Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1921 - Mar 1922)

48 EXHIBITORS HERALD January 21, 1922 Censorshi WILL THE AMERICAN PUBLIC STAND FOR CENSORSHIP.? DO YOU KNOW WHAT CENSORSHIP IS? — WATCH THIS COLUMW —IF YOU FEEL ANY PRIDE IN BEING A CITIZEN OF A NATION WHICH. BY ITS CONSTITUTION, GUARANTEES TO ITS SUBJECTS PERSONAL LIBERTY AND RELIGIOUE FREEDOM— YOU WILL BE INTERESTED^— FOLLOW THIS COLUMN CLOSELY AND PILE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE. 2u,0W,fXlu people see motion pictures dally. Bos office receipt* cf the l«,0Crrj motion picture theatres, in the United States are approximately $4,000,000 daily. Yet some folks say there is nothing 1o motion pictures. They have grown in popularity and developed into the fourth Urge* l industry in lh« world In less than fifteen year?, solely on theit merit and their power, through the eye to convert every' knocker, who will see them. Into a booster, but there are some who will not see them. They are TOO BUND TO SEE. If, every time you hear a person speak ill of motion pictures, you will a-k that person how often they go to see pictures, you will probably be surprised (hat some people can talk so fluently aboul something they actually knot, so little about; as nine times oat of ten they will answer, "Oh, I never go. I don't believe in them." Or that they go only once in a great while when something sensational is advertised. No. They never will believe in them either, because they wonft aee them, or if ihey do venture in and see one occasionally, they go into ihc theatre with an abiding conviction that they .ire doing an evil thine rot going to see an evil thing. Their minds are fixed, and because of the raorhiH tondilion of the mind, they can only see the morbid side of the story as picturized. They have no power to look for the moral — the wholesome side because morbidness has control of the mind. Ant story, picturized — wrlieen or oratorical — would fall fiat unless it contrasts evil against good, and weighs the two human emotions in the balance. You will find the good always triumphant in a discussion of any subject through the motion picture route. Various and sundry organizations have fought the pictures fl'ne* their beginning until they have about lost heart, seeing picture* continue to grow by their own power. Losing geut»d in this way, cerU**n /tform elements have sprung at the business in a new and novel way rr the la>t year or two. They have studied the situation dowry and have decided there is no use fighting pictures in the open so are now agitating for censorship aod are trying to get political power to cut everything that iv interesting out of pictures and thereby kill public interest in them. Will the American public stand for this underhand and urtdemocralic movement? 1l remain* to be seen. Do you believe that the po»er should be delegated to an> onr man or three or five men or women m the United Stales to say what the other hundred million shout! aee or not see on the screen or what books and magizir.es. newspaper** etc., should be read or not be read in your home? Well they have ju?t such a political power now in some state* and mark ihea* »ords: Sooner or later, some little (wo by four politician mill undertake to ride into publie office in the state of Arkansas nn the •hobby'" ..f motion picture censorship. Watch for him. He's coming, and the picture theatres will have another tai burden laid on Ihem to pay fat salaries to a censor board; your entertainment will suffer; the prlee to the pictures will be raised to take care of tha Increased expenseand lemoning of putronage due to lack of entertainment value in the picture* and eventually the picture i heat res will ba closed and the men who MAKE PICTURES and SHOW PICTURES RUINED; is the hope of (be reformer Political ren^i-shlp UNDEMOCRATIC, UN AMERICAN 4%* 1 Hi OWITITIONAL CRANI) THEATRE, I> Qu«n, Ark.. olTer« enter la inraent and enlightens* I via the ere route, the greatest ike ft* e through annw-eovsred mountain* and arid plains, pro. darihe tallev* and ilanl forests, with side trips through the whirl of aaelely of oar our larger eltlaa, showing roaditlana thai really eiltt though M>atvllraea alasost unbelievable, and Introduces you to every thrill of land and sea aa well « high op In the air, with plenty of fnollshnesB to keep )Ou from gelling too serious with yourself. In ««* (trend Tbratrt procraata regularly la lo gam knowledge '■' the forma snd rualama nf people In every country on Ihe globe and In werv • ■li of life, and the ihstufht* and Isaa**! nations of the master mind* of ihe ranh are gn»n«nd I here And we maintain lhal any subJen suitaM* to be lectured on. preached an or published (n the paper* err nJ nih)nH to ha *>*aalaurd and dUrtsased on the screen We believe, kwwr-trr that auase subverts should r*ol be dlactsseed psihlkly. and publw nrsim •• ih> n»f Therefore marten pi' lore* ••old some sub|»«ta No. 1 p Talks to nrkansas eatre Man Runs Article In Weekly Paper Perhaps you are one of the fortunate exhibitors who have not been tormented and harrassed by censorship agitators. Though you feel secure in your immediate position are you preparing for the reform fight which is inevitable? A policy of preparedness is more to be desired than one of "watchful waiting" if the reformer is to be placed on the defensive. Despite the fact that there has been little or no reform propaganda in Arkansas, A. L. Middleton of the Grand theatre, De Queen, has launched a constructive movement through the columns of the local newspaper to encourage the support of his townspeople in any fight which he may encounter with the reform element. Mr. Middleton is publishing in the local newspapers a series of "censorship talks," two of which are reproduced on this page. These editorials are two collumns wide and page length, the type being of sufficient size to elicit attention. In commenting upon his campaign of education. Mr. Middleton writes: * * * "I am taking time by the forelock and starting in this week's paper a series of discussions on censorship and I believe every exhibitor in the state should start the same thing and thereby get the run on the reformer for he is sure to start his work here sooner or later." Mr. Middleton also believes that increased attendance is vital as a protective measure. In a comprehensive letter published in last week's issue of the Herald he told of his plan for accomplishing this. First, he has curtailed expenses by booking short subjects exclusively. This has resulted in a reduction in admissions from ISO cents to 10 cents. This drop in price, he says, has increased his attendance twofold. In expressing his belief that the theatre must "play again to the masses instead of the classes," Mr. Middleton writes: "The reduction from 30 cents to a dime has caught on like a house afire and I am. getting the old crowds back. They seem satisfied and I have 4Q0 or 500 satisfied boosters going out of my show feeling that they got their money's worth every night instead of 100 lo 200 and half of them feeling that they were stung. "When the time comes, and it surely will, that we need votes and more votes at the poles to kill censorship and other adverse legislation we will have at least two or three times as many people in Dc Queen on our side, as no person who sees motion pictures daily will vote for any of this adverse legislation, while the same people are easily influenced by the reformer if !hey arc prohibited from attending their favorite form of amusement In prohibitive prices. the Public THE NONSENSE OF CENSORSHIP The cit) ,ti Dallas, T*\., h. a board uf censor* of motion pictures who are required to view all pictures screened in Dallas and proleet the morals of that great city by cutting oot every scene or subtitle that in their opinion the public should not see. Houston has a similar board of censors and S.m Antonio ha* her i-emsorship board A picture rs •Jiown in Dallas and pronounced O. K. hy the Dolli* censors — guc* down lo Houston jnd b> adjudged uniit f^r Houston'* populatin by Houston's tensors; id cut again to their -itifaction .wd ~oes over lo San Antonio.. Another paid board of rCtlsUra take a look .ind say it can"t b* screened at all for ihc patrons of ihtSan Antonio theatres The manttcer says: "But, ladie* and gentlemen this film was shown in Dallas and Houston *ndjl can't see an> Ihlng wrong with it and I can't have a show today if you don't lei tnu run thJ9 picture 1 can't possibly gel another picture from Dallas in time." "Can't help that," «ays thf censors. Tnu can't run it" '*,»!• that ends it. The manager mutt close up shop with all his overhead expense, »Dch as house rent, help and everything and charge higher admission prices neit day to malic up Cor lotuses sustained. This is, of course, an "rtrtoc caat, but only gotrs lo show that the difference in the vie* a of the various censorship boards arc only natural and only goes lo prove that what one person objects to, another often sees no wrong In. Why can't we big-hearted, broad -minded Christian Americans ciee every citizen the constitutional right to see what he wishes, and read what he wishes and hear what he wishes? If you hear a sermon or lecture or see a picture you do not like, rfrcfc — rtay through till it is finished— then you have a God-given riehi ■to offer your praise or condemnation. BE YOUR OWN CENSOR Don t delegate iht po»er 10 some one eLsc to censor yuiy ioius*--. went for you. VoU arc competent to sny what is good enough in bd -«een by yourself and your family If you sec u picture jou don't like— that you think hi unnecessarily sensational— register your disapproval with the manager, tell Him you don't like it and why He will thank you He needs your patronage. He w ants to show p Id ares that you like. But remember to be careful in y*ar criticism?. Be sane, b« reasonable. Don't expect any picture to be perfect They are man-made and cannot be perfect. BUT DO YOUR OWN CENSORING end DON'T censor something you don't aee. If you don't aee picture* you have no right to open your mouth either for or against them SEE Douglas MrLean IN "The Home Stretch" i tunA> . dec. » SEE WiLliamS. Ih.rt IN "The Whistle" SATURDAY, DEC 31 AT GRAND THEATRE OE QUEEN, ARK. No. 2