Exhibitors Herald (1927)

April 2, 1927 EXHIBITORS HERALD 29 Italian Censor Bill Provides 3 Years in Jail (Special to the Herald) ROME, March 29. — The Chamber of Deputies is considering a censorship bill which provides for penalties of three years in prison and $2,000 fine for violation. A special committee and the prefect of the province would approve a picture before it could be shown. Another committee would decide which pictures would be barred to persons under 18. Columbia Set in Europe by Large Booking Contract (Special to the Herald) NEW YORK, March 29. — Columbia is assured of 100 per cent distribution in the British market by a contract signed by President Joe Brandt with F. A. Enders, managing director of Film Booking Offices, Ltd., for exclusive handling of Columbia product. H. & W., Ltd., continues as Columbia representative on the Continent. Ajuria Orders Epic of South America Shot in Studios of California (Special to the Herald) HOLLYWOOD, Mar. 29.— It is now probable that foreign film producing companies will locate here, states J. G. Bachmann. The Ajuria company is the first foreign company to come to Hollywood to make a picture which has its setting in a foreign land, and which deals intimately with a foreign people. Custom has been a reversal of this proceeding; that is, companies have been sent on lengthy and expensive location trips to Europe and to other countries for the filming of foreign pictures. Quota Bill Passes 2nd Reading in Lower House ( special to the Herald) LONDON, March 29. — The bill under which all British exhibitors must show' a proportion of British made films based on an ascending quota passed a second reading in Commons last week by a vote of 243 to 135. Plains Company Gets America and Rex Houses ( special to the Herald ) CASPER, . WYO., March 29.— The American and Rex theatres were leased by the receivers to the Plains Theatre Corporation of Cheyenne, Wyo. Negri Turns Writer ( Special to the Herald ) HOLLYWOOD, Mar. 29. — Pola Negri has turned scenarist. Mauritz Stiller, her director, states that several of the important sequences in “The Woman on Trial” were written by her. Sues Einar Hanson (Special to the Herald) HOLLYWOOD, Mar. 29. — The Edward Small Co., theatrical agents, is suing Einar Hanson, actor, for commissions on his earnings, claiming they boosted his sajary from nothing to $550 per week. Hays Urges Constitutional Amendment for Free Screen Calls Censorship an “Affront to Conscientious Men” — Shows Clashing Prejudices of Members of Boards — Patronizing Good Pictures Begets Good Pictures (Special to the Herald) NEW YORK, March 29. — Federal guarantee of the freedom of the screen by Constitutional amendment, as in the case of speech and press, is proposed by Will H. Hays, president of the M. P. P. D. A., in the April issue of Review of Reviews. There is no doubt that such inalienable rights would have been granted the motion picture when the Constitution first was written, if the motion picture then had been known. Hays says. Calls Censorship an Affront “To release the product of one’s brain only after it has been strained through the sieve of a censor and has received his imprimatur is a discouragement and an affront to conscientious men,” Hays charged. The industry, in its endeavor to live up to its public responsibilites and always aim at higher standards, must have the same protection for its integrity as is accorded churches, he holds. “The tendency to censor motion pictures, books, all forms of expression, is a mark of the times,” he explains. “The passion, on the part of a small minority, for regulating and directing will H. Hays other people to their will, has become almost a national pastime. “Censors have their own prejudices, their own likes and dislikes, which are not necessarily the likes and dislikes and prejudices which govern their neighbors. “One censor board has a lawyer among its members and the lawyer objected to the showing of any picture in which an unethical or ‘crooked’ lawyer appeared. An inland state prohibited the display of girls in bathing suits; while a seacoast state, which boasts one of the finest beaches in America, did not see impropriety in such scenes. “Scenes of strike riots were ordered eliminated from news reels in one state at the same time its newspapers were using photographs of the exact incidents recorded in the films.” Hays declared that “the public, having its attention called to the matter, realizes that censorship is the wrong method of protecting the people from real and fancied danger. Censorship has proved as ineffective in operation as it was unnecessary in actuality. “For instance, the city of Chicago passed a city ordinance twelve years ago providing for censorship of motion pictures. For twelve years Chicago censors have eliminated from the cinema reference to crime, holdups, carrying of firearms, bootleggers, etc. And does any one say that Chicago has become a more model city because of these prohibitions than its sister cities where such practice has not obtained?” Hays declared that “the only time the people themselves had an opportunity to express an opinion on censorship of motion pictures they voiced a thunderous ‘No!’ Then he explained that the Massachusetts legislature passed a censorship bill. Coolidge, then governor, vetoed it. A later legislature passed it. At the polls a majority of 344,921 vetoed censorship. Five Studios Close to Visitors to Save Cost Reaching Thousands a Week M-G-M and Warner Brothers Are Latest to Issue Ban — Paramount, Fox and First National Restrict Sightseeing (Special to the Herald) HOLLYWOOD, March 29.— Out-oftown visitors to the big studios hereabouts are going to find it difficult to see their favorite players at close range hereafter. Following the ruling of Paramount, Fox and First National, the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Brothers studios in Culver City have closed their gates to all visitors. For several years M-G-M officials have attempted to accommodate a limited number of requests and have allowed tourists to view the inside of the huge plant, but a survey of costs, it is said, involving thousands of dollars weekly, has compelled them to withdraw this courtesy. Fox Restricts Visiting Paramount has been closed to all but newspaper and magazine writers for some time. Fox recently issued orders that visitors’ requests must be okayed by the publicity department or heads of departments. At First National studios a visiting hour — 10 o’clock — was established, and guides were assigned to take visitors through. No one was allowed on the sets, however, and there is little to be seen on this or other lots except exterior sets. The reason for the loss, it is pointed out by studio executives, lies in the fact that few motion picture artists can work when onlookers are standing about. When visitors appear on a set the players cannot give their best, it is said, with the result they “go through the motions” and when the gallery has left they re-enact their scenes. This involves holding up the entire company and in the instance of one star, it is said, it cost the company $2,500 a day. Warner Brothers has followed suit after long contemplation, according to Harry M. Warner, and last Friday the closed-door policy was inaugurated.