Motion Picture Commission : hearings before the Committee on Education, House of Representatives, Sixty-third Congress, second session, on bills to establish a Federal Motion Picture Commission (1978)

MOTION PICTURE COMMISSION. 77 'i here is ;i pln:-e on the screen of the niorion-iiiftnre iheiter for presentations which nn(}uestiouiibly indicate the cm uses, llie dangers, and the effects of sexnal niisconducr. Tl ose subjects dealin;,' with the social evil will, therefore, be snpiiorte'l by the nationil board of censorship which arouse fear in the minds of both sexes, which stimulate efforts to rescue the prostitute, and which indicate sensible ;.!k1 workable metho<ls of repression. Th« board further states that in every instance the psychological and moral effects of the motion picture on the audience nnist be studied. It is difticult to indicate in advance what these will be. siiue so much «1eiiends on the personal- ity, sincerity, and actions both of the players and the i>rodnoers. Mr. Towner. Are those rules set out in any publication of the organization? Dr. Howe. Yes, sir; our standards are printed, and I have copies of this, Avhich was adopted subsequently. These are this year's rules, which came up on account of those white-slave pictures. Mr. TowNEJ?. Will you give the rules and amendments to the re- porter, so that they may be inserted in the record ? Dr. Howe. Yes; I will do so. I merely Avant to close by saying that I know of no industry and no art in which the improvement has been as remarkable, as wonderful, or as important as the improve- ment in the motion-picture business during the last 10 years. I doubt if there is as much improvement in education, certainly not as much improvement in the press. I do not know of any realm of activity in which there has been as much betterment in refinement and in its educational influence as has taken place in the motion-picture busi- ness during the last 10 years, and I think that improvement is bound to continue. Mr. Towner. Do you not think that the trend of the films that they say are now attracting more attention in Europe ought to be the trend of the films that are now being j^repared? In that connection I just want to show you what this Sheffield man says: The best sellers of the future will i v dramas woven .-iboiit historic events. There one may have all the thrills- of tli? imiely ima.trinative :uid as well the attraction of real char.'Cters. Kdncational and industrial films are rapidly jrainin.i: in ii(i]ni!arity. Sti-eet scenes, life lictures. and the iudnstries of distant lands never fail to hold the interest and stinmlate the thonpht of the niotion- j>ictnre thejiter .coer. Another form (if ]>ictiire at present en.ioyin,u; pojtularity is th !t (if ;• mild narrative enacted to a lar.Lie extent in the n)ore beautiful streets and cha!;i -teristic thorcn.sihfares of •.'rea.t cities. These especially lend them- se'\es to th ' exitort ti'a<h^. for tlien tiie s^MtiUi;- is that of a foreign city and tl'.ec'.iy d!>:I'!y litractive. Do you not think it would be best to have censorship applied so tliat in the audience where children are allowed to go these terrible sex ]M'oblems. these highly sensatirni shooting scenes, and these scenes < f vice and crime in all of its forms—-do you not think that those oi^ght to be entirelv taken awav from the places where children ? Dr. Hoax E. Well, I can speak for the board; I can only say that the l)oard has adopted a ruling ag.iinst sex pictures. My own feeling is—tlutt is, my own personal opin^'cn Mr. ToMNER (interposing). Yoi; -ha- tlie board has done that. What you read there would not seem to indicate that. The board says that these pictures which exhibit sexual relations should be approved if they are educational in their nature? Dr. HoAVE. Yes, sir. 4-!072—No. 2—14 2 can g(