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456 MOTION PICTURES I922-I945
a measure of the "power" that had been wrongly attributed to me as alleged "czar." But we were still on the spot. It was up to all of us to heed the biblical admonition, "Show me thy faith by thy works." The pictures of these three years were our showing.
I suggested that one answer to depression-family budgets was to reduce prices; and at one time the average admission charge was estimated to be only twenty cents, with the companies having the satisfaction of knowing that they were supplying the best tonic in the country.
As we talked over the common problems, it was not hard to point out incentives to good performance: the best way to avoid censorship was to produce pictures that did not need censorship; the best way to avoid other legalities was to follow sound trade practices. So well were these policies followed that the popularity of motion pictures increased decidedly and audiences widened; though the quality of pictures went up, the admission price went down, and the "batting average" of pictures rose to an all-time high— in at least one case to 97 per cent. We even saw such voluntary ads published as that by the Kansas City Council of Churches: "Let's Go to the Movies." In the midst of such world scenes as the rise of Hitler, the Ethiopian and Spanish wars, and major strikes here and abroad, the flowering went on, nurtured by the dozen departments of MPPDA. Technical advances were great. Artistic skills reached new heights. Moral standards and social values went up. The screen found new uses. In the international field, American films attained near domination.
In all this process the American people again came out the winner and, to my mind, the hero. While the Germans were ousting It Can't Happen Here, and the French were claiming the right to exclude any films they wished on political grounds; while the Japanese were barring Mary of Scotland in deference to the throne and Mutiny on the Bounty because it was too revolutionary, our people exercised their humor and good sense by welcoming pictures of every sort for whatever they were worth. It was hard for them to understand the touchiness of other nations whenever they thought one of their race was being presented unfavorably. Our people once more proved that they know good and evil exist alongside each other, that the struggle between them is essential to drama, and that it is the business of human beings to learn how to distinguish between the two.
Audiences supported our policy that commercial— theatrical— motion pictures were properly used for entertainment, news, and popular education, but improperly used if twisted to serve the interests of propaganda, pressure groups, or commercial advertising. We watched to keep this vounp giant of the talking shadows free from such malformations or abuse.
I am not at all sure but that another excellent argument for the whole