The cinema : 1952 (1952)

l86 THE CINEMA on its screen we observe without awkwardness the factory, the international conference, the farm, the technician, and this in our homes, where we are least vulnerable to the illusions to which, in the group, we might succumb. Thus the so-called feature programme, the factual programme, whether about biologists or metals or explorers or politics, can exert the strongest influence in television's power. Whatever sort of experts we may be in limited fields, we all need the easy, informal education that television can provide ; and the easy act of switching on the set can be turned to advantage. But styles and techniques have yet to be developed. Here the greatest obstacle perhaps is the anonymous complacency of the B.B.C. itself; from its radio side, too, come the dangers of the set style, the conventions that slide rapidly into cliche, the faint pomposity, and the c liberalism ' that shies away from startling opinions or unpalatable truths. As long as these dangers lurk, the bright and imaginative creative minds will keep away from B.B.C. television, or will find themselves fettered within it; for such disadvantages are quickly reflected in manner and technique. Present restrictions on materials and money ensure that television development in this country will be slow. Yet even now there seems a strong case for divorcing television from radio and giving it an organization of its own. The final aim must be several competing transmissions within a publiclyowned corporation ; the speed of development will be enormously enhanced by creative competition of this kind, and the technical difficulties are far less than the economic. VI But this deliberately optimistic prospect could well be belied by events, and it behoves the television viewer to be cau