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FOREIGN RELATIONS 521
the Holy Father, we were greeted most cordially in scholarly English of a distinctly New England flavor by a man who seemed like an old friend. He repeated Count Galleazzi's suggestion about speaking freely and said he would see us when we came out. This was none other than our own Cardinal Spellman! A moment later we found ourselves in the presence of the Pope, seated at his broad desk placed in the middle of a small platform raised perhaps a foot above the floor. He was in the familiar white raiment, with the white cap; and his calm presence was a benediction. I was shown to a chair at the Holy Father's right, with Count Galleazzi at my right and Mrs. Hays still farther to the right, opposite the Holy Father.
In opening the conversation, with the count interpreting, the Pope said: "Mr. Hays, we have asked you to come here in order that we might express to you the appreciation of the Church for the improvement in the moral content of American motion pictures." That positive statement by the Holy Father I was privileged to give to the official who interviewed me on the way out, and also to the lay press. When I met this publicity official later he suggested that he would be glad if in my subsequent private conversations I emphasized the apparent good health of the Pope, when it seemed fitting to do so, because of some recent talk about his being ill. This report was shortly to appear in thousands of American newspapers.
The interview lasted nearly an hour. I was amazed at the detail in his own observations about motion pictures and in his pointed inquiries as to just how we conducted the Production Code Administration. He wanted me to clarify its origin and certain of its methods, though he already seemed familiar with the general story.
He then said— and I have quoted his words scores of times because of their significance: "You sit at the valve in the conduit through which flows the principal amusement of the great majority of all the people in the world. Your impress is upon the quality of this entertainment and you are very important to us. We are deeply interested, of course, in the success of your efforts."
I had hoped there might be opportunity to discuss with the Pope our organized effort to improve the quality of the demand as well as the quality of the supply, and to explain how we were finding in actual practice that these twin necessities were interrelated; how we had proved without question that support and patronage of good pictures helped to assure the continuous flow of good pictures. To my satisfaction and surprise, though I need not have been surprised, the Holy Father brought up this very point himself. He said that he had no doubt that the organized American industry would continue to guard the moral content of motion pictures, but that his primary concern was that the people would want to see the good and would support the good. He