FilmIndia (1948)

AT HOME AND ABROAD GLASS HOUSE CENSORING Boston. July 26. )nce again, the Americans who ickle loudly over an obviously gar dialogue in a Broadway re play, have suddenly become sitive and the Massachussetts le Censors have demanded deleis from Sir Lawrence Olivier's 1 of "Hamlet before its Amerirelease. fhe Shakespearean expressions [ch upset the censors are, "the |k sweat of an adulterous bed" I "to post with such dexterity to estuous sheets." They also proled at the scene when Hamlet ipares to watch the play with his d in Ophelia s lap and addresses her remarks with double mean \ similar sensitiveness was shown egard to certain words occurring 'Henry \ ", another Shakespearplay. also produced by Sir rrence Olivier. Wouldn't it be er for the Yanks to stop and i into their own stage concocis many of which, to say the •t, are full of vulgar 'juice ? WELL, MORARJIBHAI? Patna. June 18. Unsuspected", a social picture duced by Warner Brothers, has been declared as an uncertified film in the province of Bihar. V\ ith freedom, we are also getting a keener sense of social conscience and the interest taken by the provincial government in banning "Unsuspected", is therefore, praiseworthy. Will the other provincial governments look at this film once again? What is bad for Beharis must be bad for other Indians. PICTURE PLAGUES \\ ith the creation of the "crv balcony ' a glassed-in sound proofed room for child carrying theatregoers, the piping brats can now cry to their hearts' content in Memphis. U. S. A. The "cry balcony" serves a useful purpose because it enables the non-child theatre-goers to hear the dialogue properly and the housewives can bring their little ones along without leaving them at the mercy of the baby sitters. In India we need dozens of cry balconies in each picture house if the picture-goers are to see a motion picture with an appreciable degree of comfort. It is also reported that certain dissatisfied picture-goers are clamouring for separate sound-proof rooms for people who having seen a picture before insist on explaining the plot loudly to their families and for others who eat nuts and make annoying sounds which punctuate the dialogue of the film. AND ONE MORE Patna. August 3. Another evidently undesirable picture. "Matlabi" produced bv Jagriti Pictures has been banned by the Government of Bihar throughout the province. It is only by banning immoral and useless pictures that a new taste can be created amongst the picturegoers for beiter pictures. UNIFORMED PRODUCERS Y\ ithin a single year of independence, we have had a wild epidemic of "freedom" pictures, giving us the most weird and cock-eyed versions of our historical struggle for freedom. The latest one planned is a documentary film, 14,000 feet in length, and covers the period of India's history from the Battle of Plassey down to the present day. The activities of the revolutionary parties in Bengal are likely to figure prominently in this film. The new enthusiasts are the members of the Calcutta Police Club, who seem to be more anxious to dig up old crime than check some new one. Let us hope the policemen do a better job than our professional film criminals. MORE MONEY FOR IDL1 Madras. Aug. 2. Y\ ith the cost of living rising every day. the Cine technicians find it di Hi cult to make the two ends meet with their present scale of pay. The Secretary of the Cine Technicians Association of Madras in a statement says. "The scale of pay of cinema employees as announced and affecting the major sections of the film technicians in this province are found to be appallingly low. They bear no relation to any decent standards of living nor any relevancy to existing scales of pay. In this connection, the Association draws the attention of the Labour Commissioner to the copy of the proceedings of the Kxecuti\e Committee of the Association dated April 28." A> the Cine Technicians A^soria-tion has not been consulted in fix ing the scales of pay, it is but fanthat the technicians should protest 45