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FILM AND EDUCATION
to be educational? and (2) What is the philosophy behind these efforts?
In answering the first question, it should be remembered that no entertainment picture is made for its educational value. The sole criterion is "Is it box-office?" That is a very proper attitude since the business of the entertainment industry is to provide entertainment for profit. In doing so, however, many producers recognize the prestige value in outstanding photoplays and short subjects and many times it happens that pictures of prestige value do contain the cultural by-products in which education is interested. The attitude of the industry has been that, insofar as entertainment films are made available to schools, the selection is not to be made by the industry, but by the school people. Therefore, the answer to the first question is that the types of films which the entertainment producers consider to be educational are the films which educators have selected for their educational usefulness. This has been a consistent attitude and will probably continue. This will mean, for example, that if and when any of the entertainment producers enter the educational production field, their activities will be guided and controlled by educational leaders who have clear concepts of educational objectives and problems.
In answering the second question, "What is the philosophy behind these efforts?", it must be remembered that the makers of entertainment pictures are not controlled by a single mind. The industry is made up of many persons of authority and responsibility. The motives of these persons are not uniform. Perhaps within a single person, there are mixed motives, just as in every other field of activity. Of the many motivations that may be entering into the controlling philosohpy, three may be said to stand out prominently:
1. The men who are in positions of controlling influence are not unlike other men. Although they drive hard at their business, they contribute to charities; they support pa
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