Celluloid : the film to-day (1931)

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10 CELLULOID Continent, a German audience will have none that is not of the finest technique, like Die Dreigroschenoper. At the bottom of the scale, British films as a whole are made to appeal to the crudest side of human nature. An interesting sidelight on the cultural value of British films and the frankness of their producers is provided by the frequency with which recent products of our studios have incurred the disapproval of the British Board of Film Censors. Not for a moment do I suggest that every film company should have as its aim the education of the masses. Indeed, if this policy were adopted, most film companies would be bankrupt within a year. Films must obviously be produced under economic conditions, and must as far as possible be shaped during production so as to pay their way when exhibited, but this does not necessarily signify that the meanest intelligence should control the choice of subject and the way in which it is treated. On the contrary, it is my belief that the intellectual value of a film should be slightly above the grasp of the average member of the public, for past experience in literature and the drama has proved that the public will always nibble at a standard raised a small way above its head. If such an aim were universally adopted, I am confident that a better level of general film entertainment would soon be attained, which would indirectly have considerable bearing on everyday standards of culture. The Americans believe that a film should portray a more attractive form of living than that of the cinema audience, for the primary aim of a film as entertainment is to lift people out of their humdrum existence.