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, 169 is at once i-eported to uiy son or myself, who have the pictures shown to us and we decide whether the part in question should or should not be cut out. After this they nre leturned to the exchantie and sent to .-til parts of the city one by one. or outside, as the bookings call for. The second exchange here is the Washington Film Exchange, who luive control of the Universal Program. 1 have recently seen Mr. Edw;;rd T. Luchs, the manager, and he has given me the assurance that not a single reel will be .-illowed t(v go out of his office until he has personally exiimined it. Mr. W. R. Mac'.-, of the ^Tntual Film Ex- change, has also given me the same assurance. This priictically covers the entire source of tilns supplies for Washington, luit there are some feature sub- jects sold outside of the exchanges. I thank you for your offer of chairmanship of a censor committee, but I could not accept that or any other jiosition. as any action on my part might be misconstrued by other exhibitors and would cause evil thoughts against me, to which I am extremely sensitive. In conclusion I would like your assticiation tc) know that the exhibitors in all States are organized into a national league for the protection of their interests and for the betterment of the industry in every resjiect, and we hope soon, by well-concerted action, to point with ])ride to the motion-picture theaters of the United States as being the greatest educational f;;ctors the world has ever produced. Kespectfully, yours, (Signed) A. Bbylawski. Now, in December. 1913, an article appeared in a Washington paper that the police department had been broached on the subject of censorship and that five men, two captains and three others, f-hoiikl be detailed to censor all picttires shown here. In response to this suggestion, I wrote the following: The exhibitors of this country, aided by the Moving I'icture World and other trade papers, have worked faithfully and aie still working to uplift the moving- jiictnre industry to the very highest plane. It is their desire to instruct, enter- tain, and amuse the people, to afford recreation and pleasure to those who can not afford the luxury of high-priced entertainments. American makers are all clean. Occasionally some new men start in the business who have to learu tliat the mass of the people do not want and won't patrcmize the places that sIjow fiff-color i)ictures. There are very few of foreign i)ictiires shown now except those of an educational character. All exhibitors should be put out of business who show suggestive or off-color photo plays. Speaking for fellow exhibitors in Washington, as well as myself and the vast majority of ex- hibitors all over the United 'State.s, we have and will continue to eliminate the nnmulacturing of off-color pictures by refusing to buy any of their products at all. That is the ojily way to do it. Censorship is an inipossibility with the large number of releases of the present day. Outside of this, what may offend one may be acceptable to hundreds, yes. thousands of otliers, who do not look for a wrorijr iuoti\e in other people's actions. If all plays, remarks, or stories that could be misconstrued were obliterated by law. you would have to close up every publishing house in the country, newspaper, magazine, etc.—but, thank heaven, our men and women as a rule are clean and with few exceptions do not look for tlie " mote"' in their neighbor's eye. Uet us take the releases for Monday, December 15. from the General Film Co. and otlier m.mnfacturei-s: there are HS.OtK) feet, which makes 3.3 reels. To show a reel properly takes 10 minutes, not allowing for changes, or the equivalent of nine hours a day: so you see that would be asking too nmch from the captains or lieutenants of the police departments, in addition to their present duties, and every well-informed citizen knows that we can not spare ;; single man off our force. We need all and should have many more to cover the di'itrict th;m now allotted to us. The Chairman. We do not need more police for the purpose of censorship ? Mr. Brylawski. No; I mean we need more for protection. The statement that immoral and indecent pictures are being produced is- not so, and there is one grand reason for it, which all the manufac- turers and exchanges recognize, namely, the public will not visit any