuses a culprit gives which he thinks will mitigate a sentence ?
No.
121. Has it not been written about very extensively in the
papers? Yes, it has.
122. It is stated in the daily Press and I think it is given
prominence to, that children have been led away by this ? I do
not think the Magistrate has the command of the daily Press.
123. One magistrate has made a very strong pronouncement,
Mr. d'Eyncourt, upon the worthlessness of such excuses put
forward, and he has said that he disbelieves in them. I suppose
you agree that there has been more money available since the war
in the poorer districts ? Yes.
42 EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS
124. And therefore children have been able to go in many cases
with much greater frequency to the cinemas. Will you accept
that ? Yes.
125. SIR W. BARRETT. Have you any regulations in Liverpool
as regards the non-admission of children to cinemas where the
public schools have been closed for infectious diseases ? Yes,
we have.
126. They are prevented from admission? Yes, in the event
of any department of a public elementary school within a radius
of a quarter of a mile being closed for infectious diseases the
pupils are not allowed admission.
127. Do you think a great deal of advantage would accrue if
the cinemas were better lighted? Yes; I think they are un-
naturally dark, and I think it would, of course, obviate some of
the moral difficulties.
128. You think it would be better ? Personally, I should like
to sit in darkness, but I see there are reasons why it should be
light.
129. What do you mean by the reformed public-house in your
evidence? Well, I do not mean a public-house where alcoholic
drink is not allowed. I mean a place where people can meet
and sit down, where you are not practically forced to drink be-
cause you have to stand up at the bar of the place, and also where
meals can be provided at the same time.
130. Do you think there would be an advantage for children
to attend a reformed public-house ? Yes, if it was a place where
the family could meet or where two or three families could meet
and sit round the table.
131. Where intoxicating liquors are sold ? Yes.
132. MR. GRAVES. With reference to the Justices and their
opinion upon the films which should be shown. Are the films
presented chosen by the Justices alone, or by the Justices and
the members of the Education Committee ? The Justices.
133. And the Education Committee have nothing to say to it ?
No.
134. Why should they not? Surely they are the people who
would be most likely to advise, on the educational side, at any
rate ? As a matter of fact that difficulty does not arise, because
I think the members of the Justices' Bench who take the most
interest in the matter are also members of the Education Com-
mittee.
135. Is the cinematograph used by your teachers either in the
form of pathescope or in any other form in any of your schools ?
No.
136. But occasionally children have been taken to educational
cinematograph shows at certain centres. Do I understand you
to say that some cinematograph education shows have been given
in the town to which the teachers have taken the children ? Yes,
there was one experience of the sort.
137. Was that successful ? It was not.
138. Why was it not ? Did you have a successful show or was
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 43
it that it was not well shown so that the teachers objected to it ?
Well, I do not think it was sufficiently well advertised.
139. Or organised ? Or organised.
140. Do you think it a good thing that the local authorities
should have one cinematograph theatre of their own at which
educational and other films of a better type might be shown ?
Yes, I think it would be a good thing. It would perhaps keep
alive the system of municipal lectures and so on. It would work
hand in glove with that.
141. I merely suggest that they should have one of their own?
Yes, but I should not feel enthusiastic about it ; I should feel
that it was a valuable experiment.
142. MR. LAMERT. You quote in your report that the con-
stant attendance is injurious to the children. Now, how would
you define constant attendance ? I should say once a week
regularly.
143. Once a week is too much. Is once a fortnight too much?
No, not in the winter months.
144. In the winter months you would be inclined to allow a
child once a fortnight ? At least.
145. But you said just now that once a week was too much ?
Yes, but I mean twice in three weeks.
146. Well, about that amount, twice in three weeks? Yes.
147. And anything above that you would regard as an excess ?
Yes.
148. Now with regard to this question about children stealing
to see the pictures. You have quoted one stipendiary and Mon-
signor Brown has quoted another. Have you in point of fact
ever consulted with another stipendiary, except the one you
quoted, on this point ? No.
149. We have got here two stipendiaries, one says one thing
and the other says another. You have not taken a consensus
of opinion ? No ; but I am inclined to adopt the opinion of our
own stipendiary.
150. Now the question has come up about the children stealing,
and that the cinema was fatally attractive, too attractive. Now,
I am in a little difficulty; children steal because the cinema is
too attractive, but in this evidence you put before us you show
us how to make it still more attractive ? Yes.
151. You are not, surely, inciting us to get the children to steal
more ? No ; but I say that the success of the cinema shows to
me the miserable conditions under which millions of our country-
men live. If we have got to accept that, let us do our best to
improve things ; let us at the same time provide good alternatives
which will take away the impulse to go to these cinemas as the
one resource.
152. You have used the word " comic." Have you any general
objection to the comic films? It seems like King Charles's head;
you seem to have a rooted antipathy to anything comic.
THE CHAIRMAN. Mr. Legge when dealing with the recreative
side says : " It is useful to have a comic film, even if it is vulgar,
44 UNDESIRABLE FILMS
because it is recreative." I think nearly everything I have seen
on the music hall stage or on a film which professes to be comic
is vulgar. That is to say, it is a bit degrading, it is a poor type
of humour.
153. MR. LAMERT. I think one of the films we have showing
is the meeting between Betsy Prig and Sarah Gamp? I would
not select that as a typical scene to amuse the child.
154. Do you think it would do a child harm to see that among
other things ? Not much, not that particular scene.
155. Have you seen Charlie Chaplin yourself? In film, yes.
156. Did it strike you as being vulgar and stupid? Yes; but
I confess I enjoyed it very much.
157. Have you seen him a second time? Yes.
1$8. Did you enjoy it as much as ever ? Yes ; I have only seen
him twice.
159. Remarkable ! Now you mentioned in reply to a question
from Mr. T. P. O'Connor when he was asking you this question
about comic films, that some films showed a child as the hero of
these knockabout comic incidents ? Yes.
160. Can you give me the name of one of these films? I am
afraid not.
161. Can you give me the name of the company which manu-
factured it ? The name is always found on the screen first. No ;
the latest film I have seen with reference to it is where a party
of cyclists arrived at an inn.
162. May I interrupt you? We do not want to go into the
story. You must bear in mind that some of us here represent
the cinematograph industry, and we are only too anxious to
eliminate anything which ought not to be there. 'Now, is it
helpful or is it fair to us for you to refer to a film whose name
you cannot give, which was manufactured by a company whose
name you cannot give, and was exhibited at some place so that we
cannot trace it ? I do not see any hardship in it. I do not think
this Commission in any case would take action against that firm.
No, this Commission would not; but, as I have said, there are
persons here interested in the cinematograph industry, and it
would be useful if we could know what the film really was and who
the manufacturers were.
THE CHAIRMAN. At any rate you cannot get it, as he has
not got it.
163. MR. LAMERT. Can you give us one of these? I will
use my best endeavours. You have never seen a film of the
Buster Brown type, then, where there is a famous child actor?
164. THE CHAIRMAN. If Mr. Legge can at any time give us
some details about that, it would be all right ? I will.
165. MR. LAMERT. You say there are objectionable films
and things like that? Yes, for children.
166. And things like love-making. Does that cover all love-
making? I do not mean the affection between father and child.
167. No, I do not mean that; but can you imagine literature
with the love interest cut out ? No.
LOVE-MAKING SCENES 45
168. Can you imagine the cinematograph or the author of
cinematograph writing plots with the love interest cut out?
No ; but I think it is very bad for children to see an adult love-
making on the film.
169. You would not press the point to cut it out and therefore
spoil the cinema? No; but I would have them very closely
watched, particularly the scenes of love-making in the kitchen
between the policeman and the cook.
170. MR. CROOK. You say you have a Joint Committee in
Liverpool? That is a Joint Committee to go into the question
of juvenile crime.
171. Whom does that Joint Committee consist of? Five
magistrates, exclusive of the stipendiary, and five members of
the Education Committee.
172. Did you ever contemplate the advantage of having a
teacher on this Committee ? There was one, one of the five, who
was the teachers' representative on the Committee.
173. You talk about the difficulty of getting statistics. Would
it not be possible for you, as the Director of Education of Liver-
pool, to get the head teachers to get out your statistics ? Yes ;
but just now the teachers are complaining so much about the
strain of the war.
174. Well, would you have any objection to my asking them ?
I think my Committee would rather ask them.
175. Well, if I ask your Committee, would they do it? Well,
I am not sure at the moment, because we are endeavouring to
confine ourselves to our business as far as possible. .
176. Yes, but this is your business. You yourself have talked
about the effect of cinemas on children, and it is the duty of the
Committee to see that that is nullified as far as possible. Now
you could in two days get the figures, say, for a week, from your
head teachers if you wanted them ; not only that, you could get
figures to show how many went to the cinemas and who had taken
them ? Well, I am not sure.
177. THE CHAIRMAN. Before you go any further, I should
like to allude to one point. I consider it a very important point
when you say you would like to eliminate love-making from the
cinema. Of course, if you did so, commercially you would inter-
fere very strongly with the cinema ? I have been thinking over
the point, and I have thought of a word which I think would
cover love-making. The word I would have no objection to is
" idyllic." I have only got the children up to fourteen years
of age in mind.
178. So that at the Saturday afternoon performances for
children you would like to eliminate the love-making scenes and
films from that entertainment? Yes, I think that is all I had
in mind.
179. The child does not concentrate upon it, and therefore,
is there much harm in the child seeing the love-making scene
which may be part of a very interesting film ? The last time I was
in a cinema there was the love-making scene, and there happened
46 MR. HEPWORTH'S EVIDENCE
to be a lady and two cKildren behind me, and the questions
they asked showed that they had noticed nothing of the love-
making. I think the danger is largely mitigated if there is no
love-making. Of course, that is bound to be understood by the
child.
STATEMENT OF MR. CECIL HEPWORTH
PRECIS
MY LORD BISHOP, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
The cinematograph is undoubtedly destined to exert a
tremendously powerful influence upon thought and understand-
ing in every phase of life. No one doubts the vast influence
wielded by literature to-day as exemplified in the modern Press,
yet who, in Caxton's time, would have dared to foreshadow its
immense and far-reaching power? But in this wonderful new
art of Living Photography we have the beginning of something
which is certainly shaping as the greatest vehicle of the convey-
ance of thought and idea that the world has ever known. Greater
even than literature if only on the one count that it appeals direct
to the intelligence and understanding through the eye without the
necessity of any previous education in its interpreting.
In order to illustrate the universality of appeal of the living
pictures and their influence as a national asset, I should like to
quote a simple instance. Suppose that ten years hence one of
our smaller colonies has reached a stage of expansion when it is
realised that vast new municipal undertakings in the shape of
numerous steel bridges, say, must be faced. Suppose that for
those ten years the young men of that colony the men who
have the shaping of her destiny have been mentally nourished
on moving pictures made, say, in America. Their knowledge of
their mother country will be confined to hearsay and to such
pleasure as their technical training may have left them leisure
for. On the other hand they will have a clear and vivid impres-
sion of the multifarious industries and activities of America ; the
very essence of American thought and influence will have been
brought right home to them. Now, let us suppose that both
England and America tender for the supply of those bridges and
that their terms are equal. Can it be in doubt for a single
moment to which country those orders will go ?
The illustration is merely intended to show how deep and
far-reaching an influence the cinematograph must necessarily
exert upon all receptive minds, and since the youthful mind is
more receptive and more retentive than that of the adult, the
influence is necessarily the greatest there. It is intensely im-
portant, from a national point of view, that good and worthy
pictures of home production should be exhibited in the cinema
theatres of the Homeland.
But apart from these broader issues, international trade is
CINEMA POSSIBILITIES 47
itself a thing of vast importance, becoming vastly more important
as time goes on. Among the industries to be fostered, cinemato-
graph picture making will be one. The pictures will find their
way into new countries because the new men and the children
of the new men will want to see what the old countries are doing,
and trade, and after that many other things, will automatically
follow them.
The little illustration which has been given to indicate the
influence of the living photographs upon growing thought was
purposely confined to pictures made with no deliberate intention
other than that of entertaining. It is the unintentional in-
fluence, absorbed unconsciously in the ordinary course of leisure
and pleasure, which has the deep and lasting effect. But there
will be an immense field for the cinematograph in the domain of
deliberate education as well as in that of intentional advertising.
The adaptability of the cinematograph to educational purposes
must be obvious to every one. Delicate surgical operations can
be x repeated indefinitely before a practically unlimited number
of students, where only a few could see the real thing once. The
dramatic moments of history can be re-enacted by skilled players
before recurring multitudes of youthful learners, while the
geographical features of foreign lands can be literally brought
home to the young with a realism which is second only to that
of actual foreign travel. This immense and unexplored field for
cinematography in the domain of education is waiting only for
a cheaper " base " than celluloid, for expense is practically the
only thing which stands in the way of progress now.
Nevertheless, the greatest influence of the pictures will always
be that which they exercise unconsciously. The greatest influence
of the Press is wielded by its general writers those who make
books and papers for entertainment and informative interest;
not those who write textbooks of science and education.
And it is the pictures of general interest which can most easily
be hurt by injudicious control now. If this wonderful child-
genius, whose babyhood we are watching, is to grow into the
great and beneficent leader we believe it is destined to be, it
must be wisely led and encouraged, not hampered and thwarted
at every turn by an ignorant and cowardly fear of a possible
inherent vice. Cranks and faddists from time immemorial have
arisen to condemn every art for the sake of the grain of evil of
which they can see it to be capable. It is for us to see that this
great new art, fraught with wonderful possibilities of happiness
and enlightenment for us and our children and our children's
children and for our nation as a whole, shall not be emasculated,
shall not be rendered harmless and therefore powerless for good
as well. By all means let us control or suppress those who would
misuse it, but let us beware of hurting the thing itself by injudicious
pruning or unwise guiding.
It will be interesting to see what the picture makers of this
country are doing. The first and most obvious point, which will
strike any intelligent observer, is the fact that, compared with
48 BRITISH PRODUCTION
their foreign rivals, they are doing very little indeed, but though
few in number, British-made films are among the best in the
world. The climatic conditions here are, it is true, not as easy
as those which obtain, say, on the west coast of America, yet
the fact that the photographic results are equal to those from
any part of the world is sufficient proof that what difficulties
there are, are certainly not insuperable.
One of the principal causes of the slowness of progress in this
country, compared with its foreign competitors, is to be found
in the curious objection which English people have to change.
The possibilities of art in the cinematograph, even now only
recognised by comparatively few, were scoffed at for years by all
those who should have helped to bring it forth. The great actors
of this country delayed giving their aid, almost until their aid
had become superfluous, almost, indeed, until it came to be
recognised that acting for the cinematograph is more than a
mere variant of stage acting ; something new, something different,
something requiring new and different characteristics beyond
those which stage actors are able to give. Nevertheless, amongst
those who have turned their attention to the cinematograph we
now find great names.
English picture makers have always been short of capital.
For some reason the English investor has regarded this industry
as far too precarious to command his serious attention, and
opportunity after opportunity has slipped by and fallen to the
credit of our rivals. The budding industry has been looked at
askance by all those in high places. It is almost an impossibility
for an English picture maker to obtain such facilities for his
work from railroad and steamship companies as in America are
freely and gladly given. The proposal to make pictures of serious
historical interest in such a place as Hampton Court Palace, for
instance, although it can be clearly proved that no single right
or privilege would be thereby usurped, evokes only a scornful
wonder from those in authority.
The ambitious nature of the picture drama of the present day
as compared with that of its prototype of twenty years ago is
reflected in its changed dimensions. The pictures at first were
forty to fifty feet in length, and now the average length of a
picture is 5000 feet, and much greater lengths are reached in
special subjects. The world's weekly output of original pictures
is about 500,000 feet, and if the average number of prints to meet
the world's demand be put at fifty copies, we have the colossal
figure of 25,000,000 feet a week.
But though millions of British capital be involved in the
cinematograph industry as a whole, though thousands of pounds
are spent by producers upon every single picture they make,
though hundreds of thousands of people are kept in clean, healthy,
remunerative employment, none of these things count, or should
be allowed to count, if the industry in itself were not a good and
worthy one, exercising a beneficent and creative influence upon
the growth of the nation.
CRIME FILMS 49
Perhaps we are suffering from the rapidity of our growth,
perhaps some of the symptoms which have been diagnosed as
malignant disease are really only growing pains. The demand
for pictures has increased far more rapidly than the supply could
properly keep pace with, and the result is that pictures have been
made crudely, unsympathetically, of subjects which by their
very naturedemanded the most careful and delicate treatment,
and thoughtless people, seeing these pictures, seeing only the
faults and not recognising the possibilities, have condemned the
whole industry in consequence.
It has been said that no pictures dealing with any kind of
crime should ever be shown to young people, lest the desire for
crime might be engendered, but surely that is not a proper view.
The works of Charles Dickens deal almost entirely with crime and
its results, and those works find a place, unquestioned, on the
bookshelves of young people. It is incorrect to state that that
which the child may with advantage read about, he may not
also see in pictures, provided always that the subject is delicately
and sincerely treated. The famous burglary in " Oliver Twist "
is no more likely to incite a desire to burgle when its tragic con-
sequences are shown in a picture, than if they are merely described
in print, and such incidents as the murder of Nancy can, it has
been proved, be far more effectively shown by suggestion than
if they were crudely and disgustingly portrayed in the full view
of the picture.
Probably it will be realised in the future that there is prac-
tically no subject which cannot be effectively and properly dealt
with by a producer who is sincere and earnest and has sufficient
knowledge and control of his craft. It is not the subject which
matters, but the treatment of the subject, and after all, that is
equally true of literature, painting, sculpture or any other art
under the sun.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. CECIL HEPWORTH. 1 Examined.
1. PRINCIPAL GARVIE. In your evidence you speak of injudi-
cious control. What would you call the injudicious control of
the cinema? Well, unwise control, control which is limited. . I
do not know if I can define " injudicious."
2. I should like some concrete instance. Would you consider
objections to stories of crime as injudicious ? Not necessarily, no.
3. I am very anxious that we should know exactly what
measure of control those who are specially interested in the
trade are prepared to accept. Would you give an instance of
what you consider injudicious control? The control which
eliminates every form of love-making; I should regard that as
injudicious control.
4. Then you speak of cranks and faddists. Would you include
1 See also pp. 74-80.
E
50 CENSORSHIP
under that those who hold that there is a great need for purification
of the cinema ? No, I would not.
5. You admit there is need for purification ? Yes, I think so,
certainly.
6. Then you speak of a certain form of control and suppres-
sion. Would you make that a little more definite ? What form
of control would you favour? A wise censorship.
7. Local or national? National if not imperial, certainly.
Not smaller than national, because a local and consequently a
varying control would hamper the industry.
8. There are different districts and naturally there are different
ideas. Some cities might feel that they can draw the moral rein
a little tighter than other cities, with the support of the public
generally. That being so, do you think national and imperial
control would be fair? Don't you think that local sentiment
should have a say in this matter? I should hope that local
opinion and local sentiment could be sufficiently represented
upon the choice of the censor to meet their views.
9. Then you deal with the subject of crime, and refer to a
contention that no pictures dealing with any kind of crime should
ever be shown to young people. Would you say that in the
cinemas as they now exist the pictures are generally and properly
presented ? Well, I do not know what suits the word " generally."
They certainly are in some cases.
10. Would you say that at the majority of houses when a
film is presented dealing with crime, it would meet the demand
if it was properly represented? I have not seen many cases
where it has been indelicately and improperly presented.
11. THE CHAIRMAN. You don't see the smaller houses?
Yes, I see many of them. I make it a practice of going to as
great a variety as I can.
12. You are Managing Director of the Hepworth Cinemato-
graph Company? Yes.
13. You are on the Committee of the British Board of Film
Censors, a member of the Cinematograph Trade Council, you
have been connected very much with the industry from its
institution, and your firm is one of the oldest producing firms in
this country? Yes.
14. Now I want to ask you this question. You feel that
there is for an ordinary person a very considerable advantage
and effect psychologically produced by seeing something than
by hearing about it? Yes; the effect is more direct and is
more readily retained in the memory.
15. Therefore it comes to this important point, that some-
thing we see should be something we deserve to see ? Yes.
16. Has the educational world and the artistic world left the
cinema trade very much to itself. It has had to work out its
own salvation? Yes, with the exception of a few spasmodic
efforts, I think it has. The only voices that have been raised
have been against us.
17. Do many writers suggest to you original work for films?
SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS 51
Do they write something really good and original ? Well, as a
rule they write us stories of crime which we do not care to
accept.
18. I take it that the literary men have rather found the
technique of the photo play beyond them ? They don't seem to
have troubled to interest themselves about it. The stuff they
send in is very crude ; in fact, they have not studied the technique,
which is very difficult.
19. Do you think it possible that the people who produce
things for the cinema sometimes rather under-estimate the desire
of the public for good things ? Yes, I think perhaps there is a
tendency that way.
20. Now, I do not like to go into the question of the performers,
but may I take it that it is possible even to be a very good actor
on the theatrical stage and to be a very poor film player? Yes,
that is demonstrated constantly.
21. And therefore some of the effects produced by the cinema
are less satisfactory because in some cases you have not got a
proper cinema player ? Exactly ; we do not even now know what
a proper cinema player is, for, you see, it is undeveloped.
22. You say here that the American trade is very enormous
as compared with ours, with the result that the people get to
know a great deal more about what is done in America and get
attracted towards America, which attraction might be afterwards
used commercially ? Yes.
23. You really think that a person would be inclined to get
machinery from America because he had seen on the film that
this was a common thing in America? I put it in a very con-
crete way. I feel that the influence of the film is very strongly
in favour of the country in which the film originated.
24. Then you say : " The adaptability of the cinematograph
to educational purposes must be obvious to every one. Delicate
surgical operations can be repeated indefinitely before a prac-
tically unlimited number of students where only a few could see
the real thing once." Now it seems to me that if a medical
student saw a surgical operation on the cinema he would not be
getting as much out of it as if he saw the actual thing ? Yes ;
he might see the actual thing once, but then he would have the
details driven home to him by a constant repetition of the picture.
The camera could be so placed as to gain the most favourable
possible view of the operation, and could be sufficiently close,
closer perhaps than any one student could get to observe it.
With the camera the film could be shown so that the subject
could be brought home to all the students with equal clearness.
25. Don't you take ratrier too black a view of what has been
done to your trade by saying : " If this wonderful child-genius
whose babyhood we are watching is to grow into the great and
beneficent leader we believe it is destined to be, it must be wisely
led and encouraged, not hampered and thwarted at every turn
by an ignorant and cowardly fear of a possible inherent vice " ?
I am speaking there of the future, not t)f the past.
52 CINEMA BEGINNINGS
26. You don't imply that is the attitude ? No, I am only
fearing that may be the attitude.
27. Apparently England was leading in supplying the public
demand for moving pictures once upon a time? Yes, I think
that was so.
28. How did England lose that ? It is a long story. Am I
to go into it?
29. Who is the proper person to go into that ? I think I should.
MR. LAMERT. Mr. Hepworth has been right through with
this industry from the start. He is in a position to deal with it
better than anybody living.
30. THE CHAIRMAN. Why the English have failed? That is
what I want to know. I think that would help our inquiry very
much that is, if the Commission thinks so. (Hear, hear.)
MR. HEPWORTH. Well, it is largely a matter of personal
history.^ The films were being made in this country, and I was
making^a number of films in this country about eighteen or
nineteen years ago.
31. THE CHAIRMAN. You have brought some of them with
you ? Yes, I did bring a specimen of the films of those days
when they were fifty feet in length. The one I have here is
about eighty feet. The films consisted in the old days of pictures
of railway trains in cuttings and of omnibuses in Piccadilly any
little thing which tended to movement. There was no attempt
to make a consecutive story. Any form of movement satisfied
us, because it was a miracle to see moving photographs, and that
was what the people were asking for. That idea caused a great
many people to believe that this would be a nine days' wonder,
and as soon as curiosity was satisfied, it would be all over. They
did not foresee that this new thing would be a means of telling
stories and recording important events, and that the interest in
the actual fact of the movement of the photograph would cease,
but the interest would be in the things recorded. Well, while
we were satisfying the craving of the people to see movement in
a photograph, we were supplying showmen all over the country,
such as circus proprietors and travelling booths, and so on.
They were the people who consumed our pictures ; also lecturers
and the successors of the lantern-slide lecturers, who visited the
mechanics' institutes throughout the country. The demand for
pictures in America was a good deal greater than it was in
England. We were in the habit of supplying, forty, fifty, or
sixty copies of every one of those innocent pictures which we
produced for England.
32. THE CHAIRMAN. Or for other countries ? Yes, and which
we produced for other countries. It seemed to take different
nations in turn. The Americans later took to the pictures, and
then there was a trade storm in America. Then it was dis-
covered that certain patent rights were being infringed whole-
sale, patent rights held by Edison, and Edison conceived the
idea of putting up what he called a trust. He licensed certain
cinematograph people and gave them the right, on payment of
AMERICAN TRADE 53
a royalty of half a cent a foot on every film they used, to utilise
his patents.
33. THE CHAIRMAN. Was he practically the only person then
producing in America ? No, there were several, but he held the
master patents. The kinetoscope used a continuous film, and in
order to move it, it had a sprocket wheel on the drum with a
number of teeth in it which took the perforation in the film. The
only thing that people could use was the sprocket wheels for
driving their machines, and this sprocket wheel was what Edison
had, and upon this he put a tax. Then the Biograph Company
found they had an arrangement which was almost as good as
Edison's, and they said to the exporters : " Send your films to
us and pay us the royalty, and we will fight Edison for you and
protect you."
34. MR. LAMERT. Was that Biograph Company an American
Company? Yes, it was an American Company, but it had an
English branch. The Biograph Company had bigger pictures,
and their pictures were very expensive, and they could not
long hold their own against the smaller and cheaper pictures
of the Edison gauge. The Biograph Company, being on its last
legs, apparently made this offer to the importers in America.,
that they would protect them against Edison, oppose the trust,
and grant them an entry into the American market. We paid
to the Biograph Company I speak now of the European com-
panies generally the same rate of royalty that the other firms
were paying Edison, until the time came that this Biograph
Company joined with Edison and refused to have anything more
to do with us. By various means, and I think it is only fair to
say by the greater insight of the financial people of America, it
gained a large financial leading over the European market, and
certainly over the English people. The English people had been
hampered by the want of capital from the beginning, but when
the Biograph Company joined hands with Edison and formed
this big trust, it immediately stopped the import of films from
England in fact, from Europe generally and that hampered,
naturally, the English producers very much indeed.
35. MR. LAMERT. Did we retaliate by refusing to allow the
American films to come into this country? No; nobody could
retaliate except the Government. There was no trade force
strong enough to do so. Just about that time the first picture
theatre proper was opened in this country.
36. THE CHAIRMAN. Which was the first? I think it was
the one in the Strand just by the old Tivoli.
37. THE SECRETARY. The place is there now? Yes. They
opened picture theatres on the Boulevards in Paris, and there
were hundreds in America at that time, and yet there was nothing
in this country ; we were still relying on the mechanics' institutes
and the circus proprietors. At that time the American people
decided to make pictures on their own account instead of import-
ing from Europe. The first picture palaces, were opened in this
country about the same time, and it followed as the natural
54 AMERICAN TRADE
sequence that the picture theatre proprietors were educated in the
belief that the only pictures they could obtain were those sent
over from America. At this time the Americans were making
much better pictures than the Europeans. The Europeans had
been having everything their own way beforehand, and they had
been supplying the markets practically unhindered, but they
made no progress. The Americans had to fight that big com-
petition, and having apparently unlimited capital at their back,
they were able to do so, and suddenly startled us by making
infinitely better pictures than it was possible for us to make.
38. THE CHAIRMAN. We must remember they had better
climatic conditions, or was it by pooling their brains? Yes, by
pooling their brains.
39. THE SECRETARY. And they make better films to-day than
we do ? No, we won't admit that, but they make very much
more. Then the picture theatres of this country were fed in
their sudden demand, by pictures made in America, and they
were remarkably good pictures, which to this day have never
been beaten.
40. DR. SALEEBY. What is the date of this ?
THE CHAIRMAN. I understand 1908.
MR. HEPWORTII. Well, from that point the Americans have
realised the possibilities of this cinematograph from the com-
mercial point of view more clearly than the English people have.
There has not been that support of the English manufacturers ;
it has been hard to obtain capital to develop the picture industry
in the way it should be developed. The money that was available
for the cinematograph progress was put into the theatres for many
years, and it cannot be denied that for many years the theatres of
this country were infinitely better than the theatres in America.
41. THE CHAIRMAN. That has had a very considerable effect
in popularising the cinema here, the excellence of the building ?
Undoubtedly.
42. And now you are producing very much better pictures ?
Yes, the pendulum is, swinging in the opposite direction. We
found it was necessary to make better pictures in order to oust
the Americans from this country and, if possible, to get a hold
on their market, but we have never been able as yet to do it.
43. What is the proportion, roughly, of films made in this
country as compared with films made in America? I should
think 5 per cent, would be very optimistic. Eighty-five per cent.
American, 5 per cent. English, and 10 per cent, various.
MR. LAMERT. I doubt if there is 10 per cent, outside America.
44. THE SECRETARY. How many manufacturers have you in
this country making films? That is a very liquid thing for the
moment, because they are closing down every day for the want
of staffs.
45. You have three or four left, I take it? I doubt it now.
Three have closed down during the last few months.
46. THE CHAIRMAN. That is an explanation of the present
state of things ? Yes.
IMPORT TAXATION 55
DR. SALEEBY. Is it proper to ask whether or not enormous
sums of our money are going over to America for this business ?
47. THE CHAIRMAN. I suppose there are a number of English
people in the American companies? Yes.
48. DR. SALEEBY. We are pouring an enormous amount of
money into America ? Undoubtedly.
49. THE SECRETARY. I saw a bill the other day which showed
that one particular firm paid 36,800 in ten months for Customs
duties on films coming to this country. You have many firms
doing likewise ? I do not know the actual figures, but it must
be a big amount.
MR. LAMERT. Some time ago the British manufacturers
attended as a deputation before the Customs to go into this
question of taxation. Unfortunately the Treasury saw the
Americans first, and I think it would be interesting to ask Mr.
Hepworth if he will give some particulars as to what the official
attitude was towards the British manufacturers.
50. THE CHAIRMAN. You attended the meeting with the
Customs on the subject of the taxation of American films ? Yes.
51. What was the result? Well, the actual net result was a
small tax placed on the Americans. I think it is one-third of a
penny.
52. MR. LAMERT. I think it is one-third of a penny on un-
impressed stock, a penny a foot for positives, and fivepence a
foot on negatives? Yes, it is somewhere round that.
53. THE CHAIRMAN. Might not the effect of that be to rather
tempt the manufacturers here to make really bad stuff? Yes,
it might.
54. And that has not been yielded to ? Certainly only in a
very minute degree, if at all.
55. Now it is sometimes said that the Americans are no longer
producing crook films and what we may call the lower type of
moral film. They are no longer producing them either for them-
selves or for England? I have not heard that, and they would
not be likely to produce them for one country only.
56. THE SECRETARY. Well, the cowboy film ? Yes, that has
been to a very large extent overdone, but it is only dead for the
time, probably.
57. You say this : " The demand for pictures has increased
far more rapidly than the supply could probably keep pace with,
and the result is that very many producers have stepped in."
Is there no power of control in regard to that matter ? No ;
anybody can set up as a producer of films and everybody thinks
he can do it.
58. REV. CAREY BONNER. I take it that the cinematograph
theatres in Great Britain are really running 90 per cent, of
American stuff? Quite 90 per cent. The Americans can import
their films to this country upon the payment of a small import
duty.
56 MR. JOHN D. TIPPETT'S EVIDENCE
THIRD DAY
Monday, January 22, 1917,
The BISHOP OF BIRMINGHAM in the chair.
STATEMENT OF MR. JOHN D. TIPPETT
PRECIS
As an American, born and bred, I have been in intimate touch
with the conditions of things in the United States and have been
connected with the cinema trade virtually ever since its earliest
days. I have had ample opportunity in the last three years, while
holding the control of the Trans-Atlantic Film Company, which
is a British company, to study the ramifications of the British
film trade in its relations to American pictures in its most intimate
details.
At present, owing to the war and other causes, there appears to
be a decrease in the quantity of film subjects turned out in the
States, w r hile at the same time, signs are not wanting that both
in quality and in excellence all round the film output is vastly
improved. The major proportion of the films shown at present
in British picture houses are American, and we can realise from this
fact alone that American manufacturers have every reason to raise
the level of their productions. Practically 75 to 80 per cent, of
American motion picture negatives are produced in Southern
California, an ideal country for motion pictures on account of
the brilliance of its sunshine and the permanence of its climate.
Here are turned out at least 125 reels a week of 70 different
brands.
There have been a great many arguments advanced as to the
reason of the universal predominance of the American picture.
These include the advantages derived from greater investments
of capital, more favourable climatic conditions, a greater field for
distribution in the United States with its, say, 20,000 picture
houses as against some 5000 in the British Isles, greater sumptu-
ousness in production, better casting and characterisation, more
varied scenery and such general attention to minute details which
the disposal of very large means would bring about. All these
causes no doubt have their value, and to them must be added the
present restrictions on our general European output caused through
this world war.
From the point of view of one who has sold American films hi
great quantities and has at the same time had experience in manu-
facturing in England, there is one important factor which has
not been mentioned, and that is, the large scale on which American
pictures are made. The tremendous output of film in the United
States necessitates enormous plants which mean bigness in every-
thing. I have in mind one company that has a city in itself cover-
ing about a thousand acres and surrounded, as you might say, by
AMERICAN PRODUCTION 57
a fence. It has several thousand employees, and between thirty
to forty stages or theatres, all busily employed in production work
simultaneously. I know of several other American organisations
working on almost the same scale.
In this country conditions are entirely different. There is
probably not a single producing company in England which has
employed more than three producers (what we call in America,
directors), and usually there is only one. The whole structure
of the motion picture, and indeed very often the entire story (for
the average director does not hesitate to take liberties with the
author's script in case he thinks fit), rests upon the producer, who
re -manipulates the story according to his lights, inexorably ex-
cludes any intervention by the author, and takes the lion's share
of the kudos. Therefore, it is upon the producer that the re-
sponsibility of the success or non-success of a picture must rest.
In America, upon one of these large plants that I have referred
to, where there are forty producers working simultaneously, each
one has access to the brains and ideas of his fellow- workers. The
English producer seems still to be working in the spirit where every
craftsman considered his trade a " mystery " and screens himself
in, fearful that a competitor might learn something of the " tricks "
or " stunts." The large-minded attitude of the American producer
has influenced and improved the American productions in many
directions.
When one considers that there are practically four times as many
motion picture theatres in America as there are in Great Britain,
and that the renter receives from the exhibitor far larger prices
than are paid here, it is obvious that the American manufacturer
has far greater scope and opportunity to devote his time and
money to the production of the best of pictures.
In the United States in the building of a picture theatre the
money is to a certain extent spent on the outside of the building.
The interior is cheap-looking and flashy, although the greatest
care is always taken regarding projection, lights, and music. The
programme is changed daily. The prices of admission are as a
rule as from 5 cents (2|d.) ranging up to 2s. for the average picture
house, the holding capacity of which is, as a general thing, greater
than that of similar establishments in England and ranges as high
as 3200 to 3500 seats. American theatres are almost entirely
owned by individuals.
Every impartial observer will realise that whereas the tech-
nique of the film play has improved by leaps and bounds, on
the other hand the stories have not advanced in corresponding
excellence.
It was not till the advent of the exclusive picture that a distinct
improvement took place. At the same time, the powerful acting
and direct simplicity of method employed by such artistes as
Mary Pickford, probably considerably added to the increase of
human interest in the story. To create a human story likely to
be successful is not so easy as it looks. The whole story has to
be told in action, and we have no soliloquies or asides to explain
58 FILM STORIES
the state of mind of the actor which forms the essence of a dramatic
situation.
The sub-titles were the only means by which you could supply
this deficiency, and these, in many cases, being crudely done, have
not even to-day received the full prominence and care that they
deserve.. Hence it has happened that the so-called fount of in-
spiration of the present-day school of filmwrights has run dry, and
it has been recognised by the principal manufacturers that there
is an urgent demand for a more modern, more human, and a more
up-to-date kind of film story. We all recognise that " the play's
the thing."
In pursuance of this idea, I organised, about a year ago, a
scenario department on this side, with the intention of bringing
the manufacturing end of our big American companies into closer
touch with English and European thought. It was generally
felt that the film story could not be adequately conveyed by
transposing the classics of the drama, and other forms of literature,
such as celebrated novels and short magazine stories, upon the
screen.
I organised a series of meetings with the Authors' Society and
individual writers, in which we tried to convey to them the necessity
of their studying the technique of the screen art in order that there
might arise a new school of filmwrights who should handle the
main problems of life and express them with full knowledge of the
limitations of the picture screen. Unfortunately, this scenario
department failed in its objects, its non-success being really owing
to the producers in America, who still have the final say as to which
pictures shall be produced. Producers, in many cases, are never
keen to produce works of other men. Some generally have a sheaf
of plays up their sleeve, and the scenario editors of such firms,
instead of being in the position to decide what shall or shall not
be produced, are obliged to work into shape such ideas or stories
as the producer thinks fit to use. This condition of things, in
part, forms the insuperable bar to the employment for screen
stories of the work of the bulk of independent authors, especially
European ones who are too far away from the American places
of production to establish their claims to being filmed.
The difficulty about making a success with anything that per-
tains to education either on the screen or off is, because " there
is no money in it." Of course, sooner or later the educational
authorities, both in America and England, will come to realise
that the motion picture is the finest method of education by the
eye which exists. In the year 1911, in New York, I was manager
of a motion picture company devoted exclusively to educational
subjects. Eventually we had to give it up. The authorities were
not yet convinced as to the feasibility of introducing motion
pictures into the schools. Various objections were put forward.
The question of eyestrain to the children was especially inves-
tigated. Now, eyestrain was in the main due to causes arising
from defects in the earlier machine which have now been remedied.
The average modern apparatus projects a perfect and a rock-
EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS 59
steady picture. Exhaustive medical investigations in the States
have not been able to discover a deterioration of juvenile eyesight
owing to the pictures.
The objections raised against the cinema for school purposes,
on account of defective ventilation and doubtful hygiene of the
picture houses will not hold water. Cinema houses, being of
newer build, are far more up-to-date, comfortable, and healthy than
most theatres. Throughout America and England a great deal
of attention is paid to ventilation. In the bulk of the better- class
theatres there is an electric installation for circulating the atmo-
sphere, drawing out the foul air and sucking in the fresh. In
many cases the atmosphere is invigorated by impregnations with
ozone.
It has been a standing puzzle to many people that hitherto all
attempts to organise an efficient service for the schools have
proved abortive. There are millions of feet on every subject
under the sun lying idle to-day on the shelves of most of the various
companies which could be had for such a purpose at a nominal price.
Perhaps the real reason why the cinematograph has not proved
adaptable to school education is, that through the very vastness
of these ungrouped subjects, the task of re-editing them and
putting them together appears such an herculean one, that no
organisation or individual lias been bold or public-spirited enough
to grapple with it.
In the United States the reason of our failure to secure the
support of the educational authorities was mainly owing to the
machinations of the politicians who play such a large part in every
form of American public life. It was the municipal authorities,
the fire commissioners, etc., who were against us. It must not be
forgotten that the organisation of an educational company, to be
efficient, would require an immense amount of money and very
complete facilities for distribution.
In New York no children are admitted to the picture houses
(or were not three years ago, and I presume the same state of
affairs still exists) unless accompanied by an adult. However,
this salutary regulation was continually avoided, as the children
would stand outside the picture theatres with the money in their
hands and entreat grown-up people to take them in. Latterly I
am given to understand that a greater stringency in the carrying
out of these regulations has eliminated this abuse.
There is, or was, no law in America regarding non-flam film.
It was tried over there some years ago, but at that time it seemed
impossible to make the non-flam base of a strong wearing quality,
and therefore the attempts were abandoned.
Each one of the United States has its own separate laws, and
the Sunday opening question is adjusted according to local con-
ditions. Some States allow the cinemas to open and some do not.
When they do open, they give the regular performances without
being obliged to set apart a certain portion of their proceeds as
on this side.
In America the censorship question is all-important. Formerly
60 AMERICAN CENSORSHIP
the American Board of Censors was an organisation organised on
the same lines as the present board in England. This was supported
by all the manufacturers. However, in time there grew to be a
strong agitation throughout the different States on the censorship
question, and many laws were passed to regulate it. A number of
States have their own censor board, the diversity of their different
rulings resulting in much confusion, for the simple reason that as
motion pictures are put out to-day, the various States of the Union
are supplied with fresh sets of titles to suit the local board of
censors' likes and dislikes. With a number of different persons
airing their views and opinions upon these subjects, a picture,
about which there is the slightest question, is liable to become so
mutilated by the time it, is finally passed, that its own father would
not recognise it. I cannot speak too strongly in favour of film
pictures being censored. No manufacturer in his senses would
invest his money in a picture which was indecent or immoral. As
a matter of fact, such pictures to-day cannot be said to exist.
But the real crux of censorship, in my opinion, lies in discriminat-
ing as to the effect a picture will have upon all kinds of audiences,
old and young, and whether the methods of presentation employed
are such as not to offend the canons of good taste, nor to present
life from such an angle as to glorify crime or wrong-doing and to
make probity ridiculous. Of course we must not be debarred from
presenting a powerful story, or facing sex problems of vital import
to the future of our race, but it is certain that all this can be done
with propriety, decency, and proper dignity.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. JOHN D. TIPPETT. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. You are the Managing Director of the
Trans-Atlantic Film Company, Limited, the representatives and
distributing agents in Europe of the Universal Film Manufactur-
ing Company of America, probably the largest film producing
company in the world ? Yes.
2. Your company is British, I understand ? Yes.
3. British money? Yes; well, what do you mean by British
money ?
4. Well, whether your shareholders are here or the other side ?
Our capital is very small indeed; we do not require very
much.
5. You say that the conditions of the industry in the United
States are more and more assimilating themselves to those of
Great Britain. Will you explain that? Well, the American
pictures take over here, the people like them. The different coun-
tries have different tastes. On the Continent we have nine offices,
and I cannot send more than one picture out of four to every
continental office. What may be liked in Russia is not liked in
Spain, and what may be liked in France may not be liked in Italy.
6. In America do they like the same as we do here ? Yes,
universally so.
PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION 61
7. With the American films their text of explanation is not
very careful, not very grammatical ? No, it is not.
8. There has been no very great seeking of literary people in
order to do that work ? No ; apparently not. In many cases
it is very crudely and badly done. At times, the men who make
these pictures seem to imagine that the audiences view the subjects
through their own glasses, as it were.
9. The choice of the subject for a film. Who, generally speak-
ing, would you say has to do that ? Is that the producer ? Yes,
to a great extent ; as, for instance, in a large company making a
great variety of films.
10. Is one of the principal points they work upon to select
subjects more suitable for the eye than the ear ? I do not exactly
follow that question.
11. I will put it this way : Not long ago there was a film
called " Macbeth " produced. And all I could grasp when I
saw it was that there had been a hideous and brutal murder
committed. And the text was cross-headings to fill the place
of the wording of the book. Now is " Macbeth " a suitable thing
for a film? In a commercial sense, it is impossible. I brought
it over here, a fair production, but we could hot sell it.
12. As a matter of fact these producers take a great liberty
with the books and the plays ? Yes.
13. It is a little difficult to take great liberties with Shake-
speare, for instance ? They do it.
14. I am rather inclined to contend that you have to be
extremely careful as to what you select for a film. It has to
be just suited for the eye, and is not dependent on the glory
and .beauty of the literary side ? Yes, to a great extent.
15. What is exactly meant by the "exclusive" picture?
Would you mind explaining? An exclusive picture is the pro-
perty of one man who has the sole rights for Great Britain.
16. Generally speaking those would be the most important
films, with a considerable amount of money in them ? Yes.
17. And on these films the industry would stake its reputation
for a good deal of its beauty and other things? Yes, on the
most important pictures, but there is a commercial reason for a
good picture on the open market that should be explained. For
instance, take three very popular picture houses in the same
vicinity at Hammersmith ; a good open market subject is shown ;
they all book it, showing at the same time. Naturally, none
of the houses make money, but if this had been an exclusive
picture, it would only, have been booked in one of these houses,
which would have had a chance to make some money. TJie
very best and longest pictures to-day are sold exclusive. In
Great Britain on the open market, forty prints of a very popular
subject could be sold and make money for all the buyers, but
if any number like sixty, seventy or eighty prints are sold, nobody
is going to make any money.
18. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Does that mean that it would be
showing simultaneously in forty different places in England?
62 RELIGIOUS FILMS
It means that forty 'copies of a picture are sold for England.
They are circulated ; some houses would have it one week, and
others, another week.
19. DR..SALEEBY. The "Battle of the Ancre " was sold in
hundreds, I should think? That is an exception; everybody
naturally wanted to see this picture.
20. THE CHAIRMAN. In the United States you have not been
successful in getting the educational film going? You put that
down to the politicians ? Yes ; but it is an expensive idea, and
requires an immense amount of capital, for the subjects would
have to be changed every week. Edison tried it and spent a
great 4 deal of money, but could not make it a success.
21. Why were the educational authorities against the educa-
tional films ? Well, say that School Boards in America, as a
rule, have politicians on them.
22. You mean they have not any educationalists ? From the
experience I had in handling educational pictures in America,
I should say they were not all educationalists. In any event,
they would not spend money in that direction. Probably the
educational pictures were not far enough advanced.
23. The Fire Commissioners were against you. Is that on
account of the buildings? Yes; there is a danger unless the
booth is well protected.
24. Then there are the religious pictures. You showed the
" Life of Christ " exclusively in churches. Was that well attended ?
Yes, and it was quite an interesting picture. It was usually
shown under the auspices of a church society, and they sold the
tickets. Pictures have been shown a great deal in American
churches, not regularly but periodically.
25. And so much is paid by the church authorities for the use
of the film ? Some church society took the matter up and sold
the tickets, perhaps for charity.
26. THE SECRETARY. And it paid you ? Financially it was a
very small proposition.
27. THE CHAIRMAN. Then with regard to the children in
New York. No children are admitted into a picture house
unless accompanied by an adult. Does that apply to other
towns ? I do not know. I remember in New York the law
was passed, and if I am not mistaken children were not to be
admitted from nine o'clock to four o'clock up to. the age of six-
teen years, on account of school, and after four o'clock they would
have to be accompanied by an adult ; but the practice was abused,
because the children used to stand outside the picture houses and
solicit people to take them in.
28. Can you say whether that is done largely here? No, I
have no experience in England on the exhibition side, but merely
in the selling of pictures.
29. And as regards the Sunday opening ? The different States
have different laws.
30. And they can open the same as any week-day? Abso-
lutely.
BRITISH FILMS 63
31. THE SECRETARY. Is there much opposition by the
churches to Sunday cinemas? I do not think so.
32. THE CHAIRMAN. Are the theatres open ? In some places.
33. Does the cinema open in the same way as the theatres
do in New York ? The cinemas are open in New York on Sundays,
but they are trying to close them.
34. MR. LAMERT. Are the English cinemas largely supported
by the films from the United States ? I think they are.
85. THE CHAIRMAN. Is there a duty on American films and
stock of an ordinary nature ? Incidentally, I went before the
Custom House Board and advocated it when the martter came up.
36. Did it produce much revenue? We paid them 37,000
in ten months.
37. Does it have much effect in protecting the home industry
at present? The home industry depends on the quality of the
pictures.
38. Is the quality of the English picture not equal to the
American? I do not see why it should not be, but there are
several reasons. Take, for instance, the weather. I read that
there have been only two and a half hours' sunshine in London
for some time past, and to a man who takes pictures that is a
very serious thing.
39. Is there any check on introducing indiscriminate pictures
into this country; I mean every type of film? England is not
picked out for any special picture. The negative is made and
the picture is supposed to be sold throughout the world, to Great
Britain and Australia, etc. ; no special picture is sent to England
that cannot be sold in America.
40. Are there certain American films which are not popular
in this country and it is no use sending them here? Not as a
class. Of course, we do not expect to sell every picture.
41. Does our film stock compare favourably with American?
Absolutely.
42. MR. LAMERT. Does that not all come from America?
No ; I have not used any American stock for a year.
43. THE CHAIRMAN. As far as you can judge, do the un-
desirable pictures complained of come from America? A per-
centage of them.
44. As a business man, do you consider there is any money
in the undesirable picture ? I am against this class of pictures,
and knowingly would not sell or have anything to do with
them.
45. As a commercial man, considering the r public opinion and
the censorship, and so on, is there money? I do not see how
there can be money. I have never known anybody to con-
sistently make a success on these lines. I take it that a man, I
don't care how low he may be, if he has his fifteen-year-old son
or daughter with him, cannot enjoy such a picture.
46. THE SECRETARY. May we take it that your pictures are
family pictures ? Yes ; we have some pictures come over here
which we do not think right, and we do not put them out.
64 AMERICAN CINEMAS
47. THE CHAIRMAN. What is the reason of the great pre-
ponderance of American pictures ? America has 20,000 picture
houses. I do not think there are more than 4500 in Great Britain.
The prices are higher there, and likewise they can afford to pay
more. I know of some picture theatres in New York and other
large cities which pay from 150 to 300 for one week's run of a
picture. In this country no such rental could be obtained in
many cases not over 15 per week.
48. Are the prices for admission in America cheaper? The
universal prices are five cents and ten cents, twopence halfpenny
and fivepence.
49. Is the attendance very democratic ? It is like this country,
yes.
50. Will all the classes mix in the nickel house? Yes.
51. DR. SALEEBY. Is the nickel house inferior to the two-
nickel house ? It is according to the locality. If the two-nickel
house is in a good locality, such as in the West End, it is as easy
to get two nickels as to get one.
52. The same pictures and the same music? Yes.
53. THE CHAIRMAN. As regards the eye-strain of children
in America. Can you tell us anything about that ? I think
since the great improvements have been made in the picture
machines it has all been eliminated.
54. What is the distance of the nearest seat you can sit in
in America ? Well, I do not think they ought to be nearer than
fifteen to twenty feet.
55. That is, comparatively speaking, near? Yes. I consider
that twenty feet is quite enough. I look at our pictures twenty
feet away. Of course, some theatres have not sufficient room
to have the first row of seats fifteen to twenty feet from the
screen.
56. We should like to hear from you with regard to the
censorship in America. I favour censorship first and last. The
censorship there arose because there were certain undesirable
pictures getting out. The manufacturers got together and had
their committee the same as in England, and finally the State
took hold of the question, and now it is a perfect jumble, as
every State has its own censorship powers. %
57. In America are there performances given for children
only? I believe some theatres give performances to children,
but they do it chiefly for the purpose of advertising.
58. You say : " We must not be debarred from facing a power-
ful story or facing sex problems," but that you would not have at
a children's performance? This class of picture should not be
shown to children.
59. Then you confine it to adults? Well, many of these
pictures should not be made at all.
60. I should be glad if you would go a little more into the
detail. You say that some should not be made at all? Here
is a woman supposed to be a vampire woman. You see her in
a luxurious apartment with a lot of men around her. I do not
UNDESIRABLE FILMS 65
think a picture like that does any good shown down in the East
End to a working girl, although, mind you, I do not say that it
would lead her astray.
61. I suppose at the end there is a tag or moral? Perhaps,
but some manufacturers do not make them for this purpose;
apparently only sold to make money and appeal to a certain
class of men and women. There have been pictures made in
Great Britain that were condemned most vigorously by the
papers in America. I do not say it was imperfect censorship
here. To my mind it was an accident they were passed. I find
the censor here, as a rule, has been very careful.
62. Would you consider this a proper thing to present ? It
is called " ." A girl is sent away from her place
in a shop because she gave a pair of stockings that had been
bought by a young lady to a young man and a pair of gloves that
had been bought by the young man to the young lady, and there
was a row and she was discharged. Now interest is taken in her
by, I rather fancy, the gentleman who got the stockings by
mistake, and he falls in love with her and looks after her. His
father is written to and is told that this boy is playing about
with a shop-girl. The father objects to this and the son leaves
his father. The son's leg is broken later, with the result that
his wife that is, the shop-girl whom he marries has to go on
the stage to try and keep the wolf from the door. Now this
boy's" father, a lascivious old creature, goes to the theatre, sees
her performing there, and eventually asks her to go to supper.
For a month, during which time we do not hear what happens,
he hangs around her, and at the end of the month there is an
interview and the father asks: "May I go home with you?"
and she says : " Yes," and takes him home, where her husband,
the old man's son, is in bed with his broken leg, *and a recon-
ciliation is effected. There is an unsavoury sort of idea about
the father going about with the son's wife. Not only that, but
we had a good deal of the dressing-rooms and scenes behind
the stage, and the important thing seemed to be to show as
many people with as little clothing on as possible. Now that
seems to me to be absolutely unwholesome ? Yes, if it were
my picture I should agree. These kind of pictures do not do
any good.
63. In America, we see from the illustrated papers that come
over here, pictures of people at the American watering-places
spending most of the day in very light attire, young men and
young women as far as one can make out. Now, this rather
undressed condition is taken less notice of in America than here
because it comes into the cinema so much. The motor-car and
the light attire seem to be indispensable things in the American
films? This is customary. Some ladies wear very elaborate
costumes and do not go into the water. Of course, the weather
there is very, very warm.
64. The idea in America in regard to that sort of thing is
different from what it is over here. It might be the climatic
F
66 COSTUMES
conditions. Would you agree ? I do not think moral conditions
differ greatly in the two countries.
65. I was not dealing with the question of the morals. I
was dealing with this question of the use of costumes. I was
rather trying to explain? I understand now what you mean,
and you are probably right.
66. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Is that general in America, or is it
confined to a certain class of watering-places? I think to the
fashionable watering-places. I know some of the ladies do not
intend to go into the water with the coStumes they have on.
That is the point we want to bring out.
67. THE SECRETARY. You can show these films in America
quite freely? Yes; it seems strange to English eyes because
they are not accustomed to it over here.
68. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Would there be parts in America
where the country audiences would be surprised to look at these
things ? I hardly think so, because they see them in the illus-
trated papers. You notice that the costumes are not abbre-
viated costumes, and .1 do not think there is any idea of
indecency.
69. THE CHAIRMAN. But I think the men are in abbreviated
costumes ? Yes.
70. I am not suggesting anything evil at all, but there seems
to be a different standard of modesty? I think there are more
of the continental ideas there than in England.
71. MR. NEWBOULD. l)o you submit all your films to the
British Board of Film Censors ? Yes.
72. Are you the proprietor of a film called " Where are my
Children " ? Yes.
73. Did you submit that ? Have not done so yet.
74. Has it*yet been publicly exhibited? No.
75. I understand it is going to be exhibited under the auspices
of the National Council of Public Morals ? So I understand.
76. And if the censor had any doubts as to such films you
think he would be well advised to consult a body of that sort ?
I should like to have the censor see the picture first.
77. I want to illustrate that there might be difficulties in the
censor's mind and he would like to consult an important public
body? Yes.
78. Do you know whether the American manufacturers sub-
mit their films? There is an association called the Manufac-
turers' Association, and they are supposed to submit films to the
members of that Association before they are put out.
79. You don't know whether there are some Americans who
do not? No.
80. THE SECRETARY. You censor your own films before you
send them to the censor? Yes, our pictures are first viewed by
a man who is specially selected for this work, and who has the
assistance of two ladies. In the case of American expressions
which might be misunderstood, new titles are inserted. They also
eliminate any scenes which might seem objectionable.
EDUCATIONAL FILMS 67
81. DR. SALEEBY. In your evidence you mention the diffi-
culty of making a success with anything that pertains to educa-
tion, and you say : " Every publicist knows that to devote oneself
purely and simply to educational matters either through the Press
or other forms of literature spells ruin." My remark, in this case,
was probably far-fetched.
82. REV. F. C. SPURR. You tell 'us.that educational films in
America have been a failure ? Comparatively speaking, yes.
83. You .make the statement : " There are millions of feet
on every subject under the sun lying idle to-day on the shelves
of most of the various companies, which could be had for such a
purpose at a nominal price." Has that been put before the
educational authorities ? Certainly to some extent they must
know all about these pictures.
84. Are these pictures shown to the general public? Yes,
but the probability is that the cinemas will not use much of that
class of picture. The audiences like to see something sensational.
85. You really put it down to want of taste on the part of
the public? I put it down to that, for the exhibitor would not
show it unless it was wanted by the public.
86. My experience, in Australia for instance, has been that
the pictures that crowded the houses were scenic pictures and
what I call educational pictures. These were received with
tremendous applause. I want to know the experience in America ?
When I was in the business there they were not received with
applause.
87. I have been to a number of picture houses during the
last two months with my children, and four or five times in con-
nection with this Commission, and I have been struck by the
fact that there has never been an educational picture on the
screen? What would you term an educational picture?
88. History, travel and interest pictures. We have plenty of
these if you want them.
89. Has there been any attempt made in America to supply
what Mr. Ponting has been doing in this country, a lecture with
a cinematograph? Yes, Burton Holmes is very popular. He
takes the pictures himself and lectures on them at a very high
price in America. From twenty-five cents to one dollar is the
charge for a seat, and he plays at the very best houses.
90. You believe in a censorship, but you prefer it central and
not local ? Absolutely.
91. You do not believe indecent or immoral pictures exist?
They are made, but the censorship has been so strict in America
that they are modified.
92. You say : " As a matter of fact, such pictures to-day
cannot be said to exist." They exist in a sense, but not to a
great extent.
93. My final question is this. I see that you are quite against
the " presentation of life from such an angle as to glorify crime
or wrong-doing." I do not suggest any picture is made for the
purpose of glorifying crime ; there is always a moral, is there not ?
68 CRIME FILMS
94. But would you include in that such pictures, for instance,
as show the methods by which poisoners go to work, methods
that you scarcely ever read of in real life, even in the annals of
the police court or the assize courts, and also show men pene-
trating rooms on board steamers and burgling jewellery, would
you include things of that kind under that heading of glorifying
crime ? It seems to me that we could do without these scenes,
and that a title would do just as well.
95. Would you exclude from exhibitions to young children
all that kind of thing ? I do not know. It is according to how
the story ended. The supposition is that the crime should be
shown, so that* a lesson could be learned by the child. You
see crime everywhere ; in every story it is brought before the
child.
96. You spoke to us about not liking to take a boy or girl of
fifteen or sixteen* years of age to see certain things. You would
make a distinction between exhibitions given to children and
exhibitions given to adults? There are certain things an adult
might see, and there are certain things, perhaps, it is desirable
they should see? Take the subject " Where are my Children? "
That class of story, perhaps, should be told to the child by the
father or mother. At that, I have a boy of sixteen, and know it
is very difficult for a parent to discuss such themes with his
children.
97. THE SECRETARY. In relation to that question about the
crime, would you not hold that the methods of the crime should
be hidden, and that there should be only an impression? Yes,
in these cases, either an impression or a title.
98. MR. GRAVES. With regard to education in America, I
have got before me an interesting article written in June 1910
by J. R. Wallace Waller in the Pedagogical Seminary. I was
interested in educational pictures at that time.
99. It was going for the cinemas for educational purposes
and suggested that something had already been done, particu-
larly in New York, where there were meetings attended by both
the parents and the scholars at which lectures were given with
the aid of a cinema with great success. I gather from this that
the American Government had done something in the way of
popularising the Navy in that way? Yes.
100. And a good deal has been done to popularise trades and
businesses ? Yes, quite a great deal.
101. So that really the Government has taken the thing up
from an educational side ? Yes, to a slight extent.
102. Mention has also been made about there being a good
deal of danger from inflammable films unless special arrange-
ments are made? It is necessary to have a special room or
booth.
103. It has also been suggested that children should either
be taken to a centre for a series of lectures with the aid of a
cinema or that a cinema should be fitted up at one of the schools ?
Yes.
IMPROPER EXHIBITIONS 69
104. Do you think this failure to work things out in America
has been due partly to the effect of the fear of fire and partly
because the cinematograph picture got occasionally into wrong
hands ? No State to my knowledge has ever elected to put
educational films in a school.
105. Has any one approached you to deal with this question
of educational films ? No, not in a broad sense. At that time,
in America, they were all too busy looking at Charlie Chaplin
and sensational class of films.
106. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Making money ? Absolutely.
107. Do film proprietors do anything except make money I
mean, they do not think of these educational films ? The making
of money seems to me to be the main object of being in this
business.
108. And if there was any money in it, the exhibitors would
take it up? They would.
109. There is no money in it, yet it is cheap compared with
other films ? No, the prices are the same, except, of course, for
exclusive or costly pictures.
110. Would there be any difficulty in getting properly educated
English people to deal with the question of the text? No
difficulty.
111. You state that undesirable films were made. Have there
been to your knowledge some very undesirable films taken?
Well, yes, but I have not seen them.
112. Have you heard that such things have been filmed? I
have heard of obscene scenes being filmed.
113. And have you any reason to believe that such films do
not exist at the present moment ? I think they do. I was
approached a year or so ago by a man who wanted to show me
a film of this class in our theatre.
114. Do you suppose that there is any market for them? I
imagine that a market exists in some private clubs.
115. And therefore if people are prepared to pay a high fee
it is possible to get a private exhibition of disgraceful films ? I
think there are some loathsome things made in motion pictures.
116. MRS. BURGWIN. W T ould the educational authorities have
the power in the United States to pay -for the exhibition of films
as part of the education grant? Yes, but I think they would
meet with objections.
117. I suggest that a very beautiful educational picture was
the cutting of the Panama Canal? This was filmed by several
firms, but I remember distinctly that the picture did not meet
with any great success in the cinemas.
118. THE SECRETARY. You spoke just now about these in-
decent pictures being taken up by clubs. You do not mean .
political or social clubs ? I mentioned the word clubs, but not
in a literal sense. W T hat I meant was a gathering of men who
have a dinner, and then perhaps see the picture afterwards.
119. In a house, a private view? Yes, that is it. I do not
mean an organisation, but a gathering of men.
70 AMERICAN STATE CONTROL
120. In a house of common prostitutes ? No, among a gather-
ing of men.
THE CHAIRMAN. He means that it sometimes happens that
individual men come together and see it.
121. DR. SALEEBY. Have they the apparatus there? They
can rent the apparatus.
122. MR. KING. Do you know, if in New York these sort of
pictures are shown, whether the police authorities have any
power to go into the house? Yes, they have that power.
They have done this where there have been indecent scenes
and dances. They do not wait for any search warrant; they
go to the house, break the door down and arrest the people.
They can walk right in and batter the place down. I remember
one place where a number of wealthy men were arrested some
years ago.
123. And still, in spite of that, do you know if they are shown ?
I know these things are made. I do not know where they are shown.
124. You know the system that exists, I mean the methods
that exist in New York for the control of a picture house. You
do not know the conditions that exist in other States, in respect
particularly to what we call here local control? No, not
fully.
125. For instance, is the cinema licensed by the State ? It is
licensed usually by the cities. The cities can govern the cinemas
in their own way.
126. Would the State have power to overrule the city with
respect to any of them ? Yes, but the Federal Government
could not make laws to overrule the various individual States.
127. Do they put any conditions on the licence ? Yes, they
put certain conditions on the licence. In New York State, for
instance, a cinema could not have more than 299 chairs. Over
that, it had to be built with full theatrical arrangements, openings
at front and back, and a passage on either side.
128. These conditions would also deal with the ventilation,
which you have described as being high-class? They are very
well ventilated.
129. Do they really believe they have got the proper ventila-
tion in New York ? Yes, the supposition is that they have.
130. Do you find that in some parts of the house somebody is
freezing and in another part that their head is being blown off ?
I do not believe there is perfect ventilation.
131. THE CHAIRMAN. Is smoking allowed in the cinemas over
there ? Smoking is not allowed to any extent.
132. DR. SALEEBY. How do you mean, " to any extent " ?
It is very rarely allowed.
133. MR. LAMERT. How long ago was that? I do not know
of any American cinemas that allow smoking.
134. THE CHAIRMAN. As a rule in cinema theatres in America
smoking is not allowed ? I think I am safe in saying that.
135. Is that a regulation? It would be a regulation by the
manager of the house or it might be a city regulation.
REJECTED FILMS 71
136. MR. KING. Has there been any attempt made in New
York to your knowledge to insist on there being special enter-
tainments for children and special entertainments for adults?
I do not think to any extent there has been an attempt in
that way.
137. MR. SOOTHILL. Is anything done in the States or town-
ships of America in the way of State ownership of the cinema ?
I do not know of any State owning its own cinema. I know of
churches that run pictures on Sunday afternoons and evenings.
138. Would you consider that city or township ownership of
cinemas would be helpful so far as the trade is concerned and so
far as the educational pictures are concerned? Well, it all de-
pends, in America, upon who is going to have the authority in
that city or township cinema.
139. MR. LAMERT. I gather that in one part of your evidence
you rather blamed the exhibitor for not showing interest films,
and I further gather from you that in your opinion he sometimes
mistakes what his audience wanted ? This is a question, perhaps,
which goes back to the public. My experience of American
cinemas was that the educational films were shelved, for the
exhibitors did not seem to be able to make money out of
them.
140. In your opinion if the people had an opportunity of
seeing these scenic films they might like them? It seems so
to me.
141. You said you did a good deal of exhibiting in America.
You were then in a position to try it ? My experience in showing
scenic films in America was that they met with very indifferent
success, as far as the public were concerned.
142. Were you satisfied ? Personally, yes, and I think, where
possible, they should be on programmes.
143. You say there are forty-eight States in America. Does
the manufacturer over there have to submit his films to forty-
eight different censors ? Yes, the manufacturers have offices in
every State, and they have to submit their pictures when there
is a State Censorship Board.
144. Does it sometimes happen that a film is turned down in
twenty-four cases and it is allowed in twenty-four other cases ?
Yes, there are certain States very lenient, and they at times
allow a picture which perhaps should not be shown. I read in
one of the most prominent American trade papers of a certain
manufacturer who would make a salacious or suggestive picture,
and send same first to the States where he knew it would be
turned down by the State censor. After this was done, he would
release the subject in the other Sections, and advertise the fact
that it had been turned down in the aforesaid States.
145. On the whole, is this State censorship acting well or is it
acting badly? Would it have been better to have a central
censorship which would take the view of the whole of the United
States or the view of humanity, a broad view, and say that such
things shall go and such things shall not go ? Well, to-day they
72 UNDESIRABLE FILMS
are trying to put through Congress a National Censorship Board,
but the film people are fighting it to a man.
146. THE CHAIRMAN. Have you any theory as to why the
manufacturers are against this ? I have read different reasons.
147. MR. LAMERT. Will you give us the real reasons ?
Personally, my opinion is that the manufacturers are afraid of
a politician.
148. You mean they would have to pay somebody to get their
films through ? Yes, in some cases.
149. THE SECRETARY. And the censorship in America would
be a political institution either of one party or the otner whichever
is in power? Yes.
150. MR, LAMERT. The manufacturers are afraid, in fact,
that if they get this sort of censorship they would have to go
to the man and say : " Here is 100 dollars or 500 dollars for you
to get this picture through " ? There might be a possible danger
of such a thing happening.
151. The point is of great importance over here. I think the
manufacturers are whole-heartedly in favour of one censorship
here? Yes.
152. About these absolutely vile pictures, the filthy things.
There are certain parts of the world where they are shown. Have
you ever been in Cuba? Yes; I have seen pictures in Cuba
which were absolutely indecent. I saw these things in a picture
show.
153. Now I take it these pictures are made primarily for
exhibition in these places ? Yes.
154. And if they are shown here it is only to a certain type of
neurotic men ? Yes.
155. The expenses of showing a picture of this kind would be
so great that you could not show it for a charge of, say, threepence
or sixpence ; in fact, ' you could not show it to less, say, than
one hundred people ; that is if you are going to charge a 'small
sum? I do not see how this class picture can be shown at all.
156. If it is shown in this country it would be a very exclusive
business ? It would cost a large sum of money. For instance,
if a party of men had a dinner, a proportion of the cost of that
dinner would be set on one side to pay for the expense of showing
the picture. That is what I think.
157. THE SECRETARY. It would be a private show by a private
individual ? I assume it would.
158. Then I can go to some place to-night and put down 20
and take that picture to my house? I suppose you can do
that.
159. That is not a public exhibition? No.
DR. SALEEBY. Is that legal ?
THE SECRETARY. I suppose so.
THE CHAIRMAN. But surely it is an offence to buy them ?
MR. LAMERT. It is an offence to show them in public.
THE SECRETARY. I think you can write what you like and read
it privately to a friend ; you can make it and show it to him.
AUTHORS AND FILMS 73
THE CHAIRMAN. I do not think that this matter would have
anything to do with our report.
MR. LAMERT. My whole point is that this is a small thing
and does not affect the" cinemas.
THE CHAIRMAN. No, I do not think it has anything to do
with us. It has nothing to do really with what I am called
here for.
MR. LAMERT. It is only possible for a few men to get these
things, and I suggest that it is done on such a small scale that
it would not be important.
THE CHAIRMAN. It is a private matter. \^
160. DR. KIMMINS. Is the serial story developing very much ?
We make a speciality of serials. I have put out ten of
these pictures, and they seem to be filled with sensational
episodes.
161. How many parts would a serial consist of? Perhaps
twenty weeks. Two thousand feet in each programme.
162. DR. SALEEBY. And lots of people go every week for
twenty weeks? Yes.
163. DR. KIMMINS. Have any statistics been prepared to
show how many people go to these things ? There is no question
about it. They tell me that the serials in many houses, especially
in Lancashire, pay better than the most expensive features.
164. A weekly interval? Always a week.
165. THE SECRETARY. But these serial stories are no more
exciting or worse than those which appear in the magazines?
They are usually an innocent story.
166. DR. MARIE STOPES. I wish to deal with the position of
the author. What responsibility has an author for his own
film? That is according to the contract. Most of the films are
made from stories which men and women bring in. They are
then generally re-edited by the producers.
167. I gather with regard to the final say in the form that a
picture takes that that is in the hands of the producers ? Yes.
168. If you have an author of standing who allows you to
dramatise any work of his, how do you allow the producer to
alter that work without studying the author ? They would have
to consider the author.
169. If the producer was more under the control of the author,
would they be likely to get a higher class of production ? There
is sometimes a difference of opinion between the author and the
producer on these matters.
170. REV. CAREY BONNER. We are inquiring into the educational
value of the pictures, and I understand that a small percentage
of the pictures shown are actually of educational value ? I think
there are very few made as a whole.
171. So that practically your evidence comes to this : that
there is no education in the cinema in our national life, and the
chief pictures are of a sensational character? There is a great
deal of education in motion pictures, but the chief pictures are
to a certain extent dramatic or sensational.
74 MR. HEPWORTH'S EVIDENCE
172. THE SECRETARY. Now with reference to these films :
" Ivanhoe," "Annie Laurie" and "Macbeth" are educational?
Yes, I think to a certain extent, but I do no^ think we put out
more than one educational film a week.
173. And the remainder of the 95 per cent, are not educa-
tional in any sense of the word ? They could not be /called
educational.
174. You think the inculcation of a moral lesson in a film is
not educational ? It is educational to show the right and how to
do right. There is supposed to be more or less education in
every picture.
175. THE CHAIRMAN. Your business is not to be a philan-
.thropist, you are carrying on a commercial business? Yes.
176. And you are bound to consider that very strongly indeed
and what you want. If you are to produce an educational
film you must first of all have the public educated up to it?
Yes.
177. Is it not a fact that at the present time the kind of
amusement that the people are seeking is an amusement with
as little artistic taste as possible, so that they are easily interested ?
It seems since the war began we have had more comedy.
178. I suppose there must be an agreement between the two
sides. If the cinema has to help education, then the people
should be educated so as to like higher- class cinema ? Yes.
MR. CECIL HEPWORTii. 1 Recalled.
179. MR. LAMERT. The first question I wish to ask is with re-
gard to the lighting of the cinemas . Sir William Barrett has referred
to the fact that in giving lectures he had projected, I think he
said, lantern slides on to the screen, and the room was sufficiently
light to enable his students to take notes. He argued that
similar lighting would be possible in cinema halls. Is the analogy
complete ? No.' The gentleman who asked the questions prob-
ably alluded to microscopic lantern slides, which, as a rule, are
very largely made on clear glass; that is to say, they are not
films, and the designs are more or less on a light background. In
the majority of cases these slides measure three inches across,
whereas our films are less than one inch across ; that is to say, they
are nine times as large. Then the slides are projected on a screen
of, say, six, eight, or ten feet across, whereas we project our films
on screens thirty to thirty-five feet across, so that a very much
higher degree of magnification is needed. Then, again, you must
bear in mind that our hall is generally full of smoke, whereas a
lecture hall very seldom is.
180. If you had a screened light ; if you had lights making these
places lighter in an ordinary cinema theatre would it spoil your
picture? Not if it is properly done; not if it is sufficiently
screened.
1 See also pp. 46-56.
LOCAL AUTHORITIES 75
181. You think it is possible to get more light than is at present
given in the cinema theatre ? Well, than in some cinema theatres,
perhaps.
182. A point was made some time ago about the tax. There was
some suggestion made that the Customs put it in such a way that
there was a slight on the educational varieties, as it was the
Customs who had to decide whether the cinema film was educa-
tional or not ? There is no discrimination at all, all the imported
films have to be taxed.
183. Now I want to ask one or two questions with regard to this
question of local authority over films. You have to think of the
whole market, have you not ? Yes.
184. If certain areas were restricted, would it make any difference
to you when you were making films ? : Yes ; I should have very
much less market to rely upon.
185. If you had to rely on what one might call the local discre-
tion, would that increase your difficulties in making films ? Yes,
of course, as I should not know what I was up against.
186. And if you had a central authority you would have an idea
of what to make ? Yes. *
187. In practice, in making a film you think whether it would be
a successful film from a popular point of view and whether it would
pass the censor? Yes.
188. Now if you had to consider all the views and possibilities
of various places, how could you proceed? It would be very
hard to keep track of them, especially as the local authorities in
these places would be changing automatically.
189. And in practice, if you had to make a film to suit all these
people you would have to make it so exceedingly carefully that
no exception could be taken to it by any of these places ? Yes,
I think so, and by the time it was cut to suit them it might not
be interesting.
190. Your view is that a local veto would hamper you as a British
manufacturer very much ? Yes.
191. Now there is another point : If British manufacturers are
further limited and further difficulties are put in their way, if their
markets are to be further restricted, do you think it is possible for
them to go on? No, the limitations are already rather heavy.
I mean from a commercial point of view. We cannot get our films
into America except by an occasional fluke. Consequently we
have only to make for this country and the Colonies.
192. If the British manufacturer found it commercially impos-
sible to go on, from what other sources can the exhibitor get his
films ? All the foreign manufacturers.
193. And, I take it, that would mean that he would have to rely
on America ? To a very large extent. There are a few films other
than those from America, I mean those which come from France
and Italy.
194. Now I want you to say something about the educational
films. In the first place, these educational films of travel and
historic interest, as they are described, are they more difficult to
76 EDUCATIONAL FILMS
take and more expensive than the films of the photo play order ?
Which would you find the least costly ? The films which are rather
unkindly said to be " interest " films. Travel and industrial
pictures are, of course, very much easier to take.
195. And if the demand came for these interest films, you could
supply any number of them ? Yes ; speaking personally, I can
always supply a number of these films. You see, I like taking
travel pictures, and I do it when I get a chance, and commercially
I am willing to sell them cheaper than the usual run of my pictures.
196. But there is no demand for them? Well, a very small
demand.
197. Do you deal direct with the exhibitors ? No ; I deal
through an intermediary called the hirer, the man who hires the
films out.
198. Have you any renters who say : " If you make any interest
films I can place them " ? No ; they occasionally show an interest
film, but very occasionally.
199. Have you ever made films that were to be used for
educational purposes, such as a surgical operation? No, I
have not.
200. THE CHAIRMAN. Are they all American ? I have seen
one a long time ago ; it was made by Dr. Doyen of Paris. He made
a series of them.
THE SECRETARY. They were made by Pathe.
201. MR. LAMERT. You think, or you believe, that the film
has great possibilities in that way ? Yes.
202. Can you tell us of any direct advantage which a film would
have in that way ? Well, I have suggested, in the case of a surgical
operation, that it would enable a large number of students to
witness the essential details, whereas only a few could otherwise
have seen it at sufficiently near quarters.
203. MR. GRAVES. Do you think sufficient light might be
secured to prevent immoral practices from being easily indulged
in ? Yes, I do. So far as I can see, all the better-class theatres
are now sufficiently lighted to deal with that.
204. MONSIGNOR BROWN. In your evidence you say : " The
little illustration which has been given to indicate the influence
of living photographs upon growing thought was purposely con-
fined to pictures made with no deliberate intention other than
that of entertaining. It is the unintentional influence, absorbed
unconsciously, which has the deep and lasting effect." Will you
admit that a dangerous suggestion in a film accentuates a dangerous
suggestion spoken of? I should have thought so myself, but
Mr. Legge, if you remember, had quite a contrary opinion.
205. Well, take for example this advertisement which is an
advertisement in the current number of a trade paper.
(Witness was handed a copy of that paper showing a coloured
advertisement of a man and woman kissing.) Do not you think
this is suggestive ? Well, it is suggestive of vulgarity.
206. You don't think anything more ? I think it is distinctly
unpleasant.
UNDESIRABLE FILMS AND POSTERS 77
207. And, therefore, that type of advertising and that type of
film would be undesirable for young people ? I should think so.
208. Not so much because of what it actually portrays as of
what may be read in it. The title is " - ." It
suggests to the ordinary person playing with something dangerous ?
Yes.
THE CHAIRMAN. Is that American?
MONSIGNOR BROWN. It is from .
209. THE SECRETARY. That is the advertisement in the paper ?
Yes.
210. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Over which the exhibitor has no
control. Has the manufacturer any control ? No ; I should think
it was the agent's work.
211. And therefore you would not like films which you manu-
facture to be put out to the public by appeals of that kind ? No ;
I have to be very careful indeed, and I have made a restriction
that none of my films should ever be shown in company of any
posters I have not myself passed.
212. There is one delicate question I should like to ask. You
are speaking for the British manufacturers. Are films of a very
undesirable character manufactured and in existence? No, I
do not think so now.
213. Is it possible, on a high payment, to have provided in cer-
tain places a private display, even in London ? I would not like
to say ; it has not come under my notice.
214. Then probably for yourself you would say it is impossible ?
I should say it was impossible for British manufacturers as a
whole. That I am sure of.
215. SIR JOHN KIRK. I understand that the educational films
are not in demand. How do 'you arrive at that conclusion ?
Well, I do not say merely educational films, but these " films of
interest." I have made them more as a matter of experiment
than anything else, but to put the matter in figures, the demand
never exceeds ten copies at 4<d. a foot, whereas my ordinary
subjects I sell for 2s. Qd. a foot for fifteen copies.
216. What choice have the audience in the films ? The exhibitor
tries them, and evidently takes notice of the demeanour of the
public as to whether they want them or not.
217. DR. SALEEBY. What is the hirer or the renter ? He is the
medium of exchange. The manufacturer sells, if he can, to the
renter, and the renter hires the pictures to the exhibitor as he wants
them.
218. You complain that you have had a great deal of destructive
criticism and practically no constructive criticism ? Yes, I think
that is so.
219. The general rule of the profession is to regard the outsider
as the outsider ; I mean, take the case of the medical profession,
and so on. You don't go to the people who might be expected
to help you ? Well, no, I suppose not.
220. I was thinking of your consulting people with, say, special
historical knowledge, and so on ? Certainly, if I was producing
78 AUTHORS AND FILMS
a historical film I should want costly advice and everything I
could get.
221. You do that ? Undoubtedly.
222. Don't you think that there is some very bad grammar
published on some of the films ? Most of the films that are seen
are imported, and perhaps the translations from the French and
Italian are made by illiterate people.
223. When you are making educational claims for the films, it
seems a pity that a matter like this grammar should spoil them.
It does indeed.
224. You say it is almost impossible to get a film into America ?
Yes.
225. Why is that ? The American people have a very strong
national instinct ; they stick to their own films very largely, and
they accomplish the exclusion of foreign films by means of rings
anoy combines.
226. It is not a prohibitive tax at the port of entry ? No, the
Government tax is small like our own.
227. Did you film "Far from the Madding Crowd "? It was
done in my studios.
228. Did it go to America? Yes.
229. Did it run in America ? It was made in my studios by an
American and he took it over with him.
230. " Annie Laurie." Did that go to America ? It is waiting in
America now. It is sealed up, blocked out by the trade rings.
231 . When you take a classic from a living master, how do you
deal with the author? Well, when we have filmed his play he
generally makes a few suggestions, which are adopted if possible,
and then he sees the finished product as a whole and expresses his
approval or the reverse.
232. THE CHAIRMAN. And if he disapproves ? That is only in
very exceptional cases, I think, but he has a right to stop the film.
233. MR. LAMERT. I think that all depends on the contract ?
Yes.
234. DR. SALEEBY. . In the case of " Far from the Madding
Crowd " did you go to Mr. Hardy first ? They are generally
brought to us by the agents.
235. Where did Mr. Hardy come in ? for, you see, it might have
been a mutilation of his work. I am afraid he has no redress
there unless he has protected himself; that is, if he has once seen
the scenario. His protection appears to be to select the best
producers ; if not, he might get his workk mutilated.
236. THE CHAIRMAN. You cannot produce anything without
the author's consent ? If it is a copyright work.
237. MR. LAMERT. Have you made a practice of agreeing when
the author says he must pass the film ? No ; you see, when it
comes to spending three or four thousand pounds on a film
dependent on the author, passing it, that would be too risky.
238. DR. SALEEBY. Did Mr. Hardy see " Far from the Madding
Crowd " afterwards?! think he did.
239. MR. NEWBOULD. You refer to what you term injudicious
CENSORSHIP 79
control. May I take it that in the main you mean injudicious
censorship ? Yes, that is what I mean.
240. Do you submit all your productions to the Board of British
Film Censors ? Yes.
241. Do you know if all the British manufacturers do so ? Yes,
I think they do.
242. Do all the American manufacturers do so ? No ; I think
there are a few exceptions.
243. Have you ever had a film turned down yourself? No.
244. THE SECRETARY. In how many years ? Since the censor-
ship was instituted.
245. MR. NEWBOULD. You would consider the censorship of
films by the police injudicious censorship ? Well, it might be.
246. It all depends on the policeman ? Yes.
247. You would not like to submit your films to policemen?
Preferably not; local control would not be any use unless it
reflected local opinion.
248. You would consider anything in the nature of faddist control,
either educational or religious, to be injudicious control ? Yes, it
might be.
249. THE SECRETARY. By religious you mean the censorship of
cranks, you do not mean religious people ? That is so.
250. MR. NEWBOULD. I take it you depend for commercial
success on the number of copies of your film which you sell and
the price paid for them ? Therefore, before producing a film it
is essential that you should know that it will not be interfered with
by injudicious control or injudicious censorship? That is my
point.
251. THE SECRETARY. Would it not be cheaper and less risky
to censor the negative? It would save 2 or 3 per cent., not
more. It is the negative that costs the money.
252. Is it possible to censor the scenario ? It would be possible,
but I do not think it would be effective. You have no right to
judge a man by anything else than the finished work.
253. COMMISSIONER ADELAIDE Cox. You have said something
about the royalty. Do you mean that the author gets a royalty
merely by the sale of the book or that he gets a royalty every
time the film is shown ? The royalty I mean is the royalty he
gets on the films.
254. So he has some interest in the takings ? A very large
interest. I am alluding to the copyright films for which the author
has given his authority to produce.
255. PRINCIPAL GARVIE. The question I am about to put is
not put in any hostile spirit, but I should like to give you the
chance of making your meaning clear. If local veto would prevent
your business being carried on successfully, does that mean that
its success depends on the morally doubtful ? I do not think it is
quite fair to say that my business would depend on the morally
doubtful, because cranks and faddists might be in a position at
some place to veto the film.
256. THE CHAIRMAN. You are more likely to get a proper view
80 LOCAL AUTHORITIES
from a central than from a local censorship ? Yes, and the possi-
bility is that it would be a homogeneous view, and it would not
differ. When the decision was given we should know it was
finished.
257. And you would be more seriously condemned if the central
censor condemned than if you were accepted in half the localities
and refused in the other half? Yes.
258. MR. GRAVES. Is it necessary that the local censorship must
be one of faddists ? No.
259. But it has been said that local censorship would affect your
business. Are there so many faddists among these local censors
that it would really have that effect? I think there might be
sufficient faddism to lead to a degree of uncertainty. We should
not know in the least where our films might be turned down, and
if there is 1 per cent, of danger of that, our customers are not
going to risk it.
260. THE SECRETARY. As a matter of fact, you have had films
passed in some places which have not been passed in others ?
Not I personally, but there have been.
261. MONSIGNOR BROWN. What would happen to the exhibitors
if your films are shut out ? What other films could he buy ? He
would have to buy foreign films.
262. Are they more likely to be passed than yours ? I do not
think so.
263. MR. NEWBOULD. The objection is not so much to the local
control as to the fact that the local authorities delegate the censor-
ship to the Police Superintendent, as you will see is done by the
Liverpool regulations ? Yes, that is so.
264. If the local opinion is left to the Police Superintendent, there
is an obvious objection ? It stands to reason it would not be so
well done as by one central authority.
265. MR. KING. Have you had any applications from educa-
tional bodies for educational films to be made or prepared ? Yes,
I have had applications for lists of what educational films I possess.
I have always sent the lists, but the films are not always engaged.
266. You have spoken about the illumination of a hall varying.
Would it be possible to have a superior illumination for the hall
which would not interfere with the picture ? It is rather difficult
to standardise.
267. It could be standardised ? It might at a certain distance.
Of course^ it really matters nothing how much light there is in the
hall so long as the screen is in darkness and so long as the people's
eyesight is not interfered with by the light.
MR. F. R. GOODWIN'S EVIDENCE 81
FOURTH DAY
Monday, January 29, 1917,
The BISHOP OF BIRMINGHAM in the chair.
STATEMENT OF MR. F. R. GOODWIN
PRECIS
IN regard to Sunday Evening Cinematograph Entertainments
in London I would only venture to offer evidence on the actual
method without entering into the merits of these entertainments
further than to say that the privilege allowed in this matter in
London is held by the pledged undertaking, at the last election, of
both parties within the London County Council, and is supported
also by the Labour Party of the Council. The exact position is
as follows : The London County Council Cinematograph Licence
is granted for week-days only, and halls must not open upon
Sundays, Christmas Days, nor Good Fridays, but the Council will
consider applications to open upon such prohibited days upon
the following conditions
1. The entertainments will be of a healthy character and
properly conducted. ,
2. An amount to be determined by the Council as representing
the profit from the entertainment will be paid in respect of each
Sunday to a charity to be approved by the Council.
3. No performance shall begin before 6 p.m., or finish later than
11 p.m.
4. No person shall be employed on Sunday who has been em-
ployed in connection with cinematograph entertainments for each
of the previous six days, and a notice to that effect shall be
prominently displayed in a position or positions in which it will
be seen by all the staff engaged at the premises.
5. The rules required to be observed on week-days for securing
the safety of the public will be complied with.
Upon the application being received by the Council, the person
applying is required to furnish details concerning the whole of his
expenditure in rent, rates, taxes, wages, films and other items in
connection with the business. Figures are required also as to the
average takings and the average profit to be expected from the
performance is arrived at. The proprietor then agrees to pay the
agreed sum weekly to an approved charity, which undertakes with
the London County Council that it will keep its accounts in the
manner laid down by the Council.
During the past year the Lord Bishop of London, in dealing
with Sunday evening entertainments in London, said that attempts
by the trade to obtain permission for Sunday shows were always
backed up by the plea of charity. To show that this is specious
he gave the following figures for a year. The gross receipts from
the entertainments opened on Sundays were 182,000; while
G
82 SUNDAY PERFORMANCES
the amount received by the charities was 33,000, and he said,
" If that does not show up what a blind this charity is, I do not
know what will."
From the same source as that from which the Bishop of London
obtained his figures the returns of the London County Council
in this matter these further details are given. As the Bishop
has done, omitting shillings and pence, the total gross receipts
for one year were 182,000; the same returns show the wages at
45,900. The supply of the films came to 45,473 ; 33,000 was
handed to the charities. The total, therefore, for charities, for
wages and for the supply of films is 124,373; there is then a
balance of 57,627, which went to the owners of the theatres. But
what the Bishop did not realise apparently was that this amount
was taken in satisfaction of the expenditure on rent, taxes, heating,
gas and electric light, and all the odd items of expenditure attending
the business were furnished for that sum of money.
The total number of entertainments was practically 15,000;
therefore the expenditure per performance in regard to the use of
hall with all appliances, electric light, carbons and other essentials
was rather less than 4 per performance. It will be noticed that
the net profit of the venture, after paying all expenses and wages,
is 18 per cent., which I submit is a very satisfactory return indeed,
and one which would well safisfy most commercial enterprises.
Regarding the character of the films I beg leave to place the
following letter before the Commission from the Cinematograph
Exhibitor's Association of Great Britain and Ireland, Ltd. (London
Branch) to all exhibitors in London
February 4, 1916.
RE SUNDAY PROGRAMMES
DEAR SIR,
I am instructed by my Committee to strongly urge London
Exhibitors to direct particular attention to the character of their
Sunday programmes. Although in the majority of cases Members
provide a special programme for Sunday, there are instances where
the films provided do not differ from the ordinary weekly
programme.
My Committee would strongly advise the exclusion of purely
comic and wildly sensational pictures, and the substitution of good
dramas, travel pictures and films of educational interest. If this is
done my Committee feel sure the care exercised in film selection
for the Sunday evenings will remove a great deal of the prejudice
which exists in some quarters against Sunday amusements.
Your Association are in active negotiation with the renters of
films to secure an adequate supply of the proper films for display
on Sunday evenings.
Yours faithfully,
ERNEST W. P. PEALL, Hon. Sec.
In regard to the labour question, it has been mentioned that
it is a rule of the Council that no one shall work on Sunday
COMPLAINTS OF INDECENCY 83
evening if he or she has worked each of the previous six days, and in
this connection the following clause is operative as between labour
and the Association. "Sunday evening, Good Friday evening
and Christmas evening shall be deemed equal to a full week-day
and paid for accordingly. A worker shall reserve the right to
refuse to work on Sunday evening, but if he or she does accept
the Sunday evening duty, he or she shall coinpulsorily take one
day off during the week. No worker shall under any circumstances
work for seven days continuously."
I therefore and with confidence ask for a ruling of the Com-
mission that without going into the merits and whether or no the
houses should be opened on Sunday, that in pursuance of arrange-
ments made by the governing body the London County Council
the bargain is being loyally carried out by the exhibitors.
In the second place, I desire to refer to the question of indecent
conduct, alleged to occur in picture theatres, and to point out to the
Commission my earnest conviction that this matter has been very
grossly exaggerated. When investigation is made it is usually
found that the alleged misconduct is nothing more than the
privileged manifestation of affection between the sexes. Most
unmarried couples sitting in close proximity at entertainments,
or in other places of relaxation or amusement will hold hands, or
link arms, or even an occasional arm will be found around a waist,
this under the strongest as well as under very much diminished
lighting. In this connection I am reminded of a very true and
tender remark once made by Mr. Newbould, the chairman of my
Association, on this subject, when he said that such a sight so
"far from deserving censure should . . . make our hearts glad."
I say that in general the cinema is not the abode of indecency, and
recall attention to the visits by vigilant workers of the National
Union of Women Workers to 248 halls, when as was returned by
the Chief Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis to the Home
Secretary, no cases of indecency were observed. It is a lamentable
fact that certain undesirable characters have lately been found
to be endeavouring to make use of the halls in the West End,
and in this connection my Association has lately addressed the
following letter to the Home Secretary, and is pursuing the matter
so far as it sees opportunity.
London District Branch,
Broadmead House, Pantqn Street,
Panton Street, Haymarket, S.W
January 5, 1917.
Rt. Hon. Sir George Cave, K.C., M.P.,
Home Secretary, Home Office, Whitehall, S.W.
DEAR SIR,
On behalf of the above Association we venture to approach
you to direct your attention to, and to make some observations
upon an extremely urgent matter which affects the well-being of
the public in general, and the cinematograph trade in particular.
84 UNDESIRABLE VISITORS
Certain abnormal conditions unfortunately exist in the West
End of London at the present time which tend gravely to endanger
the good name of the cinematograph trade, and the comfort and
morals of its patrons, and which without the aid of the State
cannot be altered.
It has recently been stated that there are at the present time
60,000 prostitutes in the County of London, 40,000 of such being of
alien birth. Many are refugees from France and Belgium, and
very many are ordinarily resident and have been so for many years
in this country. Recent arrangements and adjustments have closed
certain quarters in which the women in question have been used
to ply their occupation, and the result has been that in addition
to using the streets in vastly increased numbers, such women are
found to be endeavouring to establish a new market place by
invading the tea shops, cafes and cinemas in the West End and
vicinity. Having abandoned the glaring garb of the music hall
for a more sober raiment, the abnormally darkened conditions of
the vestibules of cinemas in the early evenings make it exceedingly
difficult to detect the character of women seeking admission.
A campaign for more illuminant within the auditoriums has
considerably aided the women in their calling. It has been sug-
gested that indecent and immoral conduct takes place within
cinemas. This is entirely without foundation, and the cry for more
lighting came from this unfounded charge ; the real evil being that
the women seek to solicit and are aided rather than otherwise by
any attempt to raise the standard of indoor lighting. The diffi-
culty of dealing with this matter is well known. Actions for libel
are so easy to manufacture, while the calling of these women is so
lucrative that any fine inflicted is paid with ease.
The Association prays for help in this matter, and ventures to
place before the Department a series of proposals having for their
object the better control of the health and morals of the town.
Under the National Registration Act of 1915, steps might be
taken to re-register the woman power of the country, and by this
means exact details of the age, occupation, and means of support
of every female over the age of fourteen would be obtained. A
personal card would be issued to every female giving certain
particulars, and this card would be producible on demand by any
authorised person.
No opposition should be offered to this course, which only
equalises the conditions between the sexes.
Suitable penalties could be inflicted for failure to produce
identity cards, and it might be found possible that in future a
convicted prostitute would have the identity card marked to that
effect.
The result of this registration would be to tabulate clearly the
numbers and nationalities of the pests now poisoning our city.
Deportation should follow of the foreign element, and some
method of isolation and reclamation for the British nationals
adopted forthwith. Woman labour is wanted, we understand, in
vast quantities, and it appears to this Association that no better
POSTERS 85
work could be undertaken than the provision of a working settle-
ment in which these women could be placed for stated periods of
time, during which organised effort could be made for their better
education and reformation.
The Association begs the consideration of His Majesty's Secre-
tary of State for Home Affairs of the information contained in
this letter, and hope that some means may be devised to deal with
evils alluded to.
We have the honour to remain,
Your obedient servants,
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. F. R. GOODWIN. Further examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. I think you produce a poster in con-
sequence of something that was said by Canon Brown on the last
occasion ? Yes. I have a message from the Gaumont Film Com-
pany, from whom I got this poster. They say they had no idea
that any such meaning could be read into the poster as was pointed
out that the heads of these figures were looking at the girl's legs ;
it was just a fanciful portrait of the principal girl in the piece,
and the faces round were intended to be various actors taking
part in the thing. If this Commission thinks it is likely to have
any widespread interpretation of the kind referred to, the Gaumont
Company are prepared at once to withdraw the poster.
2. Was that prepared in France? No, this was done by
Water low Brothers & Lay ton.
3. Was that passed by the Billposters' Association? I could
not say.
4. I think the question might be asked of the Billposters'
Association. Now you have come to give us some information
on the subject of Sunday entertainments ? Yes.
5. Do the cinema authorities lay stress upon having Sunday
entertainments ? Is it considered an important part of the trade
that you should have them? Oh, yes; permissions to open are
greatly sought after.
6. And there are not a great many places where they are open,
are there? Very few.
7. Principally London and Brighton? Yes, and one or two
towns in the North Blackpool, for instance. There are more
places just now, because the military authorities have been asking
for Sunday evening entertainments in certain places. Then there
are one or two places in Scotland.
8. Are they always open with a kind of condition that a
certain amount is to be given in charity? I think not. I
think that is peculiar to London, and when it has been allowed
in Birmingham, I think I am right in saying there has been some
charity ; but I am not sure of the position in other places.
9. Supposing it is a question rather of ethics, of course it
were undesirable to have Sunday cinema entertainments; would
86 CONDUCT IN CINEMAS
that undesirable character cease because any portion of the money
were given to a charity? No.
10. Would it not be rather intensified ? If the thing is undesir-
able, and some part of the money received is devoted to charity,
does not that rather increase than dimmish the impropriety of
the matter ? Yes.
11. What restrictions of hours are there ? They are not allowed
to commence before six o'clock, and they must finish by eleven.
That is Rule 3 of the London County Council Regulations.
12. What difference is there between the Sunday programmes
and the week-day programmes ? There is beginning to be more
difference. At one time there was no difference at all. My
Association have been working for some time on that business.
I am happy to say that gradually we are getting exhibitors in
London who do open, to see the force of the attempt to do away
with some measure of the prejudice that exists.
13. You say that you take care that nobody works more than
six days in the week? It must not be done. It is a rule it is
an order.
14. I notice you quote the chairman of your Association as
making a "true and tender remark" when he said that the sight
of people linking arms, or with arms round each other's waists,
is a thing rather to rejoice to see in a cinema theatre than to be
down upon. You accept that ? Yes.
15. It would depend upon who are the people who are doing
this, would it not? Yes.
16. Most ( of them, I suppose, are presumed to be people engaged
to be married ? Yes, we assume that that is so.
17. I think that assumption shows a very wide charity on your
part, but still, what you in effect say is this : Your judgment
would be that indecency does not occur in cinema theatres ? No.
18. Would you say that what goes on is very much the same
thing as you may see in any of our parks ? Yes, and on a bus or
tramcar ; it is everywhere the same ; but real indecency, of course,
goes very much further than that, and I say that as a fact it does
not take place in our theatres.
19. In regard to this matter, it is true, is it not, that you ought
to have as much light as possible, compatible with the entertain-
ment going on, in order that there may be correct inspection ?
Yes ; conditional, of course, upon not spoiling the entertainment.
20. Now do you think that has entered into the calculations
of the proprietors of halls in regard to entertainments as a rule ?
The question of more light ?
21. Yes? No, I should not think, so.
22. I suppose the first thing they would say is that the less light
there is in the hall the better for the entertainment? The pro-
prietor would say that. If I am a proprietor and I am to do
the best I can for the picture I am showing, I must show it in
the dark.
23. But on the whole you cannot say that this very great dark-
ness is absolutely necessary ? Well, it is not so necessary now as
SUNDAY PERFORMANCES 87
it was. The pictures are better, the lenses are better, the halls
are better.
24. MR. LAMERT. I think it was this witness who made the
suggestion that if there was more light it would be easier for women
at the back to attract attention ? That is the one drawback.
25. THE CHAIRMAN. We ought to get that point. There is,
in your judgment, a good deal of that element of undesirable
women coming to the theatre and moving about in order to get
into touch with the males ? We have had cases of that kind before
us in the West End.
26. And now you are instituting a kind of watch over that ?
Yes.
27. You have almost a small detective system in a way, and
if a person moves more than twice he or she is ejected it is some-
thing like that, is it not ? It depends ; he or she is placed under
observation ; we should always be suspicious of a man or a woman
who shifted his seat three or four times.
28. Have you power to eject a person under those circum-
stances ? Yes.
29. DR. SALEEBY. On what ground? Well, we use the right
to refuse admittance to anybody. We simply turn them out.
We have never got into trouble over that but once, and then we
thought a man had not paid. It turned out that he had, and it
cost us 150.
30. But these people have already paid you, and you have
admitted them ? Yes. We have turned them out, and we were
probably right, because we did not get into trouble over it.
31. REV. CAREY BONNER. Could you give us any information
as to how far there has been an improvement in the Sunday pro-
grammes ? $ome of the best of the pictures that were ordinarily
only put on on week-days longer and finer films we are gradually
getting them to show those on Sunday nights instead of the more
tawdry two -reel things. There is some really good stuff getting on.
32. You think this has had a practical influence in lifting up the
character of Sunday performances ? Yes.
33. MR. CROOK. Do you get the same clientele on Sundays as
during the rest of the week, or do you get a different kind of
people ? Many people come on Sundays who are unable to attend
at any other time. They would be the shop-assistant class, and
more the real working people. There is only the Saturday even-
ing, perhaps, when the man is home, and then he must shop with
his wife ; but on Sunday evenings they would have nothing at all
to do unless they went to the cinema.
34. And the man has the choice of going to the public- house
alone, or going to the cinema with his wife ? Yes.
35. I remember when I was about twenty-five going to the
Pavilion and the Empire, and finding that there were any amount
of women of what I may call the accosting class in the upper circle,
accosting men right and left. Do you think the same thing would
result if you had the same amount of light in the cinemas?
Where the promenades are big enough for that sort of thing,
88 UNDESIRABLE VISITORS
certainly ; where the promenades are not so big you do not get it
so much, but you get spasmodic attempts to have a word with two
or three men.
36. But greater lighting would give an increased opportunity?
Yes ; that is the opinion I have formed.
37. MR. LAMERT. Are you satisfied with the powers you have
at the present time the legal powers, I do not know what they
are exactly to deal with these undesirable things ? Oh, no ;
we are always running the risk of making a mistake, but we have
never had that happen yet.
38. Any action you have taken has been rather high-handed ?
Very much so.
39. You have simply had the luck not to tumble against some-
body who has got heavy damages out of you ? Yes.
40. Would it assist you very much if you had powers to deal
with them ? Very much.
41 . Can you suggest what powers you would like ? Well, I
suggest that one power we ought to have as a licensee is a power
the same as a constable would have the right to say, " Where
is your registration card ? " and not get summoned for asking that
question.
42. Of course, by " constable " you mean not a special con-
stable, but an ordinary constable, Who has very special powers ?
He may demand to know who you are. I say that if a licensed
man, a publican or other man holding a licence, who could not
carry on his business without a licence if such a man is entrusted
with the conduct and honour of a certain establishment he ought
to be armed with sufficient authority to say to anybody on his
premises, " Who are you, and where do you live ? "
48. You are referring now to the registration card which was
instituted in August of 1915? Yes.
44. Prior to that there was no registration, and that will get
out of date pretty soon; that will not help you in five years'
time ? It would ; the women were registered at the same time.
45. Yes, but in five years you would get another set of women
who had grown up in the meantime ? The card would be renew-
able every year, the same as for your motor-car or driving
licence.
46. Do you suggest that we are going to go on with this register ?
Yes.
That opens up a very wide question.
47. MONSIGNOR BROWN. May I ask what is on the registration
card that would notify you that the woman was of a bad class ?
She might put herself down as a shop assistant or an actress, or
anything ? But it would be an offence to put in anything that
was untrue.
48. But how would you get a card telling you what the woman
was ? Because it would have her name, her address, her nation-
ality and her business or means of support.
DR. SALEEBY. None of them would put themselves down as
prostitutes.
CONDUCT IN CINEMAS 89
THE CHAIRMAN. I think you have got the witness's answer.
I do not think you can carry it any further.
49. MR. LAMERT. Do you suggest that one should have to take
one's card in order to get into a cinema ? I see no reason against
it ; you are supposed to carry your registration card, and you can
be called upon for it at any time by a policeman.
50. MR. GRAVES. Do you regard cinemas as a counter-attrac-
tion to places of worship? No. I have only gone so far as to
regard them as a counter-attraction to public- houses.
51. But you will grant that they are more or less in opposition
to another form of spending the evening in collected numbers
that is, to places of worship and that undoubtedly there is a
considerable number of young people who prefer the counter-
attraction of the cinema to places of worship ? Yes, I think some
would prefer it.
52. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Would you agree that the very dark
state of the London streets at present makes objectionable be-
haviour possible in the open streets which would not have been
possible when there was a stronger light? Yes.
53. Therefore darkness does, to some extent, make cases of
indecency possible, even in assemblages of people ? Yes.
54. And therefore there is a risk of indecent actions following
what you might call the affectionate attitude that engaged couples
or courting couples might take up innocently in a broad light ?
Yes.
55. What would be your procedure, supposing a person in the
hall complained to you that near them, within their range of
sight, they saw objectionable actions going on ; would you require
that person to come and face the people that he indicated, or would
you take his or her report that certain things had been seen going
on? It would help me very much if the accuser would come
forward and assist me.
56. But you recognise that that would be a very painful thing
for private people to do? Yes.
57. Would you require the person who saw it to come up and
point them out to you ? I think I should.
58. I was trying to get at that. Therefore, suppose I go into
a cinema, pay my shilling and sit down, and within neighbouring
seats see that kind of thing going on ; if it is to be stopped I must
get up in my place and ask to see the manager or some one in
authority, and say that that- is going on? It would be better
for you to call the attendant.
59. Suppose the attendant, I having callecl him, says,
" That has nothing to do with me " ; am I then to press and
say, " I insist upon seeing some one higher than you "? I am
speaking of what has happened, not of an imaginary case.
That would be very bad indeed, if an attendant did a thing like
that.
60. You will recognise that these are very painful things for an
ordinary private member of the community to do ? Yes, but it
is a question of duty.
90 CONDUCT IN CINEMAS
61. But you would admit it is a very painful duty for a person
to discharge, because such a person might be subjected to molesta-
tion afterwards ; and therefore there is a certain shrinking on the
part of the average member of the public from intervening in such
a case ? Yes.
62. Could you say that in most of the halls of exhibitors who
are members of your Association there is such a supervision
carried on continuously as to make that kind of gross indecency
practically impossible ? Yes.
63. You cannot answer for the halls which are not in your
Association ? No.
64. One other point. What other methods have you for de-
tecting possible acts of indecency of boys towards girls ; especially
girls a good deal younger than themselves ? Say a boy of fourteen,
and children perhaps of ten and nine and so on, especially girls.
Parents have told me of very painful things that have happened
which the children have told them of afterwards. Is there super-
vision of a character that makes that a very risky thing for a boy
to attempt ? Yes ; there is an attendant in charge of these children.
The case you put is rather difficult, because the fourteen -year-old
boy may be a big boy, and may look older ; but if they are children
they are all together; they are sitting in seats which are specially
reserved for them, and are in the charge of an attendant who is
there specially while the children are on the premises. *If it was
a girl of ten and a boy who was nearly sixteen, or who looked more
like sixteen, that is a different thing.
65. I was not putting it so high as that at all ; I was putting it
more with reference to occasional acts of indecency taking place
among children and boys of that age. When you get these rather
cheap displays to which children are admitted at reduced rates,
when the house is practically full of children, is there any super-
vision that makes the kind of thing I have described reasonably
improbable? I have never had a question put to me before of
indecency to children by children ; that is a thing that absolutely
I have never heard of. There has never been a complaint made to
our Association, as far as I know, of that kind, nor have I had any-
thing said to me by parents on such a subject. Indecency of the
adult to the child, yes ; but of children to children never ; I have
never come across that.
66. PROFESSOR H. GOLLANCZ. If it was considered necessary or
desirable to open the cinemas on Sunday evenings, say, at eight
o'clock instead of six, so as to give a chance for those who wished
to go to church, so that there would be no excuse for them not
going, would it pay? I think you would still get a fair return
for the evening.
67. MR. KING. Can you tell us how it came about that the
charity condition was imposed on the cinemas in connection
with the Sunday opening? Was it not, as a matter of fact, a
condition laid down by the London County Council ? Yes.
68. And is the condition that the entertainments shall not be
for profit ? Yes.
SUNDAY PERFORMANCES . 91
69. THE CHAIRMAN. Is that clear? This is very important.
Do you mean to say that on Sunday entertainments no profit is
made ? No.
70. MR. KING. My question was, is it not a condition pre-
cedent to the Sunday opening being granted that, in the terms of
the London County Council's regulation, the entertainment shall
not be for profit ? Yes. I think I can give you the exact words
of that. No, they have been altered. This is the 1916 under-
taking. No. 1 : " The entertainment will be of a healthy character
and properly conducted " and now following that it used to be,
" and not for profit nor by way of trade."
71. THE CHAIRMAN. That does not exist at all now? Oh, the
principle is the same.
72. Is it an act of philanthropy, then, on a Sunday? No. In
my statement there is shown actually what the proprietor gets.
The total number of entertainments was practically 15,000,
therefore the expenditure per performance that is, all he got
with regard to the use of the hall with appliances and so on was
rather less than 4 per performance. He has been able to let his
theatre which he pays for by the year; he has got this use of
the other day, for which he can charge a certain sum of money to
somebody else. We cannot disguise the fact that that can be called
a profit.
73. MR. KING. Prior to cinemas being granted permission to
open, a large number of music halls were already open under the
auspices of the National Sunday League ? Yes.
74. What proportion do the staffs employed by cinemas bear
to the staffs of music halls or theatres ? Very small. There is a
tremendous staff engaged in a music hall behind the scenes that we
never see. y
75. And if they were open on Sundays those people would be
employed? Oh, yes.
76. MR. EDGAR JEPSON. With regard to children's matinees,
are adults admitted to them unless they take children with them ?
Yes.
77. DR. SALEEBY. There are still comic pictures to be seen at
the very best places on Sunday evenings ? Yes.
78. You nevertheless continue to advocate their exclusion?
Yes ; we would like to stop it.
79. You still hold that what is right to show on Saturday is
wrong to show on Sunday? There are the feelings of people to
be considered, and I consider the comic film is wrong.
80. MR. NEWBOULD. I take it that since the war the actual
condition of the cinema staffs is not so good as before the war.
Owing to the difficulty of getting first-class attendants and per-
haps having to replace them with older people, supervision has been
rendered more difficult? It is a little^ more difficult to eject
people ; we have not so many stalwarts* at our back now, but we
carry on pretty well. We have had to put perhaps two women
where there was one man before.
92 MR. WESTELL'S EVIDENCE
MR. W. PERCIVAL WESTELL, F.L.S. Examined.
81. THE CHAIRMAN. Why were your educational cinema
lectures started at Letchworth ? Because I was so utterly dis-
appointed with the character of the films being shown at the Letch-
worth Picture Palace ; and because I wished to show the public
that they could get a great deal more intelligent interest out of
films that mattered. I commenced this series on New Year's Day,
1913. It was a tremendous personal effort to have to fight
although Letchworth is only thirteen years old a cinema which
had been there practically since its infancy, and had got a good
hold. There is a big working-class population. I wrote a large
number of letters and went round to a large number of educational
people and others who I thought would back me, and they readily
did so.
82. What kind of films do you exhibit ? I have exhibited films
showing industries, travel, physical geography, natural history,
historical films, and recently I introduced a sort of light fairy
story, " Red Riding Hood," "The Three Bears," and so on. /
83. No novels ? No. Dickens's " Christmas Carol."
84. No comedies ? No ; with the exception of light fairy stories.
85. THE CHAIRMAN. Are you an official connected with Letch-
worth Garden City ? No ; my only connection with it is that I
hold a plot.
86. Did you have any collection or subscriptions towards the
starting of this institution ? Yes. Certain supporters took blocks
of tickets and gave them away to school children or deserving
people.
87. What prices do you charge? One penny, threepence and
sixpence.
88. MONSIGNOR BROWN. What is the accommodation of the
hall? About 800.
89. THE CHAIRMAN. Does it pay commercially ? Well, that is
rather an awkward question, my lord. With regard to one
series of six lectures which I gave in November-December, 1914,
there was an attendance of 3200 (you can take about three-
fourths of these attendances as children), and a profit was made of
15 Is. Sd. ; and sandwiched in between those six lectures, I gave
a special lecture on behalf of the Belgian Refugees, at which there
was an attendance of 660. That is bringing you into the neigh-
bourhood of 4000 for seven lectures, and I handed over the total
proceeds of the Belgian Lecture, which amounted to 10 16s. 6d.
90. Is this a work of love on your part ? Well, I get a small
fee, but it is not at all commensurate with the enormous amount
of work I have had to put in.
91. Are these audited figures, or your own? These figures
were audited, because a Committee was appointed at my request
for the purpose of assisting me in these entertainments.
92. What rent do you pay? When we started it was 2, but
it was afterwards increased to 2 5s. My idea was to replace the
undesirable Saturday afternoon matinee, which was perfectly dis-
CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENTS 93
tressing; but, unfortunately, the children revel in it, and so my
rent went up from 2 5s. to 3, which I am now paying.
93. Are your attendants paid? No.
94. Yours is a work of philanthropy ? That is practically what
it amounts to.
DR. SALEEBY. May we ask about the expression " perfectly
distressing " ?
95. THE CHAIRMAN. What particular films do you refer to in
this connection ? Can you give us some particular instances ?
There has been produced, on Saturday of last week, a film
called " ." I call it distressing to have, in a
film of that kind which children are permitted to see, both murders
and suicides. A week or two previously there was what I call a
distressing film, a coiners' den, in which any one who had attended
the cinema could have become au fait with everything connected
with the making of counterfeit coins.
96. Were these for children? There was no option; it was
either that or stay away.
97. Was this called a children's entertainment like we have
heard of at some other cinemas ? No, it is simply called a Saturday
matinee, but is primarily for children.
98. Then it is not what you would call a children's perform-
ance ? The proprietor of the picture palace would tell you it was.
99. MR. CROOK. Do they charge lower prices on Saturday
afternoon ? Oh, yes.
100. Then, really, it is a children's matinee ? Yes.
101. THE CHAIRMAN. You want me to ask you something
about w r hat appeals to children, and to adults, respectively?
Yes. As regards the films which I have exhibited, the least
appeal is made generally by pond and marine life, insects,
snakes, and lizards ; and the films which have made the most
appeal to children have been the birds, which seem to quite
fascinate them, and the light fairy story, which is, of course,
absolutely the tit-bit of the afternoon. I am inclined to think
that if I showed my light fairy story first, and did not leave it
till the last, the show would be more or less empty. The grown-
ups, without whom I could not carry on the entertainment,
appreciate plants, industries, and birds, and they also do not
like the wriggly creatures, especially if it is, say, a water
beetle devouring a worm in a tank, which they say is horrible. I
point out that it is just what is happening every second, but they
say : " Oh, we are grown-up and understand, but we do not want
to show these things to the children."
102. Then even your entertainment is regarded sometimes as
undesirable ? Yes. I do not say it is so, but it is criticised as
such. I am not in favour of showing these creatures killing one
another myself, but the supply of the kind of film which I feel
justified in showing is so small, that I have simply got to take
what I can get or go without.
103. It is contended that there is an enormous supply of educa-
tional films at hand for people, and that they are not being used
94 EDUCATIONAL FILMS
at all. You have not, at any rate, been able to get a very wide
supply ? Well, I gave thirty lectures and used up the whole of the
educational films of Pathe Freres ; and I have had to go to another
firm now, so I do not know where this great supply is.
104. MR. CROOK. Did you succeed in closing this commercial
undertaking? On Saturday afternoons?
105. THE CHAIRMAN. At all at any time? Yes, I closed it
for twelve Saturdays and reclosed it for ten more, twenty-two in
all. Now it is simply going on again.
106. Now, as to the scientific and educational value of nature
films ? Well, that I feel is very important, because I am a life-
long field naturalist, and the result of my having lectured with a
large number of natural history films has been that I have myself
been educated in many points which I do not think I should ever
have seen otherwise. Perhaps I might mention one or two : that
the hedgehog is such a good swimmer ; that the lizard is so fond of
drinking ; that the jerboa has a danger signal ; that the deer
moves with such lightness and fleetness of foot, and springs with
such adroitness ; that the dormouse successfully tackles a large
snake ; that the heron carries its legs outstretched as it flies ; and
the remarkable forms of motion to be seen in jelly-fishes.
107. MR. LAMERT. Did you see these on the films, or did you
see them in nature ? The point is that I observed them on the
films, and they had escaped my attention in nature, and, I believe,
would have continued to do so. I might state that the exhibition
of such films seems to me of great importance.
108. Now with regard to the value of standing slides at cinema
entertainments ? Well, I have felt it to be very important that
the children should not look at moving pictures during the whole
of a performance, and the reason I have adopted some other
method was because the parents have reported to me that if their
children had to look at moving pictures during the whole of the
lectures, they complained at night of headache and of their eyes
aching.
109. You want to give some facts and figures as to attendances ?
I have given some. I should like to give one more. In the
twelve lectures which were concluded last Saturday, the attend-
ance has been larger than any since I started some four years ago ;
it has been 771)0.
110. And the people appreciate what you are doing, do they ?
Might I quote one or two examples?
111. Yes, if you please. School managers and staffs, for
instance. One of the head masters writes : " During all the
twenty-five years of my experience of school work, I can honestly
testify that I" have never had such assistance in the school as that
which has been rendered during the course of the lectures which
have just been concluded." The parents certainly appreciate it.
I have a letter from our representative upon the County
Council. He says : " I was unable to be at the picture palace
on New Year's Day, but some of my family were there, and
enjoyed your lecture immensely. So much was I impressed
LETCHWORTH EXPERIMENT 95
with the educational value of same that I am impelled to send
you a cheque, which I should like you to devote to providing as
many school children as can be catered for at the lowest price',
so .as to extend the interest^as far as possible." I should like to
give just one other instance of a factory, which, I think, may be
rather interesting to the Commission. We have a good number
of factories at Letchworth, and there is one called the Spirella
Corset Company. This is a notice which is put up all over that
factory, which employs 700 people : " Cinema Nature Lectures,
by Mr. W. P. Westell, F.L.S. Season 1916-17 : Mr. Westell is
planning to give twelve of his Nature Lectures at the Letchworth
Picture Palace on Saturday afternoons, beginning November 4.
In conformity to past customs, and because of our interest in
educational work of this kind, the Company have offered to
subscribe for a certain number of tickets for free issue to
employees."
112. THE CHAIRMAN. Then as to essays written by the children
attending? Yes, that is rather important. We have invited
children attending to write illustrated essays on the lectures.
I have a number here. The illustrations are very remarkable
when you remember that the whole thing had to be memorised ;
the children were in the dark and could not even make any notes.
There were just one or two pocket flash-lamps used, I believe.
113. And they have written good essays? Excellent essays,
with some remarkable illustrations.
114. You want to give a brief resume of the results obtained,
I think ? Well, I think I have proved, at any rate, to the public
of Letchworth, that natural history is not a subject which is only
fit for the kindergarten, as most people imagine. I know I have
aroused a tremendous amount of interest, and, at any rate, I
have replaced the undesirable show some forty-four times, and I
rm now arranging ten more lectures, which will bring me to over
fifty.
115. MR. NEWBOULD. You made some reference to the bad
behaviour of the children since the war. Do you attribute that
to the influence of the cinema, or to conditions arising out of the
war ? Partly both.
116. What percentage would you attribute to the cinema?
I should think about 50 per cent.
117. SIR JOHN KIRK. Do I understand you are acting from a
philanthropic point of view entirely? Oh, yes.
118. Looking at it from \he national point of view, and regard-
ing it as on a commercial basis, how would you regard your
experiments ? Have you any suggestions to make in a national
and commercial sense, arising out of your experiments ? Yes.
I think it would be very difficult to make it a commercial success
unless you made quite sure of the support of a large class in
your neighbourhood.
119. MR. GRAVES. Do you give your lectures and your cine-
matograph exhibitions only on Saturdays? Only on Saturdays,
from October to March. Previously on Wednesdays at 5.45.
96 PARENTAL CONTROL
120. Is there a general support of your movement from the
general body of teachers at Letchworth ? Previous to continuing
it on Saturday afternoons, yes ; since then, no.
121. To what do you attribute that? Because it is not fair
to expect them to come on Saturday afternoons ; they have seen
quite enough of the children by Friday night.
122. MR. CROOK. Your last answer rather surprised me. I
happen to be a schoolmaster of a large school, and from my
knowledge I should say that many schoolmasters would prefer
children to go on Saturday afternoons rather than on any evening
in the week? Yes, but the question asked me was whether I
had received support. I took it that that meant, did they give
their attendance.
123. MR. GRAVES. No, I did not mean their attendance.
The schools have supported me most loyally by selling tickets.
124. MR. CROOK. Has the National Union of Teachers
supported you? Not as a body, only as individual members.
125. You said that the behaviour of the children had been
tolerably decent before the war, but that it was now absolutely
hopeless ? Yes.
126. You also said that this absolute hopelessness was half due
to the cinema and half due to the circumstances of the war?
Yes, the lack of home influence.
127. Who do you think before the war were the people who
kept the children in a state of decent behaviour ? I think there
was a better home influence, because the father was there, and
they rather feared him, and they have got round the mother more.
128. THE CHAIRMAN. But there was a worse cinema then,
because you had not started? Oh, yes, I started two years
before the war.
129. MR. CROok. But besides their homes, they are in school
for five and a half hours every day ? Yes.
130. They were before the war under the influence of men
teachers the boys, particularly? Yes.
131. And now they are not; now they are under the influence
of women teachers, who have not the same control over them ?
Yes.
132. So there was a loss in regard to the two controls, the
home control and the school control? Yes.
133. Do you still put 50 per cent, on the cinema, having regard
to that ? No ; you have raised a very interesting point there.
I must alter my 50 per cent. I must ^put, at least, 25 per cent,
down to the absence of the men teachers, and to the largeness
of the classes, and to women having to deal with them.
134. I want you to see all round the statement you are making.
Yes, I am very glad you raised that point ; I had quite over-
looked it.
135. And, as a matter of fact, the influence of the cinema was
there before the war ? That is so.
136. And, therefore, there is nothing due to the cinema during
the war? No.
MR. HARMAN'S EVIDENCE 9T
1ST. And so you knock it down to nothing in the cinema?
Oh, no. The way they have been allowed to behave at Saturday
afternoon performances is largely due to three or four things, I
think : the absence of staff at the picture palace, the war taking
away the father, the large classes in the schools, and the women
supplementing the men teachers.
138. May I just sum up what I think we have come to ? Your
statement was that before the war the behaviour of the children
at cinemas was tolerably decent? Yes.
139. Cinemas have *ot deteriorated since then ? I do not
think so.
140. But the influence of the teacher and the parent has gone?
-Yes.
141. Therefore, any change in the behaviour of the children
cannot be due to the cinema? No.
142. DR. MARIE STOPES. When you are lecturing on a film,
S)u say it is rather difficult, because the film passes so quickly,
ave you never used an apparatus for stopping the film at a
certain point, and lecturing on that? No, because the local
people with whom I work would not purchase it. I suggested
it, but they would not support me.
143. Should you not think that with regard to educational
films in general such an appliance was absolutely necessary?
I should say absolutely essential, to do it properly.
144. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. May I take it that you regard the
cinema as a very valuable aid to the education of the young ? <.
Most certainly ; I heartily support such a vade mecum.
145. Would you agree that, as far as possible, the cinema
should be attached to every elementary school in the country ?
Most certainly.
THE EFFECTS OF CINEMATOGRAPH DISPLAYS UPON
THE EYES OF CHILDREN
BY N. BISHOP BARMAN,* M.A., M.B., F.R.C.S.
Senior Opthalmic Surgeon to the West London Hospital and
Ophthalmic Surgeon to the Belgrave Hospital for Children.
IN general it may be said that the effects of these exhibitions
on the eyes of children do not differ from those experienced by
adults. There are few, if any, adults who do not experience
some annoying effects; very many of the more sensitive or
impressionable feel considerable strain; and children may be
taken to fall into the class of the more impressionable of adults,
owing to their lesser power of resistance and readier experience
of fatigue.
The unpleasant effects associated with the cinematograph
1 See also pp. 116-18.
H
98 EYE-STRAIN
exhibition so far as they affect the eyes may be set out as
follows
1. Glare.
2. Flicker.
3. Rapidity of motion.
4. Concentration of attention.
5. Duration of exhibition.
Some of these effects are peculiar to the cinematograph ; others
are found in the same or some degree in other optical exhibitions.
But none of them are natural, and as the more they depart from
the effects of natural phenomena, so much the greater is the
adverse influence on the eyes increased.
1. Glare
The human eye has a wonderful power of adapting itself to
varying conditions of illumination. But to one effect it is well-
nigh incapable of adapting itself. That is the effect of a single
light in a dark place. The light may be but a feeble light, but
if the space in which it is exhibited be dark this feeble light will
be relatively intense, and therefore irritating to the eyes. These
conditions are found exemplified in the highest degree in all
optical lantern exhibitions. To enhance the effect of the show
the room is made as dark as possible, the light of the lantern as
bright as possible, and the transparency as strong as possible.
The light from the lantern is projected on to the whitest possible
screen, and therefrom it is reflected directly into the eyes of the
observer. All these necessary conditions of the show are the
worst possible conditions for the eyes ; they all tend to produce
the maximum of fatigue. The effects of glare are further inten-
sified in the cinematograph show by the programme screen shown
between the films. These slides are often far too brilliant in the
contrast between the white print and the dark background.
Particularly bad are the impromptu slides, made by scratching
the writing on a screen of coloured gelatine. These slides should
be prepared so that the contrast between the print and the back-
ground is the smallest necessary for visibility.
Glare cannot be dissociated from the shows. It can be reduced
by providing a sufficient illumination of those parts of the room
or hall removed from the immediate region of the screen ; by
attention to ordinary details connected with the use of fixed
slides; and by care in the degree of illumination of the hall
during the interval.
2. Flicker
Most people will acknowledge that the flicker of the cinemato-
graph is peculiarly irritating. Flicker is of two kinds. First,
there is the effect of the rapid change of the moving film. The
effect is irritating according to the slowness of the flicker. The
more rapid the change of the film, the less is the effect upon the
eye. If the film can move at a rate slightly greater than that
EYE-STRAIN 99
at which the keen eye is able to perceive variations of light, this
sort of flicker will cease to worry. There is already a great
improvement in the newer films and machines. The effect is
most evident now in the coloured films, where attempts are made
to give a natural colour to the scenes by the rapid alternation of
different coloured films.
There is another kind of flicker due to bad films. Scratches
and patches produce faults in the films which allow of the sudden
exposure of the eyes to bright flashes of light ; when these flashes
follow in rapid and irregular succession, as in a badly damaged
or worn film, all the irritable effects of flicker are intensified.
3. Rapidity of Motion
This defect in the cinematograph i$ to some extent connected
with the previous defect. With the intent to reduce flicker,
films are moved through the machine at a rate greater than the
natural rate of progress of event depicted. The eye has a habit
of work, just as any other part of the body or the whole organism,
and there is a resentment expressed in terms of fatigue when it
is required to work at a rate different to the habitual rate. The
defect in the film is most evident in those scenes which depict
movement near at hand ; when the scene is a distant one the
variation in speed is little noticeable.
4. Concentration
The cinematograph requires a concentration of attention
greater than that necessary to follow any other kind of show.
For the whole duration of the scene the eye must be fully alert,
and constantly varying its condition according to the variation
of the light on the screen.
Such a concentration of effort is quite unnatural, and especially
for children. Ordinarily the eye wanders freely over objects ; the
time of concentration on any one object is very short. One can
gain some idea of the frequency of variation of movement of the
eye by looking at some object in the sky near enough to the sun
to cause the sensation of after-images of the sun. Although the
eye was apparently engaged in looking fixedly at the object, the
number of after-images of the sun will prove that even for that
short space of apparent perfect concentration it had moved
several times.
5. Duration of exhibition
Cinematograph shows commonly last from one and a half t6
three hours. During that time, save for the short intervals, the
eye and the mind are on the stretch. The attention of the child
is not naturally capable or willing to concentrate for any but the
shortest time. It is common knowledge with teachers that
lessons to be effective must be short, and the shorter with the
youth of the child. With a lesson longer than half an hour, the
attention of the small child flags, and the time is lost and
the child tired. Conversely, if the attention can be forced by
100 SCHOOL TEST
the thrill of the picture show for a longer period than is natural, the
nervous effort is increased out of all proportion. It is well known
that to increase the speed of a fast steamship from, say, fifteen
to sixteen knots requires almost a doubling of the coal con-
sumption. Similarly, the energy required of the eyes and nervous
system of the child to respond to the thrill of the picture increases
rapidly and out of all proportion with the length of the show.
These are the main defects associated with cinematograph
shows. Some are remediable, others may be mitigated by an
alternation of the exhibition with other kinds of entertainment.
And all of them may be reduced in intensity by shortening the
duration of the show, and preventing small children from attend-
ing two shows in direct succession.
It will be asked : What evidence is there that children's eyes
suffer from the picture shows ? The evidence is of such a nature
that it cannot be presented by figures and percentages. For-
tunately the effects are temporary, and unless the indulgence be
frequent it is easily recovered from. The effects that have been
set out are those which have been ascertained from personal
observation, and confirmed by the observation of children of
intelligent types who have been attending the shows. Indeed,
as was stated at the opening, the effects are experienced by
adults ; the child only suffers from this in a higher degree because
of its frailer organisation. It may be asked : Is there any
evidence of permanent defect arising out of attendance at the
show? It is difficult to answer this question. But there is a
recent observation which I am inclined to think has some bear-
ing on the point. The examination of x the case papers of a large
number of school children who have been referred to eye clinics
on account of a failure to pass the standard vision tests at the
schools, shows that there is an increasing number of children
who on examination at the clinic are found to have nothing the
matter with them. At the school they did not pass the test;
at the first examination at the clinic they did not pass the test ;
when their eyes were examined nothing amiss was to be found,
their eyes objectively were normal, or so nearly normal as to be
quite capable of passing the standard test ; at a later subjective
examination they did pass the test satisfactorily. There may
be several conditions to account for these occurrences, but by far
the most likely cause is a condition of fatigue in the children, so
that at the time of the test they were incapable of putting out
sufficient energy, either ocular or mental, to read the standard
types. In some cases I have ascertained that children of this
sort were habitually at the picture shows, and it is possible the
increasing attendance at these shows may be associated with the
increase in the number of children who fail at the vision tests
without objective cause. If the normal-eyed children suffer, it
is certain that the result will be more serious in those with defec-
tive eyes, and possibly lead to permanent aggravation of those
defects.
So far as eyes are concerned, the best protection for the child
LIGHTING ... 101
will be secured by the following provisions : 1. The reasonable
illumination of all parts of the hall not directly beside the screen.
2. The improvement of the movement of the film so as to reduce
flicker; and the withdrawal of films immediately they are
damaged. 3. The improvement in taking the picture so as to
bring the rate of motion of the objects depicted more nearly to
the natural. 4. The increase in the number of intervals to the
show, and the interposition of exhibitions other than that of the
optical lantern. 5. The limitation of shows for children to one
hour, and the prohibition of " repeats." 6. The reservation of
the children's seats to .the " optimum " position in the hall as
nearly as possible in a line with the centre of the screen, and as
far away from the screen as twice its full height.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. N. BISHOP HARMAN, M.A., M.B., F.R.C.S. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. You have given special attention to the
effect of the cinema upon the eyes of children ? Yes.
2. You are very careful in all you say about glare. You do
conclude that the more light that can be given to the auditorium
the less danger to the eyes of the children in looking upon the
films ? There is no doubt about that ; it is my experience not
only with the cinematograph, but also with the optical lanterns
which we use largely for medical lectures. We find tjiese are
quite satisfactory even if the room is fairly light, provided there
is a dark part round the screen; the screen is in a recess, and
the rest of the room is quite light enough to take down notes and
so forth.
3. MR. LAMERT. Do you have smoking where students are?
Students are not allowed to smoke at lectures.
4. THE CHAIRMAN. With regard to the flicker, the more rapid
the change of the film, the less the effect, you say, upon the
eye ? That is so. The eye is only capable of seeing a change
of light within a certain speed ; it varies with different people.
In the case of the present films the arrangements are very much
better than they used to be.
5. There is continuous improvement, is there not? Without
doubt. The worst flicker I have seen has been in the case of
coloured films, where there is an arrangement for mixing; there
is a series of colours shown one after the other, and the different
colours are, as it were, mixed ; they are very irritating indeed.
6. With regard to a damaged or worn film, I understand some-
times it is produced very well in its new condition at the great
or important halls, but it goes off to a cheap place when the
plate has become rather damaged? Well, if that be so, it is
particularly bad, because the cheap places are mostly used by
children. I find that they have a halfpenny Saturday afternoon
performance for children.
7. Then you would recommend as one remedy a happy despatch
and a more rapid despatch of the film ? Certainly.
102 GLARE
8. Then 1 ' there v is the effort required to refrain from blinking.
Now does one get rather to stare without blinking before a film ?
While the film is being exposed the tendency is to stare ; then
afterwards the blinking is excessive, because, as we get fatigued,
the tendency is to blink so as to wash the eye more and more,
and to remove the sensation of " crumbiness " which comes to
every one when the eye is fatigued.
9. You are strongly in favour of a short entertainment for
children ? Oh, yes ; I think an hour ample for any children.
10. You are also in favour of the subjects being many for
children instead of only one or two ? Well, I would not like to
dogmatise on the subject. It is quite possible there might be a
whole play, for instance, but the ideal is, it should be broken
up by frequent intervals, and, if possible, there should be two
sections or more. It is a good thing if a recitation or a song came
on to break the pictures. That would be a great help for children,
particularly.
11. In your opinion, should children be farther away from the
screen than adults ? I suggest that the distance should be, at
least, twice the height of the screen.
12. It would be better still farther back, would it not ?
Farther back you would have a great effort to see.
13. Your remedies would make, in your judgment, for very
great improvement for the children seeing at a cinema? Yes.
I am sure they are quite simple matters and within the range of
possibility.
14. DR. SALEEBY. Will you define " glare " ? I am not quite
certain as to what you mean by " glare " ? Glare is produced
by a point of light in a dark place. We do not suffer from glare
in daylight, because the light is so diffused, although daylight
is immensely more powerful than any artificial light. Exposure
of the eyes to a naked, unbalanced, artificial light produces
immediate effects, the sensation is as though you are partially
blinded; you cannot see the things at which you are looking.
That is an example of glare.
15. Then you think glare cannot be dissociated from picture
palaces? You have not recently been to picture palaces where
you found no glare at all? Quite recently I went to the
Scala, which I believe, is supposed to be about the best, and
the glare was manifest. I am very sensitive to glare myself,
and I have never yet found any of these exhibitions free
from it.
16. You are yourself more sensitive than most people to glare,
are you ? I would not say than most people. I took a number
of children purposely to check these impressions, and they gave
me very interesting accounts of what they felt.
17. You speak of the optimum position. The more expensive
seats are further back, as a rule, than the optimum position, are
they not? Well, at the Scala the most expensive seats were,
as far as I could judge with the eye, perhaps two and a half to
three screens back.
OPTIMUM POSITION 103
18. Take the Pavilion at the Marble Arch; the expensive
seats there must be, I should say, s\x times the height of the
screen? Is there a tremendously powerful lantern there?
19. Oh, yes. Mind you, I like your optimum position ; I
never go to the farther back seats myself, and I gather that what
you say is that at many of these cinema theatres the higher
priced seats are too far back ? Yes.
20. The distortion of which you have spoken tells very strongly,
does it not, in those converted theatres where you have people
at the side and at all sorts of vile angles to the screen? Yes.
I was once in a box when a cinema performance was given, and
it was atrocious.
21. Then you would prescribe an optimum form from your
point of view as an oculist? Yes.
22. There is a definite point there which you lay down for
the proper shape of the building of these places ? Yes, I should
say that, but I rather incline not to lay any stress upon this so
far as adults are concerned, because as soon as they find they
have had enough they go ; but it is not so with the children ;
the children will hang on to the very end; they miss nothing.
So that I should not lay much stress upon special buildings,
provided you secure the best seats for the children.
23. That also applies as much to being above the screen as at
the side, does it not ? Yes.
24. Say with the gallery position at theatres like Terry's in
the Strand ? I should think that would be very unpleasant.
25. THE CHAIRMAN. It is better to look down than up ? Oh,
much easier.
26. DR. SALEEBY. Could you give us some definition as to
what constitutes too frequent indulgence in this form of enter-
tainment ? I should say once a week is quite enough for any
child.
27. Now as regards your evidence, it is very non -statistical,
of course? Yes. You could work out statistics in plenty on
flicker.
28. And you could work up attendances of people whose eyes
are susceptible of injury ? Yes, but you cannot check those who
are individually susceptible; it cannot be done. There have
been a great many tests, but when these tests are made it is
found that they are never quite satisfactory.
29. The injury is never organic, but purely functional? Quite,
functional.
30. Of course, as a clinician you see the cases that are injured,
and the hosts that are not do not trouble? That is true; I
believe some of the hosts we do not see are injured, but not so
seriously as to bring them to us.
31. It might very well be that the overwhelming majority
have no occasion to come to you? The overwhelming majority
reckon that there must be a small penalty upon all their pleasurable
indulgences.
32. You lay stress in this paragraph, which seems to me so
104 FILM EXAMINER'S EVIDENCE
extremely weighty, upon intervals. You want the picture part
of the show shut down for a time ? Yes.
33. You want musical interludes, and so forth? Yes, that is
the kind of thing.
FIFTH DAY
Monday, February 5, 1917,
Principal A. E. GARVIE, D.D., in the chair.
STATEMENT BY ONE OF THE EXAMINERS
From the British Board of Film Censors
PRECIS
WHEN Mr. Redford commenced the Censorship the only two
rules he laid down were that the living figure of Christ should not
be permitted and that nudity should be in no circumstances passed.
The examiners, therefore, have been guided by the broad prin-
ciple that nothing should be passed which in their opinion was
calculated to demoralise an audience or any section of it; that
could be held to extenuate crime or to teach the methods of
criminals ; that could undermine the teachings of morality ; that
tended to bring the institution of marriage into contempt ; that
lowered the sacredness of v family ties. They have refused their
sanction to incidents which brought into contempt public char-
ac^ers acting in their capacity as such ; i. e. officers wearing H.M.
uniform, ministers of religion, ministers of the Crown, ambassadors
and representatives of foreign nations, judges, etc. They have
objected to subjects calculated to wound the susceptibilities of
foreign peoples, of members of any religion. And, especially
recently, they have rejected films calculated and possibly intended
to foment social unrest and discontent.
Their experience has made it very clear to the examiners that
every film must be judged on its own merits, and that, while it was
very essential to be consistent, it was impossible to aim at strictly
logical decisions. They have had to consider the impression likely
to be made on an average audience which includes a not inconsider-
able proportion of people of immature judgment. A harmless
story may become unacceptable through the actions of the charac-
ters, and a film which depicts no indecent or even suggestive action
may be prohibited from the nature of the story. The examiners
have also been compelled to take objection to what I may term the
cumulative effects caused by the repetition of, and insistence on,
incidents which in themselves might be passed, the impression in
such cases being that certain lapses from virtue or honesty were
usual, and even unavoidable, in the given circumstances ; young
and unthinking people might thus be accustomed to the idea that
such lapses were excusable and even deserving of sympathy.
METHOD OF PROCEDURE 105
In stories turning on the relations of the sexes the examiners
have had many difficult problems. They have frequently to decide
where embraces overstep the limits of affection or even passion,
and become lascivious, the efforts' of the actors, and still more the
actresses, to obtain a dramatic effect leading them sometimes to
proceed to lengths which are quite prohibitive.
Naturally when such a vast number of stories is presented the
variations on the " triangle " theme are numerous and often com-
plicated. Some of them, while involving departure from virtue,
do not necessarily suggest actual depravity ; and there is a distinc-
tion between errors caused by love, even if guilty love, and the
pursuit of lust, and the examiners have always endeavoured to
eliminate manifestations of the latter character. In the same way
they have always objected to scenes in which the intention of rape
is so clearly shown as to be unmistakable.
The examiners are glad to say that they have succeeded in stop-
ping entirely the introduction into this country of " first nights "
subjects which at the beginning were fairly numerous.
At one time there were numerous stories in which attempt was
made to obtain dramatic interest by representing the characters
as bearing abnormal relations to each other ; for instance, a father
making love to his unknown daughter, or a brother and sister
unknown to each other as such, etc. These situations have ap-
peared to the examiners as repugnant, and they have insisted upon
such alterations in the sub-titles as would remove the unwholesome
complications.
The question of seduction is very difficult. In these cases much
depends upon the treatment, and, when the story is depicted with
restraint, it seems impossible to exclude the subject as the theme
of a story. But the examiners have objected to the treatment
of this subject in such a way as to suggest that a poor girl is morally
justified in succumbing to temptation in order to escape from sordid
surroundings and uncongenial work.
It is impossible to refer to all of the many different developments
of the sexual play ; but the examiners have steadily borne in mind,
when dealing with them, the general principle that, while it is
impossible to exact that poetic justice should always overtake the
evildoer, it is at least essential that no halo should be placed round
the heads of the delinquents.
There have been stories which portraj^ed the progress and sur-
roundings of women leading immoral lives. The examiners have
held that these cannot be wholesome, as the exhibition of gaiety,
luxury and admiration might prove more of a lure to young girls
of weak principles than the debacle at the end might be of a deter-
rent. For much the same reason they have objected to scenes
in which a woman is shown dressing up and rouging and painting
preparatory to going out into the streets for an immoral purpose.
They have, in fact, steadily discouraged all scenes showing vice in
an attractive form, even though retribution may follow, and the
story claims to afford a warning and point a moral.
In dealing with " crime " subjects the examiners have had to
106 COSTUMES
discriminate between such stories as are calculated, in their judg-
ment, to familiarise young people with theft, robberies and crimes
of violence, and so to leave them to conclude that such are normal
incidents and not very greatly to be reprobated, and those stories
which deal with " costume " crime i.e. cowboy shootings, " feather
and rapier" stabbings, bandits' and Mexicans' robberies, etc.
It seems to them that the latter are regarded by the young as
simply dramatic and thrilling adventures, with no connection with
their own lives or probable experiences. When the same crimes
are committed by people in ordinary dress and home surroundings,
the examiners aim at eliminating details which make them too
realistic, and entirely forbid any scenes which depict the actual
method of committing theft. In this case, also, they draw a dis-
tinction between subjects in which theft, burglary or murder is
simply the dramatic motive round which the story with other
interests turns, and those in which the crime is the sole and entire
interest.
In dealing with indecorum of dress, the examiners are met with
the objection that on the stage a licence has been permitted which
makes it very difficult for them to enforce so strict a standard as
seems to them desirable, but they insist upon deletion when the
dress appears to be meant to be indecent or suggestive. No
absolute rule can be applied. In the case of bathing dresses, if
girls are shown swimming and bathing there is little harm, but if
they pose before the camera with the evident intention of display-
ing their shape, it is regarded as prohibitive.
When the Censorship was instituted it was decided that two
forms of certificate should be issued ; one (U) for such films as were
considered suitable for universal exhibition, and one (A) for films
for exhibition before adults only. The Censorship, however, had
no means of enforcing that children should not be admitted to
performances where films with the A certificate were shown.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
One of THE EXAMINERS. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. How long have you been an examiner of
films? Four years.
2. We should like to know whether the Censor, Mr. Redford,
saw every film or whether he acted on the advice of an examiner ?
He did not see every film. The practice was that there were
four examiners who examined the films. If there were no objec-
tions of if there was nothing questionable about the films, they were
simply passed and a certificate granted. If we questioned any-
thing, we referred the films to Mr. Redford and he saw the films
himself and decided. We used to report to him, and then he
decided whether to grant or withhold the certificate, and whether
he should ask the producer to make such alterations as in his
opinion would make the films acceptable.
REJECTED FILMS 107
3. Would a film be objected to on the report of one examiner ?
No. We were four examiners, and two examined each film.
4. You say : " They have rejected films calculated and possibly
intended to foment social unrest and discontent." Would those
be the films which represented life in the slums or the conditions
of labour of men and women ? No ; we considered scenes depict-
ing conditions under which the people live, or the hard life in the
slums to be perfectly legitimate. What we had especially in our
minds were the films which came forward at one time in which the
actual conflict between Capital and Labour was depicted in rather
crude colours. There were strike breakers, armed forces, killing,
the throwing of bombs, and mines laid to blow up the strikers.
The impression was that these were of such a nature that they could
not be passed.
5. Would you consider that some kind of standard should
be applied to the films to deal with the place in which they are
shown ? Do you feel that some audiences like different films ?
Well, our feeling is that as a general fact people going to see a
play do not go without making some inquiry. From what we hear
it seems more likely that people would drop into a cinema show
more at haphazard than they would into a theatre. Consequently
we think that greater discretion ought to be exercised in the class
of films, because you are dealing with a different kind of audience
and a more comprehensive audience.
6. I should like to know whether statistics have been kept of
the number of films submitted and passed and the number refused ?
Our secretary, Mr. Brook Wilkinson, has all these particulars.
I know generally, but I could not give you the exact figures.
7. MR. NEWBOULD. At a meeting of the British Board held
last week a resolution was passed to the effect that the whole of the
books and papers should be placed at the disposal of the Commis-
sion ? I have here the annual report. I do not think the last one
has been brought up-to-date, but, roughly speaking, J think the
year before the number of subjects submitted was 4767.
8. THE CHAIRMAN. It would be interesting to know what
proportion of that number was passed and what was rejected.
What you mean by rejected is those films to which objection is
taken. Of course, the number finally rejected is not so very large,
because a great deal can be done by the modification of what the
trade calls the subject title, that is the letterpress, and scenes can
be modified. You cannot alter the picture, but you can cut bits
out and make a scene perfectly different. To illustrate that, you
can understand in the case of a very fervent embrace, that if the
man is represented as a husband of a wife, and the woman repre-
sented as a wife of a husband, it is inexpedient ; but if they are
husband and wife it is legitimate, and possibly, laudable. And so
a great deal can be done by the alteration of the subject titles.
9. We have been told that in some parts of the States the rejection
of a film in one State was used as a means of advertising it as some-
thing specially attractive in another. I understand that films not
passed by the Censor may be exhibited in this country ? That is
108 UNCENSORED FILMS
so, and of course, in our position as censors we regard that as a
regrettable fact.
10. You do not know any instance where actually the refusal of
the licence for the film has been used as an advertisement of the
film ? I have no idea of such a case.
11. Have you any information, as to what proportion of
American as contrasted with British films are either approved or
not passed ? I do not know, but I do not think that is a point
on which we keep statistics. As far as possible we judge a film
absolutely on its merits, without regard to who sends it in or the
country of origin or anything connected with it.
12. Have the reasons for objection been in any way classi-
fied ? Yes. I have brought here a copy of the report for the
year 1915, and we have got a considerable list of reasons for
the rejections; and when I say rejections, I mean objections.
We have got forty-three reasons.
13. The members of the Commission might have copies of that
report, I take it? With pleasure.
14. When one of these films you have passed is accepted is it
intimated to the audience that the film about to be put on has been
passed by the Censor? It should be, and we hope it is. I find
that the majority of films have the certificate on them. That is
the idea of the gentlemen who send us the films to go through.
15. REV. CAREY BONNER. There is one point I should like to
ask information on. THE EXAMINER states here that the living
figure of Christ is never permitted in the films ? Not the
materialised figure.
16. Is it not a fact that recently there has been a film with the
figure of our Lord represented by the actor who took the part in
the Ober-Ammergau play? The only one we have ever passed
was a film called " Quo Vadis." In that there was a figure of
Christ, and the figure moved, and therefore it was a materialised
figure of Christ. It was represented in a kind of filmy way, and
presented an appearance of an apparition and not a corporal body.
That is the only case in which we have ever passed a materialised
figure of Christ.
17. It is quite clear if there has been such a film it has not been
before your Board ? That is so.
18. It is clear that there are a number of cinema theatres exhibit-
ing pictures that are never brought to your Board? I have no
idea how many there are, but the majority make a stipulation
that all the films to be exhibited are furnished with our certifi-
cate. I should not like to say that there was any theatre that
made a practice of showing films that were uncensored.
19. Supposing an exhibitor, having got the film passed by you,
cut it and inserted certain pictures that are undesirable, could you
prohibit that, have you any power at all? Being a voluntary
Board, we have no power of control except in extreme cases. I
think I might say that if we found any one doing that we should
never look at a film of his again. It would be known that his films
would not be examined by us. That is all the control we have.
EXAMINERS' CONSULTATIONS 109
20. So that if a man did such a thing you could do nothing to
him ? We could do nothing. We have never had an instance of
that sort. There may have been cases where an accident has
arisen. When we have asked for certain deletions or modifica-
tions of scenes, sometimes several films are printed, and it is
possible that one might have been shown without the alterations
having been made. I do not say it is so, but it is possible that that
might have been an error and not a deliberate act.
21. THE SECRETARY. If you put your certificate on a film and
the film afterwards is altered, have you any power to withdraw
your certificate which is being exhibited in a film which you did
not pass ? Absolutely.
22. Have you ever done that ? No.
23. You have never had occasion to do it ? No.
24. You have no knowledge of any film which you have censored
being altered in such a way that you withdrew your certificate ?
I^have no recollections of such a thing. I do not think it has
happened.
25. MR. GRAVES. Is there any distribution of the duties of
the four examiners, or do they all do the same work ? We all do
the same kind of work. As things began to develop we thought
possibly it would be inexpedient that the same two examiners
should always work together, because it might be noticed that the
same two initials were always on together, and, therefore, we made
a practice of changing the examiners week by week. Again it
is possible that we do not all see the same thing from the same
point of view, and we think it useful that one opinion should be
supplemented by another in different weeks.
26. Supposing two of you thought there was something objec-
tionable, would you consult the other two, or would you act on
your own considerations and go to the Censor and lay the doubtful
point before him ? If one examiner felt strongly that there was
something objectionable, we have considered that the matter
should be referred.
27. If there was a minor objection in the film, would you have
power to cut it out without going to the Chief Censor, or has every-
thing to be done by the Censor himself ? When Mr. Redford was
there, every objection, however slight, was referred to him. Mr.
Redford interviewed the producer, explained the situation to him,
the deletion was made and the certificate granted by Mr. Redford.
28. Perhaps you can give us a rough idea of the number of films
put before the Chief Censor in a week ? When Mr. Redford was
alive I should say perhaps ten a week, but I do not know for certain.
29. So that the main part of the work would be done by the
examiners? Every film was examined by the examiners.
30. Did you have anything to do with that film " From the
Manger to the Cross " from which the figure of our Lord appeared ?
Was that passed by you? I think that was about four years ago.
I cannot say I remember it.
31. You know a good deal of fuss was made about it, and it was
to a certain extent censored and produced in another way ; it was
110 NUDITY
not considered so objectionable, but it was not exhibited in some
parts of the country at all ? I am afraid I should find it very diffi-
cult to give any valuable information about any one particular
film.
MR. NEWBOULD. May I say that within my knowledge that
film was rejected by the British Board.
32. MB. GRAVES. When you say you object to the nude female
figure that does not apply to statuary ? No ; but we have objected
to statuary when we have seen it shown in certain positions which
seem to us to be indecorous, and we have asked for it to be cut out.
33. At the same time, you would confess that a half-nude figure
or a scarcely concealed woman's form might be more suggestive
than a piece of statuary ? Personally I see nothing indecent in a
nude figure ; if it is properly shown it is not indecent. It would
make it very, difficult to draw distinctions, and therefore the rule
was laid down that the nude should be excluded from the film.
34. DR. SALEEBY. You mean the living nude ? Yes.
35. MR. GRAVES. Bathing, for example ? In bathing, of course
they are clothed, but certainly we should object to bathing if they
were in the nude.
36. MR. LAMERT. Has your experience led you to the general
conclusion that it is possible to reduce to writing rules for governing
the Censor ? No.
37. You would say that no set of rules can be formed as every-
thing has to be judged on the merits of the film? You must
consider that in one year we had something approaching five
thousand subjects, and therefore I think we should have to have
some one with quite exceptional powers to lay down rules. We
were guided by the principle. If we were to lay down rigid rules
we should have to pass things which we are now able to exclude.
38. Did you personally see a film called "
" ? Do you remember it ? I am afraid I should not like to
trust my memory to speak about any one film.
39. It is a type of religious film; in fact, it is semi-religious.
It is based on the idea of a man who loses his soul, and the object
is rather to show what degradation a man comes to under certain
circumstances. You have seen that sort of film ? That sort of
thing, yes, or, at least, something of that nature. Of course the
Americans were rather fond of problems of that kind.
40. Now you can realise that that film has possibly affected
different people in different ways ? Yes.
41. I am alluding to this particular film because subsequently
you gave it a IT certificate ? Yes.
42. And subsequently a number of opinions were received.
Did you ever directly get opinions from people to say you should
never have passed this film ? We had a letter the other day from
a gentleman who told us it was very depraving, but we never get
any valuable criticisms.
43. I am going to read a letter from the Rev. Father Vaughan,
who writes : " I can't write you anything about the *
.' After reading your synopsis of the story I prefer to leave
FILM CRITICISM 111
it severely alone. To me it seems a vulgar production, and runs
quite counter to what I know of the genesis of good and evil. It
is a false hothouse growth, and would not stand the storm of real
tests. I speak plainly because life is too short and sacred to be
veneered with." That is a pretty strong condemnation? Yes,
but I should gather that the gentleman did not see the film.
44. The synopsis finished him? Well, a great deal depends
upon seeing the film.
45. And of the same film the Rev. F. B. Meyer, after seeing it,
writes : " This is a film which every one should see. Its exhibition
can do nothing but good." You would not be prepared to say that
the Rev. F. B. Meyer's standard of morals is different ? I should
say that he saw the film and the other gentleman did not.
THE CHAIRMAN. What is the idea of bringing forward these
two gentlemen?
46. MR. LAMERT. I want to bring forward the point that one
gentleman did not see the film and the other did. I have not the
authority to mention the name, but an Anglican bishop denounced
it very strongly, and I had two clergymen of the Church of England
who thought very strongly of it. The whole point is that some
people may approve of a film and others may strongly disapprove ?
I should say that that was unquestionably the case, but I think
myself that some of these films are treated in rather a crude
manner.
47. You see here one says that every one should see it and that
it is excellent, while another says that it is not. That makes
the censorship extremely difficult? I have found it extremely
difficult.
48. If you find it extremely difficult at one centre, do you think
it would improve by spreading it over a large number of centres ?
Do you think it would meet the difficulty if you had different
censors in various parts of the country? It would add very
materially to the embarrassments and difficulties of the trade.
49. It is quite clear that the temperaments of people are
different. Do you think that a central body could do it sufficiently
well ? I should say certainly. The sense of morality and decency
is not different in different parts of the British Isles.
50. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Do you know of instances where
films passed by your Board have been refused exhibition by local
authorities or town councils ? I heard of one the other day, but
it was refused in one town and passed on to another.
51. Do you think it is possible to override the local wishes or
the local prejudices, or whatever you may choose to call them,
which may lead to a different standard in different towns from the
standard of the Central Board ? I should say that any local body
would accept a Central Censorship.
52. In fact some local authorities have vetoed films passed by
your Board ? I know of one case.
53. Liverpool did refuse ? Yes, but I rather think the objectors
in that case had not seen the film. I think the name of the film
was unfortunate.
112 SUB-TITLES
54. THE SECRETARY. It was " - - " ? There were
two films passed of which some people did not approve, and I
think they took it for granted that, the stories of the films were
the same as the books, whereas we had taken particular care that
every sort of indiscretion in the story should be changed so as to
remove that objection.
55. MONSIGNOR BROWN. I think it was mentioned that this
" and " " had been turned down by the
Board. I think that some one said that it had been refused
approbation by the Censor ? I feel some delicacy in referring to
any particular film because they come before us in a confidential
capacity. The main objection was based on the name of the
film.
56. Have you called attention to the American form of spelling
in the script on the film ? I am glad we have not been given the
task of being literary censors. The sub-titles of the American
films I consider a serious evil. The grammar and the spelling
and the language are deplorable, but the task of correcting them
was not imposed upon us, and we do not take it upon ourselves
to deal with it.
57. Have you had any complaint as to the moral conveyed by
a story ? If you received these complaints would you simply note
them?- I hope we pay attention to every communication made
to us.
58. What would happen suppose some one wrote up and said
that " the story of a discarded mistress tends to excite sympathy
and compassion with a woman who was leading a certain life."
Would that ceme before your Censor or not ? I do not think one
can assume that the attitude of the bona fide criticism of the
public does not concern us, if it gives us an idea of the public
feeling and standard in such matters ; but, of course, one could not
always assume that one letter from an individual conveyed the
whole of the popular feeling on the matter. But we always pay
attention to a serious complaint, and in such cases we have several
times had a film back and examined it to see if the criticism is
well founded.
59. I have had my attention called to a film called "
." The gentleman who saw it took a number of boys
there, and the film seemed to turn upon a married woman who,
not being certain whether her first husband was dead, became
attached to another man. On the script there was a final scene,
a bedroom scene, with the words, " Don't be too affectionate
to-night," and the gentleman said that the boys asked him what
that meant ? I could not say whether I have seen that film, but
it is in the nature of the Enoch Arden theme. I know one, but it
may not be the same. The man turns up after ten years, in a
more or less ragged state, and finds that his wife has married another
man. There is a child, and the struggle in her mind is shown,
whether she should revert to her first husband or stick to the man ;
and she says " I shall stick to the father of my child." Whether
that is an immoral story or not it is extremely difficult to say.
REJECTED FILMS 113
60. MR. EDGAR JEPSON. Were the bulk of the, films you rejected,
rejected on the ground that they stimulated sexual impulses?
I could not say whether the bulk of them did, but there were
some, of course. We have had a variety of films, some of which
touch upon what we consider improper lessons, and some showing
pictures exciting unnecessary horror. Therife latter are what we
call the " close up " pictures of, say, a man with a wound bleeding
in his head. Then we have had some which we have objected
to very much, and they are the usual poor girl film who is turned
out of her lodging and cannot find work. She applies at an office,
and there is the benevolent old gentleman at the desk. She asks
for a post as stenographer, gets the post perhaps offered her, and
the benevolent employer immediately proposes to take her out
to supper. The same girl goes to another benevolent old gentleman,
and he makes the same sort of offer to her. Now that might pass,
but when it comes to the third or fourth employer all making the
same suggestion, we say " no." You see, this is wrong, as it might
cause trouble amongst girls who go out to get posts as typists, if
they are led to believe that improper proposals will be made to
them. It is a wrong lesson for the girl, gives her a wrong view,
and tends to throw her off the idea of work. You cannot call
that sexual immorality ; it is improper conduct.
61. MONSIGNOR BROWN. But were the four employers Ameri-
cans ; it was an American film ? It looked like it.
62. MR. EDGAR JEPSON. Do you reject the films which present
crime as a profitable career for industrious young men ? I do not
know that we have had one that holds out crime as a definite
career ; for the time being they have profited by it, but in a very
large majority of cases they have suffered punishment in some
form or other, although some of them who have paid the penalty
have improved in life.
63. DR. MARIE STOPES. The film manufacturers at your
suggestion take out a certain portion of a film ? Yes.
64. Have they ever sent in a plea for mercy on the ground of
the expense entailed in altering the film? During the last year
it was my lot to interview these gentlemen on this kind of thing,
and I have often had it pointed out that enormous sums of money
have been spent on these films, and that the alteration would
also cost money. We could not take that into consideration.
65. I imagine that some alterations might be inexpensive while
others might be expensive ? Of course the actual cost only con-
sists of the loss of footage. The films are sold at so much per foot,
and if you cut .out so many feet that means the loss to the pro-
prietor of so many feet in hiring it out. The actual expense of
cutting the film is nothing.
66. But it may have to be filled in again? They cannot do
that, because that would be a very great expense. I only know
of one case where that has been done, and on that occasion the
film went back to America and was redone. In that case there
was an indication of the nude to which we had to object.
67. It is within my knowledge that firms refuse to allow the
i
114 C A' CERTIFICATE
author to have any control of his own story, on the ground that it
is too costly for an author to have a scene changed. It would be
a matter of interest to know how far they would go to alter a
film at your suggestion ? I should say that to really recast a film
would be a very expensive thing if they had to pose before the
camera. The suggestions we make mean the deletions of a scene,
or the shortening of a scene, or to cut out the insertion of explana-
tory sub-titles so as to remove some of the objectionable features.
68. Is it within your knowledge that they have never entirely
recast the play and brought the story in a different form before
you as a result of your objections ? I do not know how far I can
go on that, but we have had stories recast so as to remove what
appeared to be objectionable situations, but I do not think it has
all been redone in the studio.
69. DR. KIMMINS. I suppose occasionally you have to condemn
a film entirely as hopeless ? Yes.
70. When you have made suggestions and those suggestions
have been remedied, do you see the film in its final form?
Not invariably; only when alterations are important, but we
always have the deleted pieces sent to us.
71. COMMISSIONER ADELAIDE Cox. Would you refuse to give a
certificate for a burglary scene that was to be shown to children ?
We do not generally allow a very realistic scene showing the
actual methods. We cannot cut out the burglary entirely, but
all burglary scenes we describe as "A."
72. I have had a letter from a magistrate who points out the
great harm that is done to children by cinemas that show the whole
process of the burglary with the burglar's tools and so on. Can
you say that you would put a ^ stop to that? I cannot say that
we could put a stop to it, but we use every discouragement we
possibly can, and we invariably ask for the deletion of that part
which shows the actual method of the burglary.
73. And of course you have no real power to prevent people
showing these things if they wish to do so, despite what you say
about them ? We have no statutory power.
74. What power do these film censors really have over the four
thousand theatres ? Our relationship is that the producers came
to us, and we exist in consequence of their feeling that a censor-
ship was necessary or desirable for the good of the trade. They
willingly subjected themselves to the censorship. The large
majority of them, a very large proportion of the producers, sent
their films to us, and we are entitled to believe that they will
adhere to the terms of the contract to submit them.
75. MR. NEWBOULD. I think you were with Mr. Redford from
the start, when the trade first imposed this censorship upon
itself? Yes.
76. Did the trade endeavour to lay down the guiding principles
he was to work to ? They left it entirely with Mr. Redford.
77. And abided by the decisions ? Yes.
78. And sometimes he might pass a film which you yourself
or your fellow-examiners would have preferred not to pass ?
EXAMINER'S EYESIGHT 115
Well, occasionally. Very occasionally it happened that Mr.
Jftedford took what I would call a broader view of the matter
than we did.
79. Since Mr. Redford's death ' there was an interval before
another Censor was appointed, when you were responsible ?
Practically for the past twelve months he was in the background.
80. You have had a new president now for some weeks. Have
you observed any increased tightening up or stricter censorship ?
Our present president has shown a disposition to make the
meshes a little smaller.
81. DR. SALEEBY. The question has been asked about the
discarded mistress causing compassion ; I suppose in such a case
you recollect a film or a certain precedent of such a compassion,
and so pass the film ? Well, I think that could be done ; but I
do not think that subject should be prohibited so long as it does
not exalt the unfortunate woman into a position of a martyr, but
that there should simply be forgiveness or the compassion for
wrongdoing.
82. PROFESSOR H. GOLLANCZ. I notice that you say that no
rigid rule could be laid down. You deal with the poor girl in your
evidence ; what would you say if the rich girl was in that position ?
I do not remember a film where the victim was a rich girl who
was the subject of seduction. Of this class of film we get many,
and in almost every case it is the poor girl who is the subject of
the temptation.
83. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. How many hours a day do the
examiners work? We go at ten o'clock and we work until six
o'clock, and, if necessary, if the boats are late from America we
stay until the work is done.
84. DR. SALEEBY. Five days a week? Yes.
85. Seeing the pictures all the time? Yes. When I joined
this Censorship Board I read a letter from an eminent authority,
an oculist, warning the public not to allow their children to attend
cinema shows, as any child there for one and a half hours would
be running the risk of having its eyesight impaired for life. I have
been there four years, and my eyesight was not stronger than it
was in childhood. I am bound to say that my eyesight is not
affected. That, I think, is one point for the cinema trade.
86. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. Is that the experience of your
colleagues ? Well, they have made no complaints, but one of
them adopted the precaution of wearing green-tinted glasses.
87. May I take it that the censorship of the film has to be on
more rigid lines than the censorship of the drama ? Yes. You
see, we have to take objection to any questionable gestures and
things of that sort.
88. You have not allowed any reproduction of prize fighting
on the cinema ? No. We have passed boxing on a film, but we
have never allowed a prize fight.
89. You do not allow anything to appear which appears to you
to be purely morbid ? We try to turn that down.
90. With regard to " - ," did not Mr. Redford lay
116 MR. HARMAN'S EVIDENCE
it down that books with a rather lurid reputation should be very
closely examined if not rejected ? I think that was his idea.
MR. N. B. HARMAN. 1 Recalled.
91. DR. SALEEBY. What conclusion have you drawn as to
the distance one should be away from the screen ? Well, I have
made several experiments, and I found that taking the height
twice over brought me into a position where the flickering was
the smallest. The farther away I got the flickering was less
noticeable.
92. Can you give any definite measurements for a cinema hall?
It is difficult to give such measurements, as the question of the
building space has a lot to do with this.
93. Children get over-excited in going to a show ? Yes, but if
they go too often this excitement wears off.
94. We were told that in Liverpool there were instructions given
against music between the films, and especially against certain
types of music? Yes, the music has a very brightening effect
on you.
95. MR. KING. What is your opinion about the glare? I
think the glare is most serious. I think the glare is everywhere
where there is artificial light, and that is one thing we have jaeen
trying to eliminate in the artificial lights in school.
96. I take it that the eyesight might be defective and a child
might suffer in a class, and that would be very serious to the child
in its school work? Yes.
97. If that child were then taken to the cinema, the painful
result would not necessarily . be the result of the cinema ? The
cinema would aggravate the school result.
98. Probably the initial conditions might exist in the school
itself and in the school work, and the cinema only be a contributory
cause ? Yes.
99. DR. KIMMINS. I suppose it would be possible to improve
a building very much indeed by paying more attention to the
lighting arrangements ? Yes ; and if they got a sufficient illumina-
tion of the walls at the side and back, I think that would be all
right.
100. Have any experiments been performed to discover the
amount of visual and mental fatigue? Some experiments were
carried out, but it seems that when the children were examined
they whipped up such reserves at the moment the tests were made
that we could not pay much attention to these experiments.
There was no doubt they were fatigued, but they appreciated that
an experiment was being done and brought up their reserve forces
to deal with it.
101. MONSIGNOR BROWN. We have had a good deal of evidence
with regard to the use of the film for educational purposes. Do
you think it is possible without severe strain upon the children
to give them a cinematograph lesson which could be memorised
1 See also pp. 97-104.
CINEMA CONSTRUCTION 117
as a result of seeing the film ? -Yes, I am quite sure the cinemato-
graph can be used without any damage to the children's eyes and
with great value from an educational point of view. I have seen
myself medical demonstrations which were excellent.
102. Would you say that the cinematograph demonstration
would have to be restricted as to the time ? Well, I see no harm
at all in giving the children, say, one hour.
103. A continuous show?, For the older children, yes.
104. You would not think it very educative for the children
lower down in the school? Not for the little children. They
might be shown birds and flowers and simple objects like that,
as that would interest them. For any other pictures the apprecia-
tion of the small child is too slow for them to understand the
pictures.
105. Children under twelve ? No, I should say under eight,
the children in the infant school or the first standard.
106. MR. LAMERT. With regard to the shape of a theatre.
When I was in New York I was talking to a Mr. Rotherville
who is a great cinema builder, and his idea of the perfect
theatre is that it should be more or less of a triangle, coming
down to a point with a stage at the end ? I made a note of
that matter, and I believe the best building I know of in London
for this and any sort of public demonstration or performance
where the audience look at things is Dr. Horton's church at
Hampstead. I went in there the other day and noticed the shape
of it. It is something like a fan with the point cut off, and
the sides slope rapidly, and there were galleries. The rostrum
is at the point. I went round to various parts of the building,
and everywhere I went you could see perfectly well. I thought
for an auditorium, for a visual display, this place was ideal.
107. How many people, roughly, would it hold ? One thousand
to 1500.
108. And at the maximum point how far would it be from the
rostrum or the screen ? That is a little hard to say ; four or five
times the height of a good cinematograph screen.
109. That would give you 150 feet at 30 feet? It must have
been more than that.
THE SECRETARY. I think it is about 180 to 200 feet to the
back of the gallery.
110. MR. LAMERT. Do you know that a cinematograph
picture was shown at the Albert Hall ? I was not aware of that.
111. " The Miracle" and it was seen from all parts? Then
they must have arranged for an extra-sized screen.
MR. KING. It was thirtytfour by forty-five feet.
WITNESS. That would make a great deal of difference, but
they would have to have a powerful lamp.
112. MR. LAMERT. Speaking broadly, in the American
theatres you have longer distances than that, and it is a curious
fact that a higher price is usually paid for the gallery which is
over the back? Well, the gallery is a better place to sit in. If
you look down at a picture it is better than looking up.
118 MR. JOHN KAY'S EVIDENCE
113. Have you considered a frontal projection from the back?
I have seen a lantern shown from the back, but not a cinemato-
graph.
114. It can be done? It would have to have a fine screen.
115. You have never considered it? I should think it would
be quite impossible, as you would have to have a long building.
116. I mean the projection from behind altogether? There
you lose a certain amount of light. The denser you make your
screen the less light would come through it.
117. REV. CAREY BONNER. Has there been any investigation
made as to the effect of the cinema on the .children's eyes ? I
am afraid not, it will always be a matter of opinion.
118. I suppose your judgments are based on the children's
eyes you have examined ? Exactly.
SIXTH DAY
Monday, February 12, 1917,
The BISHOP OF BIRMINGHAM in the chair.
STATEMENT OF MR. JOHN KAY, B.A. (LOND.),
Head Master, " Major Lester " County School, Liverpool, Pres.
Lanes. County Assoc. of Teachers (N.U.T.), Former Pres.
Nat. Assoc. of Head Teachers
PRECIS
I HAVE been for fifteen years head master of schools mainly
attended by children of a low social class. I have made inquiries
in my own school into the relations between the school and the
cinema, and have gathered the views of teachers in neighbouring
schools in the city of Liverpool. I am also in possession of the
general opinion of the teacmrig body on the subject.
A committee of the Lanes. Teachers' Association has for some
months been gathering information from a large number of
representative schools in the county. A full report is now in
course of preparation. Some of the results are adverted to in
this statement.
While appreciating the cinema as .a popular and legitimate
form of public amusement, teachers are gravely concerned about
the results of many injurious films that are exhibited from time
to time. That such films are very frequent is clear from a scrutiny
of a large number of synopses of entertainments, as well as from
personal observation.
At an inquiry in Liverpool held by justices and the education
authority into the subject of juvenile crime, all three teacher
witnesses were of opinion that the cinema is a factor in the problem.
In an inquiry recently conducted by the Lanes. Teachers'
Association into the same subject, our correspondents in large
LANCASHIRE INVESTIGATION 119
industrial areas almost invariably suggested the cinema as a
contributory cause.
Returns from ninety-five Lancashire schools, embracing 31,990
children, show that during a single week in December 12,251
children attended once or more, a percentage of 38*3 of the school
population. It becomes quite clear that the children must be
absolutely protected from any deleterious influences in the
exhibitions.
From twenty-three schools came reports of misdemeanours,
mostly petty thefts, which were attributed to the influence of
the cinema. Children frequently state that they have stolen
" to get money for the pictures." Teachers recognise that it
is most difficult to establish cause and effect, and that in many
cases the thefts would probably have occurred in any case. The
picture shows only afford a ready means of disposing of part of
the booty. But two facts clearly emerge. In the first place,
children of criminal tendency in a school are found among the
most regular frequenters of the shows. Secondly, the " street
trading " class in large centres, already beset by many handicaps,
are frequent attenders at the " second house " when their papers
or other wares are sold.
In a few cases the attendance and punctuality of children are
thought to have been adversely affected by attendance at shows,
but the great majority of teachers have observed no change in
this respect.
Frequent complaints have been made of physical evils result-
ing from habitual attendance. Although our inquiries have
revealed a few cases of eye trouble, and nervous or other affec-
tions declared by medical men to be the result of such attendance,
it must be stated that the cases bear a very small proportion to
the number using the pictures, and it is seldom quite clear that
the trouble is the result of the cause assigned.
Inquiries were made with a view to ascertaining what educa-
tional effects can be ascribed to the cinema. The replies were
almost entirely negative. The great majority of teachers con-
sulted have observed no perceptible increase in general know-
ledge, or vocabulary, or other reflection of cinema subject or
incident, except in direct composition on the subject of the
cinema, where it becomes evident that some little addition has
been made to the children's stock of general knowledge and to
their vocabulary, notably by American slang phrases. It seems
probable also that there is a development of the imaginative
faculty. The addition to the child's stock of mental pictures
provided by the better films must be of value, especially to the
children who live in the cramped and barren slum environment.
There does not appear to be a large place for the cinema in
primary school work. In the essentials of instruction it can be
of no service. As an interesting and attractive aid, purely illus-
trative, to the teaching of a small group of subjects, industrial
geography, travel, contemporary history, natural history, and
the like, there is a small field for it. Used in conjunction with
120 CRIME FILMS
lecture and letterpress it can give much colour to fact and
terminology, but the cost would have to be small to justify its
employment.
In conclusion, I venture to suggest that every film might be
licensed either (a) for adults only, or (b) for general use; and
that children should not be admitted when any of the former
are on exhibition. For the rest, I can only urge insistence upon
a high standard of cleanliness and sanitation in all cinema houses,
and the protection of the plastic eyes of children by properly
regulating their distance from the screen.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. JOHN KAY, B.A. (LoND.). Examined.
1. Tin; CHAIRMAN. You say teachers appreciate the cinema
as a popular and legitimate form of public amusement, but that
certain films which were produced were considered to be dangerous
and injurious to the children ? Quite.
2. Can you give us one or two special instances you came
across? I do not know that I could recollect the titles, but I
can certainly quote some of the films. I have seen as late as
last week a film shown which I consider quite unsuitable for
children. The film was with regard to the sex problem.
3. You would say, then, that the general films dealing with
the sex problem are undesirable for the children altogether ?
Most inevitably.
4. Now with regard to the question of inciting to crime, by
what we may call films dealing with criminal incidents. Have
you any opinion with regard to that, I mean the effect upon
children? Yes, I have a very strong opinion. I do not think
it is generally understood to what extent these pictures can be
an incentive to children. It is a matter of common knowledge
amongst teachers, particularly amongst teachers in the infants'
schools, that the very suggestion even of warning against any-
thing means to the child an incentive to do the offence^ That
is not generally understood by people ; if it were they would
understand that pictures of a certain character might be a real
incentive to the children.
5. Films are largely attended by your children ? Yes.
6. And cinemas are far and away the most popular class of
entertainment? Far and away.
7. Have you known cases where money has been taken by
the children so that they can attend the cinemas ? Well, many
have taken money and used it to attend, but it is a very difficult
matter to say how far the pictures were an incentive or an
afterthought.
8. Have you anything to say with regard to eye trouble pro-
duced by going to cinemas? Well, we have had a number of
replies, but there again we have difficulty. You cannot establish
cases of defect.
EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS 121
9. What educational value would you put upon the cinema ?
I am afraid slight. I have not been able to observe any effects.
10. There would be, would there not, a widening of knowledge
of certain subjects ? Yes, but that is only small, because, after
all, the purely educational films are very rare.
11. Now, with regard to the films that purport to be educa-
tional and helpful, such as the way in which flawers come out,
showing them from their earliest infancy to their fullest com-
pleteness. We have had it put before us that it is rather harmful
showing the film that way because of the rapidity with which
the matter is shown. This would give the impression to the
child that it is all done in about three minutes ? I do not think
that argument is a very weighty one. I think the child, if not of
very tender years, would be quite able to adjust the balance in
its own mind.
12. Would you see some advantage in films of that sort?
Undoubtedly.
13. And films that are strictly educational you would approve
of? Of course.
14. You would not expect the whole film entertainment to be
educational all through ? No, that would be extravagant.
15. You say there does not seem to be a large place for the
cinema in primary school work? We are dealing here with a
matter which is still more or less in its infancy. Don't you
think there are possibilities with regard to the future of the
cinema ? It is these possibilities I have tried to estimate. As
regards the humanities, that is, writing, and reading, and also
arithmetic, it is of no value, and those are the subjects on which
the great bulk of our time has to be centred.
16. You lay great stress upon the high standard of cleanliness
and sanitation in the cinema. Do you find in Lancashire that
there are some defects of this kind in the cinema houses? I
should not say generally, but we have had indications that
advances might be made in the direction of cleanliness, and my
own observation has shown to me on many visits that the sanita-
tion with regard to the air is not all what it might be.
17. Have you any information as to immoral conduct of any
kind between children and adults in the cinema house ? None ;
I have neither met a case nor had one quoted.
18. PRINCIPAL GARVIE. A suggestion was made that films
might specially be marked as suitable for children. Do you
approve of such a suggestion ? Yes.
19. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. Are you aware that already in the
present form of censorship there is a distinction made in films
for adults and films for children ? No, I was not aware of that.
20. There are two kinds of films, one marked " U," which
means Universal, for adults and children, and another marked
" A," which means it can only be exhibited to adults? That is
new to me.
21. You think that is a good arrangement? I quite approve
of such an arrangement, but I still say that I do not think the
122 CRIME AND SEXUAL FILMS
classification which exists now has been satisfactory in its applica-
tion. I have seen frequently films which must have been passed
for general consumption which I consider totally unfit for children.
The idea of a separate classification for children and general use
I consider to be a good one.
22. Of course, children is a general term; the child of eight
and the child of fourteen, fifteen or sixteen have quite different
opinions ? Quite.
23. I take it that as there is a difference in the class of children,
so there is a difference in the impression they have with regard
to certain films ? Yes.
24>. I understand that the film that makes a profound impres-
sion on children is the story of adventure rather than the stories
of love ; that is, up to a certain age ? Yes, I think that is so.
25. So that a story of love which would produce no impression,
and, indeed, might be profoundly uninteresting, to a child up to
twelve or fourteen years of age, might make a different impression
upon a child beyond that age ? Yes.
26. I take it that a boy of fourteen or fifteen or sixteen is what
I might call a melodramatist in the sense that adventure appeals
to him more than any other form of film ? That is so.
27. And therefore your opinion is that what I might call the
crook drama has to be very carefully scrutinised ? Yes, I quite
agree.
28. MR. NEWBOULD. In regard to these inquiries which have
been made as to the influence of the cinema upon children, can
you explain how they are carried out? Were questions put to
the children or merely answered by the observations of the
teachers ? The question as regards the numbers of attendances
would be put to the children, and the other question, as to the
educational effect and as to the criminal effect, so to speak,
obviously could only be answered by an expression of opinion
from the teachers.
29. DR. SALEEBY. About these sexual films. Have you
heard of cases where injury has been done to a child by seeing
this type of play? No, I can hardly conceive the possibility of
a danger.
30. In point of fact you have no experimental evidence of such
an injury. I suppose you assume there is an injury, but you
will agree that a great deal which is very significant to an adult
would be like water rolling off a duck's back to a child ? Yes ;
but my opinion would vary with the age of the child.
31. I suggest the cinema would be of great aid in teaching,
say, natural history to a town child. How would you teach a
child natural history except by such a means ? Natural history
is not a subject for the curriculum of the ordinary school.
32. MR. CROOK. It has been suggested that the film would be
extremely useful in teaching geography in schools. Would you
show only one film in a school, or would you not require separate
films for each class? Each class has its separate curriculum in
geography.
UNDESIRABLE FILMS 123
33. And therefore you would want seven films shown each
week for geography alone ? That is so.
34. Would you not prefer to have a picture of a set scene
which can be shown every time, rather than films to illustrate
geography ? Yes, since the one is capable of much more liberal
treatment. You can get a far larger number to illustrate in the
matter of pictures than you could with films.
35. With regard to natural history, I think with a great variety
of birds the child would be confused ? I should think so.
36. MR. KING. You say : " Teachers are gravely concerned
about the results of many injurious films that are exhibited from
time to time, films of a vulgar, suggestive, or openly indecent
character." Will you give us an instance of a vulgar picture ?
I can remember seeing a film in which the hero was called " Fatty,"
and in one of the scenes there was the loss of his nether garments,
and he goes into a dancing-room with a blanket wrapped round
his lower extremities.
37. Have you ever seen an openly indecent picture, or do you
know anybody that has ? I know of many people who have told
me they have seen indecent pictures. I do not remember one
that I can describe, but I have certainly seen programmes depicting
openly indecent pictures.
38. In Liverpool ? No, I cannot say exactly where they came
from. I had a large number of programmes collected, and I
selected a number of them which were of the class mentioned
there.
39. Do you know of the rules issued by the Justices of Liver-
pool and also copied by a large number of other towns, amongst
them Burnley, Blackburn and St. Helens? (Mr. King read
extracts from these rules.) Did you know these rules were in
existence? Yes, I know they have been in existence for two
years past.
40. And yet you say there are indecent films shown Yes.
41. That is not very kind to the magistrates? I am sorry.
I do not say Liverpool, but I see no reason to qualify what I
have said.
42. I see you say there was an inquiry by the justices and the
educational authorities into the question of juvenile crime, and
that the teachers said the cinema was the factor of the problem.
What kind of evidence was given ; evidence of fact or evidence
of opinion ? Facts as far as we could secure them, but largely
opinion, of course.
43. You say something about the cinema proprietor or cinema
company receiving the booty. Do you suggest that the cinema
proprietors were the receivers ? Will you qualify that ? I do
not wish to give any impression of that kind. , It has been alleged
that children steal with the direct intention of getting money to
see the films. I say it is not possible to say that the children
have stolen for that purpose. It is probably an afterthought,
and in that way the cinemas afford a child the opportunity of
getting rid of his booty.
124 EDUCATIONAL POSSIBILITIES
44. Any more than a sweetstuff shop ? No more, except that
they are more prolific in Liverpool.
45. Then you refer to the street trading class, and you object
to them getting into the theatre after nine o'clock. Do you
think the picture palaces are worse places than their homes ?
Their homes are bad enough. We are speaking of children under
fourteen years of age.
46. COMMISSIONER ADELAIDE Cox. You say : " Children of
criminal tendency in a school are found amongst the most regular
frequenters of the shows." Do you mean they go to the cinemas
and increase their wrong tendencies ? I do not know. I only
say it is a well-known fact among the teachers that they are the
class that visit the theatres largely.
47. THE CHAIRMAN. What do you mean by criminal ten-
dencies ? I was thinking of children who had been known to be
guilty of theft sometimes.
48. DR. KIMMINS. Do you find that the boys or the girls are
more attracted to the cinema? I have drawn very little differ-
ence. Of the 30,000 children that our inquiries included, 16,000
were boys and 14,000 girls.
49. Have you discovered at what age the cinema gives the
greatest attraction to the children ? I should say about twelve.
50. It falls off at thirteen and fourteen? Yes, I think my
largest numbers were about Standard V. I would not say it
falls off ; it is rather that our class diminishes towards that age.
51. I suppose your view of the educational possibilities of the
film is that the action is too rapid on the screen for the children
to derive much instruction ? Yes, very largely. ,
52. DR. MARIE STOPES. You mean that the cinema as it /is
at present has not the educational value. You are not con-
templating the ideal advance ? I scarcely know what the ideal
is. I think it will be admitted that you cannot teach mathematics
by the cinema, and a large proportion of our curriculum comes
into the same category.
53. There are a lot of things, though, which can very well be
shown on the screen, and these would have especial interest to
children, such as pictures of the Niagara Falls, which are a source
of electricity? Yes, but you see our considerations must be
relative to the whole of our work.
54. Do you agree that a series of films collected by teachers
and circulated around the various schools would be of use?
Quite. I think that must be the way in which the cinema will
probably make its appearance amongst us.
55. MR. EDGAR JEPSON. I take it that you would have no
objection to using the film for educational purposes, but you
would be against the heavy cost at present entailed. Supposing
they were cheap, would they be of great service ? Yes, within
the narrow limits as regards the subjects in the curriculum. I
would be delighted to welcome the cinema as an aid to teaching
if it came within our needs financially.
56. THE CHAIRMAN. What you mean is that there is a certain
INFLUENCES ON SCHOOL CHILDREN 125
amount of work to do in primary education. For that work the
cinema is, comparatively speaking, of little value, but from the
educational point of view generally you consider the cinema may
be of considerable value? Quite.
57. MOXSIGNOR BROWN. Do you think you would be able to
satisfy either the local authority or His Majesty's inspector on
the knowledge required and the lessons given on the films for
geography. No .
58. (Monsignor Brown read an essay written by a girl of thir-
teen on a picture she saw at a local cinema.) Do you think that
girl has followed the plot of that little drama without grasping
anything more than the girl going out with the boy and the
father ? It would appear that she had grasped it.
58. Would you think the impression made on the child's mind
was that the film was undesirable ? It does not certainly appear
from her writing.
60. Would you think that type of film was quite harmless
exhibited promiscuously to children, say, under fourteen years
of age ? No, I would not.
61. Would you consider that there was a danger that the
child might define what was going on ? I am sure of it. I am
sure in the bulk of cases it would be defined. I think the children
would generally see more than is imagined, especially the children
that come from the homes I have largely in mind, because these
problems are not new to them.
62. SIR JOHN KIRK. Are children at all distracted at school
after they have been to the cinema the previous night? I have
not observed any ill results.
63v. Does the same thing apply to the conduct in the play-
grounds? I think it is generally agreed that the children's
conduct in the playground is becoming much rougher of late
years.
64. Is that because of the cinema ? It is generally thought so.
We have watched the games and we haye seen reflected there
the cinema.
65. Does that deal with their retiring-places and the scribbling
on the walls ? I have not seen that.
66. THE CHAIRMAN. Did your scholars attend the music halls
before the cinemas came in ? Not to any extent.
67. Are you in a position to say that the class of entertainment
of the picture palace is inferior or superior to the music halls ?
It is difficult to answer.
68. Do you think the cinema might be used to advantage in
the night schools ? Yes, I think so.
69. DR. SALEEBY. Have you had any opportunities of com-
paring the roughness of these children with the roughness of,
say, the upper-class children. Do you think they are rougher?
I have not had much opportunity of comparison.
70. Do you think it possible that the children during the last
few years have been better fed, and are much more likely t to have
animal spirits? Yes, no doubt that has an effect on the type
126 MR. J. W. BUNN'S EVIDENCE
of games that are played. We have noticed that the cinema- is
with them all the time. They reproduce the story they have
seen, a cowboy story, for instance.
71. MR. CROOK. In saying that the children are rougher now
than they were, have you allowed for the fact that many of the
parents are away at the war or on munition work ? Yes, it has
been particularly noticed lately, but even before that it was
noticed that the playground games were much rougher. I won't
say rougher, though, but they were of another type altogether.
72. And you know that not only has the influence of the parents
gone, but the influence of the male teacher in the boy school
has gone ? Yes, since the war that has been particularly noticed.
73. And therefore it would be difficult to indicate how much
of the increased roughness is due to the cinema ? It would be.
STATEMENT OF MR. J. W. BUNN,
Head Master "The Cloudesley" L.C.C. School, Islington, N.,
Member of the Executive, National Union of Teachers, National
Cinematograph Association, Social Welfare Association.
PRECIS
I AM head master of a school for mentally defective boys. The
boys are drawn from the poorest quarters of Hoxton, and are
between the ages of twelve and sixteen. I am also a member of
the Executive Committee of the National Cinematograph Associa-
tion, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Social
Welfare Association. I have had opportunity of obtaining direct
evidence on the question of the cinematograph from the children
themselves, and also of hearing the opinions of many other social
workers interested in the same subject.
A considerable number of people look upon the attendance of
children at cinematograph entertainments with dislike if not with
horror, and are apparently inclined to accuse the picture shows of
being the main cause of juvenile misdemeanours. I do not agree
with this view, and am firmly convinced that there is great exag-
geration committed by this class. In my opinion these people
are always to be found on the side of opposition to popular and
cheap amusements for the working classes. The picture show is
undoubtedly very popular with the women and children of the
working class, but then it is still new enough to be a novelty, and
it must be remembered that no other form of entertainment has
ever offered to the poor the same value in variety and comfort
for a very small outlay.
I have paid many visits to the shows which cater for the class
amongst whom I work. I have made it a rule to go always into
the cheapest seats and have carefully observed both the pro-
gramme and the audience. The entertainment is not, of course,
on a high intellectual level, but an entertainment on such a level
would not be an entertainment at all for the lower classes. Many
films of the "farce" variety are absurdly stupid, and sometimes
EDUCATIONAL EXPERIMENTS 127
rather vulgar. I have seen many sensational films, presenting
incidents in some cases not fit for public presentation, but I have
never seen a film that I should call obscene, and the most vulgar
and stupid items I have witnessed are not nearly so objectionable
as some " turns " I have seen on the music-hall stage.
In the summer of 1914 I took the opportunity at school of
obtaining indirect evidence of the popularity of the picture show
among the children. I arranged for a series of " free " drawing
lessons throughout the school, that is to say lessons where, having
served out materials, the teacher tells the class to draw anything
they like which they have seen lately. Ninety per cent, of the
drawings were of incidents seen on the films. There was no attempt
to reproduce the comic or stupid items, all the drawings were on
the heroic side with a sensational bias. As examples of the most
common, I may mention " Rescue of Prisoners from Indians by
Cowboys," " Rescue of Women and Children from Fire," " Rescue
of Passengers from a Sinking Ship."
After the drawings were finished, I held long conversations with
the classes in which the artists were asked to explain their own
drawings. This enabled me to inquire into the conduct of the
entertainments and the number of visits paid. I found that in
the great majority of cases once a week was the most, a few had
been twice in a week, and three boys had been three times. These
last, however, I found, went to a house where children could gain
admission for a halfpenny and were only in the show for about
half an hour.
In the autumn of 1916 I tried the same experiment over again,
and found a great change. Nearly all the pictures drawn were
of war subjects soldiers, guns, etc. ; the most popular of all being
Zeppelin pictures, which were wonderfully good and showed both
imagination and observation. Inquiry as to the number of visits
to picture shows proved that a great. reduction had taken place,
chiefly, I think, because the novelty has worn off.
I do not think that there is in the films any educational value
worth mentioning at present. Some houses, in deference to the
clamour for " improving the mind," put in films showing manu-
facturing processes and natural phenomena, but I believe these
only bore the audience and are tolerated till the real entertain-
ment commences again. I think that in poor neighbourhoods
where the children need more change and variety in school work
than among the Well-to-do, it would not be a bad plan to have a
cinematograph lesson once a week. It could be done by arrang-
ing for children from three or four schools to go for an hour to a
suitable cinema, and the Education Authority could pay proprie-
tors a penny per head, exactly as they do now for visits to the
baths. I should arrange for the*" programme to be selected by the
teachers, and for one of the teachers to explain the films in a few
suitable words as the lesson proceeded. The film proprietors have
hundreds of suitable subjects, and there would be no difficulty in
getting the managers of local halls to admit school children
during school hours at a penny each.
128 CINEMA v. PUBLIC-HOUSE
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. J. W. BUNN. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. You are a member of the Executive of the
National Cinematograph Association ? Yes.
2. What is that association ? It was started about a year
before the war. It was a voluntary organisation, and had for its
object the idea of getting some control over the cinematograph
in relation to the child, especially with regard to the development
of the cinematograph for educational purposes, as well as exercising
some control over the popular entertainment to which children
went. Of course the outbreak of the war upset the arrange-
ments. The secretary enlisted and went abroad, and since the
first two or three meetings the association has been in a coma-
tose condition. The association was composed of representatives
of educational and public bodies. At the inaugural meeting Sir
Albert Rollitt occupied the chair and moved the resolution that
the association should be established. There were a number
of well-known public people there, including Dr. Lyttelton, Dr.
Kimmins, Mr. Bernard Shaw, and representatives of other
associations.
3. Do your defective children go to the cinema? Yes, about
the same as the elementary school children.
4. And their view is pretty much the same as the view of the
child not defective; they take the same interest? Yes, they go
because it is somewhere to go in) the evening.
5. You say " the picture show is undoubtedly very popular
with the women and children of the working class." Do you mean
to exclude the man ? I do not think the working man goes as
much as the women and children.
6. The working man likes going to another public institu-
tion? Yes; I suppose you mean he prefers going into the
public-house ?
7. And on the whole even those people who object to the cinema
might prefer that the working man should go to the cinema and
not the public-house ? Quite so.
8. You lay stress upon the cheapness of the cinema as one of the
attractions ? Yes, and upon the variety of the entertainment and
the general comfort. They have a comfortable seat in a warm,
well-ventilated hall.
9. You have gone as a rule in the cheap seats ? Yes, I always
go into the threepenny seats.
10. That means the seats nearest to the film ? Yes.
11. Have you found any effect on your own eyes through being
so near the film? No, not a bit, but I must say that I have
not enjoyed the entertainment.
12. " The entertainment is not, of course, on a high intellectual
level." Now I sometimes go to an entertainment because I do
not want something very highly intellectual ; I want to be amused.
SENSATIONAL FILMS 129
You agree that amusements and the brightening of life are helpful
to some people ? I think so.
13. You say, " Many films of the farce variety are absurdly
stupid and sometimes rather vulgar." Farce need not always be
vulgar? Quite so.
14. It does happen that what to one person seems vulgar would
not be thought so by another ? That is true.
15. Can you give us instances of sensational films which present
incidents not fit for public presentation ? iThe sensational films I
object to are those that depict in detail horrible scenes of torture,
such as where the robbers get hold of a police officer or something
of that sort, and proceed to torture him, with the inevitable motor-
car dashing up at the correct moment. I saw a case the other
night. It was really wonderful as regards the ingenuity of the
film, because the robbers got the police officer, a detective, tied
his ankles together, and then strung him up by his feet on to
a hook on the ceiling and cleared out. Well, he hung there a
considerable time, and commenced to swing backwards and for-
wards, increasing the swing each time until he was able to grasp
the telephone box on the wall. He then got hold of the telephone,
and was able to telephone to headquarters. It was really very
depressing to watch the man's expression ; in fact, I do not think
it was a fit thing to see.
16. You realise there are certain theatrical pieces to which the
same criticism would apply? Yes, and I say that a lot of the
attack on the cinema is quite unfair because people are not taking
any notice of other things which are just as objectionable.
17. You arranged a number of " free " drawing lessons. Was
that in your defective school ? Yes.
18. Does the result lead you to the impression that the more
permanent effect in the cinema entertainments is produced by the
things that are not comic; that they forget the comic things
sooner than they do the others ? They forget the comic, but they
remember the sensational and romantic part.
19. You say that some of the children have been three
times in a week, to halls where children can obtain admission
for one halfpenny. Are there many halls you know of where
the halfpenny admission is still in existence? No, I do not
know of many. It appears that the children with the half-
pennies are stood on one side, and the attendant takes them in
and puts them in one seat. After they have seen three pictures
out they go.
20. Now you have noticed since the war that the pictures they
draw are mainly war pictures, and whatever for the moment is the
leading thing ? I do not mean that they draw cinema pictures.
I did not mean that. On the first occasion they drew cinema
pictures, but latterly they drew war pictures,
21. You say that the novelty of the cinema has worn off, and
there is a reduction in the attendance. Does that lead you to the
idea that in a year or two of cinema shows the children care less
for them ? Personally I think so.
130 EDUCATION AND ENTERTAINMENT
22. With regard to the educational value ? The cinema might
be used in education.
23. By the State? Quite so.
24. You would not consider it the duty of the management of
a cinematograph entertainment to be sufficiently philanthropic to
educate the children who ought to be educated by the State ? I
do not think it ought to be left in their hands, because they are
not the people to know what education is.
25. But you would like special entertainments to be arranged
for children in order to help the educational question forward ?
Yes, I think there is room for that. I say that the way to do
it is to combine sufficient schools to take a hall and then let the
teachers take the children there.
26. MR. LAMERT. You gave us one or two reasons for the
popularity of the cinema. One is its low price. You do not
mention one particular point, and that is the question of time.
To a cinema show a person can go at any time ? That is another
reason for its popularity, no doubt.
27. In the modern stress of work don't you think it is a good
thing for grown-up people that there should be a cheap show to
give them a little entertainment after their work ?- I agree.
28. Do you think it is equally good for children that after the
work of the school they should have some relaxation of this sort ?
Yes, I think so.
29. At present is there any alternative to the cinema ? Nothing,
except the appalling entertainments provided by the Churches
in the way of bands of hope and mission rooms, and so on. They
are absolutely dreadful.
30. MONSIGNOR BROWN. You have seen some of the statements
made by Mr. Cecil Chapman, the magistrate ? Yes.
31. Do you think there is any possible means even for a metro-
politan magistrate to form a valuable opinion upon the excuses
given by offenders ? That is purely a personal opinion ; I should
say no.
32. It is said that the cinema depicting offences against the law
has been a great incentive to young people to imitate such doings.
Do you take that seriously ? No, I think that is all nonsense.
33. Then as to the increase in petty thefts which it is alleged
has been produced by the desire to go to the cinema, do you attach
much importance to a boy, when asked by the magistrate, " Why
did you do that ? " answering, " Because I wanted to go to the
pictures ? " I think it is absurd.
34. DR. MARIE STOPES. Do you agree that the film should be
in the hands of scientific people, or teachers, or somebody who has
expert knowledge of what is wanted ? Yes, but practically all the
big manufacturers have an official whom they call their educational
adviser.
35. Are you satisfied with the films that are provided and
labelled as educational films? I am satisfied there are a good
many educational films, but I do not think that field has been
properly explored yet. I know that Pathe Freres have lots of
CINEMA AND SCHOOLS 181
splendid films from which schoolmasters can pick out, say, half a
dozen films for an afternoon.
36. But they are not made in connection with any course to
be given ? No.
37. And you agree that it is not suitable to leave the matter
in the hands of the manufacturers ? That is so.
38. Do you agree with me that those who direct destructive
criticism towards the cinema would be better employed in con-
structive work in getting cheap theatres of good quality scattered
about the country ? Yes.
39. DR. KIMMINS. Do you find that the mentally defective
boys are as interested in the cinema as the normal child is? I
think so.
40. And they like particular kinds of films ? I think they like
sensational films which they can follow better. Very dull people
are very difficult to amuse.
41. Do you think there are possibilities with regard to the cinema
in teaching mentally defective children ? I should think it would
want a lot of careful thinking out.
42. Could you not awaken a more vivid interest with the cinema
than with the ordinary appliances ? I think the great thing to be
borne in mind for the mentally defective is to keep them physically
occupied as much as possible, and I don't think there is great value
for improving their intellectual outlook by looking at pictures.
43. Have you noticed whether the mentally defective boy tires
of the cinema performance more rapidly than the normal child ?
I could not answer that, because I have never been in the theatre
right through the whole performance. I do not think they tire
while there is value left for money.
44. COMMISSIONER ADELAIDE Cox. When you compare the
cinema shows with the mission halls and bands of hope, are you
speaking of the atmosphere of the place or the entertainment
provided ? I think both are unspeakably dreadful. There is also
an absolute want of control in keeping the children quiet and
interested.
45. MR. CROOK. Supposing you had liberty to use the cinema
at the ordinary primary school, how many hours a week would
you use it for one class ? One or two lessons, perhaps forty-five
minutes each time, but I think I should prefer only one.
46. So that its educative value is only one-thirtieth of the
curriculum as regards time ? Yes, it works out like that.
47. Would you use the same pictures for the whole school, or
would you want different films for each class ? I should have
different films for each class.
48. THE CHAIRMAN. Would you regard it as useful to have in
connection with your school work a cinema exhibition once a
week for forty-five minutes on something not absolutely in the
curriculum but yet in the education ? That was in my mind.
49. PROFESSOR H. GOLLANCZ. Have you had any opportunity
of judging whether the eyestrain affects the defective children
the same as any intelligent boy or girl ? I have not found any
182 MISS FOX'S EVIDENCE
eye difficulty or any eyestrain, and I have had no complaint as
to sight being affected by the cinema.
50. DR. SALEEBY. Do you think your children get more excited ?
No, the mentally defective are, as a rule, no more excitable than
the other children. In fact, the great difficulty is that they are
not easily excitable ; they are lethargic the great thing is to arouse
them.
SEVENTH DAY
February 19, 1917,
The BISHOP OF BIRMINGHAM in the chair.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
Miss MARGERY Fox. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. You represent the Head Mistresses' Con-
ference ? Yes.
2. Does that include all types of schools ? No, only the head
mistresses of public secondary schools.
3. Do I take it, therefore, that you are dealing mainly with
children of the High School type, or what type of school?
Mainly with the High School type, but I think I touch on all
the other classes of children.
4. And have certain people attended some of the cinemas on
behalf of the Association in order to prepare a kind of report to
bring up ? No, this is on my own observation.
5. You realise that the educational side, if it comes in at all
with regard to the cinemaj comes in accidentally and not primarily ?
I do not think the cinemas are educational.
6. It is not the first purpose of the cinema to be educational ?
No, certainly not.
7. It is something to amuse, an entertainment to amuse, that
is one of its purposes. You would consider it an entertainment
that excites sometimes ? Yes, certainly.
8. You bear in mind that it is something carried on for profit
by people who are risking their own means ? Yes.
9. And you agree that to be successful it has to appeal to various
tastes ? Yes.
10. You say there is no educational value ? Yes ; and there I
go a great deal further than many on the Conference I represent.
11. Do you go to the cinema a good deal yourself? Yes, a
very great deal.
12. Have you seen the picture of the Tanks ? No ; I only go to
the bad cinemas, those I think are going to be bad.
13. You would realise that B, great many people had not the
CINEMA AND TEACHING 133
slightest idea of what a Tank was until they saw them on the
cinema? That is so.
14. Is there any educational value in that ? I think the films
of the Tanks could be made educational if they were given by a
lecturer, and if they followed some of the children's lessons which
had been given during the week. I cannot call anything educa-
tional that is divorced from the child's usual education.
15. Supposing in the schools nothing is taught about the Tanks,
how is the child to get to know what a Tank is ? I cannot conceive
a child at the present day who has not been taught something
about the Tanks.
16. You consider it better that a child should have an explanation
of the Tanks than that it should see a representation upon the
film with some letterpress in front saying what the Tank is
doing? I doubt whether the child can follow what is meant by
the letterpress, as this moves so quickly.
17. Is not concentration one of the greatest difficulties to deal
with in regard to a child ? I think the cinema panders to that
lack of concentration, and that is why I think it is bad educa-
tionally.
18. You do not like a constant change of subject ; you think
it is a bad mental strain ? I think it is very bad.
19. We have had witnesses who advocate constant change of
the subject for the child? I think psychologically it is extra-
ordinarily tiring for the child, as its mind would have to turn so
rapidly from one type of subject to another. I think what one
wants is variety with some logical line of continuity running
through it, and these you don't get in the cinema.
20. With regard to the physical strain, I mean the strain on
the eyes, I should like your opinion ? The cheapest seats are in
front, and the nearer you are to the front the greater the strain
on the eyesight. I consider there ought to be seats for children
behind.
21. Have you any ideas of the kind of films you would like to
have for children ? Assuming that the cinema industry must
go on, I think the films should be connected with the child's own
school as far as possible. Different schools, if they guaranteed
a certain number of attendances although I think the attend-
ances should be limited from a physical point of view could
induce the proprietors to put on films in connection with their
work. I think that is the only way they should be tolerated.
22. Are you a believer in a child getting pure amusement
without instructional education? Yes, certainly, but I would
far rather it take its amusement in the open air than in the cinema.
23. What would you have a child go to for amusement indoors ?
I should say simply dancing or acting. I think dancing has
been brought down to the level of the poorest child.
24. We have heard that the child is so active that it perpetrates
the crimes afterwards ? I do not think so, because of the unreality
of the films; I have seen crimes so absurdly represented.
25. You have said a good deal about the unhygienic condition
134 UNDESIRABLE FILMS
of the palaces. I understand that the trade is entirely in favour
of building as hygienically as possible? -I have been in both
theatres and picture palaces constantly, and I have never once
been in a theatre which is anything like as bad as six picture
palaces I have been in during this last week.
26. With regard to the darkness, or as you would say, the halls
that are illegally dark? I had an impression that some of the
halls were illegally dark. I say it is quite easy to see in com-
parative lightness. In Gravesend we have advertising films
thrown on the screen when the lights are turned up, and you can
see these films quite easily.
27. You speak about particular plays. I should like some
instances of any plays you have seen ? There is far too much
stress laid on the sexual passion, so that it would seem there is
no 'other passion worth reckoning. In most of the plays I have
seen there are instances of attempted rape carried on to the last
minute, and the rescue takes place in that last minute, so that the
whole house is in an unhealthy excitement. I was in one of the
palaces last week, and there was 'a row of children in front from
elementary schools who were talking about it in a way showing
that they quite understood what was going on. I think the
child soon learns to understand from a cinema.
28. Don't you think that a child, with the unsatisfactory
housing conditions and environment, has an opportunity of learn-
ing these things early? I think very often the children have
learned these things from the cinemas. I have heard of this
from the mothers. Now I should like to give you some of the
plays I have seen. In there was a girl who was lodged
in a house of ill- fame without her knowledge, and the house was
raided in order to provide Avives for the colonies. I might say
that the staging of the play was of about the eighteenth century.
Then there followed a ship filled with these girls all going out to
the colonies, and it was boarded and captured by pirates, and
there followed disgusting scenes of the women being on show
while the pirates came round and inspected them. This wont on
four or five times, and I think the vividness of the scene and the
expressions on the men's faces were almost disgusting. This
was followed by a struggle between a man and a woman, who
did not want the man who had chosen her. I have noticed that
in nearly all these plays there has been a struggle of a very revolting
kind between a man and a woman, and, speaking perhaps not
from the point of view of a young child, but from the point of
view of the adolescent, I do not think there is anything more
suggestive or more dangerous for the adolescent to see than that
struggle. This was followed by a travesty of the marriage service.
The parson in this case was forced to marry the girl. This
travesty of the marriage service also occurs in the . In
this play a girl wants to marry a man, and they try to kidnap
the parson to marry them, but by mistake they kidnap the
father instead. There is the same story of travesty in ,
and there the bridegroom has a fight with a man who has
UNDESIRABLE FILMS 135
ill-treated his bride before the marriage. Then again, in this
there is one scene where a woman in delirium has a
struggle with a man, and her clothes are torn. Then you
have the posters, and in many cases they are even worse than
the real thing. To illustrate what I mean, I heard one boy
say to another : " Don't go to this theatre, go to another
where there is a murder on." - is a very bad play. The
scene is laid in South Africa. A man breaks into the woman's
room, and you see on the stage alternately the man's eyes and
the woman's eyes. It is a horrid sight. Then in - - there
are two men and a woman, and one of the men offers 100
to the other one if he will spread a slander about the woman,
because he is weary of her as his wife, and he offers this large sum
of money as a bribe for the other man to induce her to be un-
faithful to him. Then, again, you get the plays where the girl is
just rescued from the clutches of the villain, which is worse, I
think, because one's sympathies go out to the defeated. I think
there is fan too much of this kind of crime shown on the cinemas.
You see safe-breaking, robbery and burglary, and I think it is
a pity that such things are allowed to be shown.
29. But in theatrical performances do they not touch upon
the same points as the films do, although, of course, they treat
them in a different way? I have seen things on the films you
would never, see on the legitimate stage, in Paris or London.
30. The subjects are very much about the same sexual passions.
In fact, we have been complaining there is too much of that in
the theatres; and we have been having "crook" plays in the
theatres ? Yes.
31. At the present moment there is on the stage a scene where
the selling of girls td,kes place for the purpose of immorality?
Yes.
32. It is rather in the treatment, I mean in the way in which a
thing is treated, than the style of subject ? Yes, that is so. The
thing is treated on a legitimate stage in a different manner from
the way it is treated on the cinema, and certainly some things
are shown on the cinema that no manager would allow on the stage
of a theatre.
33.- You mean that you cannot, strictly speaking, in your
own judgment, deal modestly or honestly with such questions as
sexual passion on the film, as you would if they were spoken on
the stage ? That is so.
34. Have you any other plays you can call to mind ? There
is one play called . I think it is worse, because it
gives an example of every sort of thing. It begins by a man
perjuring himself by swearing that another man is a forger.
There is a horrid scene in the court where the prisoner
grapples with another person. There are scenes of convict life
in France, and you see the men dragging along with cannon
balls on chains behind them, possibly to prevent their going too
fast. Then you see two of the convicts escape, and one of the
men rushes into a field where there are women. They all scatter
136 MUSIC
and go to a shed, which he sets on fire, and afterwards you see
him carrying her away. The other convict meanwhile has been
hidden by a fisherman, and the woman there brings him food,
and this leads to several scenes of love-making. You see the ~girl
go down to the beach, and she is pursued by the other convict,
a madman, and there follows a violent struggle between the
man and the woman. The hidden convict sees this from the
window, rushes to the rescue, and there is another struggle,
the girl joining in the fracas. Later on you see the son trying
to rob his mother's safe, and there are furious death-struggles
because he did not know that the burglar trap was set in the
safe which shot him. The has some of the same sort of
elements. I say many of these scenes when you see them on
the film are far more intolerable than when you read of them in
the books.
35. PRINCIPAL GARVIE. When you say that children should
be active in their amusement, would you apply that all round ?
Would you approve of a child being taken to a circus or to a magic-
lantern entertainment ? I do not approve of circuses because
of the cruelty to animals. I do not object to magic-lantern
entertainments, although a magic-lantern is trying to the sight,
because it is very dull. On the other hand, a cinema is not dull.
36. Why do you object to the faces that are thrown upon the
screen? I object to them because they are magnified so much,
in fact, some of the faces are so large that you can see the pores
of the skin.
37. It is the very impressiveness of the cinema that aggravates
the danger of it to the child ? Certainly ; the better it is the
worse it is.
38. MR. NEWBOULD. You say that the sense of sight is used
to the neglect of the other senses. Would you make the same
remark with regard to the sense of hearing in music? Well, I
suppose it is, but of course as a matter of fact a child does not
hear a great deal of music unless it joins in. The instinct of the
child is always to join in the music.
39. At the cinemas you have been to is there any music?
If you can call it music, there is a certain amount, but I do not
think you pay any attention to the music.
40. But you have only been to those you expected to find
bad ? I have been to some of the halls with the best reputations,
and I very often find that they have the worst films.
41. You have spoken about the increase of sensational films.
Has it occurred to you that the causes arise out of the war, that
the public desires something more sensational ? I should not
like to say that. I should think that they found sensationalism
paid better, therefore it was put on.
42. Have you noticed the changes which have taken place
in the class of films shown ? They are certainly far more sensa-
tional than they were when the war broke out.
43. Do you think we are getting rid of the bad cinema?
I know of no place of my own observation where cinemas have
CINEMA AND DRAMA 137
been closed. I know of two towns where cinemas have been
increased.
44. DR. SALEEBY. Would you object to taking a child to a
concert ? Not if the child was of an age to understand music,
but I would not take it to a concert night after night. A child
going too frequently to a cinema must suffer.
45. REV. W. E. SOOTHILL. What is the effect of the cinema
on the child next day? Those children who go to the cinemas
overnight are very discontented and tired next day.
46. MR. GRAVES. You say you do not think that there is any
educational value in the cinematograph in its present form. Are
you aware of any experiments in the way of teaching by the
cinematograph that have been made in the primary or secondary
schools ? I have only heard of those in Letch worth.
47. A lesson might be given illustrating a certain process, and
this lesson might wind up with a cinematograph summary of the
process, which, say, might be lumbering ? I should always Want
it safeguarded so that the child did not go too often.
48. You don't see any objection then to, say, the magic-
lantern lessons being reinforced by the cinematograph once a
week ? No.
49. DR. KIMMINS. Have you ever been to a cinema where
there are children's attendants? I dare say there are some in
London. I have always looked, but I have never seen any.
50. Have you noticed any improvements in the lighting of
the cinema theatre ? No ; and when I have sent in my card to
the management the lighting has been improved.
51. And when they were lightened they did not interfere with
the picture? No.
52. You could see quite as well? To me it was much more
comfortable; there was less strain.
53. MR. EDGAR JEPSON. Are they the poorer children or the
upper middle classes that attend the cinema chiefly ? The poorer
children chiefly. The children who go to my own school do not
go to the cinemas.
54. Do you think that the cinema is more impressive than the
drama or less ? Does the scene on the film impress you more
strongly than the scene on the stage ? It frightens me more
because I have never seen such frightening things on the stage.
55. That is to say the subject is stronger? Yes, and the
treatment.
56. You said that it would be a good thing for a child to spend
its evening in dancing and acting. That would be all very well
with regard to your pupils, but what about the poor children ?
There are some centres and clubs for poor children.
57. It is only a small proportion of the children that can get
this dancing or acting at night? Yes, at present.
58. MR. LAMERT. You refer to the extraordinarily vivid
impression a cinema has on a child, and you have given an illustra-
tion of a child remembering something you did not wish it to
remember. Is there any reason why the cinema should not give
138 DR. LYTTELTON'S EVIDENCE
an extraordinarily vivid impression of something you would like
the child to remember? It certainly would.
59. If a film projected on to a screen can give an extraordinarily
vivid impression for evil, it can also give a vivid impression for
good ? Yes.
60. So you would want the right type of film? Yes, if you
could get away from the physical and mental strain of cinemas.
61. REV. CAREY BONNER. Have you ever seen films suitable
for children ? Yes.
62. You think these might be of educational value to the
children ? If you are going to have any educational value you
must repeat, repeat, and repeat, and if you are going to allow
the child to go too often to the cinema it will be bad for it.
63. THE CHAIRMAN. With regard to the elementary school
child. If the child lives in a rather wretched house, and has a
bad environment, and goes to school most of the) day, and has
nothing whatever afterwards to do, is it to be wondered at that it
flies to the cinema ? No, I do not think so, because the cinemas
are much cheaper than anything else and they are very warm
and comfortable.
HON. AND REV. DR. E. LYTTELTON. Examined.
64. THE CHAIRMAN. Are you going to deal with the educational
side of the film entirely ? I have very little to say outside the
educational aspect of the matter, and I should be disposed to
confine my remarks almost to that.
65. Still at the same time do you realise shortly that the
primary objects of the cinema is not to educate ? Yes.
66. It is a commercial undertaking carried on for profit with
the intention of amusing people to some extent, of exciting, no
doubt ? Yes ; so much so that I should be prepared to say that
any practical suggestions as to improving the influence of cinemas
would have to take that into account. I believe a great deal
ought to be done and can be done to restrict the number of
children who attend these shows, and also the time they can give
to them. Other restrictions, too, are most advisable in the case
of children, but, realising the hold they have got on the life of
the country and how vast are the vested interests as regards
adults, I have no particular suggestions to make. I think the
influence of cinemas on adults is not good, but on children it is
positively bad.
67. But the public which licenses these entertainments has
the right to demand that no moral, mental or physical hurt should
come to any one ? Yes, certainly.
68. And you would say at once that the child has to be specially
cared for as distinct from the adult? Yes.
69. Now your contention is that there is no such thing as sound
knowledge acquired without effort ? Would you mind developing
that for a moment ? Of course, as I have put it down very
briefly, that might be a point for dispute. I think I should
EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS 139
prefer to begin with No. 1, because there we touch upon
the principle in education that as soon as you advance to the
unknown from the unknown it becomes what we call in the
profession cramming. If you try to do that in education you
get knowledge which is not assimilated, but merely held in the
mind a short time and then forgotten. Then we come to ask
about the opposite principles. Suppose the knowledge is gained
by the advance from the known to the unknown. Is it accom-
panied by effort ? I for one may say that normally it is the
process of effort and the process of joy at the same time. Now,
that is all ignored by people who believe that a heterogeneous
mass of children can be taken into a cinema show and look
week after week at pictures which have not been assorted to
their minds, and believe that that can be called learning. Of
course, there is no guarantee whatever that there is nothing
from the known to the unknown. Nobody knows what those
children know. I do not profess to have much personal ex-
perience of cinemas, but I have heard enough of them and seen
enough of them to know that 'what goes on is a presentation
of pictures to attract the largest number of people, whether
adults or children ; and, further, that there are things to be
said in favour of them, such as giving adults who have got no
literary or intellectual interests of a certain kind of giving
them a pastime which can be said to be harmless. I am assum-
ing that amongst the pictures shown are possibly some which
are meant to be educational, but in order to make the display
attractive to the mass of the people there must be others which
are not educational, and which in the case of children become
positively harmful; but that is a further point. Those that are
supposed to be educational cannot be so, because of the difficulties
which attend on that class of teaching. That difficulty has enor-
mously increased, especially when you have children brought in
of different ages and different interests and no time to make them
a homogeneous class.
70. Do you think it fair to ask of a business which is run for
a commercial profit and intended to amuse and interest people
generally that they should be an educational influence upon
the country? No. I think we should ask that there should be
some restrictions enforced upon the frequency of these pictures to
children, as they only become harmful.
71. Can you suggest any type of film that would become
absolutely educational and could be used for both adults and
children? Would you take, for instance, such a thing as the
showing of the Tanks, or lumbering in Canada, or the growth of
flowers, and so on ? Would you think these things could be made
reasonably useful educationally without being absolutely educa-
tional in intention? I think that all depends upon whether a
good, clear and intelligible explanation of them is given at the
time. That certainly should be a condition.
72. I think you have very strong feeling that sight and hearing
should go together? Yes, certainly.
140 INFLUENCES UPON CHILDREN
73. You don't believe, generally speaking, in teaching entirely
by sight? That is so. I do not.
74. Do you think there is any advantage, or any different
effect produced by the cinema shown to a boy from Eton and a boy
from the elementary school? Well, supposing they are two
youngsters of the same age and attend the same pictures and the
same number of pictures. The Eton boy would start with this
advantage : he would probably know more to begin with. More
pictures would appeal to his mind and give him useful information.
Suppose we take the case of timbering or lumbering. He might
have read a novel on the subject, and if he has, the pictures would
be instructive to him and not the least harmful. In the case of
the elementary school child, assuming that the picture comes
before him, long before he has time to know anything about it
it passes and another one comes. I am anxious to emphasise
this, that the effect upon that child is very bad, even though the
Pictures are perfectly good. It is bad in more ways than one.
hold that the English boy, as compared with the American
and the French boy, requires to be slowly taught. That is to
say, the mind works slowly and he is not so advanced at the age
of sixteen as the American boy is. Well, what happens? The
child either gives up the effort to keep up with the pictures, in
which case he merely becomes befogged or confusecl, or if he has
an active brain and an inquiring mind he does his utmost to keep
up with them when he has not the knowledge to do so. And
there I am convinced in the case of young children that you run
a very serious danger, because there is not the intellectual effort
that an adult can make. If the child's mind is over-active the
effort is really greater than it ought to be called upon to make,
especially if you have had one picture rapidly succeeded by
another one. Amongst the children going to cinema shows you
have a good many with active brains, but they are largely ignorant
of the matters shown them. You have therefore a growing
mischief to deal with, the over-exciting of excitable brains. A
large number of people come out of the cinema shows in a state of
coma.
75. I gather that you are dealing with the educational vajkie-
of the cinema as at present put before you ; that really education
has nothing to do at present, or only accidentally, with the
cinema ? I am afraid I can go further and say from the nature
of the case it is bound to be bad education.
76. I presume the cinema authorities would be prepared to
say, " If you think our efforts at giving you education are bad
we will either omit the educational side altogether, or ask the
State how education may best be produced from the cinema."
That would be reasonable? Yes, and then there would be a
distinct answer given, namely, that all children, indeed all
young people under eighteen years of age, should be barred from
cinematograph shows, and that the cinema should be used only in
schools.
77. What would you do with the elementary child at present
CRIME FILMS 141
who has no amusement in the evening? There are efforts to be
made to deal with this question after the war. I do not say that
the cinema should be entirely banished, but it should be controlled
by people who understand children.
78. MR. LAMERT. In the London Press of last December you
were reported to have said this : " The cinema only made an
appeal to silly people." Do you remember that? I do not
remember having said that. I would dispute it as it stands
without the context.
79. You say that in the case of boys and girls class-teaching
depends upon the class being fairly homogeneous in brain power.
In the case of the ordinary national school how many classes do
you get that are homogeneous ? Undoubtedly very few indeed,
but there are degrees in this matter. A good teacher before long
finds out what subject he can take which will interest the children.
80. Is it not conceivable that something like the cinema would
make a ready and quick appeal to the mind and might assist the
child? Yes, when properly managed.
81. You have said about the impressions given in the cinema,
" The deepest impressions are given by experience in early youth.
Those given by the cinema where they are not definitely corrupting
tend to be hedonistic in tone or at least in effect." I take it that
the film which is hedonistic conveys the impression, " Eat, drink,
and be merry, for to-morrow we die " ? I take it that those who
have invested money in films have to make them attractive to
bring the people there.
82. You might have a film with a murder, you could not call
that hedonistic? That depends entirely on the context and the
light in which the murder is done. I hear that a large amount
of small crimes, with the outwitting of the police, and petty
larceny and dodging are shown on the films, and that there is
also a great deal of forgery and other evils and bloodshed. So,
you see, the subject is put before the children in an exciting light.
The child when he sees the picture of somebody like himself
outwitting the police or the public in the street, is he not certain
to say, " That is a thing I might do " ? And he tries to do it,
only his idea is that he shall not be found out.
83. Can you name a film, or have you ever seen a film where
one of the characters steals or commits a murder and does not
pay the penalty for it ? I have not seen any of them.
84. In a number of countries no crime film of any sort will
pass the censor unless that point is made clear ? That, no doubt,
will diminish the evil which I am apprehending.
85. Is it your belief that children always believe what they
are told ? If you were to provide some one who is an educator,
then I think the pictures would be instructive; but do not
dabble in those difficult moral problems, and don't have anything
in the least approaching the presentation of sexual questions
in any shape or form. Then, again, I think there should
be a long interval in between each picture which ought to be
employed in stimulating the curiosity of the children as far as
142 ATTENDANCE OF CHILDREN
possible in what is coming next. Children should not go more
than once a week, and the performances should not be more than
one hour long. We have discovered that no man can keep children
under the age of thirteen interested in a lesson more than fifty
minutes, but I have heard of cases in the cinema where children
will sit for over three hours. Dealing with the question of the
length of the performances, I should say there should be seven
to ten pictures in fifty minutes. That would be quite enough if
a proper explanation were given before each picture.
86. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Do I understand that you want all
young * children up to the age of eighteen to be excluded from
the cinema as now conducted? I think so.
87. Do you think that is a reasonable requirement to make
of the community? I think it is very reasonable, but perhaps
it is not very practicable.
88. You say there should be a performance restricted in
character for the protection of the children ? Yes.
89. Can you organise a performance which would hold the
interest of children whose ages range from six to eighteen ? I
should have thought so ; at any rate I think I could give something
better suited to them than the performances which are given now.
90. Bear in mind that this is the recreation of the very poor who
are living under very squalid conditions. Is it quite fair to say
that they should never have such recreation? I should put it
this way : that however squalid their conditions may be, we have
no right to give them baneful recreation, intellectually baneful.
91. That, of course, would carry us to prohibiting children
from going to the music halls, or, say, one of your boys from
going to the Coliseum to see George Robey ? I know much less
about music halls than I do about cinemas. I think that the
public seem to be awaking to the fact that there are dangers in
connection with music halls, but they do not seem to be aware
that there are dangers in connection with the cinemas.
92. THE CHAIRMAN. I was wondering whether you have
not placed the age of the children rather too high. You say you
would not allow children under eighteen years of age to go to a
cinema. Now eighteen seems high, because by that time the
bulk of the young people have started out in life, so that they
can hardly be hurt with the cinema. If you had said sixteen I
should have understood it better ? I may have been influenced
by the fact that if you want to get sixteen you had better ask for
eighteen.
WORCESTER INVESTIGATION 143
EIGHTH DAY
x Monday, February 26, 1917,
The BISHOP OF BIRMINGHAM in the chair.
PRECIS OF REPORT REFERRED TO IN EVIDENCE
THE Cinema Investigation Report presented to a gathering
representative of all the religious bodies of Worcester City,
January 1917, reads : Your committee has carried out inquiries
along three lines : by personal visits to the four cinema halls in
the city ; by an inquiry through teachers of elementary schools ;
and by correspondence to ascertain steps taken in other towns.
Fifteen independent visits to cinemas were made by members
of the committee since your last meeting.
The films presented were, with few exceptions, not objection-
able on grounds of indecency, but often highly sensational and
melodramatic. And "there is evidence that some at least of the
exhibits for instance, in " society dramas " and the like are
helping to lower the standard of reverence for woman, and
familiarising the minds of young people with loose ideas of the
relation of the sexes. Further, such features as murders, drug-
ging, and various forms of brutality, with the usual incentives
thereto of money-greed or unlawful passion, when repeatedly
witnessed, must tend to make such actions seem possible to
imitate, and perhaps attractively easy; and the films are not
free from revolting scenes, as where, in a Red Indian film, corpses
are seen piled, and people walking over them. One report refers
to a small boy's only sign of interest, his chuckles at seeing the
heroine of the film being kicked about like a football. One
report says : " In my visits I saw very little of indecency, but I
consider many of the features immoral in consequence of the way
in which robbery, treachery, murder, deceit, and other vices are
depicted."
It seems evident that many of the melodramatic play-films
are unhealthily exciting for young children, especially when the
rapid action, intensified gesture and concentrated episode in-
evitable in the dumb-show are considered. Some teachers remark
that younger children dream about the pictures.
Head teachers were very obliging in carrying out the inquiries
we asked of them. It appears that of 1843 boys questioned, 718
called themselves regular cinema goers, and of 1868 girls, 477,
i. e. 39 per cent, boys and 25 per cent, girls. About 23 per cent,
of all had attended once during the previous week, and just over
1000 visits had been paid in that week by some 800 children.
Boys attend in larger numbers than girls and more often, and
analysis bears out the general inference that scholars from the
poorest districts, who have fewer inducements to stay at home,
and generally less home control, attend in a much higher ratio
144 WORCESTER INVESTIGATION
than those from better homes, though these figures are com-
plicated by the fact that schools at a distance from the cinema
areas show lower cinema attendances.
An effort was made to find out what types of film were most
popular, and what, if any, were disliked. Cowboy films got 16
out of 23 possible votes, being put first in six schools. Comics
of all sorts got 15 votes, being put first in seven schools. Army
and War pictures got 14 votes, put first in four schools. Detective
and Burglary films got 11 votes. Other classes, such as weekly
budget, travel, dramatised novels, romance, illustrated indus-
tries, etc., got a few votes each.
As to pictures of which children expressed dislike, films with
murders stand first, then burglaries (this apparently apart from
the detective interest often involved in this class), then tragedies
generally disasters, fires, etc. then love-making, generally
described by boys as " silly." Broadly, it would seem that
children of school age, unlike their elders, do not like pictures
that harrow their feelings.
The teachers' personal comments are full of interest, but
difficult to summarise. Three boys' teachers and six girls'
teachers note ill effects on school work of habitual cinema-going,
by loss of sleep, lateness at school, listlessness, or inferior work.
On t^ie other hand, a good many teachers agree that the pictures
widen general knowledge, stimulate the imagination, and perhaps
quicken observation and the critical faculties. Most of them
have found the better type of picture a help and incentive in
the essay writing of their scholars.
On the effect on health and eyesight the opinion of teachers is
most emphatic. Several interrogated their scholars ; nine schools
find scholars complaining of eyestrain after the pictures; two
mention that the cheap seats nearest the screen produce most
eyestrain; six or seven schools mention the ill effects of close
and stuffy air, and one boys' teacher considers the cinema habit
has helped to spread the cigarette habit.
No direct question was asked as to moral influence, but some
of the teachers say more or less directly that the general effect
of habitual cinema visits is detrimental to character, and two
teachers of large boys' schools note that the most regular attenders
are poor and backward scholars.
The general inference is that the teachers of the schools most
affected by the cinema would welcome some restraint upon too
frequent and indiscriminate visits to the cinema by school children,
and some effective means of regulating shows which children
might attend alone, and of selecting the films which they
might see.
The third section of the report gives information obtained from
correspondents as to action elsewhere London, Birmingham,
Liverpool, York and Middlesbrough and concludes
The correspondence has shown us that where the public is
awake to the evils and the dangers of the present cinema system,
they can successfully press their local authorities
RECOMMENDATIONS 145
1. To make special cinema by-laws;
2. To appoint special inspectors, or a special committee of
people who care about this question, to see that the by-laws are
observed. Birmingham has shown how possible this suggestion
is, and how well it has been found to work.
RECOMMENDATIONS
I. The most desirable course would be the immediate forma-
tion of a strong permanent Vigilance Association to which all
further action on this subject would be entrusted, and which
might affiliate itself with the National Council of Public Morals.
II. That a deputation be sent to the bench of magistrates for
the city, presenting the substance of this report, and asking
them to consider the appointment of women inspectors of places
of public amusement, with powers, in respect of cinemas, to
visit the halls, and to report to the police any films unsuitable for
children, and any infringement of licensing conditions, or failure
to carry out any regulation that might be agreed upon.
III. A deputation should also be sent to the City Council or
its Watch Committee, calling their attention to the powers given
to local authorities under the Cinema Acts 1909, 1910, and to
the model conditions for future licences when issued by the
Home Office in connection with the proposals for an official
censorship. The City Council might be asked to give official
recognition to the Vigilance Association, if formed.
IV. If it is decided that a deputation should interview the
managers of local cinema halls, your sub-committee suggest that
the following results of our investigations be emphasised
(1) That under the existing film censorship the pro-
grammes are so uneven in quality that those who go can
never be certain that they may not witness something
objectionable or revolting.
(2) That many children confess to eyestrain, headache,
etc., from the conditions under which the films are shown,
and that head teachers of the schools most affected find the
effects of habitual cinema-going detrimental to punctuality,
attention, and work at school.
(3) That the attendance at all of children in the later
hours of evening is undesirable on many grounds.
(4) That pictures portraying crime and evil should be
excluded from performances to which children are admitted
unaccompanied by adults, and that the effect of sad and
harrowing pictures, and even of much ordinary melodrama,
on the imagination of very young children, and on nervous
and excitable natures, is disturbing and bad.
The managers might be invited to discuss these three points
1. Whether children under fourteen, who are not with adults,
can be refused admission to the second evening houses, or in the
case of continuous performances, after a certain hour, say 7.30 p.m.
L
146 DEAN OF WORCESTER'S EVIDENCE
2. Whether their programmes can be so arranged that the
matinees and early houses shall not show any film unsuitable for
children, or in the case of continuous performances, that such
films should not be shown before a certain hour, say 9.30 p.m.
3. Whether they can arrange that no children shall be seated
nearer the screen than fifteen feet.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
THE DEAN OF WORCESTER. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. In the course of your social and moral
interest in the city of Worcester you have been able to make a
thorough study of this question? Yes, but I do not know
whether I have much to add to my report. This report did not
originate with me, but with the clergy and churchwardens of
St. Martin's Church, Worcester, arising out of the action of a
study/ circle which led them to think something ought to be
done in relation to cinemas and their influence, and so they drew
up a circular which was sent to every church, place of worship
and religious organisation in Worcester, asking them to join in
protest against demoralising pictures at the cinemas, against
certain revues, and against the posters advertising these per-
formances. The circular suggested that such protests from the
different religious bodies, when drawn up, should be sent as a
memorial to the City Council and express disapproval pf the
present lax state of affairs, and urge that (1) there should be a
stricter local censorship of public performances ; that (2) there
should' be performances suitable for children, from which pictures
of crime and evil should be rigorously excluded ; and that
children should no longer be -admitted to the ordinary perform-
ances, except possibly with their parents. The circular con-
tinued : " We know that a Government Film Censor Board
is under consideration, and suggest that it would strengthen
the hands of those who are pressing for this needful reform if a
corporate protest from the religious bodies of Worcester were
sent to them as well as to our own Council. We feel it will be
important to make it clear that, as Christian people, we recognise
that the cinemas, if rightly censored, might and should be a
great power for good, and also a legitimate and healthy recrea-
tion, and that what we are urging is, not their abolition, but
their cleansing. Whether such a protest as we suggest has a
practical effect or not, it seems to us of the gravest importance
that all right-minded people should manifest their disapproval of
this moral evil."
2. How many cinemas have you in Worcester ? Four.
3. Are they varying in size? Yes. In the matter I have
referred to we acted with the full knowledge of the leading person
in Worcester who has to do with the cinemas, who is also the
proprietor of the theatre, Alderman Carlton, who is also Mayor
of Worcester at the present moment. When we had our report
OBJECTIONABLE FILMS 147
made and epitomised, we sent a copy to the representatives of
all the cinemas and asked them to meet us, but one of them,
which had its headquarters in London, declined to do so. We
told them we thought we could act locally without interfering
with anything that might be done here or with any regulations
the Government might bring into force, as we wanted to act
together in a friendly way and make things as good as possible
locally. The position we took up was not one of hostility, but of
friendly co-operation with a view to getting things made better
than they are, and first of all we wanted to ascertain how far
things were undesirable. The original report was a little longer,
but there were things which we thought better should not be
inserted, such as the special names of cinemas, and there were
one or two names of pieces which people objected to.
4. We have no objection to these names being stated. We
are rather glad to know what particular films were objected to.
At the smallest theatre, where the average is lowest in character,
there was a serial film named , which was very un-
favourably commented on, and later on, at the same one, there
was another film called , a very broad farce in bedrooms,
arising out of a page altering the numbers on the bedroom doors
of the hotel.
5. Might I ask whether the films you mainly objected to were
at one particular house or whether they were at all houses?-
There were degrees ; in some there were more objectionable ones
than in others. The two I have mentioned were in one particular
house.
6. Can you give us the accommodation of the house ? It is a
very small one, holding not much more than 150 people.
7. Can you tell us whether the quality of the films varies in
regard to the kind of public before whom they are shown, whether
the worse things are amongst the very poor, or whether there are
worse things in other parts of the city ? The worst things are in
the poorest part of the city.
8. I gather indecency was not very prominent in the films you
took objection to ? Except that one, . I do not say there
was none in the others.
9. Would you say they were more sensational and melodramatic
than some of the pieces presented at a theatre ? Some much
more so.
10. I see you think that the standard of reverence for women
is a good deal hurt by the character of films presented ? Yes.
11. You mean that woman is dealt with in an undignified way?
And also very often in a suggestive way, which is a degradation
to the relations of the sexes.
12. I notice that your houses run two houses nightly; that
means they are not open in the afternoon? They are open on
Saturday afternoons and Thursday afternoons. The Saturday
afternoons are very largely for the children.
13. Are adults in Worcester admitted at all to the children's
entertainments ? Yes ; I am not aware of their being excluded.
148 FILMS PREFERRED BY CHILDREN
I have heard that for the children's entertainments, if you have
children only, a certain tax is not payable.
MR. NEWBOULD. If you apply for the exemption of the tax
you are not allowed to admit adults. That is the case where the
admission must not be more than one penny.
14. THE CHAIRMAN. In regard to the attendance at the
cinemas, have your people who have visited them come across
any case where they consider that adults were present with
children for the purposes of immorality ? None whatever. I was
very careful to inquire as to whether there were any grounds for
complaints of want of light, because I saw that in some places
complaints were made that the cinemas were so darkened as to
give opportunity for indecent action. I questioned every one of
the members of our Committee about that, and they all said it
was dark, but they did not consider it was unduly dark, and
that there was nothing in the darkness that was likely to cover
anything of that kind.
15. You say : " As to pictures to which children express dislike,
films with murders stand first." Now, does that mean that you
think the children realise to any extent what was being pre-
sented before them? We have summarised the evidence that
we had from the head masters and mistresses who made the
inquiries for us. Of course, it is open for people to say that
boys and girls, when asked questions by head masters and head
mistresses, say what they think will please them rather than
what they really think; but knowing the teachers and knowing
their attitude in relation to these things for they were not
attempting to make a case I think the summary in that report
is as correct as we can give it.
16. I see the cowboy films are put down as the most popular?
Yes, and I should like to say that when we discussed this
matter with our Mayor he. said that the public taste differed, and
what is popular to-day was not popular a year ago, and may not
be popular six months hence.
17. Have you had war films ? Yes.
18. And are they popular? Yes; you see, there is the interest
in the thing itself .
19. With regard to the eyestrain and the class of buildings.
Are your cinemas modern buildings that have been put up for
the purpose of showing these films ? Two out of the four are.
20. And there is not much complaint about the stuffiness of
the air there? No, we have not- much complaint about that
with regard to any of them; but, of course, where there is a
continuous performance you must expect the air to get stuffy.
21. Supposing you had to choose between a censor appointed
by the city, with assistants under him, or a censor appointed by
the State, which would you think the better? Well, there are
town councils and town councils ; I would trust some of them,
but I would not trust the others.
22. Would you trust the State? I would trust the State to
.be honest, but probably wooden in its methods.
CENSORSHIP 149
23. More wooden than the local authorities? Oh, yes, but
wooden in their methods.
24. Then it is rather difficult for you to say which you would
prefer? I think for the country as a whole I would certainly
prefer the State, because I think the pressure that the financial
interests might bring to bear upon local governing bodies, urban
and district councils, and some town councils, would be very
undesirable. Perhaps I might read you something which would
interest you in my report : " That under the existing film censor-
ship the programmes are so uneven in quality that those who go
can never be certain that they may not witness something objec-
tionable or revolting." We had a long talk with the cinema
proprietors about that, and I told them : "It seems to me you
are losing a great deal of custom because decent people go, and
there is flashed on the screen some objectionable /thing, and all
the rest of the performance is quite satisfactory; and they say
they cannot go again and take their friends because they do not
know that something objectionable may not appear." I also said
to the Mayor : " Cannot you give a guarantee to the public that
nothing in your place shall be shown that anybody will object
to ? " and he pointed out the difficulties. One of these diffi-
culties is connected with the present time, with regard to the
railways and so forth. He explained that sometimes the cinema
proprietors are disappointed in the film, and at the last moment
they have to telegraph to Birmingham to send them down some-
thing. They cannot guarantee what it is, and sometimes it is
undesirable and they have not had time to inspect it beforehand.
Then I would like to read you what the Mayor said on other
matters : " It was pointed out that the existing Board of Film
Censors, appointed by the trade, were not able to prevent a
film which they had not passed from being advertised in the
weekly lists from which selections were made for the cinema
halls, and those lists did not indicate which films were passed by
the Board. A Government censorship would, therefore, be a
real boon both to the trade and to the public, and would be much
more certain and satisfactory than any local attempt at censor-
ship, because it would check any evil at the root. Alderman
Carlton thought he might speak for all the local cinema managers
in saying that they would welcome an efficient and wise Govern-
ment censorship ; and, personally, he regretted the announcement
of Sir George Cave that the proposal of the late Home Secretary
for the creation by Order in Council of an official Censor of Films
had been abandoned."
25. You say in the interests of the trade it is all-important
that what they produce before the public should be Void of
offence ? Most emphatically.
26. In the interests of the cinema trade I might say that the
people attracted by what is unworthy are the people they would
most desire to keep outside their places? Yes, and I do think
some of the films they use have a demoralising effect upon the
children. For instance, to illustrate what I mean, speaking of
150 INFLUENCES UPON CHILDREN
Satan we had this report : " It was greeted with roars of delight,
and it was only too plain that it was its wickedness that called
forth this excitement, as there was nothing amusing in the
picture."
27. MR. GRAVES. Have you seen any change since these
pictures have been in existence, showing there has been a dete-
rioration in the morale of the neighbourhood? Well, I should
be very slow to say that the cinema did this or did that unless
you have some real standard of comparison.
28. How young do children go to the cinemas ; do the children
attending the infants' school go ? Quite little tots go if they can
get a penny.
29. Do you suggest that the children have really been frightened ?
Are children of an imaginative mind ? The evidence of the
teachers is that there are certain children who are affected in
that way.
30. How often do they attend the cinema ? Two or three times
a week, while some children go every day.
31. REV. CAREY BONNER. Have you any knowledge of your
local cinema proprietors adapting the entertainment for children
alone, or do they put on the same films -as shown to the adults ?
There are special entertainments or programmes where there
have been invitations to children, but there is not much variation.
32. In Worcester are the children always in the front seats,
where there is the most strain to the eyes ? Yes, and the cinema
proprietors have agreed in three of the cases that they will respect
that fourteen feet from the screen to the utmost of their ability.
33. MR. LAMERT. In Worcester are you well off for what
they call play centres? We have done a good deal in the way
of children's playgrounds, but not children's evenings in school.
34. Then in the winter there is no provision at all for the
children ? No, but we have not said that we think the cinemas
in themselves are undesirable. It is in the poorest parts and
by the poorest children that they are most used, and I think the
children are much better there than in the streets.
35. You approve of some sort of entertainment ? Yes, but I
want it kept clear of anything that tends to lower morality or
anything of extreme sensationalism.
36. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Can you tell us how this information
was acquired by the teachers; was it by questioning the class
orally or had they to write down the questions and answers ?
The masters and mistresses talked to the children in a friendly
way and got them to make statements.
37. SIR EDWARD BRABROOK. Having regard to the great
educational value of the moving pictures, do you look forward
to the time when it will be possible to produce them so economi-
cally that they will be used in ordinary school entertainments
like the magic lantern ? I have no means of knowing what pos-
sible economies there may be in that direction, but I remember
when the cinemas began, and I know what strides have been made,
and I see, therefore, no reason to doubt that the time will come
SIR ROBERT WALLACE'S EVIDENCE 151
when they can be dealt with in such a way that they will be
used for certain subjects.
SIR ROBERT WALLACE, K.C. Examined.
38. THE CHAIRMAN. You wish to deal solely with the ques-
tion of the cinema from the point of view of the police court
and the incidents arising there from the suggestive nature of the
films on young minds, and as to the indecencies of the pictures
themselves, or the opportunity which darkness affords? I think
it would be much better to confine myself strictly to that which
comes within my own experience. I would like to say, in the
first place, in regard to the topic that has often been raised as
to the indecency of pictures themselves, that I have quite satisfied
myself from the general information I have received and I have
been trying in every direction ,to find out that indecency does
not exist in any general sense in the pictures themselves. The
pictures may be vulgar, they may not conform, perhaps, to the
standard of taste that some would desire, but they are not in-
decent, and I do not think that charge can be made against those
who are responsible for the pictures. That is the result of the
inquiries I have made in regard to the matter. In regard to
indecency arising out of the circumstances under which the
pictures have to be given, there is perhaps more to be said. As
you know, cases of indecent assault, if they are contested, are
not dealt with by the police magistrates summarily; they are
sent for trial to the Sessions, and in that way they come before
me, and a considerable number of cases of that kind have had
to be tried in the last year or two. I was very much afraid from
the nature of the evidence given in connection with these cases
that there were a great number of cases which never came for
trial because the girls or women who are the object of the assault
do not care for the publicity which attends the trial. They
shrink from having their names connected in any way with a
thing of that kind. Every one knows that to be mixed up in a
police court at all, even if you are a complainant, is a disagreeable
thing, and the conclusion which I arrive at after hearing several
of these cases is that there are many more of them than the
number of cases which are actually tried. In regard to that, I
suppose pictures are best shown in total darkness, but in Bir-
mingham, I understand, they have half-lights or something of
that kind. If it is possible to show the pictures in such a way
as to give interest to those who see them, and at the same time
to have sufficient light, that would largely prevent what has
been going on in London. The first suggestion I make would be
that it would be desirable to adopt some such system as has
been adopted in Birmingham. The other point in connection
with this question is this : I think the whole system of having
a promenade is most undesirable, allowing the standing together
promiscuously of people at the back of the hall. I have had a
great number of letters since it was known that I had expressed
152 CINEMA AND CRIME
myself on this subject, from fathers of girls, telling me things
which really are rather horrible, with regard to the result which
followed on the standing room at the back and the 6pportunities
which are presented for indecency.
39. Is it within your knowledge that there are large promenades
at the back of the halls ? In some theatres there are standing
places. I do not know whether they are intended for promenades,
or whether this is an easy method of providing for a large number
of people. My suggestion is that every one should have a seat,
and there should not be much moving about from seat to seat
or from seat to promenade. I will now come to the other ques-
tion which occupied a good deal of my attention, and that is the
effect of the pictures themselves upon those who see them. I
am looking at it simply from the point of view of crime. Now
you have to consider first, of course, the character of the audience,
for you are not dealing with a theatre audience; you are not
dealing with the grown-up ; I am dealing more especially with
young people who go in their thousands to these places. Now
as to the audiences in the cinemas. You start with the fact that
you have the young and impressionable minds, and you consider
the conditions under which they have met. There is the mystery
which darkness in itself produces, and then the condition of mind
to which they are reduced by the atmosphere and by the effect
of constantly going there to see the pictures, for, you see, I am
dealing simply with pictures suggestive of crime.
40. Do you distinguish between any of the kinds of crime,
such as the " crook " crime, the murders ; while there are some
adventurous crimes ? It is the adventurous crime that has come
chiefly before me. The other type of crime is repulsive. I will
deal with what I call the bold crime. Now if an adventurous,
bold boy with an active mind and body sees a man climbing up
a rope to get into a window, and then balancing himself on the
window-sill and using a knife well, what is the effect? There
is the natural desire to reproduce largely, if it is a bold thing
and of that type of crime I am referring to. Even if the crime
is that of the " artful dodger " you know what I mean : the
sleight-of-hand movement, quickness they like to try that.
Now, I will mention to you two cases. I tried a boy of about
seventeen years of age, who was sent for trial to the Sessions.
He had committed six burglaries, he had stolen watches and
small jewellery, not very valuable, but all amounting in the
aggregate to sorrie 80 or 90. Well, he had no defence, because
he was at last caught red-handed. Now, I am not putting before
you his account of the cause, because it may be that a boy, a quick
boy, knows the best way of giving an excuse, but I am dealing
with the evidence of the police. As you know, in our courts,
before sentencing any one, we insist on the fullest investigation
by the police as to the antecedents of the boy and the history of
the crime as far as possible. Now this boy in the first place had
the highest character. He occupied a good position in business,
and his employer said he was one of the most trustworthy boys,
CINEMA AND CRIME 153
had had money entrusted to him and had never lost a penny,
and here he had committed six burglaries. The police then said
that the remarkable thing about it was this : that of this 80
to 90 worth of burglary he had never realised one pennyworth.
When he was taken at the end of the sixth attempt he told the
police where they would find the things, and every article from
the first burglary to the last was carefully stored up there together,
and they were all recovered. It was simply adventure. Then
I asked the police the history of the boy, and they told me they
had investigated the matter. He had got into this habit it
seems to be a habit of going almost daily to these picture palaces.
He had been going day by day, steadily and regularly, and seeing
how things of this kind were done, and he had an adventurous
desire to try to realise himself that which he had seen on the
stage. That is one illustration, and you can draw your own
conclusions from it. The other case to which I referred was a
case of two young men seventeen or eighteen years of age.
They went into a shop in the south of London ; they were armed
with a stage pistol, a sort of weapon which is said to be very
dangerous if employed at close quarters. They went into this
shop ; the shopkeeper was there by himself, and they both
presented their pistols at his head, and called upon him there
and then either to hand over what money he had or take the
consequences. Well, the timid man I suppose we are all,
perhaps, more or less timid in things or circumstances like this
proceeded to hand over his money, but they were captured
almost immediately. Now these two boys had been members
of the Boys' Brigade. The particular branch of the Brigade was
watched over very carefully by "two young Admiralty clerks,
who were very careful and keenly interested in the boys. And
what was the character they gave of these two ? They were the
two best boys they had ever known ; not a thing against them in
any shape or form. In their employment and in their daily life
they gave them the highest character, and all that could be
gathered from the evidence was that they had seen something
on the stage " Your money or your life " and they thought it
a good opportunity. Well, the authorities looked into this
matter, and they could not send the boys to Borstal, because
the Prison Commissioners would not have them because of their
previous good characters. The alternative was to send them to
Dartmoor, which was then a convict prison, because there was a
sort of modified Borstal system carried on there. Now, I was
in communication with the Home Office on the matter, and I
said I would do nothing of the kind. I said I was quite satisfied
from the inquiries the police made that they were not bad charac-
ters, and that it was the spirit of adventure which alone actuated
them, and that they were acting on that which they had seen,
so I bound them over for judgment, and those boys are following
their occupations to-day properly. Well, now, that is what I
want to bring home to you, so that it may be realised what I
am driving at. I have spoken very strongly from the judicial
154 EXCLUSION OF CHILDREN
bench on this subject and in connection with this subject,
a greater number of cases can be given, but I will leave it at
that, as the point I want to make is the temptation that is there
for these young people. Then the next point is the other tempta-
tion that is offered to them to steal in order to go. The police
have told me of cases where it is not a weekly visit or a bi-weekly
visit, but practically a daily visit that these boys make to these
places. Of course, I recognise what has been so often stated,
and that is the peculiar times we are living in. They are under
no control, their fathers are all fighting for their country abroad,
their mothers are all working to keep them at home ; there is
no one to look after them. The boy goes there day by day,
and the result is that he exhausts his own money first, and then
arises that which has been so frequently the case : he takes his
employer's money to go, and so begins his criminal career. Now
I have put very shortly and simply what I wanted to say.
41. Can you suggest any remedies? Here is a great industry
which is practically for the whole of the people of these islands.
In itself it may be an absolutely desirable thing and may give a
great deal of reasonable recreation, but it has certain objections
which you have stated to-day. Will you suggest to me how you
think a remedy might be applied for the evils ? We have already
dealt with one or two. I will not deal with the question of the
light. Of course, you may say that what I propose is a very
drastic remedy. I do not believe it is a very good thing for the
very young people to go to the cinema at all. I say that frankly.
42. What age ? I was going to try and put it without actually
naming an age, because age is not a "measure of intelligence, I
am afraid, in these days. It is difficult to get at. In going
around London I see long strings of little ones standing outside
these places waiting for them to open. You will see perhaps
two or three hundred children waiting for half an hour. Some
of them can hardly toddle, being three or four years of age,
and it may be they are brought there because their guardians,
who perhaps are eight years of age, are taking charge of them.
I should doubt whether the average age would be more than
eleven years. In fact, it may be a year or two less. Now, it
may be a strange thing to say, but I doubt very much whether
anybody under twelve years of age should be admitted to cinema
entertainments, except, of course, when it is a special enter-
tainment for children. Then, again, you are up against the
decision with regard to the censorship, whether every picture
ought to be censored or not, and I think that is a very difficult
thing to do.
43. If you had to choose between the central censorship by the
State or the local censorship by local authorities, which would
you be inclined to have? I would prefer myself that every
locality should look after itself that is, on the whole. I am
not at this moment offering a strong opinion upon that, because
from that point of view I do not pretend that I have considered
it, but I think myself it would be better that every locality
STANDING ROOM 155
should take charge of itself, and I think in London the censorship
should be the County Council.
44. When you get smaller local authorities, do you not think
it would be well for them to be advised from the censor? Cer-
tainly, as I do not think they can have the means of providing
the machinery.. You require a larger and wealthier body to deal
with that.
45. PRINCIPAL GARVIE. Would you think a censorship exer-
cised by the trade, which must be voluntary, would be adequate ?
I do not believe in it at all ; I do not think they could do it.
46. Then about the " promenade " ; is it used by women of bad
character for immoral purposes, or is it used accidentally ? I do
not think it is used as largely as many of the old music-hall
promenades were used. The cinemas are used by the poorer
people, and the indecency is perhaps the more sorrowful because
it is the indecency of those who are not naturally bad.
47. MR. NEWBOULD. I want to ask you about the accuracy
of a report that you have said that the cinemas are the curse of
London ? No, I never said anything of the kind. I said the
cinemas under certain conditions and used in a certain way
would be the curse of London. I never suggested the other
for one moment ; quite the contrary, as you may gather from
the observations I have made to-day.
48. MR. KING. Might I ask you to refer to the increase in
the number of cases during the last year or two ? What is the
comparison? What are you comparing with? Well, the only
comparison that I have is in regard to the increase in the number
of cases coming to the courts.
49. How many years are you covering? I have been chair-
man of the London Sessions for ten years, and that, I think,
covers the whole active history of the cinemas.
50. It is within the last two or three years you have seen this
increase? I think so.
51 . You speak of the promenades ; you have not actually seen
the promenades ? I have heard of them a great deal. If you
mean, have I studied any one myself, I say no, but I have heard
from the police, and I have also heard the statements of the
witnesses.
52. You suggest that the boys steal to go to the cinemas?
Yes; I have tried a good many of these boys brought up for
embezzlement, and some are at Borstal, while others are bound
over and are at home.
53. You know the price they can get in for is a penny or two-
pence? That's the very point. You can get in for twopence,
and twopence is the easiest thing to remove from the drawer
of your master; and if you start at twopence you get on to
fourpence.
54. With regard to the censorship, is a policeman any good ?
I have not offered any opinion, but I do not believe in the police
censorship ; I believe in something more.
55. SIR EDWARD BRABROOK. Would you suggest that those
156 PARENTAL CONTROL
under twelve should be accompanied or unaccompanied ? They
should he accompanied. I doubt very much whether you can
separate a mother and a child. As long as they were under
proper guardianship I would not say anything.
56. SIR W. BARRETT. You agree that the amount of lighting
is a vital question both from a moral and hygienic point of view.
Would you not recommend that there should be a regulation
issued as to the amount of light ? I think so.
57. MR. GRAVES. Have you heard of any other form of crime
committed by boys apart from those crimes of boldness, such
as incendiarism? None have come before me. I have heard
of one or two cases in the country, but they have not come
before me.
58. DR. KIMMINS. Have statistics been kept of the cases
where the cinema has been the cause of the downfall ? No, but
I suppose the Clerk of the Peace would be able to give you some
of the figures.
59. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Before the cinema came in the news-
papers were constantly telling us that the boys committed crimes
because of what they read in penny dreadfuls ? Yes, I do not
deny it.
60. Would you suggest that children under twelve years of
age should not be admitted at all? Yes, except in the case
where the child is accompanied or under guardianship.
61. THE CHAIRMAN. You don't want to drive the children on
to the streets ? That is so.
62. You only want to secure that everything shall be as suit-
able as possible ? That is all I desire.
63. MR. LAMERT. Have you anything to suggest as an
alternative to the cinema ? I have not ; I regret the children
do not have more outdoor opportunities, but it is very difficult
in London.
64. In our climate the' child will only have a few months of
the year for outdoor enjoyment ? Yes.
65. THE CHAIRMAN. I should like to hear what you have to
say about the slackness of parental influence and responsibility
in recent years ? You are asking me a question on which I have
a strong view. I think there is a lack of training to-day which
is largely responsible for what is going on. I do not know what
it is that is lacking, but I seem to realise that the children are
not trained as a child ought to be trained ; they have not gripped
the moral responsibilities that rest upon them, and I think that
it is the loss of belief which has led to this condition of things.
MR. SPURLEY HEY'S EVIDENCE 157
NINTH DAY
4 Monday, March 5, 1917,
The BISHOP OF BIRMINGHAM in the chair.
STATEMENT OF MR. SPURLEY HEY
Director of Education, Manchester
PRECIS
I. THE present population of Manchester is estimated at about
750,000. The city boundaries enclose an area of about thirty-
three square miles. The population is so disposed that the
" Central " area, which is roughly about a quarter the size of the
" Outside " or remaining area, and one-fifth the whole area,
houses half the population.
The number of licensed picture houses in each area is practically
the same forty-nine in the " Central " area, fifty in the " Out-
side " area.
These facts are important in considering the statistics submitted
in this abstract of evidence.
II. The evidence submitted takes the following form
A. An extract from " Juvenile Crime " a paper which
I read at a Conference on Special Schools Work, held
in Manchester in October last.
B. Statistics relative to an inquiry covering 360 Man-
chester Elementary School Departments.
C. Particulars relative to an inquiry addressed to the
Managers of Cinema Houses in Manchester.
D. Conditions on which Licences are granted to show films
in Manchester and which are particularly applicable
to Children.
E. Some Suggestions.
A. AN EXTRACT FROM MY PAPER ON " JUVENILE CRIME "
The Influence of Boys' Literature and Picture House Films.
Many adverse criticisms have been passed from time to time on
the type of cheap literature which boys read, and, more recently,
on the type of film which they witness at the picture houses. It
has been thought desirable to include in this report the results
of certain inquiries into the degree and type of influence of these
two very similar factors, and these inquiries included many visits
to picture houses and the reading of many " penny dreadfuls."
Reasons for the Demand for Amusement.
Reference has been made previously to the industrial, social,
and economic conditions which, in their cumulative effect, both
create the desire for amusement that is, change and provide
the means to satisfy it.
158 DEMAND FOR AMUSEMENT
The sequence may be developed briefly as follows
1. (a) Children are under less restraint from their elders;
(b) School hours are shorter; therefore
(c) (Some) children have been thrown more into the
streets ; but
(d) Throughout the winter the streets have been darkened,
and the weather is often inclement ; and
(e) (Many) children's homes are uninviting.
2. (a) There is no lack of employment ; therefore
(b) More money in the home ; and
(c) More pocket-money for the children.
3. (a) There is a shortage of provision for child -entertainment ;
but
(b) There is a large number of picture houses ; and
(c) These are popular with parents as being near home and
as providing interesting, comparatively short, and
cheap entertainment.
The parents' demand created the supply of picture houses ; the
supply has created the demand in children. The craving for the
" pictures " evinced by children is very marked, and many cases
are known to teachers of children begging and stealing in order to
obtain money to spend in this way. A number of boys banded
themselves together as a begging society. Evening after evening
they hid away their boots and stockings, and begged in the streets
for money for the " pictures." The society came to a sudden end
when one of its members stole the hidden boots and stockings of
his companions and pawned them.
Prevalence of the Picture House Habit among Children.
There are ninety-nine halls in Manchester which are licensed
to show films, and some indication of the extent to which children
attend these picture houses is indicated in Table XII.
The table shows that only 22 (or 11' 4 per cent.) out of 193 boys
did not attend the picture house during a certain week, and that
more than half of these were children (Example 3) in whose case
the three days for which the statistics are given are Monday,
Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Types of Films.
The type of films shown may be classified briefly as under :
Miscellaneous
1. Travel.
2. Natural History.
3. Passing Events.
Narrative
4. Stories of Everyday Life.
5. Stories of Adventure.
6. Stories of Crime.
7. Comic.
MANCHESTER STATISTICS 159
Effects of Different Types on Children.
The effect of picture-shows on the child's ethical outlook cannot
be treated exhaustively in this report, but their positive or negative
influence on juvenile crime may very properly be considered.
The main arguments for and against picture-shows as con-
stituted at present would appear to be as set out in Chart XIII.
Suggestion and Imitation in Children.
From the brief summary in Chart XIII it is clear that a categoric
condemnation, of the picture house, even as organised at present,
is impossible ; further, it would appear that the use of films might
be made an educative instrument of a high order. The limits and
character of subconscious suggestion cannot be measured or
defined ; and whereas certain imitative criminal acts committed
by boys have undoubtedly been traced to a suggestive film, it
is more difficult to trace the impress on other boys who have
witnessed the same film and who have been influenced more by
the abstract courage or endurance portrayed by a character than
by the concrete acts he performed ; yet suggestion and the imitative
faculty should be considered as operative in their case also.
But it is possible to produce films for boys which would be at
once stirring in action and rnanly in tone, and from which,
therefore, no criminal imitative action could accrue.
B. STATISTICS RE ATTENDANCE OF CHILDREN AT PICTURE HOUSES
The inquiry covers the week ending February 3, 1917.
Number of school departments giving information 360.
Number of children present in these departments during the
week 93,010.
Number of children who went to the cinema house at least
once during the week 46,116 (approximately 50 per cent.).
Approximate average number of attendances for children who
went at all 1'3.
Detailed statistics are given in Tables I and II.
NOTE In considering these tables, the following points should
be kept in mind
(1) The table is prepared on figures supplied by the head
teachers.
(2) Table I gives the number of children under ten years of
age, the number of these children who attended once or
more, and the number who did not attend at all.
(3) Table II gives the number of children above ten years of
age, the total number of attendances they made, and
additional details as to the number of attendances made
by those who went once, twice, three times, four times,
five times, six times.
(4) In each age-group, the children are divided into those
resident in the " Central " and in the " Outside " area.
(5) The figures are in respect of both boys and girls.
160
MANCHESTER 9 STATISTICS
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MANCHESTER STATISTICS
161
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162
MANCHESTER STATISTICS
(6) On the whole, there is little difference between the aggre-
gate number of attendances made by girls and that made
by boys.
(7) Younger girls in the " Central " area attended the cinema
houses in greater numbers than the younger girls in the
" Outside " area.
(8) Older girls in the more industrial areas are useful in the
home, since there are more working mothers in such
areas ; and this is a phase which has been accentuated
during the war. Probably this accounts for the fact
that the older boys in the " Central " area appear to
attend rather more frequently than the girls.
(9) The older girls in the " Outside " area probably have their
actions more carefully supervised by their parents, and
attend, therefore, not quite so frequently as the boys
of the same class.
(10) Comparing children with attendances, the figures are very
similar for each of the three age-groups; about 50 per
cent, of the children in each age-group went to the
" pictures " at least once during the week under survey,
and an average number of attendances of approximately
1'3 for each child was recorded.
TABLE I
Ages
Areas
Total No. of
Children
No. of Children who
did not go at all
No. of Children
who went at least
once
Under
10
c
28,530
24,489
13,892
13,384
14,638
11,105
Whole of
Manchester
53,019
27,276 25,743
TABLE II
Ages
Areas
Total No.
of
Children
No. of
Children
who did
not go at
all
Attendances
6
Total No.
of
Attend-
ances
1
2
3
4
5
10-12
C
o
12,156
11,232
5,921
5,660
4,876
4,436
2,192
1,880
660 i 132
474 | 100
30
60
24
6
7,914
6,956
Over
12
c
o
8,670
7,933
3,948
4,089
3,560
2,879
1,810
1,570
621 i 152
417 88
35
60
30
42
6,208
5,056
Totals
c
20,826
19,165
9,869
9,749
8,436
7,315
4,0021,281
3,450 891
284
188
65
120
54
48
14,122
12,012
Whole
of Man-
chester
39,991
19,618
15,751
7,452
2,172
472
185
102
26,134
C denotes Central crowded area.
O denotes areas Outside the Central area.
MANCHESTER LICENSING CONDITIONS 163
C. PARTICULARS SUPPLIED BY MANAGERS OF CINEMA HOUSES.
\
1. Number of houses to which an inquiry was addressed 99.
2. Eighteen of these are either
(a) Qrdinary theatres, or
(b) Rboms belonging to social organisations.
3. Number of replies received 44.
4. The number of houses giving special shows for children was
twenty, and these special shows were usually held on Saturday
afternoons.
5. At fifteen of these houses, adults were admitted to children's
shows, so that in reality there were only five houses which gave
performances exclusively for children.
6. Only five houses state that they provide special programmes
for children's shows.
7. The charge for admission to children varies from Id. to 4d.
8. The number of children visiting a single cinema house during
the week varies according to the managers' returns, from 100 to
1200.
9. Only six houses exclude children from " second houses "
unless accompanied by an adult.
10. Only two managers state that children unaccompanied by
adults are excluded from certain parts of the hall.
11. As a whole managers take no steps to exclude children suffer-
ing from ringworm or other infectious disease. The managers
generally state that this is the parents' duty ; one states that the
Education Committee should deal with the matter; some few
state that the children are -watched as they enter ; and some that
they have excluded children so suffering. Some managers state
that they have their halls flushed regularly with disinfectant
fluid.
NOTE. It is clearly most difficult for the managers of cinema
houses to take any effective steps- to exclude children suffering
from infectious diseases.
D. THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS ON, AND RESTRICTIONS UNDER,
WHICH LICENCES IN MANCHESTER TO SHOW FILMS ARE
GRANTED AND WHICH ARE PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO
CHILDREN ARE
1. No indecent or objectionable incidents must be shown.
2. No incidents which are likely to encourage or incite to crime
must be shown.
3. No poster shall be shown which is likely to be injurious to
morality or to encourage or incite to crime.
4. Good order and decent behaviour must be maintained.
5. There shall be sufficient subdued light in the auditorium to
enable any person present to see clearly to all parts.
6. The giving away of sweets, etc., by way of inducement to
children is strictly forbidden.
7. Performances must not continue later than eleven o'clock.
164 SUGGESTIONS
(No restriction is placed upon the attendance of children at
" second houses," either accompanied or unaccompanied by
parents).
8. The means of ventilation shall be efficiently maintained and
used.
9. All floors, carpets, etc., shall be thoroughly cleansed at
frequent intervals.
10. No rubbish shall be deposited or allowed to accumulate
in the auditorium.
E. SOME SUGGESTIONS
The cinema house as a recreative factor is firmly established,
and will undoubtedly extend its influence upon both adults and
children. It is necessary that immediate steps should be taken
to counteract any evil effects from picture-house attendance which
may arise from present conditions. It is unfair to make a sweep-
ing condemnation of cinema houses, even as carried on at present,
but undoubtedly many improvements might be made. Children
learn much by seeing actions performed, and the natural corollary
to seeing is doing. With children the imitative act often follows
the suggestion : and herein lies the danger, as well as the educative
value, of the films.
I have taken a deep interest in this aspect of children's welfare
and education, and have endeavoured to preserve an open mind
in considering the effects of the films on children. When in New-
castle-on-Tyne I inaugurated a trial scheme whereby children in
the elementary schools were taken in drafts to a certain school
hall at which films were shown which had been chosen by a com-
mittee of educational experts. In Manchester I have frequently
encouraged head teachers to send drafts of children during school
hours to cinema houses showing approved films.
(1) The interest of children in the films is such that education
committees must either
(a) Co-operate with the managements of the cinema
halls, or
(b) Establish halls of their own.
(2) The conditions on which licences are granted and which
are particularly applicable to children, should be more
effectually carried out.
(3) Certain additional conditions should be attached to the
issue of licences".
(4) The attendance of children after a stated time in the
evening should be prohibited.
(5) There should be more effective control over the admission
of children suffering from infectious disease or coming
from houses in which there is infectious disease.
(6) Children should not be placed in such seats as, in their
relative position to the screen, might cause eyestrain.
(7) There should be longer intervals between the showing of
successive films.
MR. SPURLEY HEY'S EVIDENCE 165
(8) Explanatory addresses might be given by people with an
expert knowledge of children.
(9) Crowding children in cinema houses is bad, and there should
be much closer supervision than appears to obtain at
present during the performances.
(10) A higher degree of diffused light should obtain in the halls.
(11) Sufficient lavatory accommodation should be provided for
both boys and girls.
(12) A censorship of films for children is an urgent necessity,
and should embrace also the survey of the posters
exhibited advertising the films.
(13) A Board of Censors should include both men and women
having intimate knowledge of child life and of the
educational requirements and capacity of young
children.
(14) Education committees should have the right of super-
vision of all cinema houses so far as the children's
interests are concerned.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. SPURLEY HEY. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. You come from Manchester, where you
have a population of 750,000 people. In your statement you first
of all deal with juvenile crime. Now you say, do you not, that
children must have some kind of amusement ? I agree.
2. And that for certain seasons in the year they cannot possibly
even have these amusements ? Yes.
3. And the cheapest and easiest form of amusement provided
for them under cover is the cinema ? I think that is so.
4. I notice that at Manchester some boys banded themselves
together as a begging society. They took off their shoes and
stockings and asked people for money for the purpose of pro-
viding boots and stockings, and this money they used to go to the
pictures ? That is so.
5. You have ninety-nine halls in Manchester. That is a very
large proportion as compared with other cities? I think it is
larger than other cities when compared in size.
6. Some are large and some are small, some are new and well
founded and sanitarily perfect and satisfactory, and then they
come down to the unsatisfactory? Yes, some are quite unsatis-
factory, whereas others are well ventilated and well fitted up.
7. With reference to juvenile crime, I want to take up some
of the bad effects you have put down. " Some picture houses
are disseminators of vermin and disease." Are there many houses
in Manchester of that kind ? I think there are picture houses in
which the sanitary conditions are not at all satisfactory, and in
which children living in the crowded areas might and actually do
attend, such children in certain cases having been excluded from
school on the ground of ringworm or some other equally infectious
complaint.
8. Now, can you suggest to me any way in which at any place
166 PROVISION FOR RECREATION
of entertainment not merely the cinema, but any other places of
entertainment to which the child goes the proprietors can tell
whether the child has ringworm ? No, I do not think I can, and
I do not suggest that by any arrangement you will be able to
exclude all children, but I think it is possible to arrive at some
arrangement for the exclusion of the worst cases of suffering
children.
9. Can you tell us in what direction that might be done ? I
think it would be very difficult for those who manage the picture
houses to do this kind of thing themselves, but that is one of the
points upon which there might be co-operation with the Education
Committee.
10. You do not suggest anything like a ticket office examination ?
I do not.
11. Do you say from your educational experience that children
are placed too near the front where their eyes are strained ? I am
positively certain they are placed too near the front, and I am
afraid that that position has a bad effect on the eyesight of the
children. I have evidence from our own medical staff and teachers
on that point.
12. Has Manchester with its Corporation or its Council ever
taken into consideration how best to provide cheap entertainment
and amusement for children out of school hours ? Not to any
considerable extent. They have considered the question of
throwing open the school playgrounds in the evening, but that, of
course, is not during the winter. They have also considered the
question of taking the children into the parks, and a certain
number of playgrounds and special parts of the park have been
thrown open to them; but that, of course, is only touching the
fringe of the question. But where the greatest need arises there
are no parks.
13. Now these stories of everyday living with the excitement
the children get, did you get your evidence from the schools?
Yes.
14. Now I notice you say something about the bad effects of
these stories, and in looking through your bad effects which you
say have been produced, it occurs to me that some theatrical
entertainments would produce the same effects where there is not
only seeing but hearing. For instance, you have a detective or a
comic story and such things like that ? I think it is a matter of
degree. I do not think the effect would be quite so bad at one
place as it would at another, for, you see, in the theatre you have
the " balance " of the conversation to set off the action.
15. Well, you have the story book of an unsatisfactory kind
I mean the story of crime. Would you tell me what the difference
between a bad story book and an unsatisfactory crime film is ?
Without saying how unsatisfactory it is, I think in the same sense
it is unsatisfactory watching the wrong kind of thing at the film
and seeing the wrong kind of thing on the stage.
16. And you are satisfied' that these crime films do suggest and
do awaken the imitative faculty in the child? I think that is
CINEMA ATTENDANCE 167
perfectly true, but that is only half the story. It does mean
that some children may commit crimes because of what they
have seen. On the other hand, it is difficult to say how many
children are saved from committing crimes by being in picture
houses. I am quite sure that certain crimes have been committed
to some extent as the result of visits to picture houses, but I am
not very sure in my own mind at the present time as to how far
there is a greater aggregate of crime than there would have been
without the pictures.
17. In London we used to have hooliganism in the streets. You
would imply that supposing some of these boys had been in some
place of entertainment they would have been less likely to develop
that hooliganism ? That is so ; and it is especially true of the
conditions during the last two and a half years when the streets
have been darkened and there has been this abnormal excitement.
I am inclined to think that the picture house is a safer place than
the streets in many instances.
18. I notice that you say " that the poorest district seems to
be the one in which the children go to the cinema." The word
" poorer " is used to a large extent from the point of view of the
children being badly clothed, badly nourished. I do not know
that there is less money altogether there than in certain other
areas. There may be more extravagance and more waste.
19. In your evidence I am struck with the large number of
children who do not go at all. This information has been carefully
prepared by your teachers ? Very carefully ; and I had another
week taken which I have not put in, and that verifies this result.
20. That 50 per cent, of the children do not attend at all?
Practically 50 per cent, did not go during those weeks.
21. That strikes me as being high. Now, you addressed your
inquiries to ninety-nine cinema houses and only forty-four replied ?
Have you any reason in your mind as to w r hy the other houses did
not reply? There were quite reasonable grounds for no reply.
It was probably somewhat unusual for them to be asked these
questions, and although I impressed upon the managers that it
was perfectly friendly from my point of view and entirely with
the object of co-operating, I think there was some ground for
wondering what the information was required for.
22. Would you say that this new industry was a little suspicious
of inquiries being made by public authorities ? No, I would not
say that. You see, they have not dealt with the Education Com-
mittee in the past, and I suppose any one who deals with this kind
of thing is rather suspicious of any department, or even a central
authority, approaching them.
23. I notice there are only five houses that give performances
exclusively for children. I want your opinion as to children's
entertainments ; for instance, if the entertainment is for children
absolutely, whether adults should be admitted ? I should not say
that children and adults should not mix at the same entertainment
or in the same building. I think it is reasonable to arrange under
certain conditions for special entertainments for children and for
168 PROVISION FOR CHILDREN
special entertainments for adults, most of all for special enter-
tainments for children.
24. You would never have an entertainment for children from
which you exclude the adults ? I think that any entertainment
exclusively for children might be considered satisfactory for adults
and adults might be admitted, but I do not think the opposite
is true.
25. And the restrictions you have at Manchester with regard
to the exhibitions, there is nothing very out of the way about them ?
So long as the regulations are carried out.
26. It is stated there that the performances must not continue
later than eleven o'clock. Does that mean that the children are
allowed to go there up till eleven o'clock at night ? That is so, and
I think I said in my evidence that only six houses exclude children
from the second house unless accompanied by an adult. I cer-
tainly think children should not be allowed to stay until eleven
o'clock at night.
27. Would you be inclined to say that the second house should
be closed to children ? I should certainly say that, and I would
prefer to see children that is, those under fourteen years of age
excluded after eight o'clock.
28. These children are to come out at eight o'clock, and you
must bear in mind their parents do not see that they go to bed
at eight o'clock ? I am thinking mostly when I say eight o'clock
of the fact that you will not make a child go to bed at any par-
ticular time, whilst you can make them leave the picture house.
29. Would you like an adult attendant to be provided to keep
order in regard to the children's entertainments ? I think that is
a very important point. One of my real complaints is that great
harm may be done, and I believe is done, by the lack of proper
supervision. In regard to this matter, when the houses were built
and the films prepared and the general arrangements made,
children were forgotten, and had to fit in under the conditions
provided for adults. Now not only at the entrance is there a
great deal of supervision required ; but the lack of proper super-
vision when the children are in their seats is, in my opinion,
detrimental to them. I will take one point, the question of
seating. Children are made to sit in a way detrimental both to
their health and their morals. I can give a case, for instance,
where something like this occurred that, say 300 children, have
had to sit upon seats prepared for 200 adults. The seats are
tip-up seats with no arms, so that the children can be pushed
together, and that is bad and ought not to be allowed. Then again,
the children are allowed to mix together, and there is no arrange-
ment in some of the halls where children at the back can see over
the children in front. All these things are bad for the children,
and I feel in this matter that the physical side is of great
importance.
30. Supposing you had the cinema supervised, would you have
that done by people appointed by the trade or the local authori-
ties ? -I have not thought of that, but on the spur of the moment
CENSORSHIP 169
I would say I would like the trade to make their own arrangements,
but I should like supervision by the educational authority. By
supervision I mean such things as the right of inspection.
31. I think you would find then that the better part of the trade
would be aware that the wisest thing would be to fall into line with
the local authorities as far as possible ? I have found that to be
the case.
32. In your evidence you say there should be longer intervals
between the showing of successive films. Will you tell us why ?
If there were longer intervals I think the eyestrain would be
considerably relieved. The actual concentration on the pictures
would be reduced throughout the performance. I would like to
see an interval of that kind utilised, say, by explanations from a
capable man. If that could not be done, I would like to have
music between, something to relieve the concentration and make
the show educational.
33. Supposing you were absolutely free to decide, would you
like a central Board of Censors who shall be supreme, or would
you like a censorship in each locality ? Speaking from the point
of view of Manchester, I would rather have the censorship in
Manchester than in London.
34. Supposing the censorship was of this kind, that it included
people from, say, Manchester, and people from London who met
at a centre and deaft with the matter from a central point of view,
that would not please you so much as the local censorship?
Personally, it would npt, but I think the great point is that the
right people should be on the Board of Censors. It requires people
who know something of children, their capabilities and their
outlook. So long as the right men and women and if there
should be a difference in the number I say more women than
men are on the Board, I am not concerned so much where the
censorship Board meets.
35. Do you think anything can be done in the school with regard
to teaching education by means of the cinematograph ? When I
was in Newcastle I tried an experiment of that sort by setting up
a screen and an apparatus generally in a school, and that experi-
ment was carried on for a little over six months. All I can say
about it is that it justified a further experiment. That was at
a time when really good films for children were few. I believe
there is an opening for a large authority to deal with this question
from an educational point of view.
36. W T ith regard to the entertainment or amusement of children,
do you think that any kind of amusement is definitely satisfactory
to a child if that amusement to some extent is regulated and
ordered by the authority the child is under for the rest of the day ?
I will answer that by the action I have taken myself with regard
to the recreative play centres we are about to set up in Manchester.
We may do that through organisations already in existence so
long as the Education Committee approves, or we may do it our-
selves in co-operation with them. I say it will not be done
adequately or satisfactorily unless the local authorities take it in
170 EDUCATIONAL SUPERVISION
hand, but I do not suggest that the local authority should do it
exclusively itself.
37. What you would really like would be that the Education
Committee and the cinema trade should, for the benefit of the
children from an amusement and educative point of view, co-
operate generally for the children? Yes.
38. PROFESSOR H. GOLLANCZ. You agree that a subdued light
does not in any way interfere with the performance ? I have seen
very dark halls and really light ones, and I would prefer the light
ones from every point of view. I believe that while relieving eye-
strain, apart from other matters, from my point of view the value
of the pictures did not suffer because of the more highly diffused
light.
39. LIEUT.-GEN. SraR. BADEN-POWELL'S REPRESENTATIVE. Are
there promenades or standing room in the halls ? I have not been
in the ninety-nine halls, as you will understand, but I have been in
some of the best houses and in some of the worst. I have never
seen any promenading down the sides or down the middle of the
hall beyond going to the seats. I have never seen a real promenade
at the back, but I have seen people standing at the back ; in fact,
I have stood at the back many times myself. I have been in no
house in Manchester where people are allowed to stand at the back
to such a depth that the passage is interfered with.
40. Have you ever known of improper behaviour in the standing
room ? I have never seen it nor heard of it.
41. Which type of film attracts the children the most ? I am
sorry to say the comic.
42. MR. NEWBOULD. In your evidence you say : " The Educa-
tion Committee should have the right of supervision of all cinema
houses so far as the children's interests are concerned." Should
they not first of all have the supervision of the children's homes
and home life ? To some extent I suppose some other local
authority is supposed to carry that out. The whole root of the
matter is the question of housing and the bad conditions of the
streets. I mean the mean, narrow streets where there are no
playgrounds, and then I should say there is not the slightest doubt
that the picture houses are more comfortable than the home.
43. DR. SALEEBY. Can you give us any idea why in Manchester
singers are not allowed between the films ? This is the by-law :
" Singing shall not be permitted and no variety entertainment
shall be allowed in any premises licensed under the Act which does
not have a theatre licence."
44. MR. KING. Would you require a child which has been
accompanied by its parents to be sent away at eight o'clock and
the parents remain ? I think the parents must make up their
minds as to what to do. I think that children under fourteen years
of age should generally be in their own houses at nine o'clock.
45. MR. GRAVES. How often do you think a child ought to
attend ? I think one attendance a week is sufficient for any child
who is still in attendance at school.
46. MR. EDGAR JEPSON. If the choice were open, would you
MR. EDWARD NICHOLLS' EVIDENCE 171
prefer a child to go once a week to a music hall or to a cinema ?
To a cinema. I might tell you that I have had evidence from
teachers that children who go to cinemas habitually suffer from
lassitude.
47. Are those who go once a week more intelligent than those
who do not go at all ? I was only speaking from the physical side.
I think in some respects the children who go to cinemas gain
intellectually, but in some respects they suffer. It is difficult to
compare these things. You must remember this, that this habit
of going to cinemas is so deep in the lives of the children, that those
who go once now will probably soon be going oftener, and this is
likely to spread.
STATEMENT OF EDWARD NICHOLLS
PRECIS
IN addition to the theatres under my control I have repeatedly
visited many others in important towns, and I am able to say
that the music does not fall short of the standard observed at the
theatres under my control ; but on the other hand a healthy com-
petition tends continually to raise this standard to a higher and
higher level.
The permanent musical staff under my control number 250,
all first-class musicians, an average of twelve per theatre, but this
number is occasionally augmented for special performances.
The combination of the orchestras varies from trios, quin-
tets, septets, and so on, two separate orchestras (with one or
two exceptions) being employed at each theatre to ensure con-
tinuous orchestral music throughout the day's performance.
In addition, we have a permanent Symphony Orchestra of forty-
five most highly skilled musicians. The object of this orchestra
is to tour the Company's theatres from time to time for a season.
The cost of the Company's orchestras is approximately 33,000
to 34,000 a year.
The standard of music played varies from the old classics,
modern classics, suites, overtures, entr'actes, etc., down to the
modern up-to-date musical comedy, rag-time, etc.
Instructions have always been to make high-class music a
feature at these theatres, but unfortunately owing to the many
idiosyncrasies of the existing music licences in some of our pro-
vincial towns it has not always been an easy task to carry this
out.
For instance, some months ago, I wished to install the Symphony
Orchestra for a season at our theatre in Oxford Street, Manchester,
but the magistrates most strongly opposed the scheme, and it
was only allowed after a strenuous effort on our part on condition
that the Symphony Orchestra only accompanied the pictures and
did not play any special selections !
Recently on another occasion we applied for a licence for the
Symphony Orchestra to play at our theatre in Wolverhampton.
172 CINEMA MUSIC
Again I was informed by the Magistrates' Clerk that they had no
power to grant us the favour as the music licence clearly stipulated
that no brass instrument could be allowed in any picture theatre
orchestra in that town ! I pleaded that the Directors were most
desirous of giving to their patrons a season of entertainment of
the highest educational order, but the only satisfaction I received
was a humorously absurd suggestion : " Why not send the
Symphony Orchestra without the brass instruments ! " Similar
absurd conditions prevail in other towns on the circuit.
At the commencement of war my Directors, wishing to stimulate
patriotism with a view to recruiting, requested me to engage
one or two well-known singers to tour their theatres and sing only
patriotic songs. Having engaged these artistes at very heavy
fees, we were confronted with the same opposition. In some
towns they were not permitted to appear. In Manchester after
very great trouble one singer was allowed on condition that the
sum of 50 was given to the local branch of the Prince of Wales's
fund.
In many of our theatres we have solo instrumentalists of very
considerable merit, and a practice was instituted to give a short
musical selection or solo between the pictures. This innovation
met with considerable success, but unfortunately in several places
we were informed that it was contrary to the provisions of our
music licence.
During my experience for the last five years I have come to the
conclusion that music plays and will play a still more* important
part in this class of amusement.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
EDWARD NICHOLLS. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. You are a composer? You have been
through France, Germany, Holland, Belgium and Italy in a musical
capacity ? You are now a director of music of a company con-
trolling twenty-one cinema theatres, all in the provinces ? Yes.
2. As far as you can judge, do you find that music attracts
to the cinemas ? The better the music the more likely the people
are to come ? I think so ; I think music has played a very im-
portant part, much more so in the last five years. It is gradually
growing and playing a still more important part.
3. And is there a great deal of pains taken now as regards the
music appropriate to a particular drama or whatever may be
on? That has been our greatest difficulty. We have certainly
battled with it as far as possible. It could only be dealt with by
some sort of automatic arrangement which would be impossible.
So far as the synchronisation goes, we do that as far as possible,
but to try and synchronise to the very moment is almost impos-
sible; and therefore we deal with it by creating an atmosphere
in keeping with the picture.
4. Now is there a direct opposition to the cinema having singing
MAGISTRATES' OBJECTIONS 178
and also excellent music on the part of the other entertainments
such as the music hall? Of course, there are occasions when
there is certain opposition, but I have known of none in my
experience in that way. The opposition has simply been the
pig-headedness of the magistrates.
5. Has there been an opposition engineered by the music
halls ? No, and I can prove that in Wolverhampton the music
halls wanted us to get the necessary licence.
6. I am a little puzzled as to what the objection can be. It
has also been a great puzzle to me. Now in Manchester on one
occasion we wished to install a symphony orchestra there, and no
one could object to that orchestra, but permission was refused.
It seemed rather absurd to think that the restriction was simply
placed there by some licensing law that ought to be obsolete.
On this occasion the police passed it, the Watch Committee
acquiesced in it, and the magistrate said : " What is this ? Why,
your music licence says so-and-so. Is it going to play to the
pictures?" I said: "Yes"; but still they refused it. This
orchestra was going to play special selections, and I wanted to
know what difference it made to have a special selection.
7. But they allow special individuals to play? Yes.
8. You had a Russian violinist playing in Birmingham ? Yes.
9. But supposing he wanted to sing a song, that would not be
allowed ? No.
10. Do you have to get a separate licence in those cities where
you are allowed to have music and singing? I think there are
only one or two theatres where there is a singing and music licence.
11. Some of the objections taken to the cinemas as they now
are will be immensely lessened if you have music in between,
and therefore, it seems to me they would be helping the authorities
to make the cinemas more what they ought to be like, that is, of
course, if they allow the music and singing. Do you think the
authorities understand this point ? Yes, I do, but it seems that
they are such a long time in conceiving the benefit that would
arise.
12. Do you get requests for special pieces of music? Yes.
13. Do you think there is now considerable evidence of musical
progress ? Yes. For instance, it was a great surprise to me only
quite recently in Manchester and in Glasgow to see our first and
second row of seats in the stalls filled with musical students, as
I have myself sat several times, simply to watch the symphony
orchestra and to follow them with the scores.
14. Why are singers or brass instruments barred ? We do not
know.
15. Are musical entr'actes popular? Very.
16. Do other theatres than yours announce their music on the
programmes ? I think so ; most theatres do.
17. May I take it that there are two important senses engaged
at your cinemas, the eye and the ear ? Yes, not only seeing but
hearing the music, but I have heard a man say that a first-class
orchestra put him off the picture.
174 ORCHESTRAL MUSIC
18. A complaint against the cinema is that you are only exer-
cising the eye. If you are having beautiful music at the same
time, you are doing something for the ear as well. I am rather
defending the cinemas from that point of view, if you see what
I mean? Yes, and I quite agree.
19. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Are the selections played in full,
or are they only parts ? In full, but of course, they might be cut on
certain occasions.
20. Have you any considerable knowledge of the music which
is given in halls where they have a small orchestra or only a piano ?
I have only seen such things when I have been into an opposition
house. You must bear in mind that the cheaper halls cannot
afford grand orchestras, whereas there is a very healthy com-
petition in the better-class houses for these orchestras.
21. DR. KIMMINS. When you have a new film, how do you
manage to get the proper music for it ? If it is a very special film
for our own company, I endeavour to see it myself some weeks
beforehand, and then I arrange the special mus,ic for it and send
on my suggestions to all my conductors. They see it on the
morning of the day it arrives, and fit their pieces in. Those are
only special films, as it would be impossible for me to arrange
music for every film.
22. REV. F. C. SPURR. Would it not be an educational help if
people knew what kind of music they were listening to ? Yes,
and the houses should have programmes as we do, with the names
of the pieces printed on them. I know of no better system.
23. PRINCIPAL GARVIE. Would the theatre be kept in darkness
while the special selections are played ? No, we put the lights up,
certainly.
24. So the objections could not be on the ground that the
darkness gave any chance for misconduct ? No.
25. Supposing each cinema had an orchestra, would a con-
siderable space be required in front of the film, and would that do
away with the objection of having the front seats too near ? It
would be a decided advantage to the audience.
26. Did you ever feel that the music was too good for the
film it accompanied? I know this, that music has lifted a bad
film up into a good one ; it has helped it.
MR. ROSS'S EVIDENCE 175
TENTH DAY
Monday, March 12, 1917,
The BISHOP OF BIRMINGHAM in the chair.
STATEMENT OF MR. RODERICK ROSS, M.V.O.
Chief Constable of Edinburgh.
PRECIS
IN the social life of the people during recent years there has
been nothing more outstanding and remarkable than the growth
and development of the cinema as a means of public entertainment
and amusement.
Not only in large towns but in country districts the cinema has
met with phenomenal success, and received the support and
patronage of all classes of society.
Edinburgh has been no exception to this rule. Every principal
thoroughfare has its picture house, and the large queues which
form every evening more especially on Saturdays outside these
places waiting for admission testify to the popularity of this form
of entertainment, and to the fact that the public are satisfied
with the enjoyment the picture houses provide, and that the
cinema has become part and parcel of the people's amusement
and of the social life of the community.
There were many who predicted that the popularity of the
cinema would gradually wane, and that it was only the novelty
of the exhibition that had caught the popular fancy and attracted
so many, and that, after the novelty had worn off, the power of
the cinema as a means of public entertainment would gradually
decrease. The years have proved the fallacy of such predictions.
The cinemas at least those in Edinburgh are as popular as
ever, and this notwithstanding the fact that we are passing
through a period when amusement, it is thought, would be least
indulged in by the people.
What, it may be asked, is the reason of the cinema's popularity ?
In my opinion this is brought about by the fact that the enter-
tainment provided meets with the approbation and approval
of the public in respect that an educative, morally wholesome,
and bright entertainment is given at a price within the reach of all.
In this undoubtedly lies the secret of the popularity of the
cinema, and from this fact it has, without doubt, come to stay,
and is destined to continue as a permanent form of amusement
in our midst.
The cinema, in consequence of its popularity, must, therefore,
of necessity exercise a certain influence either for good or evil in
the social life of the community.
In my opinion, the popularity of the cinema among all classes
and conditions of men and women is a guarantee of its power for
176 SUGGESTIVE FILMS
good in the community. Were the lessons it taugnt to exercise
an influence for evil in the people, that evil would ere now have
made itself manifest in some form or other ; but such has not been
the case.
It is scarcely possible that thousands upon thousands of our
citizens could nightly come under an influence detrimental to
their moral character without some manifestation, however slight,
of the evil inculcated making itself apparent in their conduct and
mode of living.
It is my opinion that the cinema, as a rule, has proved to those
who patronise it an educative, morally healthy, and pleasure-
giving entertainment.
It has also, without doubt, been the means of attracting many
who otherwise would have resorted to the public-house, and in
this connection my divisional officers, who have opportunities
of judging, emphatically state that the picture houses have been
instrumental in reducing intemperance in the city.
The cinema, however, is not without its opponents and critics,
although I must say I have had surprisingly few complaints made
to me with regard thereto so far as Edinburgh is concerned.
The complaints made were generally as to the films exhibited
being of an indecent character or suggestive of immorality. On
investigation by the police, all complaints made were found to be
such that no action could be taken, as the police were of opinion
that the films complained of were not indecent representations,
and accordingly did not come within the scope of the criminal
law.
One of the complaints made, I remember, had reference to a
film entitled " ," where the innuendo was that
immorality had taken place.
Such films which contain suggestions of this kind ought, in my
opinion, to be eliminated from the cinema. It must be remem-
bered that of the great number of people patronising the picture
houses many are girls and youths of impressionable age, and while
such exhibitions may, on the majority of persons, have no im-
pression, there is always the fear that in some instances these
exhibitions suggesting immoral conduct may have a deleterious
effect.
It is true that in the reading of novels as much evil, if not more
so, may be gleaned by the young, but that is no reason why the
cinema in this respect should not keep clear of this pernicious
phase of the question.
There is another matter on which the cinema has been criticised.
In some quarters it has been alleged that the exhibition of films
which showed burglars and other criminals at work have been
the means of inciting boys to emulate the example given by
committing crime.
No such case has come to my knowledge or to the knowledge
of my detective officers. I, however, consider that there is grave
danger in such representations. Boys are generally of an adven-
turous disposition, and ever ready to emulate anything in the way
MR. ROSS'S EVIDENCE 177
of an example which would afford them vent for the inherent love
of adventure .which is in their natures. For this reason I am
decidedly opposed to representations of such a character being
shown to the young.
It has also been frequently alleged that juvenile crime was in
measure due to the love of the cinema on the part of boys who
took to stealing for the purpose of procuring money with which
to pay for admission to the picture house, and thus gratifying
their insatiable desires in this direction.
I am unable to find a single case where any juvenile set out to
steal for this one purpose.
I admit that the proceeds of several thefts have been spent on
the cinema, but this fact cannot be brought as a fault against
the picture houses.
In most instances I have found that the proceeds of theft by
juveniles have gone to satisfy their fondness or craze for gambling,
which is more in keeping with their vicious tendencies than
witnessing an exhibition of living pictures.
Independent of the cinema, boys will continue to steal and to
devote the proceeds of their dishonesty to whatever purpose may
take their fancy.
I am satisfied that, so far as Edinburgh is concerned, the cinema,
in this respect and as a means of inciting the commission of crime
on the part of juveniles, has had little or no effect on the crime
committed by children and young persons.
I have shown the foregoing statement of evidence to the chief
constables of Dundee and Aberdeen, and they concur therein.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. RODERICK Ross, M.V.O. Examined. .
1. THE CHAIRMAN. You have no figures, I suppose, as to the
numbers that go to the cinema in Edinburgh ? We have twenty-
four houses in the city, and I understand that their seating capacity
is about 17,000. There are special performances on Saturday
afternoons for children.
2. Are children only admitted to these performances ? Well,
adults go too.
3. Are there any suggestions as to the numbers that attend
each week ? No, I have not got that. Most of these houses are
pretty well filled at all times.
4. What is the population of Edinburgh? Between 320,000
and 330,000.
5. You claim, of course, in Edinburgh that the population is,
from the point of view of intellect, rather above the average ?
It is supposed to be a fairly intellectual city.
6. And you find that all classes of society go to the cinema
entertainments ? Yes.
7. Now you say that it is approved of because it gives an
educative and morally wholesome and a bright entertainment?
That is my opinion.
178 ABERDEEN AND DUNDEE REPORTS
8. Are there any houses in Edinburgh of which you could
reasonably complain as to the want of wholesome entertainment ?
The only complaint I remember was a complaint in regard to
the film " ." I went down to see the film, and sat
in -the house while it was on, and from a police point of view I
could see nothing objectionable.
9. What would be the police point of view ? There was nothing
that brought the management within the meaning of the criminal
law; there was nothing indecent about it.
10. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. Speaking outside the criminal law
would you find anything indecent ? Well, it was not exactly a
film I would like to send my daughter to, but from a police point
of view there was nothing objectionable.
11. THE CHAIRMAN. You mean a young girl or woman under
eighteen years of age ? That is so.
12. Would you mind telling me in what you consider the cinema
educative? You see films depicting the customs of countries
which common people would not know about unless they saw
them on the films.
13. You do not mean technically educative, but that it widens
the mind and gives people knowledge which otherwise they would
not be likely to obtain ? That is what I mean to convey.
14. Have you had any complaints in regard to any houses as
to the possibility of immorality taking place within the building ?
I do not think it is possible for immorality to take place within
the building. I have had one or two complaints of indecent
assaults having been committed, and I have spoken to other
chief constables who have had similar complaints, and I have no
doubt that is due largely to the fact that the cinema is carried
on in a state of darkness more or less. If you will allow me I
will read what the Chief Constable of Aberdeen says.
15. You bring a good deal of accumulative information from
other chief constables? Your secretary asked me to submit
evidence, and I have two letters here, one from the Chief Constable
of Aberdeen and one from the Chief Constable of Dundee. They
write me
" I duly received your letter of the 28th ult. with copy of your
statement of evidence. I have carefully considered the same and
I concur therein. Personally, I seldom visit the picture houses,
but I know that they are patronised by large numbers of citizens
and are visited by members of the force^ and I am satisfied that
if anything far wrong occurred my attention would soon be
directed to the matter. In variety theatres I have seen acting
of a more objectionable nature in my opinion than anything I
have seen at a cinema show. At the same time, it appears to me
a censor of films would be a step in the right direction.
" (Signed) W. ANDERSON,
" Chief Constable of Aberdeen."
" I am in receipt of your favour of yesterday enclosing copy
of your statement of evidence regarding cinematograph exhibitions,
MORAL ASPECTS 179
in all of which I concur. There is one point which you may have
an opportunity of touching on, i. e. lighting of the premises. I
have heard it suggested that in the darker parts of some houses,
the behaviour of some of the patrons, if not altogether indecent,
sexually, has been at least suspicious. Were due attention paid
to the construction of the premises boxes, lounges, and promen-
ades and the highest degree of light consistent with the proper
working of the lantern insisted on, cause for complaint in this
respect would be removed.
c( (Signed) J. CARMICHAEL,
" Chief Constable of Dundee."
16. THE CHAIRMAN. Do you think that the possibility of any
indecency of that sort is much more due to the comparative
darkness than to the fact that the cinema is an extremely cheap
entertainment and, therefore, it is easier for people of a low moral
standpoint to get in ; people who would not be sorry for the oppor-
tunity of some kind of indecency ? I should think that there is a
good deal in what you suggest. The low standard of morality of
the individual and the darkness combined, I have no doubt leads
to this kind of thing. Probably both phases of the matter should
be taken into consideration.
17. I notice both from Dundee and Aberdeen there is only
this one point of objection raised at all. That, I suppose, might
imply there is nothing else to which they might object? The
chief constables of Dundee and Aberdeen have nothing to say
against the picture houses. I have come to the conclusion that
they have done a great deal more good than harm. I mean in
this way. Many people prior to the picture house coming into
existence adjourned to a public-house and there got more or less
drunk. The view I take is that it is much better for them to come
to a picture house than a public-house.
18. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. That applies also to keeping children
a little more off the streets ? It does.
19. THE CHAIRMAN. Now with regard to juvenile crime,
which is supposed to be due to the cinema influence, have you
come across that in your police courts ? Well, we have from time
to time complaints that juveniles steal for this purpose, but I
have not been able to get one case or one conviction. I made
some notes on this matter, if you will allow me to read them.
" The first picture house in Edinburgh was opened on 18th July,
1910. Special performances for juveniles are held on Saturday
afternoons in twelve houses, the charges being a penny and three-
halfpence. One of the conditions of the cinema licence is that a
child under twelve years of age shall not be allowed to remain in
said premises after nine o'clock unless accompanied by a parent
or guardian. It is the custom in picture houses in the poorer
quarters of the city for a considerable number of women with
children in arms to attend these places late at night. In one
picture house in one evening after 8 p.m. no less than forty-two
women with children in arms were seen to leave the premises.
180 JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
This is a matter to be deplored, but it is no doubt due to the fact
that most of the husbands of these women are at present on active
service with His Majesty's Forces, and no doubt the women are
glad to have a little relaxation from the weary round which is
theirs ; and being unable, of course, to leave the children behind
have perforce to take them with them. As a proof of the fact
that the cinema, which came into active being in Edinburgh in
1910, is not responsible for juvenile crime, I give the numbers of
persons under sixteen years of age convicted of crime during the
five years from 1912 to 1916.
1912 335 persons
1913 309
1914 352
1915 423
1916 553
" In several recent cases of juveniles coming before the court it
has been pleaded on their behalf by agents appearing for them
that the cause of their downfall was due to the excitement brought
about by attending the cinema. I caused inquiries to be made
into the truth of a plea of this nature put forth in the case of a
number of boys who were before the court for housebreaking last
week, and find that there was no truth whatever in the allegation
that the picture house had been responsible for their delinquency.
The boys themselves admitted that they committed the crime
through pure mischief, and that they had not been influenced
in any way by what they had seen in any picture house. As will
be seen from the figures of juvenile crime a great increase has
taken place since 1914. The cinema was established in 1910,
and from then until 1913 juvenile crime was normal. It is, in
my opinion, very significant that the increase of crime amongst
juveniles should synchronise with the outbreak of war. This
undoubtedly points to the fact that with so many fathers and
guardians absent on military service, the lack of the necessary
parental control has been the principal cause of increased crime
amongst juveniles."
20. REV. CAREY BONNER. Are the theatres well lit in Edinburgh ?
Yes, quite well lit, but the light is subdued when the films are
exposed.
21. Are they in total darkness ? No.
22. Can you give us any information as to opening on Sundays ?
They do not open on Sundays, but they may open for a charitable
purpose where the proceeds are given to a charity.
23. Did you notice whether the film " " had been
passed by the censor? Yes, it was passed by the British Board
of Censors. I had complaints about it prior to it coming to the
city, and it was alleged that it was stopped at Preston and Dublin,
or Belfast, and I wrote to both those cities and I found that my
information was not correct. The film was passed by a British
Board of Censors, and I was not going to interfere with it.
UNDESIRABLE FILMS 181
24. SIR JOHN KIRK. Do the school teachers take parties of
children to the cinema? I do not remember any such case. I
would get a notice of anything of that sort, because of arranging
for the safety of the children in crossing the streets.
25. MR. LAMERT. Have you had any complaints whatever
that the children have been molested at these theatres in Edin-
burgh? No, I have not. The only case in which I remember
a child having been interfered with was in one of the ordinary
theatres.
26. You say that under the magistrate's orders the children
are not allowed to go. unaccompanied after nine oclock. The
suggestion has been made that children possibly accost people
outside cinemas and hand them their money with a view to seeing
whether they would palm them off as their own son or daughter
and so get in ? I do not think it occurs to any extent, but there
may be an isolated case.
27. MONSIGNOR BROWN. As to the increase of crime, would
you agree that that may be due not only to the fact that the father
is away, but that there are many cases in which the mother is
employed and away from home much more, and that this leads
to the children being out of control and on the streets ? There
is little doubt about that.
28. As to " ," have you heard of any action being
taken in Manchester as regards that or " " ? No.
29. You say you would not allow your own daughter or any-
body else's daughter to see that film; therefore, you would not
regard it as a film suited for general display? No, were I a
censor I should certainly ban it for young people under eighteen
or twenty years of age.
30. Have you noticed any display bills that are objectionable?
I have never been struck by some of these things being indecent.
31. You have never heard the police speak of them? No.
32. DR. MARIE STOPES. With regard to the question of nudity,
is that always objectionable even if it is presented from a moral
or gymnastic point of view? Would you always object to nude
figures ? Well, that is a somewhat difficult question to answer.
It depends entirely on how the figure is presented.
33. I believe the censor looks upon the nude figure as always
objectionable? We might consider it objectionable, but it is
another matter as to whether we should interfere or not.
34. THE CHAIRMAN. The nude figure is not necessarily under
the police ban ? No.
35. DR. KIMMINS. Have you any association in Edinburgh
which looks after the cinema, or is it left entirely to the police ?
There is certainly no. association that looks after them.
36. And films are not subjected in any way to criticism unless
some objection is raised ? I have never seen any criticism upon
any film which has been presented. These complaints that I
had with regard to " " were from private individuals
or private letters to me. There was no criticism in the Press or
anything of that sort.
182 VENTILATION AND LIGHTING
37. You do not in any way look through the programmes
regularly? No, but I may say the places are visited daily by
the police.
38. REV. F. C. SPURR. Would you tell us if you advocate special
performances for children ? I think it would be quite a good
thing that special films should be exhibited to children only.
39. Have the Edinburgh police the power, as I believe they
have in most cases, to seize objectionable prints and photographs ?
Yes, any objectionable or indecent.
40. But you have not the power to seize objectionable films?
If the films were indecent we should not seize them, but we
should proceed against the management.
41. With regard to the cheaper houses, where I think you
mention the price is one penny admission, will you tell us whether
you consider the ventilation is what it should be, and whether
the front seats are as far from the screen as they should be ?
I am afraid the structure of the premises does not come within
my purview. I have never had any complaints brought to my
notice that these places are ill- ventilated. I think if other depart-
ments of the Corporation had had these complaints I should have
heard about them.
42. SIR W. BARRETT. You say that the lighting of the cinemas
is quite adequate. During the showing of the films is the light
adequate to allow the audience to read their programmes ? I
do not think they could read the programme unless it was pretty
large print. I should imagine that it is not necessary for the
audience to be in darkness.
43. What degree of lighting is there in the theatre when the
films are being shown ? A fair amount.
44. MR. G. KING. You have had an opportunity of comparing
the cinemas in Edinburgh with the lighting in the theatre and the
music halls. In the case of the theatre did you find you were
able to read a newspaper during the period when the lights are
lowered? I think the lighting in the cinema is quite as good
as in the theatre.
45. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. Did you ever read the book -
? I did after I saw the film, with a view to seeing whether
it was dramatised fully.
46. Did you find some difference -between the book and the
film? Yes.
47. Rather in favour of the cinema as against the book ? Yes.
48. Are you aware that in connection with that particular film
the censorship laid down the rule that even though the cinema
might be unobjectionable it was undesirable it should reproduce
novels which had an undesirable reputation? I believe that
is so.
49. THE CHAIRMAN. What is your control over books? I
have no control over books unless they are of an indecent nature.
50. And - - would not come under that category?
No. Would you allow me to say one word with regard to
drunkenness ?
REV. T. HORNE'S EVIDENCE 183
" With regard to my statement as to the picture houses being
instrumental in reducing intemperance, I came to this conclusion
as far back as the year 1911, and in my annual report of that
year I find the following occurs with regard to drunkenness
" ' The reduction recorded in the number charged may be due
to the large increase in places of amusement opened during
recent years which cater for the adult as well as for the
youth, and divert their inclinations from the public-house.'
" The following year a further reduction in the number of persons
charged with drunkenness took place, arid in my annual report
for that year I make the following statement
" ' I am more than convinced that people are behaving
themselves better than formerly, and I am of opinion . . .
that the gradual decrease in drunkenness has been brought
about by the opening up to the people of more means of
rational amusement such as the picture house, of which the
city contains a considerable number. These places of
amusement, which always seem to be well patronised by
the public, have without doubt brought about a wonderful
improvement in the sobriety of the city.' '
STATEMENT OF THE REV. T. HORNE,
Rector of Syresham, Northants, and Senior Chaplain to the
Showmen's Guild of Great Britain and Ireland.
PRECIS
WITH the experience of half a century as a social Worker, directly
concerned with the working classes, and with special inside know-
ledge of the cinema industry, I claim to know the subject before
the Commission.
I have been inside the cinema movemenjb from its invention
and application to entertainment purposes. Long before the
cinema appeared as an item on music-hall programmes and picture
halls were established, my showmen with large portable theatres
were using the cinema for show purposes.
In many ways I was the one and only censor of films in those
early days, and I am proud of the fact that my suggestions were
invariably carried out, and that my travelling showmen sought
opportunities of 'submitting films to me prior to exhibition.
I was, in those early days, to a very large extent able to prevent
the growth of a class of film manufacture largely French and in my
judgment unsuited to a British audience.
When the cinema began to develop rapidly in permanent build-
ings a considerable number of my showmen were concerned in
the settled movement, and have prospered in it. My association
with the cinema in its settled form was owing to the fact that
184 INFLUENCE OF CINEMA
I had been with the showmen in it's itinerant days. As the industry
began to organise itself, immediately after the passing of the
Cinematograph Act in 1909, I was asked by the cinema exhibitors
to help them in their trade defence movement.
I have been welcomed and my advice much appreciated at all
great meetings of the leaders in the industry.
At these great gatherings of all the branches of trade and enter-
prise in the cinema world I have never failed to find an immediate
response to the appeals I felt impelled to make from time to time
that they should work their business in accordance with the highest
ideals of moral and civic good.
Coming to what I consider to be the main objects of your inquiry
and in answer to the serious allegations brought against the cinema
by its opponents, I have to state that I entirely agree with Mr.
Herbert Samuel's opinion that the increase in juvenile delinquency
is more attributable to the lack of parental control and to the
unfortunate absence of many of the good agencies that the war
has closed down in our great centres of population than to the
cinema or other forms of amusement.
With regard to the influence of the cinema and of amusements
generally on the young life of the nation I wish to make this point
that the splendid heroism, the dauntless courage, the magnificent
comradeship and self-sacrifice of the lads and young men who
passed from the cinema and its influence to the fighting line, give
a direct contradiction to the aspersions cast upon the popular
and cheap amusements of the people.
I am in full agreement with the constructive policy for dealing
with the possible evils of the industry by combination within it
as outlined by the Exhibitors' Association, the Cinema Trade
Council and the Board of Film Censors under the presidency of
Mr. T. P. O'Connor.
I have been intimately concerned with the development of this
constructive policy, and I hold that it would be wise for the Home
Office to co-operate with this policy and to give it compulsory
powers for its necessary work.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
REV. T. HORNE. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. In regard to what women who go to these
entertainments feel and their reasons, have you any inside know-
ledge ? My knowledge is of tired-out mothers working hard during
the greater part of the day. They are only too glad to know that
their children are able to go to an interesting entertainment such
as the cinema, and that they are enjoying themselves and out
of the dangers and risks of the streets. I should think the mothers
send their children purposely, not to get rid of them, but for love
of them, to give them a pleasant hour or two hours ; and then
they are more amenable to home discipline.
2. Do you think the mother ever asks herself the question :
44 What are they showing? " or simply sends the child because
CENSORSHIP 185
she knows it will have a bright time ? Entirely from the point
of view that it is a bright entertainment.
3. You are a pioneer of the cinema? -Yes, I was concerned
with it jn its earliest days when it was shown by the shows which
went from town to town. I remember the awful days of the
uncensored funny pictures that came from France. Any one
connected with the first stage must feel that the improvement
has been so great and continuous that there is no serious cause
for any censure or serious alarm at the present aspect of affairs.
4. With regard to juvenile crime and the cinema? I think
it is a very negligible and doubtful charge that the cinema has
had any influence on juvenile crime.
5. MR. NEWBOULD. Would you say that at any time the trade
was unreasonable in its attitude towards the Home Office
proposals for a trade censorship ? The trade takes a most diplo-
matic line in its dealings with the Home Office, and I was keenly
disappointed at the result.
6. With your knowledge of the trade organisation and what
it is doing and what it is aiming at, do you think it will
in reasonable time deal with anything that is undesirable ? I do.
I have found on every occasion perfect unanimity in the desire
to eliminate anything objectionable.
7. MR. GRAVES. Are you in favour of introducing the cinema
into religious teaching? I am to a large extent. I might point
out that some years ago I wanted to get the picture of the Life
of Christ, but the price put upon it was prohibitive.
8. DR. KIMMINS. You have noticed a very marked improve-
ment in the nature of the films during your long association with
the cinema? A very marked improvement indeed.
9. In the early days there was something wrong with the films ?
Well, they were very French films. In the early days of the
travelling cinema there was a great deal of effort by English firms
to give local pictures, and it was very successfully done. You
could be on the fair ground at ten o'clock in the morning and you
could see yourself on the screen at five o'clock. It was these
pictures which completely banished the objectionable pictures.
'. 10. DR. MARIE STOPES. Are you satisfied that the Home
Office is alive to the great danger of the trade being swamped
by the American films? The American film has really been a
tremendous good to the cinema industry. Without the American
supply we should not have been able to develop so rapidly for
exhibition purposes as we have done.
11. THE CHAIRMAN. In regard to the censorship, supposing
you had to construct a censorship yourself, would you have a
central censorship or local censorship? I would construct a
Board of Censors on the identical lines that we have already -set
up. I am now speaking for the trade. I would have a central
office and have its powers compulsory so that no film should be
shown unless it be passed by that Board. I would have
censor for the whole of the country and not a local censor.
186 MR. LEESON'S EVIDENCE
ELEVENTH DAY
Monday, March 19, 1917.
The BISHOP OF BIRMINGHAM in the chair.
STATEMENT OF MR. CECIL LEESON,
Secretary of the Howard Association.
PRECIS
IT is certain that, in the public mind, the effects of the cinema
on juvenile conduct are greatly out of perspective. It does not
appear to have struck those who attribute juvenile delinquency
exclusively to the low-grade cinema that among the children
who form the bulk of cinema patrons are included precisely the
children from whom adult guidance had been suddenly withdrawn
by the war taking parents away from the home. I
The outcry comes from two kinds of people. There are the
well-intentioned and ignorant and, secondly, there are saner critics
who object on moral and partly on hygienic grounds.
The first kind of critic, unfortunately, cannot be ignored, for
he it is to whose public utterances much of the present misunder-
standing of the problem is due.
Objection to cinemas by the second class of critics demands
more serious attention. It is fourfold. First, that the cinema
is too sensational; second, that by showing to the child how
wrongful acts are committed it induces him to imitate them;
third, that it proves so overwhelmingly attractive to children
that they will do anything to procure the coppers for admission,
and, fourth, that it is harmful to children on hygienic grounds.
On the score of hygiene, the absence of sunlight produces a
physical condition favourable to the propagation of colds and
other infections.
Moreover, children often suffer because they do not get sufficient
sleep, and the cinema, by inducing them to keep late hours,
aggravates this, with the result that the boy, whether at school
or at work, comes next day to his task in a jaded, lifeless condition,
both of mind and body.
On the mental effect of the cinema it is urged that whereas the
act of reading even the reading of penny " bloods " demands
some mental effort, the witnessing of moving pictures does not,
and that the impression made by the pictures is much stronger
than that made by the book, no mere printed word appealing
nearly so forcibly as does an actual representation. Further,
the printed story proceeds at a much slower pace than the picture
story; also, whereas in the book the villain becomes as bad a
villain as the child is capable of imagining, in the picture his
villainy is as great as the villain is capable of imagining so that
to permit children to witness any and every kind of picture is
SENSATIONAL FILMS 187
"much worse than to permit them to read any and every kind of
book. Again, while one does not go to read half a dozen different
books at one sitting, one does go to see half a dozen different kinds
of picture at one sitting. Thus the combined effect of the pic-
tures, the absence of mental effort, the intensity and the multi-
plication of impressions, are held to exert an undesirable effect
on the child. Moreover, by over-elaborating the sensational,
they evoke in the young mind emotions too strong for it to
withstand, night terrors and other nervous disorders resulting.
Nearer to the charge of inducing criminal conduct in children
is the criticism and it appears well founded that the pictures
give to children quite wrong ideas of life and conduct. The
villain is often " lionised," he does wrong things in a humorous
way, he does " smart " things things the youngsters wish they
had thought of doing. At the same time, the reception of pic-
tures such as these convinces me that the attractive thing to the
child is not the wrongness of the act, but the humour or the
cleverness of it. The cinema villain who is villain and nothing
else invariably gains a satisfactory measure of execration from
the audience ! Clearly it is not good to present to a young child
wickedness in the guise of humour, but my chief objection to
the films is that they make children, whose thoughts should be
happy and wholesome, familiar with ideas of death by exhibiting
shootings, stabbings, and the like. Nor are these death scenes
merely brief incidents in the stories, for where a character is
represented to be mortally wounded the story pauses while the
children are shown sin enlarged view of the victim's features
during the death agony. Owing to this deliberate emphasis of
the repulsiveness of such situations, it is difficult to see how the
child's nerves can maintain their tone; we should look for a
want of balance in children subjected repeatedly to these ordeals,
and thence delinquency would not be unlikely. At any rate,
such exhibitions are highly objectionable for children, whether
they lead to delinquency or not.
On the charge that the cinema leads children to steal by show-
ing them how to steal, I confess I should welcome more, and
better authenticated, information. The argument by those who
hold this view seems to be that, since all thoughts, no matter how
arising, have their influence on conduct, the pictorial representa-
tions of theft or violence cause the children who witness them to
commit similar acts through the principles of suggestion and
imitation ; that the picture suggests the wrongful thought and
shows how it may be acted upon. The place of suggestion and
imitation on conduct is admitted, and the absence of the restrain-
ing influence of adults indicated above may cause these factors
to have been more greatly operative in children during the past
two years than before; further, if it should prove that a case
here and there of juvenile theft is directly attributable to these
films I should not be surprised. But even so, the case against
the films would, on this head, still remain to be proved; for
though these isolated offences may aggregate to a considerable
188 MR. LEESON'S EVIDENCE
number, I would point out that in the past two years there are
some twenty-five thousand children whose misconduct requires
to be explained, and that nothing more reliable than general
impressions have at the moment been advanced to show the
part the cinema has played in producing this great number of
offences. I do not acquit such films of responsibility for juvenile
theft, of course ; all I urge is that at present sufficient evidence
exists neither to acquit nor condemn them, and that judgment
on this aspect of the cinema problem must be suspended until
more information is forthcoming on one side or the other.
There remains the overwhelming attractiveness of picture
shows and the fact, clearly enough established, that the visits
of children to them are often preceded by theft. Let it be
admitted at once that much of the attraction children see in the
films is obtained by illegitimate means. But the cinema can
forgo vulgarity and sensationalism and still remain attractive,
for the fact that a picture is a picture is enough for children,
especially if it is funny.
The fascination of the cinema is an indictment of the child's
dull home conditions. He leaves school at four, often earlier.
If he goes home neither father nor mother are there. An elder
sister prepares his tea, or maybe a neighbour gives him some,
but no one really wants him. He requires to be interested, and
positively the only interesting things still remaining in his little
world are the picture palace and the street it stands in. Left
thus to themselves, the wonder is that children should stick at
anything to get away from their dullness. Bundles of energy,
suppressed during the few hours' confinement at school, now in
reaction, spoiling for something to vent themselves upon, and
with no one to say them nay this is the condition of these lads.
Some of them steal. The wonder is so few of them do. For there
is risk in stealing, and excitement, which is what healthy-minded
lads need, and which, if it avoid the ultra-sensational, is good for
them. When the charge that lads are taught to steal by the
films comes properly to be investigated, it will possibly be found,
not that they deliberately steal as a means to an end, to procure
coppers for admission to the pictures, but that the great majority
of them steal because they are dull. That the proceeds of their
thefts are spent on the pictures is what would be expected. The
pictures are the one bright spot in their drab lives, their only
remaining interest.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. CECIL LEESON. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. The Howard Association has taken special
interest in the question of children and what are called child
offences, and with regard to the establishment of children's
courts? That is so.
2. You have thoroughly looked into this matter, and in con-
CINEMA AND CRIME 189
nection with that you have been brought up against the cinema
question. You say that without the cinema the child's life would
be even very dull ? Yes, that is so. The thing I complain of is
that the children have very few alternatives to the cinema.
3. That applies more particularly to the long winter days?
Yes.
4. A great deal of this country's time is taken up with unsatis-
factory weather and short days when the children cannot be in
the pp.rks? Yes.
5. And you find they fly to the cinema? In my position as
probation officer in Birmingham I found that the cinema
entered the lives of the probationers very considerably, and
therefore it was my work to be cognisant with what the cinemas
were doing.
6. Would you know whether children's crime was due to the
cinema? I have heard it said so, but one often gets that kind
of excuse. The child and the parents of the child are in a diffi-
culty, and the first thing they want to do is to get out of the
difficulty, very often irrespective of the truth. This applies also
to the cases of adults in police courts, where perhaps they say
that their action was due to horse-racing, particularly if the
magistrate suggests it first.
7. And once the suggestion is made, it is taken up by other
children? Yes, I think the excuses are passed round. With
regard to children's offences, I have made very careful inquiries,
and I have tried to get a case proved. To do this I think it
should be proved on the lines of a case where circumstantial
evidence comes into consideration. If a child went to the pic-
tures and saw a burglary, say, like two men climbing up an
outside spout and entering a house through the bedroom window,
and then becoming acrobats and starting all sorts of foolery on
the bed, possibly adjourning to the bathroom, the first dominant
in the child's mind would be one of fun, but at the back of the
child's mind there would be this other matter, the question of
the burglary. If, having left the picture house, the child goes
along the street and sees a house which reminds him of the house
he saw burgled, the child might imitate the film.
8. Would that not be more the spirit of adventure than of
crime ? Yes.
9. Do you think impressions produced by entertainments are
very lasting? I think it does produce that effect, and I find it
is nothing for a child to go every night. In fact, I know of one
little girl who went three times on a Saturday. Very often they
are encouraged to go, as their mothers think they are out of
harm's way. I am afraid that the cinema is used much in the
same way as the Sunday school is.
10. Do you think a more lasting effect is produced by what
is seen at the cinema than by what is seen at the theatre? I
do not think so, except, of course, that the cinema is more
accessible.
11. What is your opinion about entertainments for children
190 SANITATION
only? Well, frankly, I cannot give an opinion. I cannot see
any solution unless you are to treat your adults as children. It
is a question of how far you have the right to prescribe for the
adult.
12. I suppose you would consider it a reasonable thing that
everybody connected with the cinema should seize every oppor-
tunity of seeing what the public opinion is with regard to it ?
Yes. My trouble is that they diagnose quite correctly what
attracts the child most, and the question is whether it is quite
desirable to pander to what the child wants.
13. Your feeling is that for a child to go frequently is not very
good for body or mind ? No.
14. You lay stress on the insanitary condition of the halls ?
I have got that opinion from the structure of the picture palaces.
You see, the palaces are constructed so as to exclude light and
to give the proper conditions for showing the pictures. I do
not think they ought to stop at that. I think they are built
wrongly. I have found hundreds of picture houses with no side
windows. There are often roof lights, but through them the
sun's rays do not come properly. I think it is wrong to exclude
the sun's rays from the structures. Many medical officers of
health have informed me that the absence of the sun's rays is a
thing they complain of.
15. Do you like the idea of children going to late perform-
ances? No; our difficulty at the courts was that the children
do not get enough- sleep. Of course, when considering the cinema
you cannot interfere with the parents' domestic arrangements
about putting the child to bed at a certain hour, but I think you
could answer this question indirectly by not encouraging the
cinema to take children in after a certain hour.
16. But are there not some houses which are quite as unhealthy
to live in as a cinema ? Yes.
17. PRINCIPAL GARVIE. You* are strongly in favour of special
entertainments for children? Yes, at special hours.
18. And that films should be marked if they are specially
suitable for children? Yes, I should like to see some common
sense exercised in the selection, but I do not want to see picture
houses as namby-pamby houses.
19. Would you say that the influence of the picture houses on
the child was worse than that of its home surroundings, or that
it is a better influence ? I am afraid I cannot answer that ques-
tion. I was dealing with the children whose home surroundings
are less favourable, and if some one took the view that the picture
house was better than the home I would not dissent.
20. MR. NEWBOULD. Supposing special entertainments for
children were not a commercial proposition, have you any sug-
gestion to make so that it would be ? Simply by censorship.
21. The children's performance to which adults are not admitted
is not a commercial proposition, and therefore special films would
have to be provided so that the entertainments for children must
be assisted or subsidised ? Is that so ? Has it not been tried ?
MR. W. A. NORTHAM'S EVIDENCE 191
I cannot for the life of me see why we cannot have a children's
programme on the same lines as we have children's literature.
22. MR. KING. To what extent is your opinion respecting
unhygienic conditions of the cinema based on your experience ?
I am afraid I cannot give you any statistics. I am alluding to
the foul atmosphere in these places and to the absence of sun-
light. There have been some houses I have been in where I
have been glad to get out. I remember visiting twenty-seven
houses in one week in Birmingham.
23. How many of them were unhygienic? All, so far as the
absence of sunlight was concerned.
24. You were talking of the foul air? Well, pretty well all
of them, I should think.
25. You think so, but do you know it is so? There is no
standard on which to work.
26. You had some comparison, such as a church or school?
A church is difficult to ventilate, but a school is different. I
should say that the atmosphere was far and away better in a
church than in a cinema.
27. MR. CROOK. Your experience is with abnormal children ?
No, the delinquent children.
28. Is it your experience that hooliganism has increased on
the streets ? You would not call a child of ten a hooligan.
29. And the cinema is not to blame for that ? No.
30. And the effect of the cinema would be rather to decrease
hooliganism than increase it ? It would take the children off
the streets.
31. Don't you think that five and a half hours a day under a
teacher is sufficient for a child? Yes, I should think so.
32. MR. GRAVES. Have you had any complaints from the
teachers as to the immoral influence of the cinema on the children ?
No, I am afraid the views obtained have been rather the other
way. I am not at all blind to the advantages of the cinema.
I might add that the boys' organisations in several towns have
got together, and in one town, that of Newcastle, I think it is,
they have got their own private cinema and a club-room as well.
STATEMENT OF MR. W. ARTHUR NORTHAM,
Member of the Council oj the Kinematograph Manujacturers
Association, Member oj the Renters Association.
PRECIS
I HAVE been connected with the cinematograph trade for
nearly five years, during which time I have held positions of trust
in all sections, i. e. exhibiting, renting and manufacturing.
I have managed one of the largest picture houses in this country,
have controlled the advertising for a large circuit of theatres,
have occupied the position of sales manager for the London Film
Company, Limited, am the general manager of a renting house,
192 DEFINITIONS OF TRADE TERMS
and spend most of my time negotiating for the hire of films and
assisting in the arrangement of the programmes for more than
twenty important picture houses.
During my connection with the cinematograph trade I have
made business trips to America on two occasions, France, Germany,
Austria and Belgium each on one occasion.
GENERAL STATEMENT
The evidence given herewith 'deals with
A. Definitions of " Open Market " and " Exclusive."
B. Methods of Selection of Films by Renters and Exhibitors.
_C. The Machinery for Recording Reviewers' Criticisms.
D. Method of Distribution of Films to Theatres.
To obtain a full knowledge of the arrangement of a programme,
which is made up of both Open Market films and Exclusive films,
it is necessary to make clear the difference between these two
classes of films, at the same time, by so doing, the difference
between Open Market Renters and Exclusive Renters will be
demonstrated.
A. DEFINITION OF " OPEN MARKET " AND " EXCLUSIVE "
(1) Open Market Films
This class of film, which is the shorter film, is sold by the manu-
facturer to any Renter wishing to purchase copies. The Renter
hires out such films to 'his regular customers, who each half- week
take from him the short films shown in the programmes. The
Exhibitor requests his Renter to obtain the subjects he selects,
knowing that his immediate opposition in fact, all the houses
near him using the same run of film as himself may be show-
ing these same subjects. Such subjects are, therefore, as the
description makes clear, Open Market films.
(2) Exclusive Films
Each separate subject of this class of film is sold to one Renter,
who purchases the exclusive right to rent that subject, and who
in due course contracts with Exhibitors in any town to give to
them the exclusive right to show it for first run, second run,
and so on. This means that only one Exhibitor in a town or
district of a large town at a time can show such a subject. It
may be that the film will return to the town in a few weeks, but
only one theatre can show it on any given three days.
By these explanations you will see that the Open Market
Renter has a regular list of customers who half- week by half- week
rent the short films, whereas the Exclusive Renter appeals to
every Exhibitor in the country for custom. From the Open
Market Renter the Exhibitor may obtain the productions of any
maker of Open Market films, whilst the Exhibitor must go to
Fox for Fox Exclusives, to J. D. Walker for Famous Players
METHODS OF FILM SELECTION 193
Exclusives, to Jury for London Films, to Triangle for Triangle
Exclusives.
B. METHODS OF SELECTION OF BOTH OPEN MARKET AND
EXCLUSIVE FILMS BY RENTERS AND EXHIBITORS
(1) Open Market
In the instance of the purchase by the Renter of Open Market
films this purchase is governed in the main by the selection of
the viewers for first-run houses. The first-run house pays a high
price for the advantage of playing first run, and is therefore
allowed to select the films required. Such selection is supple-
mented by the purchases made by the Renter, who employs
viewers to report and select. (You will therefore note that the
films which appear on all theatres, from first run in towns to the
last run in villages, are selected by the largest houses and by
the Renters.) To allow Exhibitors the opportunity of viewing
these films all manufacturers of Open Market films have private
projecting-rooms in which the films are screened for reviewing
purposes. They are shown to reviewers, roughly, six weeks
before release date, to allow of time to order the necessary copies
and for those copies to be printed. The ordered copies are, in
due course, delivered to the Renters the day previous to release
date, which ensures all copies appearing in theatres on the date
announced as the release date. Therefore first run of an Open
Market film is its release date.
(2) Exclusive
The viewing and selection of this class of film differs in many
ways from that of the Open Market. The films are viewed by
the Exhibitor, but not at the manufacturer's projecting-room,
with the object of ordering through a Renter as in the instance
of Open Market films. The Exhibitor attends trade shows of
these larger subjects, or the projecting-room of the Renter who
has purchased the subject, and, having viewed and approved a
film, enters into a contract with the Renter for the exclusive
rights of the showing of that subject for a given period.
The completed programme, containing both Open Market and
Exclusive Films, is then, in its due time, sent to the theatre.
C. MACHINERY FOR RECORDING REVIEWERS' CRITICISMS
(1) The Specially Employed Viewer
This naturally varies, but it can be taken for granted that
every Exhibitor adopts a method of collating information from
which selection is made. In many instances Exhibitors engage
the services of individuals or a staff whose sole work is that of
viewing and passing judgment on films. Attached is a' card
used by a firm controlling over twenty important houses. This
firm employs four viewers (three men and one woman), all of
whom write reports on that card, which is marked " B." By
o
194 METHOD OF DISTRIBUTION
these means a thorough and reliable report is obtained and filed
of all films placed before the Exhibitor.
(2) The Free Lance Viewer
There are a number of viewers, both male and female, who
spend their time in viewing films for many theatre proprietors,
and whose reports can be purchased by any Exhibitor who wishes
to subscribe to such service. These reports contain a suggestion
as to the type of story, whilst the actual value of the film is
indicated by marks.
(3) The Trade Papers
Each of the trade journals (three in number) print reports of
all important films and most of the others, but even of the un-
reported films (unreported because of lack of space) there is a
synopsis.
D. METHOD OF DISTRIBUTION OF FILMS TO THEATRES
This is carried out principally by rail and in specially made
boxes. The railway companies refuse to carry films unless
packed in boxes made according to their specification, which is,
roughly: galvanised iron, wood lined, with special hinges and
strengtheners. The boxes are very expensive at ordinary times,
whilst at present they are practically unobtainable. They are
the cause of much worry and labour, for elaborate systems have
to be maintained to keep track of them. When it is remembered
that there are at least 4000 theatres, each needing three boxes
to carry the programme (one each for Open Market, Exclusive,
and Topical), it will be seen that there are 24,000 boxes per week
wandering about the country. To take an imaginary case :
" A " purchases an exclusive film which he shows to the trade
by means of trade shows held at the principal centres. He
obtains as many bookings as possible on, say, sixteen copies.
These bookings are consecutive bookings, for it is the essence
of the Renting business that no copies shall remain on the Renters'
shelves. He must get his returns quickly, for films, like fashions,
become old very rapidly. Therefore, having made all his arrange-
ments, he, on the day before release, sends his sixteen copies to
the first sixteen customers with instructions to forward, imme-
diately after the last performance, to the next theatre (which is
always made as short a journey as possible). The films from that
moment commence to travel from theatre to theatre, with as
frequent return to the Renter's office as possible for overhauling
and renovation. As they come in, new beginnings and ends are
added, as required, for it is those sections which suffer most.
This travelling from theatre to theatre is known as the " cross-
over," and is fraught with worry and anxiety, especially during
the mid-week. Closing time is generally 10.30 p.m., and opening
time any time from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Therefore each half- week
20,000 films are hurrying from theatre to theatre, whilst during
MR. W. A. NORTHAM'S EVIDENCE 195
the mid-week change it has all to be accomplished within twelve
hours. This, in these days of reduced train service and depleted
railway staffs, frequently means the non-arrival of films in time
for the opening performances. In such an instance the " stand-
by " programme is called into use. This programme is com-
prised of films which have, in the main, run their course, but
may be used for such a purpose, and which were selected originally
in the manner described heretofore.
This statement has resolved itself into a description of the
links which bind Manufacturer, Renter and Exhibitor, and has
perhaps more particularly demonstrated the position in the
industry held by the Renter.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. W. ARTHUR NORTHAM. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. You are going to explain to us the method
by which the trade is organised? Now, will you explain to us
the three classes, the manufacturer, the renter and the exhibitor,
where the province of the one ends and the other begins ? The
manufacturer, as you will see from his title, is the man who
manufactures films. Until about two years ago he was purely a
manufacturer of films, and he sold to the middleman, who is
known as the renter, and he is the distributor of the films to
the exhibitor. Since those days the manufacturer has entered
the renting field, and is now manufacturer and renter, with the
result that the middleman's usefulness has in a measure declined.
2. The manufacturer, is he almost entirely American ? Yes.
3. And what he manufactures is primarily of American taste ?
His object is obviously to make films attractive to the public,
and as he is an American, he has in the first instance to attract
his own public, which is the greatest public, with the result that
the films are more American than anything else. Further, an
American producer, given a British story to produce, produces that
story with American surroundings and American ideas, for very
often he has never been in England, and this is undesirable.
4. Is there any reason why the British manufacturer should
not be able to dispose of his goods in America in the same way
as the American disposes of his goods in England? No; with
that question you touch upon fundamental differences between
the two countries. An English manufacturer might produce a
film and wish to show it to the entire trade in Great Britain.
He could show it in the main towns of the country in seven days.
For an American manufacturer, wishing to show it to the whole
trade in America, it would take, roughly, seven days from New
York to San Francisco without stopping, and the consequence
is that the American builds up an enormous organisation through-
out the United States to carry on his' work. Now, the American
can come over here with the object of selling films, and if he
cannot find a buyer he can set up an organisation here, whereas
the Englishman cannot do that over in America, on account of
196 FItM RENTERS
the enormous organisations up against him. If an Englishman
wanted to sell a film in America he would perhaps approach these
people, who would refuse to take the film, and they might inform
him that if they required more pictures they would prefer to
make them.
5. Why should not the British manufacturer have the com-
plete hold over the British Isles? The American has enormous
sales in his own country, and he has the sales in his hands, and
possibly the sales in this country. You must take into considera-
tion that there are 30,000 cinemas in the United States, as com-
pared with 4000, approximately, here. The result is that the
American can spend much more money in, excess of the English-
man, with the result that the American production is generally
more magnificent.
6. Taking things as they are, if the cinema is to go on in this
country it would for a considerable period have to rely upon the
American manufacturer? Yes, to a great extent.
7. Would you be able to say that there is more effort made in
America to produce films for the British market ? I should be
disposed to think they are taking more care of the British market
than they did. I should say ' that British-producing has been
stationary for two years.
8. And, of course, there is not so much manufactured in the
British Isles since the war began ? It has fallen quite 50 per cent.
9. And there is no decrease in America ? No.
10. Now as to the renter ? The renter has two branches of his
business, the open market and the exclusive renting. The renter
goes to the viewing-rooms, and is the selector of the open market
subjects. We will say there are fifty open market renters. Well,
these fifty renters will have viewers viewing films in London, and
in addition to this the trade papers and exhibitors will have a
man to view. These men, having viewed the films, will hand
in their reports, and in due course orders are sent in for the films.
I might say that at the present moment orders are being placed
for April 23rd. Many renters are purchasing copies of the open
market subjects. The other type of renter is the exclusive
renter, who goes to the producer of exclusive films and, having
selected something likely to appeal to the exhibitor, he goes to
the owner and purchases it entirely, and therefore he is the
only man who owns that subject and has the right to it. Each
exhibitor then goes to him to negotiate for the hire of that
subject. Usually the manufacturer holds rights for the whole
world, and he disposes of those rights to people in the different
countries.
11. -Viewers are of two classes? There is only one type
of viewer, but, of course, he is viewing the two types of films.
His duty in each instance is to view the film and make a report
as to the desirability of the subject. If we wanted the opinion
of another viewer, we would supplement that opinion by that of
an impartial viewer or a free-lance viewer.
12. What is a free-lance viewer ? An individual who sets out
CENSORSHIP 197
as being an expert film viewer or critic. He sees all the films shown
and writes a report, which any exhibitor might subscribe for.
He sells these reports at a comparatively nominal sum, and these
reports come up to us each week.
13. How is the free-lance viewer paid ? From his subscrip-
tions. He depends purely on the number of people who want to
have his notes. He says : " I view films, and I will sell you my
notes for so much."
14. Does he take all sides, the moral side, the paying side and
the language side ? Yes, he will tell you whether it is sen-
sational, whether it is bordering on the immoral, and so on.
The viewers in the trade are looked upon as censors.
15. How many copies of films, generally speaking, are there ?
One or two extraordinary films have sold 100 copies On the open
market. This was the case with " Ivanhoe." In the main
the open market subject will sell for an average of seventeen to
twenty, and sometimes as many as thirty copies. To arrange for
a small number of copies to be used, the renter works his districts
very closely and during a sequence of weeks, with the result that
when a picture is finished with in one town it can be sent on
to the next town with smallest loss of time. With regard to
exclusive films, in pre-war days bookings would be made on these
films even two years after they were released, but, of course,
they would be new copies. The average contract is two years,
but certain subjects, religious and spectacular subjects used at
Christmas and Good Friday, go on for ever.
16. SIR R. BADEN-POWELL. Has the English industry any
chance of getting up to the American output ? I do not suppose
it will come up to the American output.
17. Is there any truth in the statement that American firms
are trying to oust the British manufacturers by supplying films
to exhibitors at a lower price than that for which they can obtain
British films ? No.
18. MR. NEWBOULD. Have you any knowledge of the fact
that when the British manufacturer acquires, say, the sole rights
of a well-known play, he also frequently acquires a series of law-
suits in other countries to establish his rights? Yes, and par-
ticularly so in regard to America. That is one of the weaknesses
of the copyright law.
19. PRINCIPAL GARVIE. I gather that there are films in this
country that have never been censored? Censorship at the
present moment is a kind of voluntary censorship supported by
the trade, and here and there there has been a certain amount of
disloyalty.
20. Do you think it is possible the trade will organise
themselves so that uncensored films cannot be shown? That
is the view of our organisation, and we have the matter in
hand.
21. THE SECRETARY. What sort of productions were those
which were not censored? Such as " ," " ,"
and " ."
198 EVIDENCE OF SCHOOLGIRLS
[Three South London schoolgirls were examined together].
22. THE CHAIRMAN. How often do you go to the cinema?
I don't go very often, as it is very injurious to my eyes when
I go.
23. Do you sit right in the front ? Well, if they put you there
you have to go there.
24. What do you pay generally? Fourpence.
25. Do you go only for entertainments which are for children ?
Not always.
26. Are you a great cinema-goer? Yes.
27. How often do you go? Once a week. Sometimes I go
once a week for six months and then have a rest, and then start
all over again.
28. What seats do you go in; what do you pay? Sevenpence.
29. You sit right in the front ? No, it is all according to
how much you pay. If you pay a low price you go into the
front.
30. With your sevenpence, is that not a first-rate seat?
Just about in the middle of the cinema, and I can see all right
there.
31. And you don't find your eyes hurt? -When I go out it
generally gives me a headache.
32. How long do you sit in the cinema? Two and a half or
three hours.
33. Do you go very much ? About once every three weeks.
34. What do you like best? Comic things? I like pretty
pictures about dancing and horses.
35. Do you like seeing people breaking into rooms and taking
things ? Not very much.
36. It never gives any of you an idea that what you see you
want to go and do yourself ? No.
37. How about your eyes ? Do you get a headache ? No.
38. Where do yo*u sit ? I pay fourpence and sit about two or
three seats away from the front.
39. What part of London do you come from ? We are all
from the middle of South London.
40. Have you any particular picture palace which appeals to
you? I used to go to the Oval Cinema, but now I go to the
Queen's Hall, Newington Butts.
41. Where do you go? To the Palladium, Brixton, and the
Arcadia, Brixton.
42. What kind of things do you have at the Arcadia? They
generally have very good pictures, and I went once and saw
It is not a very good picture to go to.
43. Why, what was the matter ? Because I do not like the
way they used the crucifix. They used the crucifix to hit one
another with, and it might make children think less of religion.
44. That was the principal thing, and you did not notice
anything else ? No.
45. Where do you go? I go to the Queen's Hall, Newington
Butts.
EVIDENCE OF SCHOOLGIRLS 199
46. Did you see " : " ? No.
47. Do the girls sit amongst the boys? Yes, all mixed up,
and the attendant comes round, and if the boys start whistling
about and do that again he turns them out.
48. I suppose girls never do that sort of thing? That all
depends.
49. Do you go to the late entertainment? No, mother won't
let me.
50. Do you go late? I get out about 9 or 9.30. Very often
it is 9.30. If I go to Brixton by myself and my sisters are that
way they meet me, otherwise I come home by myself.
51. Do you feel the influence next day? I do not feel any
bad effects.
52. SIR JOHN KIRK. Is the place very dark? Yes, very
dark. You can see 'over it while the performance goes on.
53. What would happen if the boys started fighting ? They
would not start fighting, because they are always too anxious to
see the pictures.
54. MR. LAMERT. Have you any other amusement to go to
beside the cinema ? Sometimes a theatre.
55. Do you pay to go to the theatre ? Sometimes mother lets
us go into the pit, as she doesn't like us to go up the stairs to the
gallery. The price is one shilling and twopence tax.
56. When you go to the theatre what do you see ? Pantomimes,
and if there is a revue mother thinks we will understand she will
take us to it.
57. At the picture palaces do you take any steps to find out
what is on? No, we take our chance.
58. MONSIGNOR BROWN. What sort of picture do the children
like best ? When the cowboys and Indians come on they clap
very loudly.
59. Do you like flowers ? No, not very much.
60. Birds' nests ? No, they don't like those.
61. Charlie Chaplin ? They, like those.
62. Do you get tired when they begin to show views and
landscapes ? Sometimes some of them do.
63. Are they short films? Yes, and sometimes they are the
topical budget, and then a lot of them go out.
64. Do they like a long drama ? Yes.
65. How many minutes do the dramas last? Sometimes one
and a half hours.
66. Do they like dramas with a lot of love mixed up? We
don't care for them very much ; some like them and some don't.
67. Would many like them ? I should not think many of them
would like them. I think they would prefer , other pictures
68. How many different picture houses have you been to ? -
Sixteen.
69. How many have you been to? Eight.
70. How many you? Six in London and Manchester.
71. DR. MARIE STOPES. Have you seen any picture which you
thought at the time was bad to see? No, but I saw a picture
200
EVIDENCE OF SCHOOLGIRLS
once which I thought was vulgar. It was called
72. Supposing you went into a picture house and you met a
fairy at the door who told you you could see any picture you
liked, what kind would you like to see? I should like to see a
picture about a circus.
73. What sort of picture would you like best ? I should like
a good drama, but not a love drama. A drama like " Little Miss
Nobody," which I thought was very nice.
74. Why don't you like love dramas? There is too much
fooling about in them, and there is always a hatred between two
men and two women.
75. You don't like to see two men hating each other?
Well, it is a lot of silliness. I do not think it would happen in
real life.
76. You never got any disease at the cinema? No, but once
I got scarlet fever, but not in a cinema.
77. Did you ever get anything? No, I did not catch my
disease there.
78. DR. KIMMINS. What is the nicest picture you have seen
in the cinema ? I think it was " Cleopatra."
79. And you ? " Little Miss Nobody."
80. And you? "The Prisoner of Zenda " and "Rupert of
Hentzau."
MR. NEWBOULD. These three were of British manufacture.
81. Do you like serials? I have seen "The Broken Coin,"
but I did not like that, although I liked the acting.
82. COMMISSIONER ADELAIDE Cox. Did you see anything that
frightened you ? I saw one picture where a man was in the cell,
and he was supposed to have an apparition, which breaks through
the wall, and the wall falls over. It was in " Monte Cristo."
83. And when you went to bed, did you think about these
things ? No, I went to sleep.
84. What do you like the least? I do not like the topical
budget.
85. And you? Love stories.
86. And you ? I think the same love stories.
87. MR. GRAVES. Have you seen any pictures which help you
at school ? I have seen the picture about Nero.
88. Would you like some singing in between? I should like
to have some singing.
89. MR. NEWBOULD. Are you quite sure it was a crucifix you
saw in " " ? Yes.
90. Have you any idea why she hit the man with the crucifix?
She was a servant in his father's house, and he wanted to be
in love with her, and he started cuddling and kissing her, and
she gets up the crucifix quite unconsciously and hits him with it.
91. Have you ever seen films you do not understand? Yes, I
can never understand pictures on general plays.
92. MR. CROOK. Have you ever had a man who wanted to
pay for you at night ? No.
EVIDENCE OF SCHOOLBOYS 201
93. PRINCIPAL GARVIE. Have the boys ever been rude to you
in the cinema? No, but they have pulled our hair and taken
our hats off.
94. THE CHAIRMAN. Do they only do that in the cinema ?
No, and if the attendant is about he puts them outside.
TWELFTH DAY
Monday, March 26, 1917,
The BISHOP OF BIRMINGHAM in the chair.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
Two SCHOOLBOYS. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. What are your names, where do you come
from, what are your ages, and what standards are you in ?
- and - , - , - ; ages thirteen and eleven, and
in Standards VI and VII.
2. How often do you go to the cinema shows ? About once a
week.
3. And what price seats do you go in ? Fourpence or twopence.
4. And you ? I always go into the fourpenny.
5. And your parents give you the money to go with ? Yes.
6. And they like you to go ? Yes.
7. About what time in the day do you go to the performances ?
On Saturday afternoon.
8. And you? On Friday after school.
9. And what time does that performance begin ? Five o'clock.
10. And your performance on Saturday? About a quarter to
three.
11. And it lasts about two hours ? Yes.
12. What is the picture theatre you principally go to? The
Grand Hall.
13. And you ? I go to the Tower Cinema.
14. Have you any particular fancy for any particular kind of
picture ? Well, I like war pictures and I like geography pictures.
15. When you say geography, will you explain exactly what you
mean ? Like the different kind of things that come into England,
and the exports.
16. You like to see things unshipped? Yes.
17. And do you like the comic films ? Yes, sometimes, if they
are not too silly.
18. Do you consider Charlie Chaplin too silly? Sometimes.
19. What about the love stories? I do not think much of
those.
20. Do you like the films where the people are stealing things ?
Yes.
202 EVIDENCE OF SCHOOLBOYS
21. And where the clever detectives discovers them? Yes.
22. Have you ever thought it would be a fine idea to copy these
people and steal these things ? No.
23. Has it ever made you think what a fine sort of life it is to go
round and break into people's houses ? No.
24. And what are your favourite films ? (Second boy) I rather
like tragedy.
25. What do you mean by that ? A play where sorts of deaths
come in.
26. Where somebody kills somebody else ? Yes.
27. Seeing a bad man trying to kill a good fellow, you never
want to go and kill the best boy in the school ? No.
28. Now, why do you specially like that film ? Is it because it
is adventure ? Well, it is; it rather makes you like, jumpy.
29. It excites you? Yes.
1 30. Does that excitement last with you after you leave the
theatre ; do you feel nervous ? I feel rather nervous when I get
home and when I go up and down stairs in the dark.
31. Do you feel nervous next morning when you go to school?
No, I have never felt any effects in the daytime, but I do in the
night.
32. But you still like it ? Yes.
33. What else do you like besides ? Robberies are all right.
34. And you like to see how a fellow cleverly cuts things with
a glass and gets into a window and over walls? Yes, but a man
has to be pretty good and have a good bit of sense to do all these
things.
35. And you really think there is something rather clever about
it ? Yes.
36. Have you ever met any boys who are? There are one or
two ruffians who sometimes go for other peoples' things when they
ought not to go.
37. And have they sometimes told you that the pictures made
them anxious to go ? I do not believe the pictures do, but they
read some of these penny books.
38. Now do you like the comic things ? No, I do not like them.
39. Do you like the love stories ? Well, they are a bit trying
sometimes.
40. Do you know those pictures which show you birds growing
up and flowers coming out ? Yes, I like ttem all right.
41. Would you like the whole entertainment of two hours to
be composed of that kind of film ? Well, they are not so bad,
but sometimes they are a bit trying.
42. If an entertair^ment lasted two hours, would you object to
half an hour of that ? No.
43. Do you find that seeing these .things teaches you some-
thing ? Yes.
44. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. Do you find that films assist you
with your geography? Yes.
45. If you saw a picture of Russia, say, would that make you
study up your geography more about that country? Yes.
MR. BARNETT'S EVIDENCE 203
46. PROFESSOR H. GOLLANCZ. Have you ever had any head-
aches on the same evening? No.
47. Have you ? My eyes seem to be affected.
48. Did you notice any flickering ? Yes, during the performance.
49. Have you noticed any, rough behaviour to some of the girls ?
No.
50. MR. NEWBOULD. Is there a special attendant to look after
the children when you go in ? Yes.
51. MR. KING. Have you ever felt sleepy ? Yes.
52. When do you feel that ? When there is a dry picture and
you don't care about looking at it.
53. MR. GRAVES. Would you like cinema lessons to be given in
your schools the same as the magic lantern ? Yes, that would not
be bad.
54. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Supposing a geography film lasted
for half an hour, how do you think the children would take it ?
They would not like it.
55. Are the children crowded in at the cinemas? Not in all
the places, but there was one place I went to where they were
crowded together and there were no divisions or arms to the seats.
56. REV. CAREY BONNER. Have you seen any rough play
going on ? There has always been decent behaviour, unless some
ruffians get in.
57. THE CHAIRMAN. Do you see these films better if the hall
is lighted better ? No, the darker the place the better you can see
the pictures.
STATEMENT OF MR. F. W. BARNETT
PRECIS
I AM Probation Officer and Court Missioner at the Westminster
Police Court, and have been engaged in this kind of work for the
last twenty-five years.
The Westminster Court covers the areas of Westminster, Chelsea,
a portion of Lambeth, and deals with all juvenile cases under
sixteen from the West London Police Court district as well.
The district comprises the well-to-do, middle class and extremely
poor. There is a high proportion of slum property. In fact, in
the Netting Dale district probably the worst slums in London are
to be found. Among the poor the children are wage -earners* at
an early age. Among these poor the home conditions are in-
different, as is shown by the large proportion of prosecutions for
neglect, keeping children from school, and wilful neglect and
cruelty.
In the Westminster and West London police divisions there is
a population exceeding three quarters of a million. The picture
houses are in most cases of a fairly satisfactory type as regards
ventilation and cleanliness, but a few are considerably below the
others in this respect. I should say that the buildings compare
more than favourably with other buildings designed for the general
use of the community.
204 JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
The war conditions have largely affected the type of audience in
the immediate vicinity of Victoria and Westminster. This dis-
trict is the centre for the Colonial troops. Immorality is frightfully
prevalent, and the picture house audiences have suffered in con-
sequence so far as prestige goes. As soon as the war conditions
are removed these conditions will improve.
I am a frequent attendant at the picture theatres, and have
always found the audience orderly and well-behaved, and have
never seen the remotest suggestion of any sort of disturbance.
A very large proportion of the audiences are children, especially
at the afternoon and early evening performances. In a very large
number of cases the children are accompanied by their parents.
The intense appreciation of these children has always formed
one of the big attractions of the picture theatres so far as I was
concerned. I have been pleased to note the moral sensibility the
children display in denouncing trickery and fraud, and applauding
the instances of benevolence, charity and honourable behaviour,
and so forth.
It has seemed to me that the restrictions on the children so far
as demonstration was concerned have been, if anything, too strict.
In their desire to secure orderly audiences sometimes I think the
attendants erred on the side of repression. In my judgment the
type of the audiences has been, to a large extent, a guarantee of
general decency both as regards the nature of the entertainment,
and the behaviour of the audience. Many religious people with a
Puritan strain in their blood, who hold music halls and theatres
in abhorrence, are regular patrons of the picture houses all over
London.
I should say that, in general, the cinemas compare favourably
with other means of recreation in the district, and are much safer
for the children than suburban music-halls, or the " Funland "
type of exhibition, where the spirit of gambling is often stimulated.
There has been a great increase in " juvenile crime " in our police
division in recent years. This is not remarkable when one con-
siders the circumstances. We now have boys of from fourteen
to sixteen doing the work of men and getting men's wages. These
boys have very little leisure. They are often employed for four-
teen or fifteen hours a day as carmen, lift-boys or on the railway.
Fathers are away at the Front; the mothers, though better off
financially than ever before, have acquired drinking habits, and
often leave the homes neglected and the children at liberty to do
what they please. In a large number of cases there is really no
parental control or discipline at all.
There has been a tendency in recent years to increase the variety
of offences with which children may be charged. For instance,
children are now charged with wandering, with being without
proper guardianship, with being " beyond control."
Our streets are now more rigidly supervised than ever before.
There is a large and increasing army of officials whose duty it is
to watch over child life. In many cases it has seemed to me that
the zeal of these officers was not always adequately tempered by
HOME INFLUENCES 205
humanity and expediency. The practical result of their activities
has been a systematic increase in the number of charges brought
against children.
Although I have been specially interested in the question of
juvenile crime for many years I do not, at the moment, recollect a
single case where a juvenile crime was attributable to the children's
attendance at the cinemas. I remember one case in which that
was the excuse offered, but after the child in question had been
remanded I made inquiries and found that the home life and
environment of the child directly conduced to criminal degeneracy,
and it was not necessary to look further for an explanation.
A great many cases have come under my notice of children who
have stolen money. As soon as these thefts have been effected,
the confectioner's shop is the first place visited. Then sometimes
the picture show, or, if the money stolen was sufficient, the first
houses of the music halls are commonly patronised.
So far as films depicting burglaries, robberies and other in-
fringements of the law are concerned, I have this to say where a
good home influence is wanting I think quite possibly such films
may have a pernicious effect on the young. It must be borne in
mind that children who are looking at these pictures are at the
impressionable period. Their home life does not provide for the
inculcation of the cardinal virtues, and in a large number of cases
they are children of unhealthy body and mind. In such cases
films of this type may give a wrong impetus to the imagination
of the child. Even in these films the moral lesson is always satis-
factory. It is always demonstrated that vice brings its own
penalty in suffering both for body and mind. Undoubtedly this
spectacle of inevitable retribution must tend to offset the fictitious
glamour of wrong-doing.
In my opinion the closing of the picture houses, or their pro-
hibition to children, would have most unbeneficial results. In
many cases the cinemas are the only form of healthy recreation
available, and this is particularly the case during the long winter
months. The children in question have neither the taste nor the
facilities for indulging in any sport, and if the cinemas were
closed to them, so far from the condition of the streets being
improved, I am convinced there would be an immediate and
immense increase in hooliganism, shop-lifting and similar street
misdemeanours. Fifteen years ago street hooligan gangs were a
real menace and problem. Now such gangs are quite unknown
in my district.
There is another side to this question. We must not forget
that the stress of present conditions affects child life very directly.
The father is absent, and the irritability of the mother left at home
is a very serious factor. She is affected by the monotony and
drudgery of her daily life and by the constant anxiety as to the
safety of those dear to her in the war. The atmosphere of the
picture theatre with its unobtrusive entertainments is a very posi-
tive relief to her, and tends to lessen for a time at least her nervous
tension. I am of opinion that there is no entertainment to be
206 IMPRESSIONS AND OPINIONS
compared with the pictures for dispelling the little cares of the
children, and the bigger difficulties of their elders.
It has often seemed to me that when films illustrating the virtues
of life were shown, the inculcation of right principles has been
more effective and impressive on the silent screen than the spoken
word would have been. I do not think, for instance, that the
pulpit can exercise its influence quite so vividly or so directly in
illustrating such virtues as generosity, charity, chivalry, honesty,
and so forth. The pictures drive these lessons home with a direct-
ness of appeal which the spoken word, save in exceptional instances,
cannot equal.
I think it is obvious that the cinemas are a strong counter-
attraction to the public- houses, and, in my experience, the attitude
of the average parent to these shows has been very friendly indeed.
If there is any serious antagonism on the part of religious people
to the picture shows, I should say it arises from the violent objec-
tion of such people to the Sunday opening of places of amusement
and recreation. So far as the official opposition of the churches
is concerned, I should say this is due to an entire misapprehension
of the position. In many cases there is an entire lack of under-
standing as to the practical conditions in which the poor live.
Owing to this there has been a relative failure on the part of the
churches to attract the poorer classes, and as a result the churches
tend to quarrel with any well-ordered recreation that does attract
the poor.
The point has often been made that attendance at the cinemas
makes it increasingly difficult to secure the attendance of the child
at Sunday schools, night schools, guilds and similar organisations
for the welfare of the young. I do not think that the attendance
at these places would be materially increased by restricting the
cinema. Night schools do not attract the boy of fourteen who is
physically tired by a heavy day's work. So far as social guilds
are concerned, these, in my opinion, are not generally very attrac-
tive concerns, and the various clubs for children do not retain the
interest of boys and girls for long.
I might add that I very frequently take my probationers to
picture shows with beneficial results, and the general phases of
life there shown are, in the main, what I should wish them to be
for such a purpose that is to say, they give a faithful representa-
tion of crt/y life in which both the failings and virtues of humanity
are thrown up in bold relief. From my point of view I should not
wish to give my probationers a view of life which was too widely
different from the actual conditions they would themselves later
have to encounter.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. BARNETT. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. Do you find a variety in the quality of the
theatres, such as in the sanitary arrangements and buildings ?
Yes, there is a variety.
UNDESIRABLE VISITORS 207
2. Some are very fine houses ? Yes, some are ; but it largely
depends upon the street and locality. There is a picture show
just off the Horseferry Road, and that house, although of recent
construction, is not to be compared with the houses, say, in the
Strand or some of the main streets.
3. Would you say that the quality of the house varies with the
quality of the class living near that house ? Most certainly.
4. The better the private houses in the locality, the better the
cinema houses ? I do not mean that. If a house stands in a
main street, where you have a big stream of people, then you have
a better house than you would have in a mean street.
5. You think on the whole the cinema palaces compare favour-
ably with some of the music halls ? I do most certainly ; from
the point of view of sanitation and general building.
6. You say the war conditions have largely affected the type of
audience in particular parts of Victoria and Westminster where
there are so many Colonial troops. Do you mean by that that a
great many more undesirable women have come to these houses
in consequence ? Certainly, yes ; and we are getting women who
are strangers. At Westminster Police Court this morning we had
quite a number of cases of prostitution with girls whose ages
ranged from fourteen and a half to nineteen years of age. They
have come up from the country without any protection, without
any money and without friends, and they go to the picture shows in
the districts, and that is w r here they sometimes meet our Colonials.
7. These young girls come out with the intention of leading an
immoral life ? In many instances they do, because they have
been corrupted in the towns where they have resided owing to the
fact that the military have been training there.
8. They lose their virtue there, and they say : " Now London
is the place for me " ? Yes.
9. Have you seen enough of these young girls to be able to
answer this question? Do you think the relaxation of parental
authority in those country towns that they come from might lead
to their first folly and then their absolute abandonment ? In part
I would admit that, but I say that many of these girls have come
from good and religious homes. They have been the victims of
mock modesty ; their training has been imperfect, and they have
become the ready prey of men ready to seduce them.
10. But you don't say their first fall is due to the picture houses ?
No.
11. Have you seen any rough play or indecent behaviour on the
part of boys towards girls at the cinemas ? Never, apart from
perhaps a little pushing outside at the ticket office.
12. I see you say : "It has seemed to me that the restrictions
on the children so far as demonstration was concerned, have been,
if anything, too strict ? " Yes, at the picture shows, the behaviour
there is a great deal better than amongst worshippers in churches
or the chapels.
13. There has been an increase in juvenile crime, you say?
Yes, and I say the main cause is the absence of the father,
208 SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS
and I want to say that history is only repeating itself. During
the South African War for two years I had boys under my
control whose fathers, being Reservists, had been called up for
service.
14. And the same experience you are getting now ? Absolutely.
15. And there were no cinemas then, during the South African
War ? Well, I do not remember any. In a number of cases I also
find that the mothers go out to work, and I have known cases where
families of nine and ten children have been left entirely to the care
of a girl of twelve or thirteen years of age, and even, in some cases,
those children are left all night. I should like to add that I con-
sider the cinema to be the most harmless form of recreation we
have ever had.
16. Have you ever hacf a case where the boy had stolen in order
to go to the cinema ? I did hear a boy say that on one occasion,
but inquiries did not bear that out. Before the cinemas were
started the boys stole money and said they did it because they
wanted to go to sea.
17. Supposing you closed all the cinemas? I wonder what
would happen to child and adult life of London if you did that.
Why, look what good it does ! It does more good than the music
halls. May I tell you an instance of a couple which will interest
you? They had applied for separation orders, and I took up
their cases. I took them to a picture show and made them
squeeze close together, as close as they could, and with the
pictures and the appreciation of them a new understanding came
into their lives.
18. Do you see any advantage in the cinema in keeping the
people away from the public-houses ? I do. I have kept watch
in one district and I have seen 200 couples come out of a show and
only one couple went into a public-house. This was before the
days of the restrictions.
19. REV. CAREY BONNER. Would you indicate the improve-
ments you would like made to the cinema ? Well, for one thing,
they are not heated properly; they are very cold, and that is
pretty general. Then again, I should like to see adopted in all
shows the spraying of the house with disinfectants. Then there is
another improvement which will come in after the war. I have
noticed there has been a great deterioration in the films since the
war began, and think it was because we are so largely dependent
on America. Before the war we had films from Italy and France,
but now they have something more to do. Then, again, I have
noticed that the posters are very bad. If I had my way I would
have a special film censorship for the children, and it would not be
done by justices of the peace, but by men exclusively from the
scholastic profession.
20. PRINCIPAL GARVIE. May I take it you would be satisfied
if the censorship had a special Advisory Committee to advise them
on children's matters ? That is so. I should like to add that in
Westminster I have only known one case of indecency within the
precincts of the cinema halls coming up at the court.
EVIDENCE OF SCHOOLBOYS 209
21. MR. LAMERT. Have you ever seen any films which were
indecent in themselves or suggested indecency ? Not to my mind.
22. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Have you ever seen films that dealt
with the problems of seduction ? I believe I saw one in Liverpool,
but never in London.
FOUR SCHOOLBOYS. Examined.
Two of these boys were aged eleven years and two thirteen years.
They lived in the Bethnal Green neighbourhood, and two of them
attended cinemas on Saturday night and two on Saturday after-
noon, only going once a week.
23. THE CHAIRMAN. What do you like best at the cinema ?
All about thieves.
24. The next best ? Charlie Chaplin.
25. And you? Mysteries; and then Charlie Chaplin.
26. And you? Mysteries, and Charlie Chaplin.
27. What do you mean by mysteries ? Where stolen goods are
hidden away in vaults so that the police can't get them.
28. And you ? Cowboys ; and then Charlie Chaplin second.
29. When you have seen these pieces showing thieving and
people catching the thief, has it ever made you wish to go and do
the same thing? Yes.
30. Do you think the fellow "who steals, then, a fine man ? No.
31. But you would like to do it yourself? Yes.
32. Do you like the adventure or what ? I like the adventure.
33. You have no desire, then, to steal in order to get things for
yourself, but you like the dashing about and getting up drain-pipes
and that sort of thing? Yes.
34. And you? No, I don't like that, I should not like to do
that.
35. Do you like pictures where you see flowers growing? No.
36. Do you like ships coming in and bringing things from distant
lands? (One boy replied " No," and the other three " Yes.")
37. You like to have a consistent programme of detective
stories and Charlie Chaplin, and you don't want any more ? Yes.
38. Do you sit amongst the girls ? Sometimes.
39. What do you pay? IJd. and 2d.
40. Do you ever have to sit on the ground ? No, we always have
a seat.
41. Have you ever seen the boys behave roughly to the girls ?
Yes.
42. What do they do ? Aim orange peel at them.
43. Do they pull the girls about ? Yes, their hair.
44. And do the girls pull back again ? No ; they seem to enjoy
it.
45. Do your sisters go ? I take baby every night ; it is four
and a half years old.
46. Does baby like it and laugh ? Yes.
47. She likes Charlie Chaplin best ? Yes.
48. Is your father at the war ? (One boy here stated his father
p
210 EVIDENCE OF SCHOOLBOYS
was on the Midland Railway ; another one on war work ; the third,
a sailor; and the fourth, working at Woolwich Arsenal.)
49. Then your fathers are away a great deal, and you don't see
much of them ? No.
50. And mother ? Mother looks after us at home.
51. I suppose mother is very busy on Saturday night, and she
gives you the baby to take to the pictures ? Yes.
52. Do you pay for the baby ? Yes, a penny.
53. Do you go to Sunday School ? (One boy stated he went to
Sunday School, but the other three said they did not.)
54. Are you able to sleep long on Sunday morning after going
to the pictures ? I do not feel tired.
55. PRINCIPAL GARVIE. Can you tell me the film you like best ?
(One boy liked " The Broken Coin," and three boys preferred
44 Red Circle.")
56. Can you tell us the story of the " Red Circle " ? A man
has a red circle on his hand and it forces him to do crime.
57. MR. KING. If there were no picture palaces what would
you do ? Stop at home ; but sometimes we go out and play foot-
ball.
58. Why do you like the cowboy films ? Because they are
exciting.
59. DR. KIMMINS. What other films do you like besides the
" Red Circle " and " The Broken Coin " ? Tragedy.
60. What is the nicest one you have ever seen ? A picture about
the death of a boy's mother and he revenges her.
61. Do you care about love stories at all? No.
62. MONSIGNOR BROWN. If there were two picture houses to-
gether, and one was showing flowers and geography films, and
the other one Charlie Chaplin films, which would you go to ? The
one showing Charlie Chaplin.
63. Supposing they put on some of the films you do not like,
what would the boys do ? They would grumble and shout ' 4 Chuck
it off."
64. MR. LAMERT. Did you ever on a film see a man do any-
thing with any apparatus or things which you could get hold
of? No.
65. Would you know how to get any of these things ? No.
MRS. GARNETT'S EVIDENCE 211
""\ THIRTEENTH DAY
Monday, April 2, 1917,
The BISHOP OF BIRMINGHAM in the chair.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MRS. GARNETT. Examined.
1. MONSIGNOR BROWN. You are familiar with the working
women in your locality ? Yes ; it is one of the poorest and one
of the most thickly populated districts in Woolwich and Greenwich.
I come in contact a good deal with the children through the
Invalid Children's Aid Society, the National Society for the Pre-
vention of Cruelty to Children, and on a group of three schools
for Children's Care Committees.
2. Have you much knowledge as to the extent to which the
women and children go to the cinemas ? Yes ; I am afraid they
go a great deal, especially in the very poor districts. Some of
them go practically every night. We used to have children's
performances on Saturday mornings, but these have now been
stopped, and the children have to go in the evenings. I do not
think their parents take them, but leave them on their own.
I have spoken to the parents as to their impressions of the cinema,
but they do not seem to think there is any harm. They seem to
think the children are sharper by going to the cinemas, as they are
taught a good deal by going to these places. I have not had any
complaints about the overcrowding, but the Care Committee
have complained very much of the crowding of the children,
the seating accommodation not being adequate. We think there
ought to be some one who should go with the children, in addition
to the attendant at the cinema.
3. Can you tell us anything as to the state of the atmosphere ?
We have had complaints of the atmosphere of the places, and we
think they pick up a good deal of infection through the over-
crowding.
4. Have you any complaints to make against the ventilation
of the halls ? I do not think there are any complaints.
5. Have you been to many of the halls in these areas ? I have
been to two or three of them in the poorer parts just to find out
what they are like. They are not very large buildings, and they
get a number of children in the audience.
6. Have you any remark to make upon the character of the
films shown? No, except in one when we had a performance
given to the children. The first films were very nice, a sort of
fairy story, which the children enjoyed, and the latter part was
very good, but the middle section really spoilt the whole thing.
It was not indecent, but it was Charlie Chaplin pilfering.
212 CINEMA AND RECREATION
7. Have you received any complaints as to the character of the
films? We thought it a pity that Charlie Chaplin should use
his abilities to show the children how to pilfer. The Care Com-
mittees, of course, complain a good deal about the class of the
films. For instance, the children are left to guess a good deal
about the films. The films I have in my mind are mostly love
stories and questions dealing with seduction.
8. REV. CAREY BONNER. You say they did not like the middle
lot of films ? Well, they cheered Charlie Chaplin. I might say
that the mothers complain that the children will do anything to
get money to go to the cinemas, even to the extent of pilfering.
I have distinct evidence of that.
9. SIR JOHN KIRK. Do the teachers complain of the conduct
of the children next day ? Yes, they complain very much. They
say it takes their minds off their work.
10. MR. LAMERT. You will admit that children have to have
a certain amount of recreation. Now do you take exception to
this form of recreation, or do you think they have too much ?
I think they have too much. You see, there is a great deal of
recreation for children nowadays.
11. Do you think that is a correct statement. In y6ur district
do you think there are enough play centres for the children to
attend? No, I do not think so.
12. Take the case of Greenwich, where there are no play
centres? Then they are tempted to go to the cinemas. There
is no alternative, I am afraid, and I cannot suggest any.
13. Supposing the cinemas were regulated so that the children
do not get an excessive amount, do you think there would then
be anyharm in the cinemas ? It is a question of degree.
14. DR. MARIE STOPES. Take the case of perhaps ten people
in one or two rooms, can the children see anything at the
cinemas which they are not already acquainted with at their own
homes ? No, perhaps not, but it might impress them more at the
cinemas.
15. Do you think in homes like that the children are given
the money for cinemas which ought to go in boots and food?
No, I think not. But down there now they are practically
wealthy.
16. You think the attitude of the mother is to give the children
as much enjoyment as possible in spite of what the effect might
be on the child's life ? Yes ; and the poor mother is very pleased
to have the cinema to send the children to.
17. DR. KIMMINS. And the Care Committees would be sorry
to see the cinema go ? Yes ; but we think there should be more
care in the selection of the pictures.
18. THE CHAIRMAN. In regard to the Play Centres there is a
certain amount of discipline there ? Yes.
19. Is it not rather natural for the child and perhaps for the
grown-up to get away to something where there is not quite so
much discipline? Yes; probably the'y do enjoy it where there
is no discipline.
MR. WILKINSON'S EVIDENCE 213
20. Do you think that if the cinema was properly conducted
it would be hurtful to the child's life ? Well, we say in the medical
inspections that it is hurtful to the eyes. We also think they do
see a great deal they ought not to see.
21. Supposing there was a control of these places, could not
the cinema be more helpful for the child ? It could be.
STATEMENT OF MR. J. BROOKE WILKINSON
Secretary to the British Board of Film Censors
PRECIS
I HAVE been associated with the cinematograph industry, in
one way or another, for over twenty years. Having regard to a
certain class of film which was being introduced from Germany,
the trade early in 1910 considered the question of censorship. .
On November 1, 1912, Mr. Redford was appointed as President
of the Board of Censors, which Board commenced active duties
on January 1, 1913, Mr. Redford having nominated four examiners,
who were in no way, directly or indirectly, connected with the
trade.
As the Board has no statutory powers, it was decided, in order
to assist to make its work effective, to issue a certificate to those
exhibitors who only showed censored films. A parchment certificate
was prepared (Exhibit A) which could be displayed in the theatres,
but the scheme proved ineffective. The licensing authorities
were then approached, and of them, so far as can be ascertained,
between forty and fifty have shown their confidence in the censor-
ship by making a rule that only such films as have been passed
by the Board are to be exhibited in the halls under their juris-
diction.
At the commencement of the censorship, what are known as
" topical " films were not included in the scheme ; but in August
1914 a report became current to the effect that the exhibition
of any film subject dealing with the war would be prohibited.
After qareful consideration, it became apparent that such a course
would be unwise and against the general interest. Consequently,
it was decided to take every possible step to deal with the situation
that had arisen, and after consultation with the Home Office,
it was considered that the Board would best serve the interests
of the community generally by amending its policy so far as
topical films were concerned. With the approval of the Home
-Office and the Press * Bureau, it was ultimately arranged that
topical films relating to the war should be censored. The
manufacturers of such films realised the necessity for censorship,
and the question of films dealing in any way with the European
crisis has been dealt with to the apparent satisfaction of the
authorities.
214
FILM STATISTICS
The following table gives a summary of the amount of film dealt
with by the Board from its inception to December 31, 1916.
Year
Amount of Film
Examined (Feet)
No. of
Subjects
Passed Universal
Exhibition
Passed with
" A " Certificate
Rejected
1913
7,628,931
7,488
6,861
627
22
1914
6,881,614
6,282
5,866
416
13
1915
6,273,924
4,767
4,395
372
22
1916
7,061,681
5,334
4,430
904
25
During 1913 exception was taken to 166 films, in 1914 to 148, in 1915 to
214, and in 1916 to 502, on various grounds. 1
In 1915 the Board was asked to assist the War Office in the
matter of the censorship of films intended for export, and in this
connection it was felt that the Board would be acting not only
in the interests of the trade, but also in the interests of the State
in undertaking the work required. One of the conditions of
every licence issued by the Privy Council is that each film must
be submitted and sealed by the Board prior to exportation. This
seal, attached to the tins, serves to show the Customs authorities
or the postal censors, as the case may be, that the films have been
submitted to and sanctioned for exportation by the Board. The
following table shows the amount and value of the films dealt
with from April 1 to December 31, 1916.
Africa .
America
Asia
Australasia
Europe .
Amount in feet.
2,759,470 ,
5,414,206
6,301,879
3,934,299
11,445,044
Value.
s.
24,382 11
86,063 10
40,389 14
56,110 11
204,165 6
Early in its career the Board was instrumental in eliminating
from the screen pictures of an objectionable nature, but there
has been a growing tendency, on the introduction of the longer
films, to develop stories turning on sexual relations, some of which
have been very daring in their conception, and a very definite
line of action had to be taken. In this connection, the publica-
tion of films based on books of a doubtful nature led to mis-
conception on the part of the public, as the films, as finally passed
by the Board, bore no relation in character to the books in question.
The Board has also suffered in the eyes of the public on many
occasions on account of the character of the posters and literature
advertising the films, giving altogether a distorted impression
of the actual treatment of the subject. In consequence of this,
it was decided last year that the Board should undertake the
censorship of cinematograph posters, but owing to the proposal
1 Far too numerous in range for individual characterisation.
BOARD OF FILM CENSORS 215
of an official censorship by the Home Office, the matter has not
been carried into effect.
The Board has been encouraged and fortified in its work by the
expressions of approval from the Home Office, and the recognitions
from the Home Secretary of the usefulness of the work accomplished.
Similar recognition has also been made, amongst others, by the
War Office, the Admiralty, and many licensing authorities.
The work of the Board must not only be judged by the films
which have actually been passed, but also by what has been
eliminated and rejected, together with the influence which has
been brought to bear on the producers and importers to dis-
courage the many subjects which were considered altogether
unsuitable for exhibition in this country.
In certain quarters there appears to be a feeling that the Board
simply examines films from the standpoint of immorality and
indecency. It cannot too emphatically be denied that this is not
so, as may be seen from the list of exceptions taken to films during
the past four years.
In several cases, the Board has anticipated the action which
authorities eventually deemed necessary; for instance, by subjects
tending to familiarise the public with the " drug " habit; dealing
with inflammatory treatment of the relations between Capital and
Labour; subjects calculated to hurt the feelings of our fellow-
citizens in the East, and other subjects associated with the war.
Mr. Redford, after a long and serious illness, passed away at
the beginning of November last year, and the trade secured the
services of Mr. T. P. O'Connor, M.P., as President of the Board,
who began his duties on 1st January, 1917.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. J. BROOKE WILKINSON. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. Will you describe to me the British Board
of Film Censors ? The question of the censorship has been con-
sidered by the trade since early in 1910. The matter was first
introduced owing to the fact of certain German films coming into
this country which were considered to be daring. That was in
1908 or 1909. This matter was considered by the manufacturers
of films, and it was felt that something should be done to keep
control of the type of film which was then being introduced from the
Continent, and on November 1, 1911, the matter really took more
or less tangible form. Censorship was formally introduced to the
trade and a long discussion took place. Early in 1912 a resolution
was passed in favour of an independent Board of Censorship, as
it was felt by the trade that it was time to have an independent
Board established which should be absolutely impartial and in-
dependent. The matter was considered for some considerable
time, and in October 1912 a report was submitted and received to
carry the proposal into effect. On November 1 Mr. Redford was
appointed as Censor of Films by the trade. I can assure you
216 APPOINTMENT OF CENSORS
the censorship has been carried on since its inception with absolute
impartiality and has been absolutely independent. If it had not
been so Mr. Redford would not have remained in office. Mr. Red-
ford and myself have on several occasions gone before licensing
authorities when the question of censorship was under discussion.
The trade have co-operated with Mr, Redford in every possible
way, and no request has been made for the decision of the Censor
to be altered.
2. MONSIGNOR BROWN. What were the terms of the appoint-
ment of the censor ? Mr. Redford was appointed for a year,
but if a Government censorship was established it was understood
that the appointment should lapse. Just about the time the trade
was considering this question of censorship Mr. McKenna, the
Home Secretary, asked for a deputation from the trade in order
to consider this very matter, and he was then told that the trade
was considering the censorship, and that they were about to appoint
an independent censor. Mr. McKenna said that he would smile
on the proposal, and there is no denying the fact that the Home
Office assisted us materially in the early days.
3. What distinction do you make between a dependent and
an independent censorship ? To my mind the word independent
implies this : whatever decision the censor may give, the trade
honourably abides by that decision.
4. DR. KIMMINS. Then Mr. Redford's appointment, when
did that come up for renewal? As a matter of fact, after the
first year he went on. He was not reappointed.
5. THE CHAIRMAN. He was liable to go ? Yes. Very possibly
if Mr. Redford had undertaken censorship duties in a manner
which was absolutely silly, the trade would not have put up
with it.
6. THE SECRETARY. Is it a clean and open censorship; as
clean as a Court of Justice? Absolutely.
7. Had Mr. Redford any financial interest in the trade ? Not
the slightest.
8. Can you tell us how he came to be appointed ? The question
of the appointment of a censor was naturally a very difficult
matter for the trade. Two or three names were suggested, but
Mr. Redford had been, up to a few months previously, Examiner
of Plays under the Lord Chamberlain, and it was felt that he was
just the person to examine films if his services could be obtained.
He was approached by a person who had never met him before.
We made it a rule that none of the examiners must have any
interest in the trade.
9. And they have none ? Absolutely none. The Home Office
was satisfied with the proposal, and said that if things were done
on the lines suggested, they would no doubt allay the present
criticism.
10. THE CHAIRMAN. But there are parts of the trade who
do not have their films censored ? That is not a very considerable
proportion. The amount of film censored is about 97 per cent,
of the output.
MR. MASSEY'S EVIDENCE 217
11. Will you tell me why the percentage of films to which
exception was taken in 1916 is more than double the percentage
of the films of the previous year ? Well, there is no doubt that
the type of film now is very different to what it was in the old
days. There is a difference in the class of subject produced.
12. W r ould any objection be taken to having the films marked
" Suitable for children " ? I think there would be some objection,
as the audience would think it \vas a children's performance. I will
say that there are no films passed for universal exhibition, to my
mind, that I dare not show in a Sunday school. You will see
that in 1916 the number of films which were reconsidered is
higher than in any previous years.
13. Do you think the films which are not passed by the Board
become popular in some districts for that reason? That was so
in a case four years ago. There was a film advertised, " This film
has not been passed by the British Board of Film Censors," but
I have not heard of anything for a considerable time. It seems
to me they found it did not pay. No film which has been re-
jected by us has been put on the screen, although attempts have
been made to do so. In certain cases we have had the good-will
of the Home Office and the co-operation of the licensing authorities
throughout the country, which has diminished any prospect of a
profit if the film were shown without a certificate.
14. How many manufacturers at the present moment do not
send their films to the censor? At the present moment there is
only one, but he has now promised to send in his films.
15. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Was "- -" passed by the
censor ? Yes ; we had to consider whether we should be influenced
by something which was not on the screen, whether we should,
in fact, become censors of literature or whether we should keep
entirely to films. After certain eliminations, there was nothing
objectionable in that film. You see, this film, like " ,"
had behind it a certain reputation in the form of a book. I know
of no instance of a film which has had a lot of money spent on it
having different measure meted out because of that fact. All
films are treated on their merits. I might say we have had
representatives of the American censors over here to study our
methods, and they have adopted some of our ideas.
STATEMENT OF MR. JOHN MASSEY
PRECIS
I AM the Court Missionary and Probation Officer of the Old
Street Police Court, having occupied these posts for the last
twenty-seven years.
The adult court comprises Shoreditch, Hoxton, St. Luke's,
Bethnal Green, Spitalfields, Old Ford and parts of Whitechapel
and Bow.
The juvenile court embraces the Thames Police Court, the North
London Court and the Old Street Court.
218 JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
The population of these districts might be classified as follows
(a) A few middle-class.
(b) Poor.
(c) Very poor.
(d) Criminal.
(e) Hebrew.
There is a large population of children in the district, and nearly
all the boys and girls go out to work at the age of fourteen.
The average home conditions are bad, and, in some parts,
very bad. In a very large number of cases entire families live
in one and two rooms.
There are a good many picture palaces in the district, though
some have closed since the war began. These houses seem
generally clean, well-kept and ventilated during the day. They
are very well attended, and the level of behaviour maintained is
good. It is rare to hear of disorder except at some of the picture
houses. The audiences comprise many mothers with their chil-
dren not so many fathers since the war but many soldiers on
leave and others who have been wounded attend them. These
audiences are representative of those who live in the neighbourhood.
The factory lads and lasses attend in great numbers.
I consider the entertainments are a great improvement on the
old penny gaff, .the old music hall and club entertainments,
particularly in view of the fact that there is no drinking
permitted.
As regards juvenile crime, I should say there has been a large
increase in the number of children charged, but I do not agree
that there has been a large increase of crime. Many children
have been picked up in the streets by school officers and charged
with being found wandering; also more mothers have charged
their children with being beyond control, and with petty thefts
from home a practice which should be deprecated. It is absurd
that children of eight or ten years of age should be beyond control.
I admit that the absence of the fathers at the war has had much
to do with this, and, in some cases, the want of tact on the part
of the street school officers. The lists of juvenile offences have
been greatly swelled by this kind of charge.
So far as the influence of the cinema on juvenile crime is con-
cerned, there have been very few cases where it has been strictly
proved that the offence was the result of the influence of the
picture houses ; but to my knowledge I have never heard it said
in this court that the defendants had been led to do it by " seeing
it on the cinema." It is frequently stated by school officers
that the children have been to the picture palace. It has been a
statement merely, and these statements are not taken too seriously.
Sometimes these statements have- been suggested by others, but
it is evidence on oath that decides the case. These other state-
ments are made not on oath, but when the officer is asked for
particulars of the home and school life of the boys and girls in
question after the evidence has been taken. That is how we hear
CINEMA AND THE POOR 219
so much of the picture palaces when thefts have taken place.
Sweets, cigarettes,' tram rides, music halls, as well as picture
palaces are the reasons frequently given for stealing.
The films chiefly complained of, crime and " crook " films,
have, in my opinion, little if anything to do with the increase in
juvenile crime. Let any keen observer attend a cinema when a
" crook " film and detective story is shown and listen to the
children's cheers when the " crook " has been run to earth and
punished. To my mind the effect is neutral, if anything, and
almost forgotten in the pictures that follow. The children of
this district could learn little, if anything, about crime from such
films. They see and learn very much more in their miserable
so-called homes, and sometimes in the places of detention. They
recount to one another their exploits.
In my judgment it would be a great blow to my neighbourhood
if the cinemas were suppressed, or closed against the children.
Just imagine what the cinemas mean to tens of thousands of
poor children herded together in one room to families living in
one house, six or eight families under, the same roof. For a few
hours at the picture house at the corner they can find breathing
space, warmth, music (the more music the better), and the pictures,
where they can have a real laugh, a cheer and sometimes a shout.
Who can measure the effect on their spirits and body?
To be able to make the poor pinched-faced, half- clad, and
half-nourished boys and girls in the crowded slums in cities forget
their pain and misery and their sad lot is a great thing, and the
pictures do it.
You could not get these children to anything else except in
the case of a few to whom a club or a school would appeal. To
my mind the picture palace is, and can be made increasingly so,
a wonderful counter-attraction to the public- house. It is much
better that the parents should be with their children at the picture
palace instead of at the public-house.
What is there to hinder the cinema from becoming the best
night school or social club? Why should not the school teacher
bfc used for this purpose and give appropriate lessons from the
films on certain nights? Why should not the influence of the
London County Council be brought to bear on them and introduce
singers, glee parties and lecturers into the cinemas ? Why should
the parson and the district visitor hold aloof? Those who have
the least knowledge of the habits, the difficulties and the squalid
lives of these one and two-roomed tenants talk the most foolish
things against the cinema. Why should not district visitors who
hold Mothers' Meetings take them once a week to the pictures ?
Why should not the parson meet the street crowds in his district
(those who never darken the door of his church or chapel), at
the pictures one night a week and say a word on the subject of
the films preferably on a Sunday night ? What is needed to-day
is real, first-hand knowledge of the conditions in which the poor
live. Lack of this is the explanation of so much silly talk about
pictures being harmful.
220 CRIME AND INDECENCY
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. JOHN MASSEY. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. You seem in absolute agreement with Mr.
Barnett over this .cinema question ? Yes.
2. Now with regard to juvenile crime, will you tell me what you
think about that matter ? I think the cinema has ' very little effect
on juvenile crime. This is caused by the receivers of stolen
property, and quite young people go to them.
3. Do you hear the excuse when children are brought up that
they " saw it in a cinema " ? No, never once. I have never
heard it, and I have attended every children's court.
4. And you think from the point of view of health that the
cinema is a better place to be in than some of these children's
homes? In many cases, much better, and I would be very sorry
to see the cinema closed. I have been trying to imagine the
district of Hoxton or Whitechapel during this war, with the
dark nights, what it would have been like without the picture
palaces to brighten up the children's lives. The public-house
proprietors have made a complaint that the picture palaces have
interfered with the takings, and one man told me that he lost
from 15 to 20 a week.
5. Do you think the cinema can be made educational in up-
lifting the general life of the child ? I think so ; I think if the day
school teachers were to take their classes once a week to the cinema
and get the children next day to write an essay on what they saw
of the film, and offer them a prize, I think that would be excellent.
I have not seen anything to object to on the film, and I do not
think that undesirable women go to the cinema in my district for
the purpose of soliciting or getting into touch with other people.
6. You have not come across any case in your children's court
when a boy has been brought up charged with molesting or doing
anything indecent to a girl ? During four years we have had one
charge of indecent assault at a cinema. It was about 1911, and
I think it was only an attempt to put his hands up a little child's
clothes. I might point out we have had more charges of indecency
taking place in open spaces than in the cinemas. I should like
to see travelling cinemas which could visit every village once a
week, so that the children of those villages could be allowed to
write essays for which prizes would be given. I think this can be
done commercially, or by the public school authorities.
MR. PASCALL'S EVIDENCE 221
FOURTEENTH DAY
Monday, April 16, 1917,
The BISHOP OF BIRMINGHAM in the chair.
STATEMENT OF MR. CHARLES PASCALL
Chairman and Managing Director of Pascalls Ltd. and other Com-
panies, Billposting Contractors ; Past President of the London
Billposters' 1 Protection Association and of the United Billposters'
Association, and ex-Mayor of the Borough of Hammersmith.
PRECIS
In 1891, when the present London Billposters' Association was
formed, provision was made for the formation of a Censorship
Committee.
Subsequently, the Censorship Committee became a Joint Com-
mittee of the London and United Billposters' Associations, having
also upon it representatives of the Poster Printers' Association,
the Theatrical Managers' Association and Touring Managers'
Association. The decisions of this Censorship Commitee are acted
upon by billposters throughout the United Kingdom and prac-
tically by the theatrical interests.
The broad principles on which the Committee have acted are
that nothing should be exhibited upon the hoardings depicting
murder, acts of violence, or which, in the opinion of the Committee,
was calculated to demoralise, or could be held to excuse or extenuate
crime or incite to its commission, or which depicted obscenity or
nudity.
Certain religious subjects which might give offence, subjects
calculated to wound the susceptibilities of foreign peoples, or
members of religious bodies, or calculated to ferment social unrest,
are also objected to.
The result of the Committee's work soon became manifest, in-
asmuch as the class of poster printed became less and less open to
objection. Printers and advertisers had become aware of the
general lines upon which the billposting trade had dealt with
objectionable posters, and besides largely avoiding objectionable
features, rapidly improved the general tone and artistic design
in poster production. Consequently the posters which the Censor-
ship Committee had to deal with gradually became less and less.
With the advent of the cinema, the number of sensational and
objectionable posters again increased, most of them coming from
abroad, and as a result the work of the Committee for a time
considerably increased.
Strong exception was in some instances taken by proprietors
of cinema posters to what they termed the interference of the
billposting trade. However, for some time past the proprietors
222 OBJECTIONABLE POSTERS
of films and cinema halls, and also printers of film posters, have
seen the force of our objections.
Much of the adverse criticism to which the billposting trade
has been subjected has been occasioned by the general, but errone-
ous, impression that the billposter was responsible for the cinema
posters. At first, the cinema halls did not use the hoardings to
any considerable extent, and even now some halls do not do so,
and posters that have been censored by the Billposters' Censorship
Committee and have been refused by the billposters have fre-
quently been displayed on cinema premises.
At the present time, however, objectionable cinema posters have
practically disappeared from billposters' hoardings throughout
the country, but not, unfortunately, from the private boards and
premises of some cinema proprietors. The continued exhibition
of these posters upon cinema premises caused complaint from local
authorities, societies and individuals.
Having regard to the latter fact, representations were made to
the cinema people who were invited to a conference with the bill-
posting trade, and who, when meeting, expressed their apprecia-
tion of the work of the Censorship Committee, and intimated that
they were in accord with the lines upon which the Committee
worked and the reasons by which they were actuated. They were
then invited to appoint representatives upon the Censorship
Committee, but possibly the appointment of this Commission has
delayed this.
One feels that there is generally a sincere desire on the part of
the cinema people not to use posters to which any reasonable
objection can be taken.
I understand that information is desired as to " whether objec-
tionable posters have been sent for display." As to this there
can be no question. It is not necessary to go through the. whole
of the posters that have been considered objectionable. I will,
therefore, only quote a few appearing between 1912 and 1916.
(A dozen examples given.)
The trade claims that the work of the Censorship Committee of
the past quarter of a century has not only had most excellent and
satisfactory results, but has done all that any officially appointed
censorship could have done if not more.
The trade has established a precedent which might well be
followed by other trades. The success which has attended their
efforts has met with the approval of numerous councils, societies
and others. Mr. Herbert Samuel (late Home Secretary), recently
stated
" It was greatly to the credit of the trade that they should
have taken up the attitude which they have for many years
past and endeavour to exercise an effective control over the
posters put on walls. Posters have a very great influence
on the public life and character. The public ought to be
grateful to the deputation for having done their best to see
that nothing really offensive to public 'taste was accepted.
MR. PASC ALL'S EVIDENCE 223
It was mainly owing to them that it had not been found neces-
sary for the Government to take any measures with regard
to the general control of hoardings throughout the country.
Some of the posters advertising cinema plays have given a
deal of offence here and there, and many of them were of an
ultra-sensational character and had a bad effect on young
people. There are also the posters (over which the Billposting
Trade had no control) which are on the premises of the cinema
theatres themselves."
Under these circumstances and in view of the practical experi-
ence I have had inthe past, I am convinced that there is no need
or necessity for any official censorship of cinema posters, arid that
it is only a matter of time, and a very short time, when the posters
advertising the cinema will be brought into line with those of the
theatre, and that there will be very little in the near future for the
present Censorship Committee or indeed any other Censorship
Committee to do in the matter of censoring posters.
Even if the cinema proprietors or the cinema exhibitors formed
a Censorship Committee of their own, or some other method of
censoring cinema posters were established, the billposter, who is
in a somewhat similar position to the proprietor and publisher of
a newspaper, must have the last word as to what could or should
not be exhibited on his hoardings, both in his own interest as well
as that .of the public and because some other committee or body
had passed a poster, it would not follow that our Censorship
Committee would refrain from censoring it.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. CHARLES PASCALL. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. Might I ask you to tell us the exact powers
of the Billposters' Protection Association and the limitations of
those powers? The London Billposters' Protection Association
deals with the membership of London and, roughly, twelve miles
round, and practically embraces every billposting firm of any
standing. It is a limited company trading under a special permit
of the Board of Trade, without profit, and it is not in any sense a
trade union. It has no absolute legal control over its members,
but practically it has a control to which members agree to submit ;
it is purely voluntary.
2. What disadvantage would there be to any one who says he
will have nothing to do with the Association ? I am not aware
that there are any particular disadvantages, but the advantages
of belonging to a protection society are almost self-evident.
3. Have you a legal fund? No; levies are made from time
to time.
4. With regard to the censoring of posters. Over a building
which is used for purposes of public display of any kind, you have
a control ? Actually no control in this sense. We could not say
224 CENSORSHIP COMMITTEE
to the people, " You must not put that bill up " ; but the fact
of our having a control over our posters to a very large extent
gives the control over all others. This Censorship Committee of
ours has grown and has been recognised by many bodies. Years
ago when the Censorship Committee began its work with the theatri-
cal posters that had its effect, because owing to the justices calling
attention to the exhibition of posters, the theatrical people saw
it was no use putting up certain bills. Then, in addition to that,
the printers themselves are more particular with regard to the
printing of posters, because there is a practical standard set up
which it is to their interest to follow, and the same thing is coming
about now with regard to the cinemas. If we live long enough
the cinema people will see that they must not issue things which
have been banned.
5. There is the temptation that when they find the Billposters'
Association Censorship Committee saying " We won't put these
things up," they might say, " We can get them put up over our
own premises " ? It is extremely limited, and I doubt whether
it would be done very much. I have brought here copies of some
of the posters which have been condemned by us.
6. Your Censorship Committee is composed of members of your
Association only? No, it represents the theatrical interests and
the printers, but the billposter's interest is the paramount interest.
7. Are you sufficiently in touch with this Censorship Committee
yourself to be able to say whether these pictures you exhibit were
condemned because of their lurid unpleasantness or anything
indecent in them ? I do not think that any of these pictures
are banned on the grounds of indecency, but suggestiveness
undoubtedly.
8. With regard to the cinema trade generally, you are getting
into close touch with them ? We are, and we desire to get even
closer. We wrote to two of the organisations not long ago on this
matter, and the result was we had a very representative meeting
of cinema proprietors and renters, and they all testified to the
immense amount of good we had done. They are in hopes that
we can come into line, and the proposal was made that they should
consider the advisability of appointing so many people to go on
the Censorship Committee.
9. PRINCIPAL GARVIE. Would not the poster occasionally be
very much more lurid than the film itself ? Undoubtedly.
10. Have the cinema proprietors got hoardings of their own
apart from the buildings or the hoardings which are under your
control ? To a very limited extent there are some, but not in the
sense you can call hoardings.
11. So that objectionable posters would be confined to the
cinema? That is so.
12. Supposing this Commission were to advise the appointment
of an Advisory Council to act with the Censor of Films, would
your Censorship Committee be prepared to co-operate in any way
with any such Advisory Committee that might be dealing with the
films? That was foreshadowed very strongly by Mr. Samuel.
MR. HILL'S EVIDENCE 225
Personally, I do not think there is any necessity for it. I think
that with proper safeguards we might be disposed to agree, but
there must always be this factor : that even if they had agreed
not to condemn a poster, we must, as an association, exercise our
rights of refusing the poster.
13. Such a Committee might be helpful to you in doubtful
cases ? I think the people can keep their own house in order, if
they please, very much better than anybody else.
14. Do the police exercise any sort of control over the posters
exhibited? In London, no, but in some parts of the country
they do.
15. Have you had any complaints from the police authorities
about posters which have passed your censorship? No, but we
have had commendation from the authorities.
16. MONSIGNOR BROWN^ What would be your action if the
printers issued to the cinema proprietors for posting on their
hoardings posters which you would refuse on your own hoard-
ings ? That has been done, but the licensing authorities now have
power to deal with that matter.
17. Say ten posters are issued, nine of which you have no objec-
tion to, but the tenth you refuse, and it is posted by the cinema
proprietor on his own display board in front of his hall : would
you take any notice of that ? We have no power to take action,
but we would very probably write to him and call his attention
to it.
18. THE CHAIRMAN. What is meant is, that a man deliberately
flouts your powers. Cannot you take drastic action in regard
to that ? My answer is, that we have had no instance of that
kind.
19. DR. SALEEBY. On what grounds are some of these pictures
objected to ? On the grounds that they would be repulsive. We
have also refused to exhibit posters in two forms : one is Christ
on the Cross, and the other is the Salvation Army figure of Christ
used as a poster for their appeal in Self-Denial Week. We ieel
that these subjects are not subjects which should be on a hoarding.
MR. JOHN HILL. Examined.
20. THE CHAIRMAN. You are the Managing Director of Shef-
fields, Ltd., Birmingham, and its subsidiary companies, and a
Past President of the United Billposters' Association. Does that
cover the whole of London ? The whole of the provinces, but not
London.
21. What you would like in dealing with posters is, that a sample
of each objectionable poster should be sent to your Committee ?
Our Censorship Committee are competent to deal with any poster,
and their decisions have been adhered to by the general bill-
posting trade throughout the country.
22. Then you suggest that the cinematograph exhibitors should
accept the suggestions of your censorship? That is a matter
purely between ourselves and the trade.
226 MR. McCOWEN'S EVIDENCE
23. Altogether you are strongly opposed to any additional
censorship beyond that which at present is exercised? We feel
we have been doing this work for a large number of years, and our
experience is, that we are better able to do it than any public official
that might be appointed. Our general knowledge and intercourse
with the public is such that it would be very difficult to get another
committee together such as we have, and with such experience.
There is not one trade represented upon the Committee, but four.
We have the billposters, the printers, and the theatrical people so
far, and we are getting the cinema people. There are a variety
of interests, you see, and the four should be able to arrive at
something better than any public official.
24. A poster is put where every one must see it. People have
to go in to see the film ? We recognise that the hoardings must
be safeguarded, and we have done what we can to safeguard them.
We are quite satisfied that the work we are doing is efficiently
done, and we have already satisfied the Home Secretary on that
point. If we can see a way of dealing with this question of censor-
ship, we are quite open to consider any point which may arise.
As far as the posters go, our Censorship Committee take the
greatest care that no bill shall go out which will offend either child
or man.
25. MR. NEWBOULD. Do you consider a voluntary trade cen-
sorship is far more severe than an official censorship? I won't
say severer ; it is more intelligent.
ME. OLIVER H. McCowEN, B.A. Examined.
26. THE CHAIRMAN. You are practically the head of the
Y.M.C.A. in France, and only arrived from France this morning ?
Yes.
27. Will you tell us something about the cinema over there
amongst our troops ? We have sixteen or seventeen cinemas in
France. We have large wooden halls that hold about 1000
men, and they run the cinema performances six nights a week,
but not on Sundays. All the takings from these cinemas, after
paying expenses, we devote to a farm colony in Dorset for disabled
soldiers. The men pay for admission twenty-five centimes, the
non-commissioned officers fifty centimes, and the officers one
franc.
28. Will you tell us the kind of things you have on the film ?
Pretty much the ordinary kind of film.
29. Charlie Chaplin ? Oh yes, he is the most popular man in
France. Then we have noticed that the cinema in France makes
a very remarkable contribution to the behaviour and morale of
the troops. I have repeatedly had testimony from Town Majors
arid men in charge of the discipline of the various places, that the
opening of one of these cinemas in a town has meant an immediate
diminution, amounting in some cases to fifty per cent, in drunken-
ness and crime. In one town at the northern end of our line we
CINEMAS AT THE FRONT 227
opened a cinema. The drunks there had been 100 a night, and
the Town Major told me that the night we opened this went down
to sixteen, and they have not gone up to twenty-five. In another
town, not twenty miles from that, the Town Major said it meant
an immediate diminution of crime to the extent of 50 per cent.
In our large reinforcement camps where the men are sometimes
for three weeks or a month with nothing to do, it is the greatest
boon in the world for them to get in and have a real good laugh
and spend a pleasant hour without the drink. Then in every
programme we have a film of an instructive or scientific character.
The performances last about one and'a half hours.
30. Do the soldiers take to the instructive film ? They do not
like it very much, but we insist on it, as you see we are in the happy
position out there that they have nowhere else to go. We have a
number of religious films, but they are not popular because they
have not been properly produced.
31. Is there any improvement you would like to see in the
cinema? Yes, with regard to the films I think the tone of them
might be higher. A lot of them are very silly, and the plots in
the dramas of the Wild West are very obvious from the begin-
ning. Then, again, we have music in some of the places where
there are small orchestras played by the men. The films are
selected by a man who used to be with us. In the first place we
purchased 400 or 500 worth, but they got out of shape and got
ruined, so we find it is better to hire them.
32. Have you tried applying to the great cinema industry itself
to make you a grant of the films ? Quite recently I wrote round to
practically all the big companies in London ; and the reply was, that
there was a difficulty in getting the films back from France, with
the result that they found it was not practicable to send the films
over.
33. Is your audience very critical ? No ; they are very appre-
ciative. We also have travelling cinemas which perform in barns
and big buildings like that.
34. Have you seen anything produced in the cinema under your
direction which you think could lead anybody to think that crime
was a desirable occupation ? No, I am bound to say I have not.
All our films are censored by the Secretary in the particular districts
in which they are to be produced.
35. REV. F. SPURR. Is the magic lantern with the lectures very
popular ? Yes, it is very popular, and I think the reason is, that
the lantern lecturer insists upon an effort of memory, and he
explains the pictures as they appear.
36. THE CHAIRMAN. t)o you get as large an audience for the
magic lantern as for the cinematograph ? Every bit ; but that
is, of course, because they have nowhere else to go.
37. And there is real gratitude for the cinema out there at the
Front ? Yes, and the authorities help us all they can.
228 REV. W. E. SOOTHILL'S EVIDENCE
STATEMENT OF THE REV. W. E. SOOTHILL, M.A.,
Religious Work Secretary, Y.M.C.A.
I have obtained the views of some of those members of the
Y.M.C.A. who have had personal experience of the running of
cinemas, and the evidence I have selected is that of three members
of our staff who are able to speak from three different standpoints.
One of them, whom I will style " C," has had a great deal to do
with the cinema in a large central building, both before and since
the outbreak of war. Another, whom I will style " O," has con-
siderable knowledge of educational films along a special line. The
third, whom I am styling " M," has gained his experience in a
large camp, where he has established and run a most successful
cinema for the soldiers. I have taken the evidence of these three
as typical of that which the Y.M.C.A. is able to supply.
Eight questions were issued, and those questions with the answers
received from the three sources already indicated, are given below.
Question 1. Have you found educational features specially
appeal to audiences ?
44 C " says Yes ! so long as they have been interspersed with
films of an entirely different character.
44 O " says Yes ! especially where lecturers were in attendance
giving more detailed descriptions than could be given in the
printed sections of the films. The public want more of this.
44 M " says In an audience composed entirely of soldiers we
have found that films dealing with naval or military matters have
been decidedly appreciated.
Films showing men in action at the Front or actual fighting are
not liked ; but films dealing with transport of troops, distribution
of letters at the Front, military supplies, ceremonies, parades,
military engineering works, the making of munitions, etc., are liked.
Films dealing with travel, animal life, insect life, take a second
place in the men's interest ; but there is a distinct liking for films
which show horses, monkeys, dogs and in fact any animals who
have been cleverly trained and can do clever tricks.
We have found that films which show life under the sea are also
liked. There is an intense appreciation for films dealing with
submarines ; or films which show life in coalmines, fire stations,
quarries, diamond-mines, naval dockyards, boys' naval training-
ships. Films showing rough seas, storms, effective sunrise or
Sunset scenes are also liked.
Films having anything to do with aeroplanes, airships, or in-
teresting machinery are also appreciated.
Question 2. Is there a demand for vulgar films ?
44 C." No. They are just tolerated.
44 O." Yes, as there is a certain demand for vulgar books and
many other things.
44 M." A certain section of a military audience will laugh and
apparently enjoy a vulgar film, but if vulgar films are not shown
the fact is certainly never commented on, nor does one ever receive
VULGAR FILMS 229
a request to show any questionable film one of the men might
know of.
It is advisable for the person in charge where possible to see
the programme through himself before it is shown publicly to the
men. Occasionally one finds that a certain scene in a film, whilst
it was never intended to be vulgar, will call forth some unnecessary,
rude remark from a noisy member of the audience ; and experience
teaches that it is advisable, where possible, for the manager of the
picture show simply to have the Offending portion of the film
temporarily cut out and then put back again when he despatches
the films to the agents.
No opportunity should be given which would tend to create a
dirty impression on a man's mind ; and occasionally, although it
might never have been intended by the film producer, some scenes
do produce an undesirable effect on a man's mind.
There is such an abundance of absolutely clean and intensely
interesting or comical film productions that it makes it at any
time absolutely unnecessary to show anything which is in the very
slightest way questionable. The whole tendency now-a-days, I
firmly believe, is for film productions to be cleaner, more interest-
ing, and at the same time instructive ; yet we find these very films
are not lacking in intensely exciting plots and features.
There is a distinct demand for dramatic films, but no call for
long-drawn-out deaths or suicides.
Question 3. How far can the cinema at present be used for
definitely religious purposes?
" C." The so-called religious film is a very doubtful quantity.
It leaves room for tremendous improvement and seems to be
received generally as a caricature. On the other hand, films of
national events from which lessons may be drawn are of undoubted
value, and I think that some of the booked films also lend them-
selves to a good story teller as a very great aid indeed in matters
religious.
" O." To an unlimited extent many an empty church might
be filled if it were equipped with a cinema or other means of ocular
demonstration for the purpose of illustrating the speaker's remarks,
and in my opinion every church should have one.
" M." The cinema hall, as a hall, is always a quite suitable place
for holding religious meetings either on week-days or more par-
ticularly on Sundays. This does not mean that cinematograph
pictures need necessarily be. included, but it has been found from
experience that the inclusion of same results in crowded houses.
And it is perhaps a matter of personal opinion whether we ought
to consider that offering the men a free cinematograph show on
Sunday evening along with a short definite religious service is a
legitimate and recommendable policy.
It is important, however, to let the men know definitely what
they are to expect, i.e. a religious service at the end of the cinema
picture. From experience it has been found that the men do not
go out after the picture is finished, but that they stay, with very
few exceptions, to the religious meeting. On the other hand,
230 RELIGIOUS ASPECTS
suitable films can be procured which lend themselves as a suitable
subject for a lecture or a distinctly religious address actually given
whilst the film is being shown. Existing films treating Biblical
subjects are not recommended ; but films adapted from the works
of well-known authors of fiction are procurable. These pictures
are always popular, and result in a large demand by the men for
books from the Y.M.C.A. library of the same title as the film.
Such films as " The Sign of the Cross," " The Eternal City," " The
Rosary," "Quo Vadis ? " " Jane Shore," "In the Ranks," and
films of a similar nature have been tried with conspicuous success
for Sunday evening cinema shows.
The moral of the pictures is good, and I believe leaves a good
impression on the men.
We have tried the following arrangement, and it has met with
great success on Sunday evenings : A small military orchestra has
been in attendance, and has rendered first-class and quite suitable
Sunday music. A suitable film picture has been shown whilst the
orchestra has played. This film might last one hour; then the
distinctly religious address has been given, and the " house " has
closed with a hymn and prayer.
This arrangement has been gone through twice in the one even-
ing. In a case of this sort, of course, no admission charge is made.
When an admission charge has been made, the following arrange-
ment we consider has been a suitable one, and has certainly been
greatly appreciated by the audience. Special attention has been
paid to ensure that really high-class music has been provided at
the same time as the pictures have been showing.
The programme would consist of, first, a short film of, say,
1000 feet, consisting of either topical news budget or a travel
subject, then a long suitable film (preferably one of J. D. Walker's
productions, which can always be relied on for Sunday shows) of
about 6000 feet in length. The Sunday show is then finished off
with a suitable sacred song by a lady or gentleman singer. This
would happen twice in the same evening.
Cinema shows meet a great need in camps where a great mass
of men are congregated. They make provision for the section of
men who will not under any circumstances attend church. If
these men did not attend the cinema show they would in the
majority of cases spend their time in their own huts or hanging
about the camp and public roads, thereby meeting temptation
which we are out to keep them from coming into contact with.
If every church or place of worship, every recreation hut or
room in and around the camp within a walking radius were packed
to overflowing with men attending service on any Sunday night,
there would still be a considerable number of men in the camp for
whom room could not possibly be found in these churches.
Cinemas on Sunday certainly do not encourage men to attend
church, but they certainly make provision for the man who does
not want to go to church, or who would never go to church, and
also for the man who for lack of accommodation could not get into
a church.
CENSORSHIP 231
I suggest that cinemas on Sunday could be made a means of
enabling men to spend their time, if not definitely profitably, at
least harmlessly. Moreover, Sunday cinemas can be made in-
structive as well as interesting. They can be used as a means to
an end.
Whilst the foregoing remarks may not apply to Sunday cinemas
in ordinary towns, I feel they are certainly applicable to Sunday
cinemas in military camps where vast numbers of men are gathered
together under unusual 'environment and conditions.
Question 4. Is the present Censorship of films satisfactory, or
is it necessary to apply a double censorship, that is, an additional
one of our own before films issued under the censorship can be
safely used ?
" C." I do not consider the present censorship of films any
censorship at all. It only cuts out the absolute lewd and stamps
things as being correct which are to say the least, extremely
vulgar as instance Charlie Chaplin films. There is no doubt in
my mind that it is absolutely necessary that a strict censorship
should be given by any Y.M.C.A. officer to all films proposed to be
screened. This is an exceptionally difficult matter. The method
we have adopted is to go to the firm of highest repute, tell them
exactly what we stand for, and ask them when supplying films to
always bear this in mind. The result has been that Gaumont's,
who have supplied us here, have made not more than two errors,
and these probably ninety per cent, of people would take no
objection to.
" O." No. A double censorship is strongly advisable.
" M " considers that he has replied in some measure in his
previous answer.
Question 5. Have you any suggestions to make in regard to a
more vigorous censorship ?
" C " is of opinion that a more vigorous censorship would ensure
better public results, and he considers that the Censor should have
the support of a Committee consisting of men representing educa-
tion, science and literature. He omits altogether a representation
of religion, which is probably not intentional.
" O " considers that a more vigorous censorship is necessary,
that the Censor should be appointed by the Government, and that
a fee should be charged for films submitted for approval.
" M " considers that he has answered this question in some
measure in his previous remarks.
Question 6. Can you speak of the general level of the public
cinema shows in your district or area ? Are they satisfactory ?
" C," who has been much occupied with his own work, says:
On the whole, I think this area is well served ; the films in the
majority of cases being of the highest possible order.
" O," who lives in the same area, says : Have not visited public
cinema shows since outbreak of war. Previously, the cinemas in
this area were not satisfactory.
" M " says: Experience suggests that the programmes provided
in the local cinemas are about the average as far as general level
282 SUNDAY OPENING
is concerned. They are certainly no worse than the usual picture
show in the town.
Programmes shown might be of a much better type, but as far
as I know nothing has been shown in these picture houses which
one might take public objection to.
Question 7. What has been the result of Sunday cinema ? Has
it prejudicially affected church attendance ? Is the tone of the
entertainment better than the week-day cinema. Has it been a
good or bad thing? Has it reduce'd the amount of Sunday
drinking, and the spending of time in places of less helpful
results ?
Personally, I strongly deprecate the Sunday cinema, as I do the
so-called Sunday sacred concert, but this is entirely a matter of
opinion. I am certain of one thing, namely, that it does pre-
judicially affect church attendance, especially on the part of young
men. As far as I am aware, the films featured on a Sunday are
the same as on other days no difference is made. I do not think
that its influence has been to reduce the amount of Sunday drink-
ing, inasmuch as the performances are continuous and give ample
time for any attender to make up for lost time.
" O." Fairly good. I do not believe church attendance has
been affected. Tone on Sunday same as week-day. More a good
thing than a bad thing. I believe it 'has reduced Sunday drinking
and attracted people from less desirable places.
" M " has been answered to some extent in my answer to ques-
tion No. 3, but I add the following
In my experience Sunday cinemas have not prejudicially affected
church attendance as far as we are concerned at this camp. The
Sunday cinema has helped the attendance of our Sunday evening
services tremendously. When the men leave the first house of
the cinema most of them come straight into our large recreation
hall adjoining the cinema hall, and the regular Sunday evening
service (7.30), conducted by a chaplain, then commences. The
same thing again happens with the men coming out of the next
house of the cinema at nine o'clock. Thus the great crowds which
are attracted by the cinema also afterwards attend the Sunday
evening service. Certainly the entertainment provided in the
cinema on Sunday is distinctly different in tone from the week-day
programme. Sunday cinema has been a distinctly good thing for
us and for the men. It has certainly reduced the amount of
Sunday gambling and Sunday drinking to a tremendous extent.
Question 8. What has been the effect of the cinema on boys
and younger people ? Is there anything in the police court reports
relative to the suggestion of crime in the young mind ?
I do not think that the effect of the. cinema on boys has been
more prejudicial than the fiction recommended for boys' reading.
It all depends upon the boy ; if he has a well-developed imagination,
both cinema and fiction will lead him into doing things over which
he can get into trouble.
" O." I do not think it has had a bad effect on boys. Cases
that have appeared in the police courts do not suggest to me that
INFLUENCES OF CINEMA 233
serious crimes have been committed as a result of young persons
frequenting cinemas.
" M." We do not admit boys under sixteen to the cinema at
any time, but to my mind, cinemas which cater for adults cannot
cater for the youthful mind. There should be a distinctly different
programme provided for young people, and generally speaking I
do not think it advisable for young people to be allowed to attend
and to see cinema programmes which are produced primarily with
the idea of appealing to the adult mind. The quantity of films
now obtainable which are specially suitable to be shown to children
is very big; suitable story films, instruction films, travel films and
news budgets only should, I think, be shown to children.
Some dramatic and detective films have, I think, a bad effect
on the youthful mind, whilst when shown to an adult the effect
produced is only one of interest and not of ill effect. Naturally,
there are exceptions even as to the result of showing certain films
to an adult; but I do not think many adult people are greatly
affected by what they see on the screen. I have known children
to be worked up to a most unhealthy state of excitement in viewing
films which to an adult produces little or no excitement. Therefore,
I say let us by all means have a special programme for children
and a special programme for adults. Notwithstanding all this,
many of the programmes shown to adults are quite suitable to be
shown to children, but this does not apply by any means to all
programmes which are shown.
I believe that an unsuitable picture shown to a boy or girl may
produce very wrong and unhappy results on a childish mind ; and
I cannot help but think that many of the crimes committed by
very young people could, if carefully looked into, be traced to the
result of seeing an unsuitable picture screened.
Concluding Remarks. The observations made above, whilst they
may apply to cinemas in military camps, may not all necessarily
apply to cinemas in town.
To my mind it is important and a great asset to provide high-
class orchestral music in the cinema.
It is important that the films should be clearly and steadily shown
on the screen.
A good light should be used, but not too brilliant a one.
Films which are old or scratched should not be tolerated for one
moment.
Films which are newly released from the producers should be
secured where possible. If this is done, although the cost is more,
the result will be (providing you have a good operator through
which to show your film) a creditable show.
If we are to run cinemas at all, I believe we should aim at using
the best mechanical equipment possible.
The initial cost is, of course, greater, but it pays in the long
run. A second-rate cinema projector, a second-rate light produc-
ing engine or dynamo, whilst it might enable you to show a picture
on the screen, only results in your picture being dazzling, alter-
nately brilliant and dull, unsteady, and a source of disappointment
234 MR. J. GRANT RAMSAY'S EVIDENCE
to your audience and discredit to the Y.M.C.A. Let us have the
best mechanical equipment, a good operator, and a good and suit-
able programme of fairly new films, and a hall well managed.
c
REV. W. E. SODTHILL, M.A. Examined.
THE CHAIRMAN. I see in your evidence you have got hold of
the views of three people? Yes, three people in this country,
all of whom have been running cinemas, and they are men of some
standing. (Witness gave the names.) I have here a few notes
from Mr. Yapp, which he wishes me to put before this Commission.
" Influence depends entirely on the films. We carefully censor our
films and allow no uncensored films to appear. Success can only
be assured by a varied and up-to-date programme which must
include films : (1) Thrilling, but not sensational or morbid; (2)
Funny, but not vulgar ; (3) Educational, but not dry ; (4) Clean,
with nothing suggestive of the unclean. If properly run a good
cinema is helpful in town or city, as it occupies time and attention
that might be spent in worse ways. Its influence may be posi-
tive and altogether helpful. In large out-of-the-way camps par-
ticularly in Flanders, France, Egypt and Mesopotamia we have
found our cinemas a perfect godsend. In an advanced position in
Flanders I found about 1000 men in the Y.M.C.A. cinema, and the
Town Major said since its advent crime had decreased seventy
per cent. Our pathescopes are in great demand, and the services
of our men are constantly requisitioned to give shows to isolated
detachments of men in their huts or tents, billeted in barns, cellars
or ruined houses and frequently even near the trenches. We have
many Y.M.C.A. cinemas in France and Flanders, most of them in
big buildings specially constructed, but others in ruined houses,
tents and barns ; also two or three travelling cinemas."
FIFTEENTH DAY
Monday, April 23, 1917,
The BISHOP OF BIRMINGHAM in the chair.
STATEMENT OF MR. J. GRANT RAMSAY, F.R.E.S.
Principal of the Institute of Hygiene.
PRECIS
I AM convinced that the cinema can be utilised to great advan-
tage, not alone in education, by facilitating the spread of know-
ledge, but also as an influence for good by raising the moral
standard of the people.
The first cinema in England, for purely educational work, was
installed at the Institute of Hygiene about eight years ago. The
London County Council considered, later, the feasibility of install-
HYGIENIC ASPECTS 235
ing 200 cinemas in London schools, but, owing to the expense
and other obstacles, no action was taken.
The cinema has proved of great service at the Institute in
illustrating lectures, and at demonstrations of first aid, sick
nursing, and cooking, and also at special exhibitions such as
the Domestic Economy and Child Life Exhibitions. It is also
utilised for showing medical films of germ life (greatly magnified),
the working of the heart and stomach, and even operations, but
these are exhibited only to medical audiences. Films are also
shown illustrating hygiene and sanitation to men of the Royal
Army Medical Corps. Children, representing a school at a time,
are brought regularly, and annually, to see the pictures at the
Institute, and on these occasions interest and instruction are
blended judiciously together.
The development of the cinema on educational lines can hardly
be said to have come up to anticipations, but this is not altogether
surprising. Messrs. Pathe Freres and other makers have devoted
much time and money to the production of scientific and educa-
tional films, but at a great loss. The reason is simple. School
books would not be popular on bookstalls, and before educational
films can be in any demand there must be facilities for showing
them. Further development rests largely with the educational
authorities.
I have visited a number of cinema theatres in London and the
provinces, and while most of them are good buildings, are well
fitted, and conform to the local regulations, I have not yet found
one that could possibly be classed as healthy or hygienic. Dark-
ness, a humid atmosphere, and the heat developed from a con-
gregation of people, all participate to make the most suitable
culture for germs, and the consequent spread of infection and
disease. This is a serious danger, and should receive attention
and be remedied, if at all possible, in the public interest.
The films generally shown, too, leave much to be desired.
Long dramas, of the " shilling shocker " character, have lately
been largely chosen to attract the public, but I am not at all
sure that this sort of film is what the public mostly wants. Some
of the films, also, are very suggestive and can only have a harmful
influence.
The hygiene of the mind is deserving of much more considera-
tion than it has received. We have an elaborate and very com-
plete organisation for preventing adulteration and poisoning of
the body, but we have no system whatever for preventing the
poisoning of the mind. Body poisons may be thrown off, but
mental poisons take root and v are lasting in their influence for evil.
I have no practical evidence that the effect on the nerves and
brain, through looking at pictures, is seriously .detrimental to the
adult. It is exhausting, especially if the films are long, and
more rapidly exhausting if the films flicker and -are old and bad,
but the result largely depends on the condition of the person,
and recovery from any strain generally follows from a little rest.
Children deserve, and require, very special consideration in
236
HYGIENIC ASPECTS
regard to cinema pictures. They are more readily influenced
than adults, and their nerves are more delicate and more easily
exhausted. I do not think they should ever be taken to a cinema
at night, as it affects their sleep and development. I am alto-
gether in favour, however, of cinema pictures for children under
proper conditions. They might with advantage have special
theatres and pictures devoted to them. I have received many
proofs that children prefer interesting and instructive pictures,
such as those shown at the Institute, to the weary dramas and
other pictures usually shown at the popular theatres.
As regards the possible improvements and future possibilities
of the cinema, I think that better ventilation and greater air
space should be required in the theatres, so as to ensure a more
hygienic atmosphere. It would also be of great advantage to
show the pictures in the light, and the obstacle to this may soon
be overcome, as it has already been almost achieved. The
shorter films say, under a thousand feet are to be preferred,
and when the films run into thousands of feet there should be
more frequent and longer intervals. The question of intervals
is most important in regard to children. Other methods of
entertaining the audiences can be introduced to fill up these
intervals, but .they should not be of movement, such as dancing,
if it can be avoided. Singing is very preferable.
Cinema proprietors should recognise their obligation to the
public more fully than they do, and if they aimed at elevating
the people, they would also elevate their calling. I do not think,
either, that they would lose in any way by showing pictures
slightly above, rather than below, the public taste, and it would
not be too much to require of them that a certain percentage
of instructive or educational films should be shown at each
performance.
I believe the cinema has a great future if directed on right
lines, and if installed in schools, Sunday schools, and even churches,
it could be made a most attractive and influential factor for
improving the education and raising the moral standard of the
people.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. J. GRANT RAMSAY. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. I notice you say you visited Paris some
years ago, and the idea occurred to you that the cinema could
be made very popular for illustrating lectures ? Yes, but at that
time the cinema was very crude. It was more a novelty than
anything else, but the possibilities appealed to me, and long ago
I suggested to my council the possibilities of the cinema. We
went later into the cost, as we thought it would be an advantage
to introduce it into our lecture-room, and the council took up
the idea.
2. The cinema trade took very kindly to you ? Yes, very
kindly indeed.
SCIENTIFIC AND EDUCATIONAL FILMS 287
3. Can you say what service the cinema has been at the Insti-
tute to illustrate your lectures? It has been a very marked
feature of our work. We either give educational pictures before
the lecture starts, and so gather the people, or we give them
afterwards, using the cinema also to illustrate the lectures.
We found, however, that it was better to give the cinema show
first, as it brought the audience there early and they stayed for
the lecture. One of the first pictures we had was to illustrate
the fly pest.
4. You state that some firms have produced scientific films at
a great loss ? Yes, so much so that one well-known firm has shut
up its educational department. Many of the films, more especially
the medical films, were produced in collaboration with the Pasteur
Institute in Paris.
5. Your feeling is that if we are to get the cinema used in an
educational way, it must be done by the educational authorities
first of all to find out its value, and then they will have to educate
the British public to spend its money ? I think so. For instance,
Pathe's are a very wealthy firm, and they have been very generous
over this matter. When I visited them in Paris, three years ago
they said they were quite ready to spend a great deal of money
if it would enable them to promote education in any way.
6. I notice you are not quite satisfied with the buildings?
Not with the atmosphere, at all events.
7. Can you suggest any improvements ? Yes, ventilation and
more air space. I look upon proper ventilation as more im-
portant than air space : that is, if you can get sufficient fresh air
into a building. I might say that a French doctor has brought
out an invention of a new lantern, which throws such a strong
picture on the screen that the picture can be well seen in
daylight.
8. The films themselves leave much to be desired, you say.
Are you still looking at this from an educational point of view ?
No, I am 'looking at it from the point of view of mental hygiene.
9. You mention the long drama of the " shilling shocker "
character, and that brings us back to the fact that there have
been " shilling shocker " books. Which would you say was the
more dangerous, the "shilling shocker" film or the book? I
think the picture is the worst, because it gets more impressed
upon the mind. The " shilling shocker " book depends upon
the memory of the reader, whereas the impression conveyed from
a picture is fairly lasting. I think that sort of film is not
wanted.
10. Are you prepared to say what the juvenile public requires ?
I think the juveniles like interesting and instructive pictures
even more than comic pictures ; that is my experience.
11. Of what social class are you thinking? We have had the
lower middle, the middle and the upper classes at our pictures,
but not the very poor. I have tried to find out what is the
natural bent more indirectly than directly, so as to get a true
impression. Their ages are about seven or eight to about fourteen.
238 EDUCATIONAL POSSIBILITIES
Some schools come to us and see the pictures, and when the
children return to school they are required to write an essay on
what they have seen, and it is most interesting to find the
impression conveyed to them by certain pictures.
12. Supposing next door to you there was a film theatre where
the entertainments were of a different type to yours, such as
Mr. Charlie Chaplin, and the children were left absolutely free,
into which place would they go ? If you take the average
picture palace and the pictures we show, if they had the oppor-
tunity they would come to our pictures. I have asked children
after having seen the Charlie Chaplin pictures whether they
prefer the Charlie Chaplin pictures or the pictures at the
Institute, and they replied that they preferred the pictures at
Institute ; and the reason they gave was that they could not
always see the jokes in Charlie Chaplin. We give them pictures
of things in common use, such as the supply and distribution
of milk, and there is always a lesson in our pictures.
13. Have those pictures been prepared for you specially?
No, we have mostly picked them up from different sources.
Whenever we heard of an educational film we tried to get it.
14. Are they British or American films ? Nearly all the medical
films are French. The French predominate in scientific films.
15. You are strongly of opinion that the sleep of the child is
affected by going to the cinema at night ? I think so, and this is
the opinion of medical men who have strong views on that subject.
16. You are satisfied that if the cinema were used and directed
in the right lines, it could be helpful in educational, moral, and
even religious matters ? I think so. For instance, if the educa-
tional authorities installed a few cinemas in schools around
London, the popular cinemas would be only too pleased to follow
up and take advantage of the development.
17. PRINCIPAL GARVIE. Do you disapprove of a series of
pictures running on without a break ? I do not think it is
advisable to have a continuous run of films.
18. You are in favour of music ? Yes, including singing.
19. MR. CROOK. Do you think the cinema, accompanying the
lectures, is a great advantage, greater than a magic lantern ?
Yes, as one appeals to them as being alive and the other as dead.
20. MONSIGNOR BROWN. About what interval do you suggest
as a pause between the pictures ? That would depend largely
on the length of the film. A thousand feet takes twenty minutes,
and I should say five minutes would be quite enough. After a
film of fifty minutes to an hour, there should be a pause of about
ten minutes. During those intervals I suggest music or singing.
21. Do you think that seriously practicable in the poor houses ?
Yes.
22. MR. LAMERT. You recognise that if vocal music were
introduced it would very largely add to the cost ? Not neces-
sarily, but you would want more than one singer.
23. If there is a disposition shown here in England for a
better-class film, they would be made? Yes.
EVIDENCE OF MRS. HENRIQUES 239
24. THE CHAIRMAN. Do you say it is quite as easy to find a
good film as a good play for production ? I think so.
25. MR. LAMERT. But do you realise that you would have
to find fifty-two or one hundred and four of these good films,
as they do not run continuously at the cinemas ? I have not
fully considered that.
26. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. Would you object to the idea that
there should be a cinema attached to every school in the country ?
I think it is coming to that.
27. And you don't agree with the theory that the cinema
rather interferes with the method of education ? No, I think it
is the best way of illustrating subjects.
MRS. BASIL L. Q. HENRIQUES. Examined.
28. THE CHAIRMAN. I want to get from you how you are
interested in this question? In peace time my husband runs a
boys' club in the East end, at St. Geprge's in the East, and I
run a girls' club round the corner. We live over the boys' club,
and now he is away I see after the boys' club as well. I was
not directly interested in the Cinema Commission, but I always
had felt very strongly on the subject, and I had a letter from
Mr. Marchant saying that the Chief Rabbi had given my name
as living there, and that perhaps I would be able to tell some-
thing. Before that I had not been in a cinema at St. George's
because they bear bad reputations. As an example to the
children I would not go, but I have taken children to cinemas
in the north of London to see certain films. I speak about the
local conditions because the trade of the people down there has
a great deal to do with the large numbers who visit the cinemas.
Most of the children are tailors or cigarette -makers, and the work
is not a great strain on them mentally, so they have plenty of
time to think and talk of things, and in the evening when they
have finished their work they feel they must have some excite-
ment. Now the housing question settles the matter, because
down there nine or ten people are living in one house, and the
luxury of only four people in one bedroom is something to be
envied. You will thus see it is impossible for the children to
stop indoors in most cases. Their homes are usually rather dirty,
and in many cases there is a consumptive father and the smaller
children are screaming. Anyway, there is every inducement for
the children to go into the streets. Round about St. George's
there are quite a lot of undesirable houses and loose women,
and the amount of evil which surrounds the children is appalling.
It is either a question of stopping in the streets and seeing what
is going on, or going to the pictures ; and there are a number of
cases where the parents like them to go to the pictures because
of these things. The next point is that it is a dark place, and
if you have a young lady it is very convenient to go there. It
is also a convenient rendezvous for family parties, but the elder
Children do not go with their parents; they go with their " bird."
The expression down there is that you take your " bird " to the
240 OBJECTIONABLE FILMS
pictures. They have, roughly, two types of entertainments, and
where you get the children in hundreds there are sensational
pictures of the blood-and-thunder type, and Charlie Chaplin is
quite the most refined thing about the pictures.
29. Can you remember any of the names of the plays? I
cannot remember the titles, but there is a picture, say, of the
trousers coming off in front of the audience, and the things that
happen until the new trousers come. I notice that the couples
go for the love stories. The children are always in the cheapest
seats, which are under the exit lights, whereas the couples go
where it is darker.
30. Have you seen some of the love stories that are objection-
able? I have seen some very objectionable ones. I saw the
" ," and these are my remarks on it : I visited the
Old King's Hall, Commercial Road. The hall was well ventilated
and the audience composed mostly of adults or boys and girls
over sixteen. The behaviour on the whole was more seemly.
There were, of course, the usual couples absorbed in one another.
The film shown was one in which a woman causes a man such
temptation as to make him lose control of himself shows him
carrying her off and was so very suggestive that the man next
to me groaned repeatedly and could not keep still in his seat
he left after the climax. I am certain that the film could not do
otherwise than have a very dangerous effect on any one at all
given to sensuous thoughts, and could not fail to cause impure
thoughts to any of the couples watching it. I thought it was
something really rather more than suggestive. The sensational
pictures are what the children flock to, and I saw the children
in one cinema so excited that I am certain that had any panic
happened it would have been absolutely impossible to control
them. With reference to the condition of some of the cinemas,
the bigger ones are good, but the smaller ones are badly venti-
lated, and some of them are dirty and appalling. Then, again,
with reference to the attendants at these cinemas, some of them
are a very low type of men. The lights in many do not go up,
and I feel that if they were to go up fairly frequently it would
put a stop to a lot of the behaviour.
31. Have your boys or girls come to you with complaints about
anything being done to them by members of the opposite sex ?
Not at cinemas. I saw at one cinema a man trying to behave
objectionably to a girl of about eleven years of age, and she
moved away. The effects on the children/ are rather peculiar.
I found that a girl of fourteen and a half years of age who was in
trouble and had fallen, told the story that she was in a room and
fell asleep, and when she woke up there was a bottle by her side.
She gave that as the excuse for her falling. In some cinemas I
have seen the boys behave in a very nasty manner towards the
girls. I have spoken to head teachers of schools, and they have
said that pictures, as they are shown at present, are very bad,
and that they are so distinctly uneducational that they never
show anything to raise the children. With reference to the
INDECENT CONDUCT 241
desirability of proper supervision at performances, I am certain
this would do a lot of good. They should give a little more
travel and topical films.
32. Have you anything to say with regard to the effect of the
cinema on drink? There is very little drink amongst the Jews.
If the child is in the cinema seeing horrors, that child will not
be in the streets stealing things off a barrow.
33. Do you think it has had some effect upon decreasing
hooliganism in the streets? Yes, .certainly.
34. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Have you noticed acts of impro-
priety yourself? Yes.
35. In a way that people passing up and down the gangway
would see it ? Well, I looked closely for it.
36. That is the first time we have had a specific mention of
an act of indecency. Have you observed that more than once ?
Twice or three times.
37. Separate couples? I have several times seen couples in
regard to whom one would have no doubt as to what is going
to happen.
38. In the interests of every one, I want to know whether this
was a covert act of immorality which might easily have escaped
the attendants, or whether it was a thing which no one paid
attention to, and which could be seen ? I used to pay for the
dear seats, so that I could move about into the different seats.
39. How far away were you then? I was walking up the
gangway and they were almost at the edge of the seat. I was
scrutinising.
40. Supposing the attendant was passing up and down, do you
think it would have been observed by him ? Not easily.
41. DR. KIMMINS. I take it the people sitting next to this
couple must have noticed? Well, perhaps they were interested
in themselves. I think if a couple are sitting with their arms
around one another they can fairly easily manage anything they
want to.
42. MR. KING. Did you see any indecent pictures ? I saw
something a little suspicious about a great many of the pictures.
242 BISHOP WELLDON'S EVIDENCE
SIXTEENTH DAY
Monday, April 30, 1917,
The BISHOP OF BIRMINGHAM in the chair.
STATEMENT OF BISHOP WELLDON,
Dean of Manchester
PRECIS
I AM quite sure the cinematograph show may be one of the
most valuable of educational agencies. Teaching through the eye
is the most effective kind of teaching in the education of the young.
If I may take the films which display the proceedings at the
great Durbar in Delhi, it is not too much to say that any person
who saw those films saw more of the Durbar than he would
have seen if he had been at Delhi himself. Therefore, I cannot
imagine that teachers will be so foolish as to make a general
attack on cinematograph shows. I hope the shows will be
more and more used in education, and I believe they are capable
of giving teaching which it is impossible to give with equal
effect by any other means. In my judgment, whatever faults
may attach to the shows, the shows are far better than the
public- houses, and now, in the community from which I have
come, I am told that, owing to the monotony of industry, the
people will not go to a play which- is prolonged, as they are not
able to endure the strain, and that the cinematograph show
answers their need very well. I hope, just as magic-lantern
lessons have been found beneficial in churches and chapels, so the
cinematograph shows will be equally used there. Therefore, I
cannot at all associat6 myself with the general condemnation of
the cinemas.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
THE RIGHT REV. BISHOP WELLDON, DEAN OF MANCHESTER.
Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. Would you consider it desirable to attach
the cinema to actual details of education in the school ? I can
well conceive that in the elementary classes it would be useful.
2. As regards the teaching of a particular subject, do you think
it would be helpful ? Certainly. I have never been able to learn
any geography at all except by going to places, and the nearest
thing to going to the places is to see the places at the cinemato-
graph show. I was going to say that as far as I am able to form
an opinion, there has been of late years, and particularly during
the war, a serious increase in juvenile crime, but I do not think
it is so much due to the cinematograph show as to the absence
of parental control: I do not dispute that certain films have done,
and are doing, harm to children, and I think it is the duty of the
EVIDENCE OF SCHOOL CHILDREN 243
State or the municipality to control the exhibition of these films.
I think there should be a serious and strenuous censorship. I do
not sympathise with the plea put forward in Manchester that these
films cannot be inspected before they are exhibited because they
never arrive until the morning on which they are to be exhibited.
I think the municipal authorities should claim that there should
be an interval of two days between the arrival and the exhibition
of the films. I think the presence of children over and over again
at exhibitions of cinematograph shows during late hours is un-
desirable. I do not see any reason why children should be allowed
to go more than once a week. They might go with a certificate
from their teachers, or again, they might go accompanied by their
parents. I think the cinematograph show is a potent agent for
imparting information, and its managers should welcome discipline
which should prevent it from doing evil.
3. REV. CAREY BONNER. Where would you have the pictures
shown ? Do you mean that the children would have to go to
the cinema theatres ? I think the cinemas may be useful in the
schools and in the churches.
4. SIR JOHN KIRK. How would you use it for religious pur-
poses? I should look upon it as suitable for occasional services.
5. DR. SALEEBY. Do you object to the cinemas being open
on Sunday? I attach very great value to the observance of
Sunday, and I think that if once this boon were lost it would be
difficult to recover. I would not forbid the exhibitions, but they
should not take place during the recognised hours of divine
service, and the proceeds should be handed over to some charitable
purpose.
Two GIRLS AND Two BOYS. Examined.
Two girls, aged respectively eleven and thirteen, and two
boys, aged fourteen and eleven, were then called. One went to
a cinema once a week for some time, two others were continuous
attendants, whilst the fourth, a boy of fourteen, attended the
Cable Street cinema every night for the purpose of selling
chocolates.
One of the girls stated that her father and mother did not like
her going to the cinema, and if she wanted to go she had to save
up her own money for that purpose. The films she liked best
were of the tragedy variety, the name of one of which was " Too
Late.,"
The second girl, in reply to Principal Garvie, said she did not
like all of Charlie Chaplin's films. It all depended upon what
parts he took in them.
The boy who sold sweets at Cable Street said he had never
noticed misconduct amongst any of the boys and girls, but there
was plenty of roughness going on.
The boy of eleven, in reply to the question, " When you see
a hero, do you feel that you would like to be that hero ? " replied,
" Not always."
The girl of fourteen said that Cable Street was a very noisy
244 MR. T. P. O'CONNOR'S EVIDENCE
cinema, and very often the children were turned out. The grown-
up boys also made a considerable noise and were very rowdy,
and on a Saturday night the porter was stabbed with a knife.
Very often they turned the children out on a Saturday night to
make room for the grown-ups.
All the witnesses were unanimous that more ventilation was
needed in the cinemas, which they described as very stuffy.
STATEMENT OF MR. T. P. O'CONNOR, M.P.,
President of the Board of Film Censors.
PRECIS
I WAS approached about November of last year on the death
of Mr. Redford to accept the position of President of the Board
of Film Censors, and, as I understand, by the unanimous vote of
all branches of the trade.
I hesitated about accepting, for the reason that I did not know
the exact situation between the trade and the Home Office and
that I deprecated the idea of myself coming into collision with
the Home Office and still more to the trade doing so. It was
represented to me, however, that there was a necessity for im-
mediate action because films had to be submitted for censorship
every week and therefore films could not be sent out unless in
the name of Mr. Redford, who is dead.
There was about the same time some confusion owing to the
fact that by a ministerial crisis the Home Office was in process
of being transferred from Mr. Samuel to Sir George Cave.
I accepted, but always gave it to be understood that I thought
it was necessary to keep, not only in touch with, but on the
friendliest relations with the Home Office, and that I think I
have succeeded in doing. Ultimately I was officially appointed
and began my duties in the month of January.
I approached my duties with the knowledge that certain
criticisms in the newspapers and from the magisterial bench had
represented the films as bad and in many cases bad in their effects,
and therefore I had anticipated finding either a careless or in-
effective method of censorship. I was surprised and pleased to
find that, on the contrary, the censorship had been conducted with
remarkable assiduity, usually with great success.
I found that Mr. Redford had under him a body of four
examiners, one of whom, however, before my appointment had
been compelled to go into military service. Since my appointment
I have filled this vacancy by replacing this gentleman with another
gentleman whom I have known for thirty years and who is a man
of the finest character. The three remaining gentlemen I found
to be men of education, of long experience and of high character.
They sit in a small room and two films are exposed simul-
taneously; each of these films is examined by two of the ex-
aminers, and when any question of difficulty arises all four give
CODES OF CENSORSHIP 245
their opinion, and, as a rule, no film is passed which has not
received the unanimous approval of the four.
I found also that a code of censorship had been established
and rigidly adhered to. The chief points in this code have been
already given to the committee by the chief examiner and I need
not recapitulate them here.
I call especial attention to one decision of my predecessor as
showing the scrupulous care with which he exercised his functions.
When complaint was made to him of films founded on certain
books he made the decision that though the films in these cases
might in themselves be quite innocuous, yet, owing to the lurid
repute of the books, audiences might be tempted to go and see
them on false grounds, and therefore that in future it was in-
expedient to allow the production of the innocent film of a book
with a lurid reputation.
The chief difficulty of the censorship arises from the number
of what may be called " crook " films, which come mainly from
America and which have been brought partly into existence by
the popularity of the detective story. On these films I found the
examiners had already laid down some severe restrictions as,
for instance, that none of the methods by which thieves can carry
out their purposes should be exhibited.
I have somewhat extended these restrictions, and I have
sent out a circular urging the trade to give as few films of this
character as possible, and I think there is already a steady
diminution in that form of film.
I have endeavoured to think out a whole code of film censorship,
but the question is not so simple as it appears and I think can
only be done by a comparison between our methods and those of
other countries where. the censorship is established.
In a codification I hope to have the assistance of an advisory
committee w r hen this Commission has finished its work.
I would like to say, as showing the difficulties of such codifica-
tion, that the analogy between the methods of censoring the
drama and the film is false in many particulars. Many things
which may be permissible on the stage when living beings are
acting the parts, are quite inadmissible on a film where action
has to take the place of words and where, therefore, things which
can be suggested by the voice or by a gesture or by a look even
of the actor or actress have to be put in what I may call the
crude concrete of the film. I would therefore say that censorship
of the film must be, if not severer, certainly different from that
of the drama.
The position of President of the Censor Board is conferred
by the trade and my term is for one year. It was indicated to
me that the intention of the trade was to continue my office as
long as I pleased, but that is a matter which must be left for
future consideration by them and, of course, by myself.
Except in the fact that I am appointed by the trade, my
position is perfectly independent I am perfectly free to accept
or reject any film without appeal and, indeed, often without
246 EXAMINATION OF FILMS
complaint. In most cases and up to the present I have not
only been encouraged to take up an attitude of absolute inde-
pendence, but have been backed without any hesitation by the
trade and in the most loyal way.
If the owner of a film feels that any modification of the film
could make it acceptable he asks and receives an interview with
me. It happens very often that a film may be for the most
part quite unexceptionable, but there may be some scenes which
are not permissible. In these cases the examhiers and myself
go through the film carefully, eliminate the objectionable scenes,
and then see the film again after these alterations have been
made. If the alterations be not sufficient or have not been
carried out according to our suggestions, further modifications
are made. In some cases this requires repeated examinations
of the film. In the case of one film which was seen at my invita-
tion by the members of the Commission I have myself seen the
film four or five times, and in other cases I see the films two or
three times.
I think myself that the present position is not quite satisfactory,
and that to make it satisfactory a closer co-operation should exist
between the Home Office and the Board of Censors, and that the
Home Office should have the right of veto of the appointment
of the president, and on the other hand that the president, if
accepted by the Home Office, should have the co-operation of the
Home Office in having his decisions supported. This is the
more necessary as there are no fewer than some 300 licensing
authorities in the United Kingdom, and of course it would produce
an undesirable state of things if each of these authorities were to
insist on a separate and perhaps different decision.
I am bound to add that a letter of mine to the licensing
authorities has received very favourable reception, and most of
them promise me their co-operation. I may add as a mark of
the confidence the Government put in our censorship that every
film which leaves the country is sent to our Board for examination
lest anything prejudicial to our interests should be upon them,
and nothing is sent out of the country without our approval.
Hard-and-fast rules are open to two dangers : on the one hand,
they might, if narrowly interpreted, prevent the production of
films not objectionable on the whole say, for instance, " Oliver
Twist " or " Hamlet " and, on the other hand, might lead to skilful
adhesion to the letter though not to the spirit of the rules.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. T. P. O'CONNOR, M.P. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. When you were appointed you did not
yourself know the exact position of the trade and the Home
Office. Are you satisfied as to that position now? No, I am
very dissatisfied. I quite sympathise with the trade in their
disinclination to be under what is called bureaucratic control^
CENSOR AND THE HOME OFFICE 247
because in a public department you generally find that the decision
is that of a single gentleman, and he might be the worst kind of
man to deal with the complex question of the censorship of films.
2. It is quite a new industry? Yes, and it deals with people
and with subjects of a complex kind.
3. And the prominent official is not a person whom the public
knows anything about and who is the head of the department ?
Yes, and more or less he has to stand by his officials.
4. Because the official knows more about the subject than he
does ? Yes.
5. And so far as you can judge at the present time the position
is that the Home Office has not yet made up its mind as to the
attitude which it shall adopt ? The position, I understand, is
this. There were some negotiations between Mr. Herbert Samuel,
who was the Home Secretary, and the representatives of the trade,
and while these negotiations were being \ considered there was
a change in the Ministry and Sir George Cave came in. I was
appointed in the interval between these negotiations and the
succession of one minister by another.
6. You came in really at the interregnum? Yes, and that is
the reason why I consented to become Censor without first obtain-
ing the approval of the Home Office. It was represented to me
that it was a case of urgency, because the cinema goes on from
week to week and from day to day, and unless some one was
appointed they would have to refuse to send out any films, or
send them out with the name of the gentleman who is dead on
them. At first I was unwilling to give my decision, because I
said I did not want to be in conflict with the great Government
department. I am strongly of opinion that the Home Office
should not appoint one of their own officials, nor should they
appoint the Film Censor, but they should have a veto on the
appointment, so that the Film Censor might be a man not
selected from the Civil Service, but that at the same time the
Home Office should have some say in the matter.
7. You were surprised and pleased to find that the censorship
before you came into office was careful ? I came into the office
at the moment when there was rather a bitter blast blowing
against the trade. There were several remarks which the daily
papers reported from the Bench and there were remarks from
other people which would give the impression that stealing and
impurity and other evils were the unavoidable result of the cinema
theatre; and, not having investigated the case, I was rather
afraid that I would find that the films had been more or less
allowed to run loose. When I came in I found there was, on the
contrary, a highly formed censorship already. I knew there was
Mr. Redford, but I did not know of the expanse of the organisation
behind the censorship.
8. You have complete control, have you not, as to the appoint-
ment of the examiners ? I do not mean those already in exis-
tence ? There were four already in existence. They sit in rather
a small and not very comfortable room, and there are two films
248 FILM EXAMINERS
exhibited simultaneously. One film is examined by two ex-
aminers on the right, and another film examined by two examiners
on the left.
9. Could all four see both ? Yes, easily. Well, then, if there
is any doubt by the two on the left as to their film, or if there is
any doubt by the two on the right as to their film, they enter
into consultation, so that practically no film is passed except with
the universal assent of the four examiners. It does not come to
me unless there is a doubt. I am a kind of court of appeal. Of
the four examiners one of them has been called up for some sort
of military service, and I appointed another examiner. There
was no Irishman or, Catholic among the three and I thought
from a religious point of view I should appoint an Irish Catholic.
10. I find that these gentlemen work daily from ten to five
practically without any interval in a small room ? Yes.
11. I should like to know whether this affects their health?
I do not think it affects their health, but I cannot say whether they
are altogether free from boredom and fatigue. They do not suffer
in their health nor their eyesight.
12. You have practically all agreed that a film produced based
upon a book that is objectionable, even though that film be
itself quite without abuse or wrong, had better not be shown ?
Yes, and I had mentioned two of these books in my evidence,
but I was warned by one of my advisers that I might let myself
in for an action for libel, and consequently I have had to knock
it out. I should like to say a word about the examiners. You
have all seen the Chief Examiner, . I think he is a
university man, and he is a gentleman both in manner and in
mind ; and then we have a gentleman who is an ex-bank official,
a fairly experienced man of the world. The third man I do not
know anything about except that he is a sort of Joan of Arc,
that is, vigorous of criticism of anything which approaches in-
decorum. And there is the fourth man, a good Catholic and a
high-minded man. You have four very good men there.
13. I understand you have taken a strong line about the
"crook" film? Yes.
14. I should like to know why, because the " crook " film up
to a certain point rather appeals to me, and I have taken a fearful
interest in anything to do with detective stories. Will you tell
me about these films ? Of course, the " crook " film to a certain
extent is in some cases the questionable result of an extremely
good thing, namely, the detective story, because you cannot have
a detective without having the " crook."
15. But you can sometimes have the " crook " without the
detective? That is so. In these detective stories you have the
romance and melodrama of crime, and it is undeniable that that
appeals to the young minds who love adventure, and that led, of
course, largely to the creation of the " crook " finis. There was
another reason. I must, of course, be careful what I say about
the American enterprise, because it forms so large a part of the
cinema industry, and a very great proportion of our films are
CRIME FILMS 249
manufactured in America and exhibited in England. Of course,
they have a different state of society from ours. You see over
there they have the mining camp, they have the world of Bret
Harte, and over here since Hounslow Heath has been abolished
the highwayman has been done away with. Well, the result
is that there is a large amount of the detective spirit and adventure
which comes from the civilisation where there is still the fight
with Nature. Now, I will deal with another point. I think the
point in the armour of the trade which is most vulnerable is the
charge that was made of the film leading to juvenile crime.
16. Are you still of that opinion after the evidence you have
heard? I am not of that opinion. I think in the interests of
the trade and the morality of the nation it was desirable to devote
more attention to that point first. Well, I found that there I
had been anticipated by my predecessor, who had laid down as
one of the rules that methods of crime which might suggest crime
to the youth should not be exhibited. For instance, we should
not allow a man to do a burglary according to the fine art of
burglary. We do not allow a man to pick a pocket according
to the fine art of pocket-picking. I should like at this point to
refer to a film which came before us. It was called " ."
It began with a scene outside a gaol where there was a young
man, evidently in poor health, just released from prison. It was
an American film. He was met by a young woman, and was
given a very pleasant shake of the hand by the warder, who
begged him not to come back again. This girl was a thief also,
and apparently not his wife. She was known as " Diamond
Daisy." A little while afterwards there was a scene in the
Jewellers' Club at Philadelphia, and the Head of the Police was
there. It was a brilliant, club-like scene. In came a gentleman
who was somewhat vain, and a discussion started as to the methods
of a burglary, and each jeweller claimed that he had taken effective
remedies against burglary. The vain, self-conceited old gentle-
man said that he had organised his shop with such absolute
perfection that no burglary was possible. The Chief of the Police
and some of the other jewellers made a bet of 5000 dollars that
a burglary could be committed at this gentleman's shop. The
Chief of the Police hears of the release of this man, and of this girl
who is known as " Diamond Daisy," and he takes it into his head
that through the well-known success and skill of these two people
a burglary might be committed. The burglary is committed as
a matter of fact. When they get into the jeweller's shop you see
the girl, " Diamond Daisy," there. Like all other American
girls, she is chewing gum. She takes up a diamond ring, attaches
it to the chewing gum and fixes it under a tray. She is, of course,
suspected of taking the diamond ring and is searched, but nothing
is found. A confederate comes in and puts his hand under the
case and so goes off with the ring. Well, the story ends quite
pleasantly, because these people in the club get their 5000 dollars,
and you see the burglar and the girl end up their life in the country.
It all ends very well. Now I said this was a film that I could not
250 UNCENSORED FILMS
permit. Well, I am bound by the rules of the organisation, if
I reject a film, to see it and discuss it in a friendly spirit with the
proprietor. That is for two reasons. In the first place he may
convince me ; but the second reason, which much more frequently
occurs, is that he will have pointed out to him certain alterations
which no doubt he will consent to make. Well, I saw the pro-
prietor and he said that it had never occurred to him that this film
could be objected to, as he thought it was all a joke, and it taught
the lesson that dishonesty did not pay. I pointed out to him that
undoubtedly the people did reform, but not in the right way,, and
I said that if he made it clear that it was a joke and only a joke,
if he could clean up the " crook " and the criminal girl and make
her a devoted wife with a view of trying to redeem her unfortunate
husband from his crimes; and if he would undertake to point
out the joke by making the Jewellers' Club, where the wager is
made, the main scene, then I would reconsider the thing. Well,
he carried out all my wishes, and I think the film is now a perfectly
decent film.
17. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Did you succeed in eliminating the
actual manipulation of the theft ? Yes, that went out at once.
18. THE CHAIRMAN. Now I saw something on a film about
a theft being committed, and nobody knew how it was done, and
eventually a lady is seen to undo the heel of her shoe, and there
is a hole inside which she has the diamond necklace. Now that
is a method' which I should have thought undesirable to show to
the British public ? I should have thought so ; but it may not
have been passed by us. The greatest film being shown in London
to-day has not been passed by us. It has never been submitted
to us at all ; I have never seen it.
19. Now that leads us to ask this question : Do you think it
would be desirable that any film which has not been passed by
the Censor should not be exhibited ? I should think so, and there
I have the support of the Home Office. I am glad this film was
not submitted to me, as there are questions of church history
arising out of its scenes. Of course, at the same time I think it
would be desirable, if you have a censorship at all, that it should
be universal.
20. You would advocate a censorship which was approved by
the Home Office so that all films should be censored ? All films
which are intended mainly for the cinema theatre and mainly
for the purposes of amusement should be submitted for censor-
ship, but I would have nothing to do with the propaganda film,
such as "The Ghosts" of Ibsen, and " Damaged Goods." I
would rather not be asked to adjudicate on a question like that.
21. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Can you say how it is people are in
a position to show such great films in Drury Lane so as not to
come under the censorship. Are they films owned by people
who submit other films ? As a rule we act on the principle that
anybody who is associated with this organisation shall, as a matter
of fact, be under an obligation, upon honour, to submit all films.
I should rather think that the gentleman who is the proprietor
CIRCULAR FOR TRADE GUIDANCE 251
of this film is outside this organisation. You see, we have no
legal power.
22. THE CHAIRMAN. As a matter of fact, you do not know
whether he belongs to any of the usual firms ? The members of
the trade would know.
MR. KING. He is a producer who produces films for the pur-
poses of the trade.
23. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Who are the exhibitors? I rather
fancy that as Drury Lane is a theatre it is therefore under the
control of the Lord Chamberlain, and that it would be the Lord
Chamberlain who would have to deal with the matter.
24. THE CHAIRMAN. Supposing I liked to produce a film at a
theatre which is licensed by the Lord Chamberlain. Has that
anything to do with you ?
MR. KING. Yes, it has, if the theatre has a cinema licence.
If he puts in a projector he must have a licence.
25. THE CHAIRMAN. You have looked through the methods
of other countries as regards the censorship ? Very slightly, but
might I refer to a circular I sent out to the trade upon certain
subjects ? " Dear Sirs, I have to inform you for your guidance
that the following rules will be observed by my Board in censoring
films. (1) No serial dealing with crime will be examined in
future except as a whole." The origin of that rule was that they
had a number of serials running into three, four, five and six
numbers. The first may be fairly innocent; the second pretty
bad; the third, fourth, and fifth good, the sixth bad, and so
on. Of course, if we passed the first without having seen the
rest, which we. may reject, we give them the right to say that
we have spoilt their film. Now I will go on : " (2) No serial in
which crime is the dominant feature and not merely an episode
in the story will be passed by the Censor." We had some very
shocking films in which there were extremely brutal things and
which were really " crook " films. To show you the difficulty of
laying down a general rule, I will read you a letter which I got in
regard to this particular rule. But I will first of all finish reading
the circular : " (3) No film will be passed in which the methods of
crime are set forth and form the chief theme. This rule will have
to be applied even in cases where at the end of the film retribution
is supposed to have fallen on the criminal ; and equally when the
detective element is subordinate to the criminal interest, or when
actual crime is treated from the comic point of view. (4) The
Board proposes to issue monthly to the licensing authorities a
list of the films which have been passed by them." As regards
No. 4, I believe legally we have gone as far as we can. If we went
any further we might lay ourselves open to litigation, especially
if we sent out a " black list," so we send out a " white list "
showing which films we have passed. Now as regards No. 3,
we got this letter : " I am in receipt of your circular letter setting
forth for my guidance certain rules which will be observed by
the Board in censoring films, and, while I cordially appreciate
your effort to save producers unnecessary expense by outlining
252 CRIME FILMS
beforehand subjects which will not be allowed to pass, I wish most
respectfully to protest against the making of broad generalisa-
tions which may easily prove harmful to an important and growing
art which is as yet in such early stages that no man can foresee
its possible development. As an instance, allow me to call
attention to paragraph 3 in the above-mentioned circular : ' No film
will be passed in which the methods of crime are set forth and
form the chief theme.' Permit me to trouble you with a single
instance. Here is in brief the synopsis of a film : 4 Small boys
rebel more or less successfully against constituted authority
the hero is apprenticed to a tradesman from whom he deserts
a school for crime in which young boys are taught the methods
of street robbery the result of the lessons ; picking pockets in the
streets a burglary 1 shown in full detail with methods employed ;
the illicit relationship of a brutal man with a young woman who,
but for his influence, would be capable of better things she drugs
him in order to escape temporarily from his power her foul and
brutal murder by the man his flight from justice and eventual
downfall.' This is a fair synopsis of the story of " Oliver Twist,"
which has twice successfully and harmlessly been made into a
cinematograph film. One of the films, at least, has been shown
all over this country and largely in America, and has earned praise
and gratitude everywhere. It has never brought disrepute or
hostile criticism upon any show which has exhibited it, and it
is, moreover, a film version of an English classic. It is clear that
this picture could not have been produced under the embargo
placed upon films by paragraph 3 of your circular. I submit,
with all respect, that a film can only be judged upon its merits
after it has been produced, for the methods and manner of pro-
duction are all important the matter practically negligible.
(Signed) Cecil M. Hepworth." Well now, in answer to that,
I should say that methods of crime do not form the chief theme
of the film, and again, although we do not generalise, our rules
cannot be regarded as like the language of Statute Law, which
judges are compelled to interpret quite literally.
26. MONSIGNOR BROWN. How about cutting out the actual
manipulation of the crime ? I admit there may be a certain
contradiction on this matter, but pocket-picking is so well-known
an art that I do not know that anything new can be thought of
it. I might say that the result of this circular is already showing
itself, and we do not get so many of these " crook " films as we
used to.
27. THE CHAIRMAN. Your appointment is a yearly one?
Yes.
28. Does that mean that you get three months' or six months'
notice? I really don't know; I think it is a year certain.
29. Have you any idea as to why an appointment of that kind
should be a yearly one ? Well, in the first place I was an unknown
man in the world of films ; I was quite ignorant ; I might have
turned out no good, and I think they were entitled to a pre-
liminary canter with me. Then in the next place I might get ill,
NUDITY 253
and they could not well be expected to give an appointment for
long.
30. Do you think that the Home Office would favour the idea
of their putting a veto on a censor who is being sent away at the
end of a year? They may do, and for this reason, that when the
next man came along they would say : " You have made a bad
choice." Everything depends upon the attitude of the trade.
My view of the attitude of the trade is that they regard a censor
as a necessary protection to them against, on the one hand, undue
interference and, on the other, any attempt by less scrupulous
members of the trade to expose the whole trade to prejudice.
It seems to me it is a compromise. I am bound also to say that
some of the members of the trade have rather found fault with
me for being rather too considerate and not dictatorial enough.
Their idea is that I should use my ukase and allow nobody to
approach me with any modification of the film, but I do not think
that is fair. I think I am much more likely to get the trade to
work cordially with me if I consider their feelings in the matter,
but I may say that really I have been left absolutely free.
31. That film which was seen by members of the Commission,
might I ask if it has been passed ? Yes, subject to great modifica-
tions, and I am sorry to say that some of the cinema Press have
got hold of the statement that I made in a lighthearted way
that I thought the Commission was rather more indulgent, perhaps,
than I could have been. I do not blame them for their indulgence,
but, of course, I have to judge not merely by the film itself, but
by the principles lying behind it, and by those things that precede
it and the things that follow. Now, what one has to consider
in that film is How far you can allow the nude to appear, and on
that question there is practically an unbroken rule of my pre-
decessors and my present colleagues. That rule is not to allow
the nude almost under any circumstances. Well, of course, as
you remember, that film to a large extent was centred around
, who was in the act of swimming. I
would not expect her to take a dive of 200 feet in a walking
dress, and so far as that was concerned, especially as the action
was a rapid one, I was not entitled to hold to the strict rule that
it should not be permitted. If it was a mere pose showing the
woman in repose I was entitled to condemn it. I have now cut
out all exhibitions of in very close-fitting
garments, where she was in repose.
32. Then, as I understand it, the censorship we are speaking
of is the censorship purely of films, and has nothing to do with
the building? No, nor the conduct in the building.
33. Would you be inclined to leave that subject to the various
local authorities where the film was presented ? Yes, I think it
would be impossible for me to take it up.
34. Or for anybody ? Or for anybody.
35. This would be a local matter? Yes.
36. DR. SALEEBY. And the posters? The posters do not
come under my jurisdiction.
254 EXCLUDED FEATURES
37. THE CHAIRMAN. You have views, have you not, with regard
to the educational value of the film ? Very strong views. Take
the question of geography. Imagine showing the school or even
the class a cinema picture of Russia, where you see Petrograd
with the life of Petrograd, the people going through the streets.
That would be an appeal to the eye and to the imagination of the
child, and would be much better than learning from a book. I
think geography, history, physiology, and any number of subjects
can be learned much more rapidly and pleasantly with the aid of
the cinema than otherwise. I do not think our elementary schools
will at all approach modern and proper methods of education
until there is a cinema attached to every school. Now, would
you allow me to put in the rules which are laid down by the
Board of Censors ? There are forty-three rules, and I think they
cover pretty well all the grounds that you can think of.
(1) Indecorous, ambiguous and irreverent titles and sub-
titles.
(2) Cruelty to animals.
(3) The irreverent treatment of sacred subjects.
(4) Drunken scenes carried to excess.
(5) Vulgar accessories in the staging.
(6) The modus operandi of criminals.
(7) Cruelty to young infants and excessive cruelty and torture
to adults, especially women.
v (8) Unnecessary exhibition of feminine underclothing.
(9) The exhibition of profuse bleeding.
(10) Nude figures.
(11) Offensive vulgarity, and impropriety in conduct and dress.
(12) Indecorous dancing.
(13) Excessively passionate love scenes.
(14) Bathing scenes passing the limits of propriety.
(15) References to controversial politics.
(16) Relations of Capital and Labour.
(17) Scenes tending to disparage public characters and in-
stitutions.
(18) Realistic horrors of warfare.
(19) Scenes and incidents calculated to afford information to
the enemy.
(20) Incidents having a tendency to disparage our Allies.
(21) Scenes holding up the King's uniform to contempt or
" ridicule.
(22) Subjects dealing with India, in which British officers
are seen in an odious light, and otherwise attempting to
suggest the disloyalty of Native States or bringing into
disrepute British prestige in the Empire.
(23) The exploitation of tragic incidents of the war.
(24) Gruesome murders and strangulation scenes.
(25) Executions.
(26) The effects of vitriol throwing.
(27) The drug habit, e. g. opium, morphia, cocaine, etc.
ADVISORY COMMITTEES 255
(28) Subjects dealing with White Slave traffic.
(29) Subjects dealing with the premeditated seduction of
girls.
(30) " First night " scenes.
(31) Scenes suggestive of immorality.
(32) Indelicate sexual situations.
(33) Situations accentuating delicate marital relations.
(34) Men and women in bed together.
(35) Illicit sexual relationships.
(36) Prostitution and procuration.
(37) Incidents indicating the actual perpetration of criminal
assaults on women.
(38) Scenes depicting the effect of venereal diseases, inherited
or acquired.
(39) Incidents suggestive of incestuous relations.
(40) Themes and * references relative to " race suicide."
(41) Confinements.
(42) Scenes laid in disorderly houses.
(43) Materialisation of the conventional figure of Christ.
38. PRINCIPAL GARVIE. I notice you say in your evidence
that in a codification you hope to have the assistance of an ad-
visory committee. I should like to ask you how that advisory
committee should be constituted. Would it be by yourself
or by representatives of public interests ? I think we should
have those who represent public interests.
39. You think the advisory committee should include the educa-
tionalists who might strengthen your hands in any point of
difficulty? Certainly; I want all the assistance I can get from
everybody.
40. Have you any idea as to how you would like such a com-
mittee appointed ? I would not like to express a personal opinion,
as I have not consulted the trade, and I must bring them along
with me. Until I have gone into the matter properly I cannot
bring it up. Of course, I want the best men I can get, and the
most representative body of men.
41. You are aware that in America there are these advisory
committees, and they have gone thoroughly into the matter?
So I understand.
42. DR. SALEEBY. A good many films are still shown that you
have never seen ? I have only seen the films that are referred
to me.
43. Which your Board has never seen ? I do not know.
44. For instance, at one of the best places in London I saw
a - - comedy called " ." It
was an odious composition, extremely vulgar,, and I do not believe
you would have allowed that film to pass you. When I arrived
at the cinema it was half-way through, and I waited until it came
on again and found that no one had passed it. How does that
get there ? You see, we are a voluntary association, and a member
of the trade may or may not join ; that is left to his own judgment.
256 PROPAGANDA FILMS
As a matter of fact, I understand very strong pressure is being
exercised to bring practically everybody connected with the
trade in our power. For instance, Mr. Seddon, who is now practi-
cally the organiser of the trade, is going the round of the cinema
people and trying to get them to join.
45. If a person belongs to your body does he submit everything
to you ? He is supposed to.
46. - people's films are everywhere. Do they
submit their things to you ? I do not recollect that, because I
really do not look at the name of the producer, but if they do not
they ought to.
47. A great many places have a comedy every week ?
I know the name very well, but I cannot recollect whether I have
seen that particular film.
48. Will it be possible for you to get at the people about that ?
I believe they are got at by the members of the trade.
49. And the exhibitor also is under the obligation ? It is the
, ? Yes, and I should say every member
of the trade who joins the organisation is under the obligation
not to submit any film which has not been passed by the British
Board of Film Censors.
50. THE SECRETARY intimated that he would obtain this film
for exhibition before the members of the Commission.
51. DR. SALEEBY. Your view is that you should have the
control over every film that is shown in this country ? Yes ; and
in that I am backed by the Home Office.
52. You made an exception to propaganda films ? I would not
call " Ghosts " a propaganda film.
53. Well, " Damaged Goods ? " -That is a play. I have in
my mind a certain film about which I am not a little troubled.
It is " Where are my children ? " which is a propaganda film
against what is called race suicide. You see after all, my business
is with the cinematograph manufacture and the cinematograph
proprietor who produces films for the purposes of profit, and I
am a bit unwilling to enlarge my sphere.
54. Some one else can deal with this? The Home Office and
the police authorities and the Lord Chamberlain can deal with
that as well as the licensing authorities. I may say I make it a
rule to welcome all objections, and I make inquiries into those
objections; that is to say, I get letters objecting to certain
pictures, and I have inquiries made immediately, and the letters
are answered giving the result of the inquiries.
55. Objection has been taken now to scenes depicting the effect
of venereal diseases? Well, remember that opinion on this
question has changed considerably. The attitude of the news-
papers and the theatres has changed.
56. MR. KING. His lordship asked you whether you thought
that other matters should be dealt with by local authorities,
and I think you expressed the opinion that that would be desir-
able ? I think it would be well for broad general rules to be laid
down. You can lay down general rules from the Central Office
EDUCATIONAL FILMS 257
in London and find that they are disobeyed or evaded, and there-
fore you require certain powers of vigilance on the part of the
local authorities.
57. You know there are certain regulations issued by the Home
Office which are incumbent upon all? I assume so.
58. MB. CROOK. Talking of these educational films, do you
think that if any boys in a class were studying, say, Russia, with
Petrograd and Moscow and other things for a fortnight, they would
have as clear vision at the end of the fortnight if they studied with
the aid of a cinema instead of with fixed pictures ? Well, of course,
it would depend on the boy a good deal, and it would also depend
on the film a good deal and the rapidity with which the films
succeeded one another. Mind you, I do not exclude the necessity
of going to books before or after seeing the film.
59. Don't you think that pictures which lay permanently
before them would be more effective in impressing views of a
particular place upon the boy? I do not know; but you see
you cannot give the same sense of reality as with the cinema.
Take the pictures of geography, for instance. You would be
showing the buildings or the rivers or anything like that, \vhereas
in the cinema you would have moving views, and in that way you
would bring the pictures more like reality.
60. It depends on the moving picture ; they would have to be
chosen with remarkable care ? Of course.
61. If the other subjects you mentioned were taught, and you
gave two hours a week to each of the subjects, that would mean
that the children would be looking at the cinema for ten or twelve
hours a week? Well, these things must be done with discretion
and with regard to the health of the child mentally and physically.
62. There are about 30,000 schools in England and about 5000
of them contain less than eighty children. It is rather a big
proposition to put a cinema into all these schools ? Not at all.
63. SIR WILLIAM BARRETT. Are these four assistants of yours
all male assistants ? All male.
64. Don't you think it would be desirable to have lady assistants
as well as male assistants ? This seems to me to be a very impor-
tant point ? I am bound to consider that in the first place this is
purely a voluntary organisation, kept in existence by voluntary
subscriptions, and although the expenses are pretty heavy, I
have no power to force them to do these things, and again, if we
had a lady I should insist that we should have different premises
in which to perform our duties.
65. Don't you think at the present time instructional and
educational films can be shown in connection with the preparation
of cooking and saving of food ? I have seen demonstrations at
different Board schools which can be easily produced and would
be useful. I am sure they would be.
66. You say that the Government send films to your Board
to be censored? Yes, that is so, and I think it only fair to the
trade to point to the fact that already there are enormous possi-
bilities in times like these for appealing to the patriotism of the
258 PROPAGANDA FILMS
people. Various war films and economy films have been produced,
and these have been submitted to our Board to be censored.
Then again, they have given us practically all the censorship of
films for export. In this respect you can see how valuable it is,
as I have heard of cinema films being used for the purpose of
espionage, and I believe these parties have been detected by
Mr. Brooke- Wilkinson, our secretary. You see, there are films
which can be sent abroad which would give important information
about this country.
67. DR. MARIE STOPES. Do I understand you to suggest that
you would like a separate authority to deal with propaganda
films? Well, propaganda is a somewhat general term. There
are certain types of propaganda films which have to be carefully
dealt with. We would not allow the films showing a dispute
between Capital and Labour or serious things like that. You
see, a department like ours, if we took these things on, would
have a very large and a very delicate issue to decide, and we are
not anxious to add to our responsibilities. We exist mainly,
almost exclusively, for the cinema theatre alone, for the amuse-
ment of the public and for the profit of the proprietor or the owner
of the film. I would not bring educational films under our Board,
as I think they are entirely outside our skill. They are for the
educational authorities to decide and not for us.
68. What is to prevent an ordinary exhibitor saying he wished
to have an educational film in his exhibition and taking something
of a propagandist nature which you disapprove of very much ?
He cannot do that if he is an exhibitor belonging to our organisa-
tion. If he exhibits an educational film, then we have the right
of censorship over that. But, of course, when you come to the
general educational film you have to consider many different
questions.
69. The propaganda film, " Where are my children ? " was, I
understand, to be shown in all the ordinary houses? No, I do
not think so ; I understand it was only for special halls and special
audiences, and was only to be shown to adults.
70. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Assuming that the present censorship
works satisfactorily, what hope is there of bringing every concern
under it ? You mean without further legislation ?
71. Yes, first voluntarily, is there reasonable hope? If you
ask my personal opinion I think there is a very strong hope. I
do not know the exact number of members, but I think it is
something like 95 per cent, who belong to our organisation.
72. We are in a position of being attacked, and to some extent
being discredited by attack over many matters, and I should like
to know, if this censorship continues, whether all the other ex-
hibitors will come in ? I can only speak of the information that
is in my possession, and that is that every member of the organisa-
tion has loyally and faithfully carried out his pledge. I should
be surprised to find that any one has broken out outside that
5 or 10 per cent, who are still outside the organisation. We are
endeavouring so far as we can to put the cinema industry on trade
MISS VICKERS' EVIDENCE 259
unionist lines, and the trade unionist has plenty of methods of
dealing with the recalcitrant members. For instance, the manu-
facturers will be perfectly entitled to say that they will not sell
to any hall any film that does not come under the censorship.
By that I mean that if a hall shows a film which has not been dealt
with by the Censor, then the manufacturers will refuse to supply
it with any other film.
73. THE SECRETARY. As a matter of fact, they are doing that
now? I believe they are.
74. SIR JOHN KIRK. In the event of a direct censorship being
instituted, should it supersede the present censorship? I think
it ought to, because otherwise it would put the trade in an in-
tolerable position if they had to work under various standards.
75. You are in favour of a local censorship? No, except as
regards the conduct of the halls.
76. THE SECRETARY. Will you tell us whether there is any
possibility of your reviewing films which Mr. Redford has passed ?
I ask this because " " and " " are still
being exhibited, and I have had a complaint from a chief constable
that one has been exhibited quite recently. He went down to
see the film and strongly objected to it ? I must inquire into that.
SEVENTEENTH DAY
Monday, May 7, 1917,
The BISHOP OF BIRMINGHAM in the chair.
STATEMENT OF MISS VICKERS
PRECIS
MY personal experience of cinemas is limited to Central London,
and the schools with which I am in closest touch are in the borough
of Holborn. It is difficult to estimate how often the children go
to cinemas, but from the returns from two schools in Holborn and
one in South St. Pancras I should say generally not more than once
a week or once a fortnight. In a Holborn school, boys' depart-
ment : two classes, II and IV, were questioned, and the number
who had visited cinemas in the preceding week was 33 per cent.
The head master in this school has done much to deter boys
from going. In another school the percentage of boys and girls
attending cinemas during April was 16 per cent. In February
the percentage of boys had been 33 per cent., which shows that
the cinemas relieve a felt want of somewhere to go to in the
dark and cold of the winter, away from their overcrowded
homes. When the children can play in the street the cinema
is not so much frequented. I have been supplied with informa-
tion concerning the real tastes of the children of one school.
26G CHILDREN'S FAVOURITE FILMS
The questions set were answered bv the boys of the classes IV,
V, VI, VII, and by the girls of classes V, VI, VII. The
boys vote first for detective and burglary stories, and the
girls for love stories. War pictures take the second place with
both, and comics the third. Nearly half the children confess to
dreaming about the pictures, noticeably the elder boys, who dislike
murder being represented on the film. " The Light that Failed,"
"King Arthur and His Knights," "The Merchant of Venice,"
" The Battles of the Ancre and the Somme," " Sons of the Empire,"
are all favourite films. Practically every child mentioned Charlie
Chaplin; he is a universal favourite. When asked what part
they would like to take, the great majority vote for the detective
hero. Some would like to be comedians, not many want to be
cowboys; only one boy at this school wished to take the part of a
burglar or murderer. They are evidently on the side of justice with
a strong bias towards the Heroic Ideal. The girls also want to
be the heroines. I think the pictures are better now than they
were a short time ago, but I do not think they are nearly as good
as they were in their early days. French pictures are undoubtedly
the best, both from the artistic point of view and because they can
be funny without being -vulgar. The type of pictures generally
shown is most unsuitable for children, for without being abso-
lutely immoral or indecent, it turns the most beautiful things in
life into ridicule and degrades them by making them ugly and
absurd. The exaggerated gestures and actions which appear to be
necessary to explain the plot are themselves an evil, as self-control
of mind and body is the first lesson we try to teach children. I do
not think that the detective stories which have always enthralled
boys since reading became universal do so much harm as the
sickly sentiment, coarse love-making, and infidelities of men and
women, seen in the " dramas." The comic films are often very
vulgar, but they are so far removed from everyday life that their
effect on the child mind is not so evil. I wish there could be
healthy, wholesome cinemas to which parents could send their
children, confident that they would see nothing to soil their minds.
Educational films such as those dealing with plant life are useless
unless explained by a teacher or some competent person and taken
as part of the school curriculum. But good stories from standard
novels such as Ivanhoe and The Last Days of Pompeii are both
instructive and really thrilling. Fairy tales might be more used,
and pictures of foreign countries, their people and their history.
W T ould it be too much to ask that certain cinemas might be
selected where the management undertook to provide suitable
programmes for children on Saturday afternoons, and then a list
of those cinemas hung up in the schools and the children encour-
aged to patronise them ? At present the cinema is too exciting,
it should be more normal and not so exaggerated, and should deal
with the beautiful things in life rather than the sordid aspect
of human nature. The children often live among such sordid
surroundings that it is surely a mistake to accentuate them.
CINEMA EXPENSES 261
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
Miss VICKERS. Examined.
Miss VICKERS explained that she was a voluntary worker in
Hatton Garden, and had been for some years Secretary of Tower
Street, Seven Dials, a school which was now closed.
1. PRINCIPAL GARVIE. You say there should be an " hour
limit." Do you refer to a period of time or to time generally?
Oh, a time limit generally.
2. As to how long they should stop ? I mean the hour at which
they are allowed to be present.
3. Not merely the length of time, but the hour of the day they
should be there ? Some of these children were there for three or
four hours at a stretch. Cinemas are beginning to turn them out
at a specified time. The , , was
very rowdy the whole time. A man was walking about trying
to keep the children quiet, and there was great commotion at the
beginning of the second performance owing to those outside
fighting to get in.
4. Was there no adequate provision for keeping order?
They were shouting it was like Babel.
5. You did not notice any rude conduct by boys towards
girls? Were the children all crowded together? Were they
sitting too close to each other ? The seats were divided, at least
where I was. There was no separation of the sexes.
6. Was the lighting adequate? I could see dimly. But to
give an idea, a man came in and sat down on top of me because
he could not see the seat I was in. Lighting ought to be better
than that.
7. MR. NEWBOULD. You wish for wholesome cinemas to which
parents can send their children. Do you mean to assert there are
no such places ? We do not know them. They are probably the
better-class cinemas. I would suggest a list.
8. DR. KIMMINS. Don't you think children better in the
cinema than in the streets? Well, it's a difficult question. I
really cannot say. I have not made up my mind on the subject.
9. What alternative is there to the cinema? It might point
to this, that we ought to have cinemas where children can be
catered for, and have amusement suitable for them. I am not
against the cinema in the least, provided the children don't sit
there too long. In this district of London it does not seem to
have become a passion with them as in other districts.
10. MR. LAMERT. You have referred to cinemas where
children can be catered for. Are you referring to commercial
cinemas, or state-aided or rate-aided institutions ? I don't mind
either. It is a question whether the ordinary cinema would find
it worth while.
11. Do you think it advisable that public funds should be used
for the purpose ? If public funds could be used in connection
with the schools.
262 MR. A. E. NEWBOULD'S EVIDENCE
12. I think you will find as a commercial proposition nobody is
likely to do so. Do you think it of sufficient importance to be
done in the other way ? Otherwise it is merely a pious hope.
I think the cinema trade would make just as great profits.
13. If this is a commercial thing and could be made com-
mercially possible, it would be done. If it is not done, will you
agree with me there is no profit in it? Take a building like
Victoria Hall. They have a splendid performance of opera,
Shakespeare and so on.
14. And the prices ? 2d., 4>d., 5d., 6d, and I believe Is.
15. The audience is drawn from all over London? Probably
South London provides most.
16. Somewhat different from the cinema, which is local ? If
you give people good stuff they will appreciate it. The cinema
managers should co-operate in the right way. It is quite possible
the Education Committee will put restrictions upon children going
to cinemas. After the war there is sure to be stronger control.
17. MRS. BURGWIN. Is not the great attraction of the cinema
not so much the subjects as the price at which the child may get
in? In the case of the worker, yes. It is somewhere for a
mother to get her smaller children out of the way on a Saturday
afternoon. People must have amusement.
STATEMENT OF MR. A. E. NEWBOULD,
Chairman of the Cinematograph Exhibitors' Association oj Great
Britain and Ireland, Limited ; Chairman of the Cinemato-
graph Trade Council ; Director and Manager of Provincial
Cinematograph Theatres, Limited ; Director and Manager of
Associated Provincial Picture Houses, Limited ; Director of
London Film Company, Limited ; Director of Penning 's Film
Service, Limited.
PRECIS
THE first witness to appear before the Cinema Commission
prefaced his evidence with some remarks in regard to the abnor-
mality of the times. I wish to associate myself with, and even
to emphasise those remarks, because I am now firmly of opinion
that but for the war the charges against the cinema would never
have taken the serious line which they have done. Of all the
charges brought against the cinematograph industry, the most
damaging is the charge that the cinema is largely responsible for
the increase in juvenile crime. The trade, quite apart from the
work of this Commission, has made an effort to find out what
the actual truth in this connection is. It has been at some pains
to collect and examine the available evidence, and the results
have been embodied in a'pamphlet just published by the Cinemato-
graph Trade Council. I submit that this pamphlet is a fair and
comprehensive statement of the case, and that the conclusions
arrived at must commend themselves to any unbiassed student.
The other serious charge is that, indecent conduct takes place
CENSORSHIP AND ILLUMINATION 263
in the cinema audiences. My experience teaches me that this
question of indecent conduct is simply one of supervision, and not
of lighting, as is generally supposed. Supervision since the war
has necessarily been increasingly difficult and inefficient at a
time when it possibly should have been more thorough than ever.
But for this fact the question of lighting would never have assumed
so serious an aspect if it had arisen at all. I am frankly unable
to sympathise with the mental attitude of those who would pro-
hibit darkness everywhere on the ground that it necessarily con-
duces to evil. I could as readily sympathise with a proposal that
all walls and roofs should be of g;lass, and all doors abolished on
the ground that privacy and seclusion are incentives to immorality.
Prior to the war there was little criticism in regard to the censor-
ship. The films were improving automatically week by week.
But for the war there would have been ,a considerable increase in
the number of British productions, and trade organisations
tending to general improvement would have reached a higher
stage of efficiency. These things would in themselves have
dealt adequately with any attempt to place undesirable films on
the market. The films of this type could not under any circum-
stances be commercially profitable in an industry which expected
to last for more than six months, and that fact has from the first
been fully recognised by the responsible trade leaders.
Prior to the commencement of the war new and up-to-date
cinema theatres were rapidly ousting the older and less satisfac-
tory places. Unfortunately, the suspension of all building
operations and the crippling of all efforts towards architectural
improvement has given a new lease of life to many places which,
under normal conditions, would have been put out of business by
simple competition.
Finally, there is the question of the social evil, which has as-
sumed an acute aspect as the inevitable result of war conditions.
It has been very difficult to keep cinema theatres, as well as all
other places of entertainment, entirely free from an undesirable
element which was controlled with comparative ease prior to the
war.
In regard to the increased illumination of theatres there are
several aspects to be considered. The moral aspect I have already
referred to, and, in my judgment, the amount of lighting in cinema
theatres should be sufficient to allow of proper supervision.
On the physical side there is the question of eyestrain. A
certain amount of strain undoubtedly exists, particularly in the
case of young children, but it appears to be entirely tempor-
ary, and is not worse than other contrasts which are of daily
occurrence, such as drawing the bedroom blinds suddenly on a
bright, sunny morning, or entering a brilliantly lit room from
a dark street, and so forth. In this connection I would suggest
that anything that tends to destroy the definition and brilliancy
of the picture, such as excessive and distracting lighting in the
auditorium, must involve a greater strain on the eyes in the
endeavour % to distinguish imperfect detail.
264 CENSORSHIP
I hesitate to mention the financial side of this question, but in
view of the present difficulties of the trade it must be mentioned.
The increase in lighting means a very serious increase in expense
on account of the very much greater power required to project
the picture through a lighted auditorium on to the screen. Recent
instructions issued by the Board of Trade make it imperative on
all theatre proprietors to reduce and not to increase the amount
of electricity consumed during the continuation of the war.
On the question o'f special children's performances I wish to
say that a specially selected programme is not at present a com-
mercial proposition. It will be found that where the price of
admission is sixpence and upwards children's matinees are seldom
if ever given, and the proportion of children attending these places
is negligible at any time. Those who do attend are nearly always
accompanied by their parents, and are seldom seen in the theatres
after 8 p.m. The number of children attending cinemas increases
as the prices of admission decrease. In other words, the problem
of the child and the cinema belongs chiefly to the poor-class dis-
tricts. Until housing and home life conditions are improved, and
until something is done to provide other equally attractive forms
of wholesome entertainment for children, it does not seem to me
to be wise unduly to restrict attendance at the cinemas. The
probable result would be that children would simply roam the
streets, with their attendant evils and temptations.
An experiment has been started in Birmingham, where the
cinema proprietors and the authorities are working together to
improve the conditions of children's attendance. The experiment
is in its infancy, but is worthy of sympathetic encouragement, for
it is probably in this direction that a practical solution will be
found.
CENSORSHIP
The full report of the negotiations between the Home Office and
the trade on the subject of censorship is a somewhat lengthy
document, and I propose, therefore, briefly to > recapitulate the
Home Office proposals and the attitude of the trade towards
them. Briefly, the proposals were
1. A voluntary censorship under the control of the Home Office
for which' the trade was to pay a sum of not less than
6000 a year. As the Home Office had no legal powers
either to enforce such a censorship, as final throughout the
kingdom, or to compel renters and manufacturers to
submit their films for censorship, or to prohibit exhibitors
showing films which had not passed the censorship, these
proposals offered no improvement on existing conditions.
2. The Chief Censor and Examiners were to be selected and
appointed by the Home Office.
3. There was to be " a strong Advisory Committee appointed
by the Secretary of State, including representatives of
local authorities (including educational authorities) well-
known members of the general public, authors of standing
MODEL REGULATIONS 265
not connected with cinemas, with a representative of the
manufacturers and a representative of the exhibitors.
- One member at least should be a woman."
The Trade was asked to make observations on these proposals,
and the objections the trade raised were as follows
1. Thaf a Government Censorship must be compulsory, uni-
versal in its application, ahd final in its decisions.
2. That the Chief Censor should either be selected or appointed
by the Advisory Board or the Home Office in agreement
with the trade, and that one Examiner should be ap-
pointed by the trade.
3. The trade asked for a better representation on the Advisory
Board.
After very considerable delay, the Home Office had to admit
1. That it was unable without legislation (which was out of
the question) to make the censorship compulsory, uni-
versal or final.
2. The Home Secretary adhered to his decision that all the
appointments should be made by him, although all the
salaries would be paid by the trade.
3. The Home Secretary intimated his willingness to concede
three representatives on the Advisory Committee instead
of two.
I wish emphatically to deny the statement which has been
made that the trade was inconsistent in its attitude, and that it
refused to go on with the negotiations. I personally conducted
those negotiations on behalf of the trade from start td finish.
I entered them with a sincere desire to assist the Home Office to
bring about a settlement, and that I was unable to do so was in
no way my fault or the fault of the trade.
I am convinced that a voluntary trade censorship as at present
conducted will be found the most satisfactory form of censorship
to all concerned. I personally think it desirable that to the
present organisation should be added an Advisory and Appeal
Committee, which should be appointed by some such body as the
National Council of Public Morals in consultation with the Home
Office.
MODEL REGULATIONS
The Cinematograph Act is an Act to provide for the safety of
the public, and regulations to that effect are included in the Act,
but the local authorities are given certain powers to vary or
add to these regulations, with the result that between 200 and
300 different sets of regulations are in force, according to the views
of the various licensing authorities.
Many of these regulations have nothing whatever to do with
the question of safety, and even those that have that aim are, in
some instances, highly absurd.
266 BRITISH PRODUCTION
I suggest that a committee should be set up consisting of repre-
sentatives of (1) the trade, (2) the local authorities and the
Home Office, and (3) this Commission, with a chairman appointed
by the Home Office to consider these regulations and draw up a
model set, .which should then be issued by the Home Office for
use throughout the entire kingdom.
THE BRITISH MANUFACTURER
A good deal of comment has been caused by the fact that some-
thing like 90 per cent, of the films shown in this country come
from America, or other foreign countries. There is a big public
demand for British films, but it is not articulate, and British
manufacturers are working under serious commercial difficulties
as against the American manufacturer inasmuch as they have
great difficulty in selling their productions in America.
A joint advertising campaign urging the public to insist on
seeing British productions, together with the setting up of an
efficient sales organisation for the handling of British-made films
in America, would, in my opinion, quickly result in at least 50 per
cent, of the films shown in this country being of British origin,
while the development of the American sales of such films would
enable the British manufacturer to expend more money on his
productions.
THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE CHARGES AGAINST THE
INDUSTRY
It was my intention to go very thoroughly into this matter,
but I believe this to be unnecessary as the Commission has already
been able to throw a good deal of light on this question from the
evidence which it has examined. I am further of opinion that
the unfair and unjust attacks which have been made upon the
Commission itself are sufficient to indicate the prejudice which
existed in some quarters, and I am willing to leave this aspect
without comment.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. A. E. NEWBOULD. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. I want you to explain to me a little more
fully why you think but for the war there would not have been
the charges against the cinema. Supposing I put it this way.
If there had been no war, we should have had more leisure for .
minor things and the cinema would have more attention thrown
on it ? Natural development was arrested when war broke out.
The general nervous condition of the people, their unbalanced
mental attitude, have tended to throw these things out of proper
proportion and perspective.
2. In the matter of juvenile crime. The trade has gone into
that very carefully ? The Trades Council, which is a body com-
posed of all branches manufacturers, renters and exhibitors
LIGHTING 267
to deal with all matters of general policy concerning the trade,
thought that this thing had assumed a very serious aspect and
was likely to damage the trade considerably. We have a very
able secretary, Mr. Frank Fowell, who is rather used to this so'rt
of work, and we instructed him to collect, as far as possible, all
available evidence, interviewing as many people and writing to as
many as possible, and to draw up a report for the Council.
3. Why do you consider the question of indecent conduct is
not in any sense a question of lighting ? Well, I should be loath
to think, my lord, just because it was dark, that this gave rise
to indecent conduct. There are many dark places other than
the cinema. I do not walk about in these dark places suspecting
indecency.
4. You don't require supervision in these cases ? Supervision
is possible. It is reasonable there should be proper supervision.
5. Tell me as closely as you can, what is the objection of the
trade to better lighting than prevails usually? The more light
the worse the picture. Till you can eliminate that view you cannot
expect them to welcome additional light at the expense of the
picture on the screen. A secondary consideration is that more
light means more cost. To project light through light is difficult,
and doubling the amount of light in the auditorium would probably
require much more than double the amount of current for pro-
jection to get an equally clear picture. We shall insist that every
cinema shall be sufficiently well lighted to permit of proper super-
vision. A man walking down the aisle should be able to see to the
end of the seats fed by that aisle. It is the' attendants' duty to
walk down behind the seats and see what is going on, and any
inspectors, police, etc., ought to be able to do the same. It is
unreasonable to expect that inspectors standing at the back of
the gallery should see at orice to the extreme end of the building
and see what is happening to people in the front.
6. Do you have many complaints brought to you of any
particular theatres where there is carelessness of supervision and
indecent conduct? The Exhibitors' Association heard some
months ago that complaints in regard to conduct were made
to the L.C.C. and Scotland Yard, and we as an association took
the matter up and sent a circular to the theatres complained of,
and informed them that if any more complaints were received
the Association would oppose the renewal of the licences.
7. There were supervisors in these places ? They were not so
well conducted as before the war. We had trained supervision
then, now it is only casual. Twenty-one of my theatres before
the war had highly trained men. It is a very, very delicate thing
to handle. You instantly find yourselves in a lawsuit if you say
a few words.
8. Yes. But increased lighting means less temptation? I
suppose it is so.
9. In regard to British productions, you say there would have
been a great many but for the war ? The British producer was
gradually coming into his own. I speak from personal experience.
268 FILM PRODUCTION
The London Film Company was turning out prior to the war about
thirty big films a year, of about 5000 feet each. It is entirely
closed down at the moment ; every single producer and operator
was taken for the Army, and nobody was left to continue it.
10. What is the average life of a film ? One copy does not last
more than twelve weeks of continuous showing, i. e., say, four
times a day.
11. Could it then still be shown in inferior theatres ? Not that
copy. Of course the junk merchant might buy it and sell it to
some outlying village. A new copy takes its place, and so it
goes travelling on.
12. Are many copies of the same film made ? That's a question
of finance. Some films run ten or twelve copies.
13. That depends upon the popularity of the film? Naturally.
A film of topical interest would be exhausted in a shorter time and
would require more copies with which to cover the ground.
14. Classic films like "Macbeth" and "The Merchant of
Venice," is their life short ? These films are very apt to crop up
from time to time. A Shakespearian revival would cause reissue
to be made'.
15. There are certain things that go on practically for ever.
Charlie Chaplin, for instance ? No, two or three years.
16. Detective stories ? There are so many new ones coming out.
17. Is it a fact that very few of the high-class novels have been
a failure comparatively speaking? Comparatively speaking,
good literature has not been.
18. Commercially doubtful? It depends. Romantic litera-
ture is constantly in demand; it is in particular favour at the
present time.
19. You say the war is interfering with the building of better-
class theatres. Is there a process going on something like the
absorption of the smaller theatres? Would you be building
palaces capable of holding more people? The original theatres
were made too small, and the expenses of new construction are
enormous compared with what they were.
20. Would it be incorrect to ask whether you were projecting
anything of that sort ? We had thirty odd sjtes and options on
similar lines when war broke out.
21. That would have meant the absorption of smaller places ?
Closed them down by healthy competition.
22. In regard to the social evil, have you much difficulty ? Not
much in the provinces. In one or two towns more difficulty than
others. There was not much trouble in London prior to the war,
but since the war it has been very considerable. There has been
a certain laxity of behaviour in perfectly respectable girls owing
to the presence of soldiers. It is probably quite harmless, but
frivolous and stupid.
23. THE SECRETARY. Emotional disturbance !
MR. NEWBOULD. It is very difficult to speak to them.
24. THE CHAIRMAN. Is there any advantage in having private
boxes in cinemas? As a rule, no. There are snobs who think
CENSORSHIP 269
the cinema is a place where they have to mix with undesirable
people. We have not a single box in any cinema I am con-
nected with twenty-one theatres; average accommodation, 700
people.
25. With regard to eyestrain, I am not going to take you as
an authority on that. I am not. I may say my Company have
a most elaborate method of selecting their pictures. They have
six people two ladies and four, men who sit each day from 9.30
to 6 at night. They have never complained of eyestrain and
headache. The pictures are rushed through at top speed.
26. Now the censorship ? I represented the Association
officially on some occasions, and sometimes alone, and saw Mr.
Herbert Samuel and others informally.
27. You are still more or less in touch with them ? The Home
Office proposals are for a voluntary censorship under the control
of the Home Office. It was rather a contradiction, censorship by
consent, and we were to consent to whatever the Home Office
liked to do !
28. You were required to pay ? That was not to be voluntary ?
That is so.
29. Was the idea that without an Act of Parliament it could
not get an enforced censorship? There are criminal penal laws
dealing with immoral and indecent publications. They have no
powers outside that.
30. There is nothing to compel you to send your films in ?
No.
31. THE SECRETARY. You could say : " We won't send our
films " ? The whole of the manufacturers of films signed an
undertaking not to do so so long as the Home Office censorship
assumed that form.
32. Would you go so far as to say that at the present time
supposing this Commission were to recommend compulsory cen-
sorship it could not be carried out except by Act of Parliament ?
The Home Secretary s.aid it was contentious, and they were
under pledge not to introduce it during the war.
33. THE CHAIRMAN. The second proposal was that the Chief
Censor and Examiners were to be selected, and a larger number.
Six. We have four. Government officials don't like to work as
long as other people. We were to pay for the six.
34. At the present time the films produced only require four
examiners. They sit in couples.
35. Supposing it were not war time, do you think four would be
sufficient ? No, the footage is larger than can be inspected. The
inferior stuff doesn't get on the market at any price there is so
much good stuff.
36. You have objected as a trade. Supposing what you objected
to had been eliminated ? We still think something of the sort will
ultimately come.
37. And considering how reasonably fair our great public
authorities are, the trade would not find itself entirely antago-
nistic ? There would have to be very great safeguards. Nobody
270 ADVISORY BOARD
claims that the Lord Chamberlain's censorship of plays is very
satisfactory.
38. Is it not possible that we may learn a lesson fr6m the
failure of the Lord Chamberlain's department? You cannot
imagine a Government censorship of films now appointing a
man far removed from any knowledge ? Governments come and
go Home Secretaries come and go. They bring their own
views.
39. THE SECRETARY. Can you indicate the kind of man who
was suggested for the censorship ? I think the public should
know the kind of names. The men suggested were in each
case very well-known literary men and writers of romantic and
imaginative novels.
40. In the case of the Lord Chamberlain, there was no thought
of a type of person fitted for censoring .plays ? The Lord Chamber-
lain appointed a type to carry out the work, as in the case of
Mr. Redford.
41. REV. S. SOOTHILL. Has the Lord Chamberlain no power
over cinema representations ? No power.
42. For instance, there is a cinema at Drury Lane. Has he
no control ? No control over it.
43. THE CHAIRMAN. The Advisory Board, what of that?
I quickly came to the conclusion that the Advisory Board was,
to use a slang expression, merely "eyewash." It was never
intended to be active or have any views in the matter. It was a
sort of sop to the public. They were only intended to pass pious
resolutions.
44. Have you any idea how many they were to be ? About
twenty.
45. One was to be a woman ? " At least " one !
46. Was it feasible to suggest that one examiner should be
appointed by the Advisory Board ? I think so.
47. Was only one for you ? None.
48. Would it have given the public greater confidence if one
examiner was appointed by the Advisory Board ? I think so.
49. Was it not rather curious that you went into all these
negotiations with the Home Office and then the Home Office
found they were not able to appoint some one in that capacity ?
They thought the trade was not organised and could put up
no sort of defence, and were vastly disappointed when they found
this was not so.
50. Were the meetings with the Home Secretary or with
officials? We had three with the Home Secretary, and there
were others with permanent officials, but there was a lot of
correspondence .
51. Have you much experience of permanent officials? More
than I sought for.
52. Do they realise they are fallible ? I'm sure they don't !
I shall always be theoretically in favour of a voluntary trade
censorship, but in their form it would not be satisfactory. The
trade would not be averse to a Government censorship if it would
BRITISH FILMS 271
silence this everlasting talk. We want peace and quietness, and
not to be fighting all the time. We propose to perfect the trade
organisation so as to deal with blacklegs ; we have started to apply
Trade Union principles fairly and properly, to entirely suppress
blacklegs.
53. With regard to other things besides the character of the
film the lighting of the 'buildings, etc. you are prepared to
leave these to the local authority? My experience of getting
anything passed by local authorities is such an ordeal that I am
astounded to hear of some places ever getting licensed. It seems
to me it is entirely up to the local authorities to see that these
insanitary places are not allowed. I am surprised to hear they are.
The Chairman mentioned a certain house in the Strand which
was insanitary and dangerous.
54. THE CHAIRMAN. You would like some model regulations
in regard to these matters ? Very much. All over the country.
55. Knowing how jealous the local authorities are in respect of
their powers, don't you think it would be extremely difficult
to get them to accept any model regulations ? They seem
fairly willing to adopt regulations issued by the Home Office,
provided they are of a very stringent nature.
56. You think the local authorities would be prepared to accept
an agreed set of model regulations ? They would be glad of the
solution.
57. Supposing you had anything like a censorship partly trade
and partly Home Office, what kind of proportion would you like
the trade to have ? The trade don't insist on any representative
upon a censorship which can be trusted. It wants to be sure
it has a democratic censorship. It wants to be safeguarded
against bureaucrats, cranks and extremists. What we want is
to place ourselves in the hands of sane, rational, reasonable
people.
58. You say the public wish for British films but are not " articu-
late." What do you mean ? If you mix amongst the people
going in and out you hear them say : " What a pity we are always
looking at American films Yankee policemen, etc. we want
British films ! " You only get that sort of thing if you ask for it.
They don't go to the manager and ask for them. British films
are so few and far between that they would wear their boots out
trying to find them.
59. Would the advertising scheme you mention be a combine ?
No one firm could afford to carry it out we should have to
co-operate to get British films everywhere.
60. Very well. Then to use a Yankee phrase, " It is up to the
trade." My last question is this do you feel that the complaints
which have been made against the cinema generally are very
numerous or of very great importance ? If you were to see my
collection of press cuttings you wouldn't ask that 1 All grossly
unfair; and also such pamphlets as that of Prebendary Carlile.
You see reports in the Press with headings " Crime and the
Cinema " or " Suicide and the Cinema " it is nauseating, because
272 DR. C. W. KIMMINS' EVIDENCE
when you read the reports you can discover no reasonable con-
nection with the cinema at all. I agree that the criticisms refer
to other things than cinemas.
61. Has there been much talk? There has been very unfair
talk..
EIGHTEENTH DAY
Monday, May 14, 1917,
The REV. PRINCIPAL A. E. GARVIE, D.D., in the chair.
STATEMENT OF DR. C. W. KIMMINS.
PRECIS
An Investigation of Children's Interest in the Cinema.
IN order to see what type of film proves most attractive to boys
and girls of different ages, the children in six elementary schools
in very poor districts, and six in well-to-do districts, were asked
to write an account of the moving picture they liked the most of
all those they had seen at the cinema, and they were told that they
would only be allowed to write for fifteen minutes. There was no
notice given and no preparation nor preliminary discussion, and
the children wrote the essays at practically the same time. The
boys' and girls' departments in the same schools were used for the
experiment. A similar test was given to a girls' central school in
which the ages are from eleven to fifteen.
The numbers of children in the different schools are given in
the analysis. The totals are as follows
In the 6 boys' schools in poor districts there were 1413 children
6 girls' 1334
6 boys' well-do-do 1861
6 girls' 1909
girls' central school 184
6701 children
It was found by a sample test that children from eight to ten
years of age wrote accounts of films they had seen quite recently,
so that they simply represent selections from one or two pro-
grammes. In the upper classes, however, the selection was made
from a larger area. In the analysis A and A' etc., represent boys
and girls at the same schools
ANALYSIS OF CHILDREN'S ESSAYS 273
"o 3-
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274 ANALYSIS OF CHILDREN'S ESSAYS
1
QO I-H T*< GO e^ oo
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(7)
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NOTES OF ANALYSIS 275
Notes on Analysis.
1. The great point of difference between the boys' and girls'
favourite films is, that the girls are much more interested in domes-
tic and fairy stories than the boys, and are far less interested in
cowboy stories and adventures.
2. Comics are much more popular with the boys than with the
girls. In the upper standards of most of the schools there is
evidence that the film of exclusively comic interest is less popular
than in the lower standards.
3. The boys in both classes of schools are much keener on serial
films than girls.
4. The interest in war films varies from school to school. The
boys are rather more interested in this type of film than the girls.
In the schools in well-to-do districts they are far more popular
than in those in poor districts.
5. The boys are much more keenly interested in the purely
Crook films than the girls. This may account for the greater in-
terest of the boys in serials, in many of which, e.g., " The Laughing
Mask," " The Clutching Hand," " The Red Circle " and " The
Broken Coin," the Crook is the predominant interest. In " Lib-
erty," which is the favourite with the girls, there is a strong love
interest. Serials are not so popular in schools in well-to-do
districts.
6. Exclusively love films are far more popular with the girls
than with the boys.
7. Of the children who have never been to a cinema, there are
fewer boys than girls. The numbers in the schools in well-to-do
districts are much greater than in those in the poor districts.
8. Comparatively few children name films but are unable to
give any description of them, and these are in the lower standards.
9. Purely educational films are not popular, but are more so in
the schools in the well-to-do than in those in the poor districts.
10. In the girls' central school the only points worthy of mention
are the fall of interest in comics and the comparatively large num-
ber of girls who like stories of cowboys and adventure. In other
girls' schools an increased interest at twelve and thirteen years of
age in this type of film is to be noticed.
11. The interest in purely love stories starts in most girls
schools at about eleven years of age.
12. The children who have never been to cinemas very often
state as the reason that " Mother says it is bad for the eyes."
The most striking result that emerges from the investigation
is, that the older children have a remarkable power of giving good
accounts of films they have only seen once. This not merely a
passing interest. In one of the schools about thirty girls had
promised their teacher in 1914 not to go to the cinemas during the
war. In spite of this, girls who had kept the promise were able, with
one exception, to give good accounts of films they had seen more
than two years before. This would seem to open up possibilities
of great educational developments if films could be produced
276 EXTRACTS FROM ESSAYS
which, in addition to being of value from the educational point of
view were of sufficient general interest to command the concen-
trated attention which is evidently given to popular cinema films.
April 21, 1917.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
DR. KIMMINS. Examined.
DR. KIMMINS : I think the simplest way would be for me to
elaborate the evidence, and give you a few extracts from essays
showing you the mind of the child with regard to the cinema.
I would urge you not to attach much importance to the results
from the girls' central school, because I only had 184 papers sent
in, which is not a sufficient number from which to draw a very
definite conclusion. In many of the children's essays they simply
refer to the last performance or the one before that. I have
thoroughly analysed the papers and there are several points which
come out very clearly. I have noticed that the girls take a greater
interest in domestic drama and fairy stories. Quite a large number
of fairy stories have been filmed, and they have been described in
great detail. As regards the comics they are very much more
popular with the boys than the girls, and when one analyses
every age one finds that in the upper standards the boys are less
attracted by the comics than the boys in the lower standards. The
boys are much keener on serial films than the girls, but this may be
explained by the fact that the boys have more opportunities of
attending the cinema than the girls. The interest in war films
is very great and varies from school to school. Then, again,
the boys take a keener interest in the crook films than the girls,
while love films are more popular with the girls than the boys ; and
it is very noticeable that in the schools in very well-to-do districts
the purely love film is more popular than in the poorer districts.
To carry on this investigation I selected six schools from poor
districts and six schools from good districts, in order to get a great
difference in the home surroundings. One point comes out in the
analyses of the papers of the girls' central school ; and that is, that
there is an increased interest at twelve and thirteen years of age
in films about cowboys and adventure. I will quote some ex-
tracts from essays as to why some of the children do not go to
cinemas.
The first is rather pathetic, it is from a child of nine : "I have
never been in a cinema. It was my dada's wish that I was not to
go in a cinema. Mother likes to keep his wish because he was
killed" (in France).
Then another child of nine says : " My reasons for not going to
cinemas are that the heat gives me a headache. I also found that
germs like the dark and so cinemas are unhealthy, so father and
mother decided I better not go. I like books very "much and
having many at home I do not want to go."
Then' a child of ten : " I have never been to cinemas. Last year
EXTRACTS FROM ESSAYS 277
my two sisters went, and in two or three days, one had scarlet
fever and the other measles, and so mother would not let me go
because she thought I might get it."
Then a girl of thirteen says and I must say here that a girl
of thirteen is much more critical than a boy of thirteen : " I do
not go to the pictures because of these reasons : (1)1 save money
by stopping at home ; (2) it don't do your eyes any good; (3) it's
not healthy to be stuck inside a hot place taking other people's
breath."
Now I will read some extracts from essays on films. Here is a
rather remarkable one from a boy often : "" A girl had an extremely
heroic mother whose husband was locked up in a den of tigers.
The woman, who was determined to save her man, boldly went to
the circus train where she begged pitifully and melancholily to give
her the keys of the den. After a long argument they answered in
the affirmative. When she got to the place they said ' You can have
the keys on one condition only,' and that was, when she got to
the door and unlocked it they must give back the keys. At
first she answered in the negative, afterwards she agreed. The
second she got into the gloomy cavern she heard her husband's
voice. ' Is that you, John ? ' ' Who is that ? ' came a dreamy
and fatigued voice. ' It is me your wife, Charlotte.' Then the
tears flowed."
Here is an extraordinary account of the impression a girl of
thirteen obtained from seeing a film dealing with the death of
Nurse Cavell : * ' They took her to a prison in a German neighbour-
hood and ordered her to tell the British plans. When she thought
of her God and country she said : ' I will not be a traitor to my
own country.' The German Emperor, who is called the Kaiser,
said : ' You will suffer for it if you do not tell us.' Nurse Cavell
knelt by her stony bed and said her evening prayer. When Von
Bissing saw her he spoke some German language to her, and she
did not understand it. The following day the Kaiser ordered his
soldiers to fetch her to the place where she was going to be shot.
When she was led through the market the people laughed and
teased her. When she arrived at her destination the Kaiser
said: 'Fancy you trying to fight against me.' He then ordered
Von Bissing to level his revolver and shoot her. He did so, and
then he was given an Iron Cross and some money for killing her."
One small child after describing a country scene says : " The
picture I like best is like a meadow. It had flowers and little
hills. Why I like it is, because it makes you think that you
are in the country yourself. It also learns you your Nature
study."
Then a child of eleven says : "I always look forward to pictures
about people who do daring things. I like to see people climb
mountains under great difficulties, or people running away and
being pursued. There is one picture that I think is very good.
It is called Liberty. It is a very daring play and the people go
through very dangerous things."
The girls, by the way, take very much more interest in scenery
278 CHILDREN'S DESCRIPTIONS
than the boys, and here is what one of the girls says : "The picture
that I enjoyed most was one delivered in six parts and dealing with
the wild life of Alaska and the Yukon District. I cannot exactly
recollect the details, but I have a rather hazy, it is true, remem-
brance of them. It is about a man who, in disguise, tracks to
the snowy regions of Alaska and there kills the man who ran away
with his wife. , The music that was played at the time, I think,
has a great deal to do with my decision."
Here is another : " It was a beautiful picture and beautiful
scenery too ; as we sat looking at it, it seemed to dazzle our eyes.
The lady of the house was dressed in green velvet, while her
son had a green suit ; her son's sweetheart also had a green dress,
but it was trimmed with black fur. As they sat under the trees,
on a seat made of oak, in the moonlight, it was picturesque. The
green made it look more beautiful than ever. We held our breaths
as we watched it, for it was so beautiful."
At the age of thirteen, the girls like to describe the appearance
of the people who are acting. That comes out very strikingly in
one or two essays I have here : " Joan was a young and beautiful
girl of about seventeen years of age, who worked in the mines. Her
friend was Lizzie, a pretty girl of about the same age, but fragile
and obstinate. Their 4 boss ' as they called the manager, was a
young man, handsome and kind. Many a time had he saved Joan
from blows from the foreman, and she had grown to love him.
Joan's father was a bully and the terror of the mine."
Here is another short description : " It was a dull day, and a
heavy storm was raging overhead ; and a man, evidently a newcomer,
entered the inn. He was tall and respectable, with large bright
eyes, which seemed to influence everybody. Having had his
fill, and the storm having abated, he left the inn and proceeded
homewards. On arriving there he sat down and seemed lost in
meditation."
Here is a good description : " The picture that I liked most was
not a funny story nor a drama, but just views of water waving and
curling, and also some falls. It gave some most beautiful falls
and fountains splashing and sparkling in sunny France. The
water first turned a beautiful blue, and then on the fountains it
sprinkled with a silver tint. Then came the fall, with its beautiful
waters jumping and bubbling over sharp stones and rocks, making
many pools of white foam. Another picture was the river, and
sometimes it did not sparkle but was dark and sullen."
This is a remarkable production for a young child.
Then another child says : " I like mysteries and detective pictures,
from them you can learn many things : first, you can learn to copy
detectives' ways ; secondly, you can be careful of whom you make
acquaintance, whether a nice girl or a nasty mean girl."
Here is something for the Censor : " Some pictures are de-
grading, and they do not do one any good ; but they would help
to make the people who see them less pure and have less moral
support. These pictures are only shown in cheap and degraded
picture palaces, and are only supported by the people of inferior
CHILDREN'S DESCRIPTIONS 279
education. Some pictures are degrading, and these never ought
to be passed by the Censor."
The age of that girl is only thirteen and she goes to an ordinary
elementary school.
Then you have : " Pictures of foreign scenes, exploration and
aviation give one ideas that are not to be found in books and do a
great deal to improve our ideas. My opinion is, that pictures
could be utilised for the education of children along with the form
of education that is taught in our schools. Pictures about foreign
countries .are highly valued for their aid to education, and in the
improvement of children's minds."
Another girl says : " Love pictures are sometimes ridiculous and
are only meant for grown-ups. Pictures such as 4 Quo Vadis ? '
4 John Halifax, Gentleman ' and ' The Three Musketeers ' are
really a help to education and give one a good idea of the habits of
the people at the time."
Then here is a delightful child who gives this description : " I have
an aesthetic taste for scenery, and one of the best pictures I have
seen is ' Doran's Travels in China.' This young lady travelled
on the tranquil winding river. The mountains glistened in the
sun and the traveller stood amazed at the wondrous spectacle.
The people in the massive building were similar to the ancient
people of years ago. The beautiful scenery helps to uplift one to
purer thoughts. It helps to give one a better idea of the beauty of
the world and gives one ideas of different countries."
In one essay a girl traces the extraordinary influence of one person
upon another : " Bob believed in crime, and reared Daisy, as the
little girl was called, to believe in the same principles. One day
Daisy was hungry, and being now a girl of seventeen and very
pretty, she decided to pick some one's pocket, but also was detected
and carried to the police station, where a middle-aged man took
pity on her and took her to his own home, which was situated in
Park Lane. Daisy had never seen such a lovely house, and even
after she was dressed in lovely clothes, the impulse to steal would
come to her, and at last, while the haughty footman was asleep,
she cut off the gorgeous gold braid from his shoulder, and tied it
round her own waist."
Then here is the essay of a boy of eight years of age : " There was
a girl about fourteen years of age. She had a very nice young man.
There was another lady who was very jealous, because she wanted
the young man. So she made up her mind to murder this young
lady. She got two young men to capture her. One day they saw
her out. They blindfolded her and took her away. They put
her in a house and left her there. While she was looking out of
the window she saw her sweetheart. She opened the window and
called out to him and told him all about it, so he knocked the door
down and got her."
Here is a boy of nine : " The best film I have ever seen is ' The Man
Who Stayed at Home.' I like it best, because it ended up nicely,
and some pictures end up so funny. But c The Man Who Stayed
at Home ' ended up where the Man Who Stayed at Home saves one
280 CHILDREN'S DESCRIPTIONS
of our biggest liners, and sunk one of the German submarines, and
killed a lot of German soldiers. So you can see that it did end up
very nicely."
The boys' descriptions of war films are extremely well done, as you
will see by this one : " Name Battle of the Ancre. Crash ! Boom !
The Tower Cinema Band is imitating the battle of the Ancre. You
see the Tanks in action, also men slushing about in mud. Now
you see a transport wagon being guided round a shell hole by an
officer ; the officer takes an unlucky step and has a bath in mud.
Now the eighteen-pounders in action, making frightful havoc over
in the German trenches. Now the whistle shrills, and they leap
over the parapet, rat, tap, tap, tap, go the German machine guns,
but nothing daunts our soldiers. Crack ! and their gallant cap-
tain falls. This enrages the men to fury. At last they reach the
German lines. Most of the Germans flee for their lives shouting
* Kamerad ! Kamerad ! ' etc. Now the British and German wounded
are brought in, some seriously, other^; slightly. Soon after follow
the German prisoners, some vicious-looking scoundrels that I
should not like to meet on a dark night, others young boys, about
sixteen years of age."
Here is the essay of a boy of eleven : " Moving pictures are nice,
and although I have seen and enjoyed many, that which I liked
most was a film entitled ' His Mistake.' In the first picture one
saw three evil-looking men in an old shepherd's* hut, plotting to
kill Lord Harston of Myrtle Manor. The next shows these men
slinking home in the dark to a dilapidated cottage. Third, one
saw Lord Harston riding out with his faithful dog ' Rufe.' As
Harston came down a leafy lane a masked man with a revolver
calls upon him to stop. Harston speaks to his dog, which, unno-
ticed, creeps behind the masked man and then, with a low crouch,
darts forward upon Harston's would-be kidnapper. He, startled by
the attack, falls and is immediately attacked by the dog. Part II
shows Lord Harston's Manor, which he is using as a convalescent
home for wounded soldiers. Part III films a second attempt on
Harston's life, in which he receives a mysterious threat in a note
brought by a shaggy dog. Last part : Lord Harston's baby is
kidnapped and threatened with death unless Harston turns up at a
certain spot. Lord Harston takes ten constables, captures the
robbers or plotters and imprisons them."
I have had some fine descriptions of Tom Brown's School-
days. It is a very favourable film with the girls and many of
them write upon that. Then just one description of the way in
which the boys describe Charlie Chaplin
" Charlie by the Sea. In this two-reel farce we see the inimitable
Charlie Chaplin garbed in the clothes of a seaside lounger, bowler
hat and baggy trousers complete, strolling along the front at Mud-
splosh-on-Sea, winking merrily at the oysters and twiddling the
toothbrush on his upper lip. A fair form hoves in sight, which
gradually changes itself into a fair maiden, escorted by a fierce old
gentleman with a moustache which nearly hid his uncomely face
from view. She soon left him asleep, at which Charlie gaily
CHILDREN'S DESCRIPTIONS 281
tripped along, his golden locks waving gently to and fro in the
breezes. On being asked, the fair damsel agreed to go for a stroll
along the sands with our hero. After a game with another of the
young maiden's admirers in which a lifeboat came prominently
into action, Charlie left his young lady to meet his friend Jerry
Swiller, whom he treated to some ices. At the end of the picture
we see all the irate maidens he had jilted chasing our hero."
This is, I think, one of the best of the Battle pictures : " The
best picture* I have seen was the Battle of the Ancre and the Ad-
vance of the Tanks. It shows us in Old England the privations
Tommy has to undergo in blood-sodden France and Belgium.
The Tommies went to the trenches stumbling and slipping, but
always wore the smile which the Kaiser's legions, try hard as they
might, could not brush off. Lords, tinkers, earls, chimney sweeps,
side by side, were shown in this splendid film. It showed and
g roved that although England was small and Germany large, the
ritish Lion was a match for the German Eagle any day. The
film also showed that monster terror and fear of the Germans, the
Tank. Snorting, creaking, waddling, the huge bogey started for
the German first-line trenches. The film showed the huge British
guns. Day and night, night and day the huge monsters of
destruction roared never ceasing."
That I think is a remarkable essay for a small boy from an
elementary school. I will conclude with one or two extracts from
the girls' essays.
A child of eight says : " When I went to the picture palace I saw
a picture of a fire. It was a large house which was on fire. The
fire was caused by a little girl dropping a lighted lamp. When the
house was burning a boy came walking along. He saw the house
on fire and three little girls looking out of the window. He threw
up to them a large rope. They took hold of it and climbed down
in turns. The mother came down after her children and the father
came down last. The mother and father were very pleased with
the boy for saving their children's lives and their own."
Then a girl of ten says : " The pictures I like best are dramas not
too sad. I like about when people get bankrupt. A lady has to
marry a person she does not like to get her father's business back.
She loves another gentleman and she tells him her trouble. Then
just as they are going to church a telegram boy comes to say that
her uncle has died and she is an heiress. Then she marries her
real young man. Her father is then able to keep his business on."
Here is the extraordinary story of the reformation of a beer-
drinker : " Once when I went to the cinema I saw a picture about
a little girl named Mary, whose mother was very ill and whose
father was a drunkard. One night her father came home very
drunk and he aimed a jug at his wife and killed her, and when Mary
saw it she ran away. Presently she came to a motor and got under
a covering and went to sleep. Later, a gentleman got in who was
very rich, and whose fiancee had broken off her engagement with
him because he drank beer. When he got in the motor he put his
feet on the blanket and he woke Mary up. He sat her on his lap
282 MR. PERCIVAL SHARP'S EVIDENCE
and she said : ' I don't like you ; your breath smells like my
daddy's.' He took her home with him determined not to touch
beer again."
This next one is very typical and shows the child's extreme love
of detail : " ' The House of Fear ' was the moving picture I enjoyed
most. It was a drama in four acts, but it was not as long as some
dramas. It was about a very old lady, named Mrs. White, who was
bedridden. She had only one child, a girl named Margaret, who
was married to a certain Mr. Fairley, who had no relatives. Marga-
ret had one child named.Elsie, who was thirteen months old. Soon
after Elsie's second birthday her father was accidently shot through
the head and died immediately. Her mother, hearing of her hus-
band's sudden death, is taken very ill and dies soon afterwards.
She then lived with her grandmother until she had turned five,
knowing but little of her parents' deaths. In her ninety-ninth
year Mrs. White dies, leaving the child in the care of an uncle who
is her godfather, but the uncle was a miser and did not wish to
keep her. After the funeral of her grandmother Elsie is brought
before a meeting in her house and the uncle is asked to keep his
promise. He does not wish to, but in the end, wishing not to
appear ungrateful, he consents. In the end Elsie is married to
her uncle's nephew, and here we leave her with a good husband, a
comfortable home and two children."
STATEMENT OF MR. PERCIVAL SHARP, B.Sc.,
Director oj Education for Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
PRECIS
1. The Function oj the Cinema.
THE cinema show is a place of legitimate entertainment. The
proprietor claims for it that it is nothing less; nothing more.
Against the cinema show no criticism can fairly be directed there-
fore, because it may fail to fulfil in any wide sense the functions
of an instrument of education. The function of the cinema is
primarily to make a profit, and this it can most easily do by making
the show a place of interest and amusement. In so far as it may
do this with detriment to, without detriment to, or with benefit
to public taste, morals or general bona mores, the cimena must be
held blameworthy, blameless, or worthy of praise and support.
2.- Juvenile Crime and its Association with the Cinema.
It is most difficult to estimate the effect of the cinema on the
good taste or general manners of the child, inasmuch as the stan-
dard of reference must* vary so largely with the identity of the
observer. My own observations lead me to say that I have seen
exhibits in distinctly bad taste, which could but have a bad effect
on the development of child mind towards a love of the beautiful ;
but I am bound to say that I have seen many more of which the
effect must be, entirely for good. I am speaking now of the de-
NEWCASTLE STATISTICS
283
velopment of good or bad taste and good or bad manners, as
distinct from the development of criminal tendencies.
Vulgar pictures are shown on occasion, and such exhibition is
to be deplored, but I think the general movement is in the direction
of what is beautiful and of what is legitimately interesting.
With regard to the origin or development by the cinema of
criminal tendencies in the young, I desire to say at once that in
my opinion no good ground exists for attack upon the cinema in
this connection. It is fortunate that in this, the most serious
aspect of the influence of the cinema, the matter can be put to
some extent to a quantitative test for crime, unlike taste or
manners, is not a matter of opinion or local convention. The
extent in a thickly populated area closely served by picture shows
to which juvenile crime can justly be attributed to the influence
of the cinema, is a question capable of some definite investigation.
I set out below some facts with regard to Newcastle-on-Tyne,
which may be regarded as pointing to a well-considered conclusion
on this particular point.
Newcastle is a city with a population of 278,000 (approximately).
The acreage is 8452 acres, which includes 1294 acres of town moor,
parks and recreation grounds. In many parts of the city the
population is closely gathered, owing to the existence of tene-
ments and to the system of housing in flats. There are in the city
twenty-four picture houses. On the rolls of the public elementary
schools of the city are over 49,000 children. *A11 the elements
of the problem are therefore broughf into association.
The number of children committed to industrial schools from
the city area and under maintenance at the present moment
is 262.
These committals fall under one of the following heads
Section 58 (1) (a) : " Found begging."
,, (1) (b) : " Found wandering, no proper guardianship."
(2) and (3) : " Shopbreaking and Larceny."
(6) : " Non-compliance with Attendance Order."
SECTION 58
Year
Sub-Sections
1-3
Sub-Section
6
Total
1914
1915
1916
44
41
29
27
22
23
71
63
52
Totals
114
72
186
By far the greater number of these committals are at the instance
of the police.
As the Local Education Authority is responsible for the main-
tenance of all children committed to industrial schools, whether
284 JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
at the instance of the police or otherwise, it is laid down in Sec-
tion 74 (6) of the Children Act that no child may be committed to
an industrial school to be maintained by a local education authority
until the local education authority has had an opportunity of being
heard with reference to the case.
The Local Education Authority have laid upon the Director
of Education for the city of Newcastle the duty of examining the
facts and circumstances of all proposed committals to industrial
schools and determining whether opposition shall be offered in any
particular case to such commitment.
In this capacity I have dealt with a large number of cases in
Newcastle during the last three years, and my scrutiny has
brought under survey in each case
(a) The report of the police on the facts of the case including
in most cases some comment on the tendencies of the boy or of
his guardians.
(b) The report of a school attendance officer whose duty it is to
inquire and report closely upbn the previous record of the boy,
his habits, his companions and his home environment.
(c) The report of the head-teacher upon the habits and conduct
of the boy in school and upon his school record.
Upon these three records I form a judgment as to whether
opposition shall be offered to a committal.
I have dwelt upon this procedure in some detail in order that
the Commission may form a clear idea as to the kind of case and
the nature of the information I am called' upon to examine and
pronounce upon in the ordinary routine of my work.
/ have not during the last three years of investigation (covering
186 cases of committal) had a single case brought to my notice, in
respect of which it has been alleged or even suggested by police, school
attendance officer or head-teacher that the genesis of the wrong-doing
was to be found in the cinema show, EITHER IMMEDIATELY OR
REMOTELY.
I have mentioned the period of three years because that covers
the period of my work in Newcastle up to date.
I may add, however, that I do not recall a single such instance
in the preceding ten years during which I acted in a similar
capacity in a Lancashire county borough of 100,000 population.
I have gone further, and examined the records of my predeces-
sors, which have been preserved in this office, of seventy-six other
cases from this city area now being maintained in industrial
schools, and I cannot find any trace of a single child whose wrong-
doing has been attributed, either directly or by inference, to the
influence of the cinema show.
Having regard to the fact that when I leave the region of con-
jecture, and seek over so wide an area of wrong- doing, for concrete
instances of crime, directly traceable to the influence of the cinema,
and finding none ; and having regard to the further fact that in no
single instance has it been alleged or suggested by those institut-
ing proceedings or by those whose duty it was to report upon the
facts that such connection between crime and the cinema existed ;
CENSORSHIP 285
I am driven to the conclusion that, so far as this city is concerned,
no case can lie against the cinema show as the genesis of juvenile
crime, or as being responsible for the marked increase of the crimes
of juveniles during the last three years.
But although in my opinion the grave accusations against the
cinema, to which the foregoing notes refer, must be dismissed as
resting largely on a confusion between propter hoc and post hoc, it
is none the less desirable that so far as is possible, all exhibitions
calculated to deprave public taste, whether of adult or child, should
be discountenanced. This is an obvious truism, and can be held
to be no more applicable to picture shows than to any other form
of entertainment.
CENSORSHIP.
This naturally leads to the question of censorship.
I am of opinion censorship is desirable in relation to picture
exhibits as it is in relation to stage exhibits.
I suggest that any censorship in the public interest should be
entirely maintained at the public expense, and be free from re-
sponsibility to any authority other than that of the State.
The standard of censorship should be constant, and censorship
should be exercised before films are allowed to be exhibited publicly.
I am, therefore, in favour of a State Established Censorship,
consisting of a staff of people efficient in quality and sufficient in
number to deal with this matter at its source.
I view with distaste proposals for differentiating between exhibi-
tions " for adults only " and those for children. The child mind
is intensely inquisitive, and when such distinctions are established,
the juvenile boy is very anxious indeed to see what his big brother
may see from which he himself is excluded.
It predisposes the mind of the child to look forward with a nasty
expectancy to those exhibitions to which he is for the time denied.
It is, I think, unfortunate to recognise as an expedient thing,
forms of entertainment for adults not fit for the sight of children.
THE CINEMA AS AN INSTRUMENT OF EDUCATION.
I do not regard the cinema as a serious instrument of education.
The subjects of instruction in the elementary schools are
broadly : Reading, writing, English composition, arithmetic,
some history and geography, handicraft and some Nature study.
In the secondary schools we have also : Mathematics, languages
other than English, physical science.
The subjects in respect of which claims have been made for the
educational value of the cinema are : History, geography, Nature
study.
One recognises the value of good pictures whether cinetic or
static as an aid to the formation of mental pictures of scenes,
geographical or historical, but to claim more than that would be
in my judgment confession of a very inadequate concept of the
true meaning of the study of either subject. A much more in-
sidious claim can be made for the cinema as an educational aid
286 CINEMA INFLUENCES
to Nature study. No doubt many very interesting processes can
be brought to the intellectual door, but I feel strongly that the
effective study of science must be based on personal observations,
comparisons, measurements and deductions. Observation by
proxy is vicious. Indeed, there is a real danger of making study
too easy even without the cinema. Peptonised mental pabulum
of any kind atrophies the intellectual digestion. Education by
cinema would ruin it.
GENERAL CONCLUSION.
My general conclusion is, that the cinema show can only be
regarded as a legitimate form of entertainment suffering from
the present day defects which characterise other forms of
entertainment.
The remarkable and immediate popularity of this form of enter-
tainment has directed to it criticisms which in its minor forms
may be justified, but which, in its more serious forms has, in my
opinion, very often been founded on prejudice or even ignorance.
The cinema show will pass through a process of evolution
as other forms of entertainment have done, improving with the
public taste and probably itself improving the public taste.
It is remarkable that the type of entertainment is generally so
high, having regard to the short period of its development and
to its possibilities for evil, if those possibilities were exploited an
event which, in my opinion, has not happened.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
PERCIVAL SHARP, B.Sc. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. You are the Director of Education for
Newcastle -on-Tyne, and have taken a great interest in the cinema
and its influence upon young life ? Yes.
2. On the whole you say that the influence of the cinema is for
good rather than for evil ? That is so ; but it depends very much
upon the child's home, and it also depends upon its power of
observation.
3. Then I see you have a very decided opinion that a great deal
said about the criminal influence caused by the cinema is un-
warranted ? Well, I am strongly of that opinion, but my opinion,
of course, is formed entirely from my own experience. I have
thoroughly investigated all these cases, and that is the opinion I
have formed. You will find that many of these children are born
with criminal tendencies. There are such things as naturally
warped children, but I think they are relatively few. The other
cases are mainly due to parental neglect. If you take the children
that attend cinema shows late in the evening by themselves, you
will find that the greater proportion of these children are neglected
children from homes in which there is no good parental influence.
4. Have you noticed that there has been an increase in
juvenile crime since the beginning of the war ? There has been an
increase of crime amongst juveniles, certainly.
CENSORSHIP 287
5. Would you attribute that to the absence of the father from
home ? I should have done had I not been careful not to jump
at conclusions without a very careful examination of facts. I ex-,
amined all the circumstances of these commitments since the war
broke out, and it was remarkable that of the 150 cases which had
been committed in only seven of them were the fathers at the
Front. Of course, the industrial conditions of Newcastle would
probably account for the larger proportion of the fathers being
at home than in other districts.
6. Coming to the censorship, you would distinctly favour a
State censorship as contrasted to a censorship exercised by the
trade ? Yes, certainly, as it would set up a better standard, as a
censor must be above suspicion.
7. And you think, if connected with the trade, it may be regarded
as not impartial ? I think that is the kind of uncharitable thing
which might be said.
8. You think that on the whole a distinction between exhibitions
for children and separate exhibitions for adults would tend to
hinder the progress of the cinema ? Yes, I think it would. If you
had a special performance for the adults the natural curiosity of
the child would be to see that performance.
9. MONSIGNOR BROWN. Will you develop that remark of yours
as to the better standard ? I think that films should be censored
from the source, and this would be far better than if you left it to
230 or 240 localities to censor it. If you left it to them you would
be having different standards.
10. THE CHAIRMAN. Coming to the cinema as an instrument
of education, as an educationalist you do not regard the cinema
as really a very serious educational agent ? No, I do not. There
are very few subjects which lend themselves to teaching with the
aid of the cinema.
11. Would you consider that explanations, spoken along with
educational films, might increase the usefulness of these films ?
Undoubtedly.
12. You would not accept it as a substitute for instruction ?
Certainly not, but as a supplement merely for the purposes of
interest and stimulant. I do not think it is worth the great ex-
pense that would have to be incurred in fitting up rooms for it;
in fact, I do not think the school is the place for the cinema.
13. SIR JOHN KIRK. Has there been any complaints of the
pictures themselves at Newcastle -on-Tyne ? No.
14. MONSIGNOR BROWN. What do you say about the censor-
ship ? What should constitute the censorship ? There should be a
number of sufficiently qualified people to carry out the work.
15. DR. KIMMINS. You would not exclude the children from
going to the cinema ? No, I should not.
16. MR. KING. Failing a State censorship, I take it that
you would approve of a voluntary censorship in preference to
the individual censorship of the local licensing authority?
Undoubtedly.
288 MR. SEDDON'S EVIDENCE
The BISHOP OF BIRMINGHAM in the chair.
STATEMENT OF MR. J. A. SEDDON.
PRECIS
THE Cinematograph Exhibitors' National Union is intended to
succeed to the Cinematograph Exhibitors' Association. For some
years the parent body has been actively engaged in creating a
national organisation to advance a common policy for the govern-
ment and control of the business from the exhibitors' standpoint.
The legal disabilities of a limited liability company compelled
the members to substitute a new basis of organisation so that
the executive authority could enforce the rules and also apply the
agreed policy of the Union for self-preservation and resistance to
any unfair attacks that may be made. The process of transition
from the Exhibitors' Association to the National Union is pro-
gressing rapidly, and should be completed within a very few months.
In accepting the appointment of Organising Secretary to the
Union, two considerations governed my decision. Speaking as
one who has been closely connected with the working class and
trade union movement for upwards of twenty-five years, I am
profoundly convinced that the cinema exhibitions have given to
the workers a form of entertainment which in the main constitutes
a real pleasure and respite from the drab surroundings of many.
No one conversant with the actual working class conditions can
fail to be struck with the monotony of most of our modern indus-
tries. Specialisation, the mechanical habit produced by consistent
attention to one operation or one part of a complex production,
has created a new problem amongst most of our workers engaged
upon machine productions. These are denied the mental activity
and the personal pleasure of a former generation of mechanics and
artisans who were the creators of a complete article. For those
who are the victims of this change the cinema provides a mental
stimulus which in hours of bodily rest gives knowledge and
pleasure without fatigue. For this reason, speaking for my class,
who are overwhelmingly the greatest proportion of patrons, I am
convinced that the question of control cannot be left to those,
however high and lofty their motives may be, who condemn upon
hearsay, or make incidents into general charges. Nor is it in the
interest of national betterment that a source of harmless amuse-
ment should be threatened with destruction, thereby reducing
tens of thousands to a choice of the street or the public- houses.
My second reason for accepting the position was partly .based
upon the labour aspect of the industry, and partly upon the finance
involved ; but chiefly the possibility that through effective organ-
isation and disciplinary power it would be possible to prevent the
attempts of any individual for personal gain to bring discredit
upon the whole trade. The labour question is of some consi-
derable importance, the employment of nearly 100,000 directly
engaged, and the vast sums spent on subsidiary employment,
EXHIBITORS' UNION 289
printing, building and its allied trades, commands the attention of
every one who is interested in the question of employment ; and
the possibility of their unemployment, unless for very real and
grave reasons, is a vital national question, especially in view of
the great problems that will confront us at the end of the war.
The chief question, however, that I wish to deal with is the scope
and possibilities of organisation to regulate and control the exhibi-
tions. The rules of the Union contain the following objects
(a) To promote goodwill and a good understanding between all
proprietors of cinemas and other places of entertainment, and
between them and such men as work for them, and between them
and the manufacturers and renters of films.
(b) To provide a fund for the protection of the interests of the
members of the Union, to relieve them when in distress and to
protect them from oppression.
(c) To secure unity of action among proprietors of cinemas and
other places of entertainment.
(d) To promote by all lawful means the adoption of fair working
rules and customs of the trade.
(e) To organise and, when necessary, supply means whereby a
free and unrestricted circulation of films and other trade requisites
may be secured for members of the Union.
(jf) To resist by all lawful means the imposition by public
authorities or other persons of terms and conditions upon the
trade which are unreasonable or unnecessary.
(g) To secure legislation for the protection of the interests of
members, and to promote or oppose and join in promoting or
opposing Bills in Parliament.
(h) To adopt such means of making known the operations of
the Union as may seem to the council expedient.
(i) To adopt any means which in the opinion of the council
may be incidental or conducive to the above objects.
The government of the Union is vested in a general council
elected annually by vote of the members, district councils and
local branches. The maximum fine for breach of rules is 100.
It should be said here that the change from the Association to a
Union was carried almost unanimously at the last annual meeting.
During the last few months I have addressed meetings in the
following towns : Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Hanley and
district, Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield,
London, Bradford, Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
These meetings were not confined to members, but were open to
all exhibitors in each district. It is not possible to say the exact
percentage represented at the meetings, but it is a simple state-
ment of fact to say that the great majority of exhibitors, either
in person or by proxy attended. The aggregate vote was equal to
ninety-nine to one for stringent organisation and the use of com-
bination to secure effective means for dealing with members guilty
of acts detrimental to the whole, which demonstrates that the vast
majority of exhibitors welcomed any means whereby the charges
that were constantly being made could be met and dealt with.
290 EXHIBITORS' UNION
It is felt generally throughout the trade that except in rare and
isolated cases the charges made against the cinema are based
upon innuendo, hypothesis, or prejudice; and even the exceptions
have been used for general condemnation without a shadow of
justification. The Union welcomes any agency that will examine
in a broad and comprehensive manner the charges brought against
the cinema. There is absolute fearlessness that inquiry, judicial
in character, can result in general condemnation. The vast bulk
of the members feel acutely many of the unfair attacks by irre-
sponsible people and the uncertainty arising from some adminis-
trative decision by local authorities. They are fully conscious of
the vast influence placed in their hands, and entirely endorse the
statement; made by .Mr. Newbould, chairman of the Cinematograph
Exhibitors Association : " We are honourable and responsible
citizens, we realise our great responsibility to its fullest extent,
and it is our policy to so organise, conduct and control this vast
business as to eliminate all undesirable element and utilise wholly
for good the enormous influence at our disposal."
The question as to what power the Union possesses to deal with
defaulting or non-members is the crux of the policy of the Union.
It is recognised that an industry of such gigantic proportions,
involving millions of capital and universally bound up with the
amusement of millions of the population, cannot be left to the old
doctrine of laissez jaire. To those who are members fines can be
applied, and, failing this, disciplinary method, expulsion. In the
case of non-members who for selfish motives remain outside and
whose conduct of their business is inimical to the general good
of the whole trade, the use of a white list will be a protection for
all who are united for clean business as well as self-preservation.
The white list will be a guarantee to the public that the subscribers
thereto are bound by common obligation to collective action
against the unscrupulous. The local authorities for licensing
buildings will have a guide in their decision and good cause to
question any applicant who is not prepared to co-operate with
his fellow exhibitors for regulation and control within.
Another weapon equally powerful with a strong combination is
the influence with renters. The relationship of the exhibitor with
the manufacturer and the renter has well been compared to that
of the circulating library with the publisher and the author. The
success of the business is equally shared by the three interests
involved. In securing a circuit, the renters desire to be in the
good graces of the greatest number of exhibitors. Any small
minority who resisted the collective efforts of exhibitors would
soon find its supply so limited that competition with rivals would
be hopeless, and self-interest would soon compel a change of
attitude.
The powers of the Union are not selfish but self -defensive. No
national undertaking with such great moral, social and financial
responsibilities can permit anarchy in its ranks. The vast majority
of the trade are pledged to control. As business men they claim
that such control should be national in character and based upon
UNION AIMS 291
the legitimate use of the cinemas as places of amusement As
citizens they desire that the educational side shall be an aid to
the school and an opportunity to visualise the beauties of Nature
and the charms of other lands denied by actual travel to so many.
As men whose standard of morals is not low, they are anxious
that an industry that gives pleasure to millions shall be an
auxiliary to all that elevates and helps to higher citizenship.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
MR. J. A. SEDDON. Examined.
1. THE CHAIRMAN. You are the Organising Secretary of the
Cinematograph Exhibitors' National Union?. Yes.
2. And does that National Union practically cover all the
exhibitors ? Well, we are hoping that by the machinery we are
setting up, by peaceful persuasion and other methods known as
trades union activity, we shall be able to being them into line at
no distant date.
3. As a matter of fact, you would not find many who would
be opposed to it as joining the Union would be to their interest ?
Yes. '
4. If they do not belong to the Union, it would be extremely
difficult for them to get hold of the things they want to show ?
That is one of the weapons of organisation, one of our levers.
5. Of course, that all depends upon the kind of help you get
f 
