Celluloid : the film to-day (1931)

8 CELLULOID companies make for it to see. A large number of the people who comprise the many millions of weekly attendances visits the cinema as a habit, not as the result of any particular wish to see certain players or stories. People to-day have become film-conscious, thanks to continual publicity and the accessibility of the film as an entertainment, and they are willing to accept almost any kind of programme from a comfortable seat in what are supposed to be pleasing surroundings. It will be seen, therefore, that the position of filmproducers, and in particular that of the story-selectors, is extremely responsible, for not only has the choice of theme to satisfy box-office requirements, but it should — although I admit it seldom does — aim at achieving a certain standard of intellectuality. To believe that producers as a breed have any interest whatsoever in the cultural welfare of the public would be absurd. Many years' experience has taught us that only one factor controls a producer's schedule of pictures — that of the box-office, with certain additions in the form of incidental propaganda for the financial interests concerned. Unfortunately the only discernible common denominator of the taste of producers is vulgarity of appeal. It is impossible to deny that the theatrical side of the cinema is — taken generally — a moral, aesthetic and cultural setback to the filmgoer. The amount of film trash which becomes effective by its monotonous repetition is amazing, and it is all the more regrettable that England is now, in proportion, the worst offender. The average British picture of