Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1921 - Mar 1922)

amiary 28. 1922 EXHIBITORS HERALD 63 How Do They Stand? City officials in San Francisco have voiced opposition to legal regulation of motion pictures, declaring that police control serves no purpose. Do you know how the officials of your city stand on this question? Win the support of your patrons and your city officials will be compelled to acknowledge the freedom of the screen. PUBLIC RIGHTS LEAGUE Screen Message No. 39 It is the right of any citizen to seek any "reforms" he may desire but his object should be accomplished by persuading the public and not by clubbing it into line by legislation it does not approve of. PUGLIC RIGHTS LEAGUE. Reaching Public Through Schools Evidence that the question bf censorship is [arousing universal interest and is attracting the attention of educators is found in the recent announcement that this subject will be discussed pro and con in the [lecture halls of the high schools in New I York City. These lectures are scheduled for January and February, when prominent advo[cates and opponents of legalized screen [control will discuss the issue. Through an arrangement hetween the board of education and the National Association of the Motion Picture Industry, •William A. Brady, president of the latter, D. W. Griffith, distinguished producer, and Paul Cromlin, film exporter, will speak against censorship in a number of high schools in Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx. * * * At each of these lectures a model motion picture program contributed by The status of the reform situation demands that exhibitors be versed in censorship and blue laws so that they may intelligently discuss these subjects before commercial clubs and other civic organizations. Be prepared to impress upon the leaders in your community the fairness of the industry's attitude toward prohibitory and oppressive legislative measures. Museum of Natural Historv. producer members of the N. A. M. P. I. for this purpose will be presented. These speakers will offer arguments on the ineffectiveness of legal censorship and its menace to the industry. They also will touch upon the fundamental rights of the public. Among the champions of censorship who will seek to justify legalized regulation of the screen will be Mrs. Clarence Waterman, Canon William S. Chase, Frederick Boyd Stevenson and Joseph Levenson. one member of the New York State censorship board. These persons were active in the fight for enactment of the present law. These lectures will not take the form of debates. Decision of the board to sponsor these lectures followed an anti-censorship talk given by Mr. Brady in the American The fact that the industry is being called upon daily to defend itsattitude toward legalized censorship as well as other coactive legislation, serves to emphasize the value to exhibitors of a thorough knowledge of these problems. When theatre men are requested to discuss motion pictures before their local societies the} should have at their finger tips the data and arguments necessary to advance convincing reasons why legalized censorship is a detriment to the progress of the industry. The program sponsored by the board of education in New York offers the industry an excellent opportunity to put its case before the public, where the right of censorship alone rests. On page 47 of this issue is a report of the first lecture given in one of New York's schools as a part of this program. The attack on censorship was made by Elmer Rice, author of "For the Defense" and "On Trial." Pledge I realize the existence of a concerted movement on the part of radical reformers to establish a dictatorship over the motion picture industry through the enactment of drastic and un-American Laws. Knowing that immediate action must be taken to maintain the fi egdom of the screen, I pledge myself to the cause of the PUBLIC RIGHTS LEAGUE, my only obligation to be that I will use, whenever conditions permit, the slide of the LEAGUE, and in this manner do my part in arousing public sentiment against this radical and oppressive legislation. (Sign and mail tt Exhibitor, Herald, 4T7 South Dearborn rtreet, Chicago, if you wish to become a member of the LEAGUE) Name Theatre City r Order Your Slides EXHIBITORS HERALD, 417 South Dearborn street, Chicago, III. Send me, free of charge, the series of twelve slides which the Herald is supplying to exhibitors in furtherance of the PUBLIC RIGHTS LEAGUE campaign to maintain the freedom of the motion picture. I will run each slide at every performance for one week when conditions permit of this arrangement. Name (Write name and address legibly) rheatre Street City