The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

October, 1943 Page 315 I Among the scenes most frequently recalled from Valley Town, immediately after seeing it, those with a strong de- privational element prevail, but this is not at all conclusive evidence that the deprivational is more impressive, in general. More study would have to be made of this point to under- standing the relationshii) between enjoyment and imprcssivc- ness. It should not necessarily be concluded that the depressing aspects should be cut out of an educational film even if they are disliked. This data indicates, however, that the film director should handle such material with conciousness of this type of reaction. Excessive use of "grim realism" may contribute more to feelings of insecurity than it does to the driving home of a necessary point. (A recent cartoon on the documentary film depicted only its search for the sordid.) 2—The audiences would like to have the film tell a story. Not only do they like action within a sequence, but they build up at many points an attitude of expectancy that action is going to occur, "something is going to happen." The expectancy of developments which is so strong a part of the enjoyment of a theatrical film gets built up also for documentaries, and in terms of considerable pleasure. Presenting people under emo- tional stress seems to create this demand for a story-denoue- ment. Whether this expectancy was satisfied or disappointed does not become clear in this material. 3—Grasp of the message of the film, the ideas, was found to be proportionate to the clarity with which it is presented in the film. The main cause for technological unemployment was not stated clearly in Valley Town, and was recognized by only two-fifths of the respondents; the solution for un- employment suggested in the film was clearly and emphatically stated, and was recognized in the checklist of proposed solutions by four-fifths of the subjects. 4—The majority agreed that the conditions and human re- lations presented in the films were representative of conditions in general. But the high-educated found IVhat So Proudly. less representative and I'alley Toum more representative than the less-educated. Peksonal Responses 1—There were many individual and group predispositions traceable in the responses to the film presentation and content— mainly content. For one example, the role of self-identi- fication among the respondents' reasons for liking What So Proudly was amazingly high, making up a fifth of all the reasons given in the interviews on the program analyzer re- actions. 2—.\nother form of identification was on a more mental plane. When the film expressed views or showed behavior which bolstered up or agreed with what the respondents thought already, it made a strong appeal. This was particularly strong for What So Proudly, making up another fifth of the reasons for liking in the program analyzer interviews. A home owner believes that a man should own his own home, a church member likes to see the Cases go to church, etc. Although it goes beyond the evidence in our data, this kind of identification must certainly form a powerful entering wedge for any propagandistic point which a film wants to make. It may or may not be evidence on this point that only a small minority checked in the questionnaire that the film was intended to create good will for big business. Many more checked "both big business and labor" than either big business or labor alone. This was surprising for a film which is patently a public relations-builder for a large company. 3—The many breakdov/ns of the responses by personal characteristics in the detailed report of the research are too numerous to summarize. Some of them were so clearcut as to allow predictions even with the limited amount of material. In tracing the differences in reactions of males and females to What So Proudly, in the program analyzer charts, it was found that the sex which would predominate in liking any given part could be predicted with a high degree of accuracy after studying the first third of the script. Certain typical re- sponses by educational level became apparent, though not sc markedly so as the example mentioned. The higher-educated tended to like better than the low the less personalized se- quences, the mechanical processes and skills, the shots with marked symbolic value, the more unusual photographic eflfects such as a montage. The less-educated were more appealed to by domestic scenes, by the more sentimental scenes generally. Enjoy Greater Variety HAL ROACH Feature Releases on 16mm. sound CAPTAIN CAUTION— Victor Mature, Leo Carrillo, Bruce Cabot in Kenneth Roberts' historical saga of the sea. SAPS AT SEA —Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy head into a gale of merriment and blow the gloom hatches sky- high in their antics on the briny deep. THERE GOES MY HEART— Fredric March and Virginia Bruce in an absorbing newspaper story. ZENOBIA (An Elephant Never Forqets) —Oliver Hardy, Harry Langdon, Billie Burke in a bright, original pic- ture. See and hear Zeke recite the Introduction to the Declaration of Independence. 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