The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

May, 1925 Among the Magazines and Books 303 the liberty of italicizing a rather striking sentence : The motion picture as a commercial enterprise is thirty years old. Technically it has been improving all the time, and it gives the smallest town a better show, with better acting, than could be found in most theatres on Broadway in 1895. But this makes the question of its morals that much more important. Is it a good influence, especially for the youngsters who make up a large fraction of its twenty million daily patrons? You can have almost any answer you like. A state board of censorship says flatly that "the motion picture has become a menace to society." A judge declares that "most of them are salacious and vicious." On the other hand, a famous producer insists that "the decent picture pays better than the indecent," and assures us that the younger generation of directors are turning more and more to "good, clean, human, uplifting" film dramas. The manager of a great New York theatre, whose audiences reach 7,000,000 a year, backs him up. "Salaciousness doesn't go," is his verdict, after tabulating 30,000 letters he received from patrons last year, "the people don't want indecent pictures." Who is right? The issue is important, for the motion pictures are probably having almost as much influence just now as the schools. IN THE March 14th issue. The Literary Digest has a short but very interesting article on "Our Subjugating Movies," which deals with the influence of American movies on Great Britain, much to the apprehension of Sir Sidney Low, the brilliant publicist. The writer of the article quotes from the Chicago Journal of Commerce, which records Sir Sidney as saying that "manufacturers in England find there is a demand for clothes, boots and shoes cut in American styles because of being popularized by American Whatever Your Question Be it the pronunciation of vitamin or marquisette or soviet, the spelling of a puzzling word — the meaning of overhead, novocaine, etc., this "Supreme Authority" Webster's New International Dictionary contains an accurate, final answer. 407,000 words. 2700 pages. 6000 illustrations. Constantly improved and kept up to date. Copyright 1924. Regular and India Paper Editions. Write for specimen pages, prices, etc. Cross Word Puzzle workers should be equipped with the New International, for it is used as the authority by puzzle editors. FREE Pocket Maps if you name The Educational Screen. G. & C. MERRIAM COMPANY, Springfield, Mass..U5A movies." Sir Sidney also laments the fact that Great Britain's ideas on conduct, ethics, society, morals and taste are influenced by American films. The Journal agrees that American motion pictures act as propaganda, unintentionally on the part of the producers, and as a result America gains a certain prestige that is helpful in business. Sir Sidney further believes that "in due course American plays, books and magazines will send us ready-made thoughts as well as ready-made boots and provide us with their own substitute for the English language." To which the Journal replies — "Why will American plays, books and magazines extinguish British products? If ours are successful in England, it is equally true that English plays and books are often successful here. Besides the triumph of the movie, there is only one other cultural conquest by the United States in the last few years and that is the imposition of jazz." Please Say You Saw the Advertisement in The Eddcational Scrmn