Film and Radio Guide (Oct 1945-Jun 1946)

12 FILM AND RADIO GUIDE Volume XII, No. 1 wood studio may soon participate in the educational-film movement is indicated by the following excerpt from a letter to this GUIDE by James Allen of the Warner studio : “This company’s interest in educational films grows out of a desire of Harry Warner to see the motion picture developed for educational and scientific purposes. It has always been his belief that the medium of the motion picture would some day bring great benefits to the public in disseminating information and spreadingeducation on a mass basis. This belief has found its reflection in many of the film biographies and other pictures with educational themes which Warner Bros, has produced, as well as in our patriotic short subjects. “The use of teaching films in schools depends as much upon the attitude of the school systems of the country as it does upon the production of such films by the motion-picture industry. This is a development which we are watching very carefully.” The point of view of the foreign-relations committee of the U. S. Senate is expressed by Senator Tom Connally of Texas : “The American motion picture is an ambassador of the United States. It goes to all countries and serves as an interpreter of American life. The American motion picture has influence upon our foreign relations. Its responsibilities and its opportunities will increase. “It is the responsibility of the film industry to present to our own people and to the world products of such a high standard of merit as will stimulate good-will and understanding among the peoples of the world. In a way our films are a mirror of American life.” How far may governments and industries go in influencing the trend of international relations through propaganda films? The Commission on IMotion Pictures in Education, headed by Mark A. May of Yale University and operating through the American Council on Education under a grant of $100,000 from the Hollywood studios, has flatly warned us that “the time is rap idly approaching, if not already at hand, when the nations of the world, certainly the great powers, must be either all democratic or all totalitarian.” Encyclopaedia Britannica Films is readying for release reels on “Democracy” and on “Despotism.” These are destined to be seen and discussed by millions of students in many countries. The commentaries of these reels are already being translated into several languages. Meanwhile, between the educational isolationists of our classrooms and the pedagogical politicians of our boards of education, world problems have to fight to get into the classrooms. As Mayor La Guardia reminds us at the conclusion of each of his notable radio talks, we must have “patience and fortitude.” When Edgar Dale, Ohio State LIniversity’s educational trailblazer, makes such statements as that “up to now, the development of the motion picture has been . . . prostituted in the entertainment field,” {Film News, May, 1945) , he naturally arouses the ire of the film industry’s best-informed spokesmen. Instead of winning the sympathy of such brilliant trade-paper editors as Terry Ramsaye of the Motion Picture Herald, Dale is misunderstood as one of the “glib advocates of a suddenly contrived program of educating the world and its people for peace.” It is not enough to cpiote H. G. Wells’s dictum that “civilization is a race between education and catastrophe.” To fight isolationism and despotism, we mu.st first agree among ourselves as to definitions of these term s. Democracy, especially, needs to be defined. Controversialists cease to be enemies once they bound their ideas east, west, north, and south — and agree on a critical vocabulary. Just what do we mean, for instance, by the term educational picture? From the standpoint of America’s 60,000 teachers of “English,” screen versions of Jane Eyre, David Copperfield, A Tcde of Two Cities, The Good Earth, and Mutiny on the Bounty are of great educational interest. They are films to be discussed and appreciated. We heighten our enjoyment of them, indeed, through increasing our understanding o f them. A s 16mm versions of these subjects become available, they readily find their way into our classrooms. Where does entertainment leave off and where does education begin? Controversies such as arise from the differing viewpoints of Messrs. Ramsaye and Dale would no doubt be resolved if the opponents could agree on definitions of critical words. Impatient reformers must learn that the road to freedom should itself be free. We are perforce “our own contemporaries.” Half of our world cannot read or write. Man’s history has been one of bloody wars for ages. Ramsaye points out that, “despite the sorry record of the race, the arts, literature, and religion have been doing their best in that direction (toward peace) for a long time.” Whether these forces have always done their “best,” lies in the realms of definition, but the practical, constructive point of view so far as the movies are concerned is voiced by Samuel Goldwyn {New York Times, April 22, 1945) : “The schools could hardly ask for a better partner than Hollywood has been in many pictures — pictures that were made first of all, remember, to entertain, the way a newspaper is published to give news. If I were teaching history, I would be very glad that my students had a chance to see