Motion Picture Commission : hearings before the Committee on Education, House of Representatives, Sixty-third Congress, second session, on bills to establish a Federal Motion Picture Commission (1978)

MOTION PICTURE COMMISSION. 73 Dr. HowK. As soon as it is announct'd ip. the trade papers and liecomes a matter of coniniou knowledge that it is going to be pro- duced at some phice. we send somebody to view it in the local theater, and in some way v,e try to bring them under our jurisdiction. A number have con)e undei" our jurisdiction in the last six months be- .'isuse tliey ha\"e foimd it better than to be harassed. Mr. ToAVNKH. Suppose it is in San Francisco? Dr. Howe. X(!V\-, that is an.v»ther ti'ade matter. My inipression is thi\[ substantially all of the films proceed out of New York'. Ml'. Li'CAS. They are released simi'ltaneously. Di'. Caktkk. AVe Iiiwe iin advisory bf>ard in San Francisco, one in Cievehind. and (uu' in Chicago. ^\''^ renoi-t to them and they report to us. ]Mi". Tov.xioi:. Dr. Carter, you are going lo n-<ake a statement later on? Di-. Carter. Yes. y\v. T(»>\'NER. Then I v.ill not ask further (piestions along this line. 'j'hc CnAiRMA.N. Did you wish to speak further? Dr. Howe. Yes. This is a matter Avhich to me is of verA' much more than casual importance. A year ago. in New York, a measure was adopted by the board of aldermen providing for official censor- ship of moticm i)ictures in New York, and Mayor Gaynor vetoed the ordinance. In vetoing the ordinance he said, in effect, to the gentle- men who were present: If you will lonk back in history you will fiiul tln.t your cburcb was censored by ij.^iotber church; that the Presbyteriaii Church was subject to censorship by the Episcopal Church: that the Ei)iscopal Church was subject to censorship by the Catholic Church ; and that each one of you gentlemen at sometime or another w;is subject to intrusion liy the novernnient into the fiekl of freedom of con- science. Mayor Gaynor said, in effect: I think this is just as important a matter as the freedonj of religion, for the lilnt. .-is I undei'stand it, is a great many things. It is the peojile's drama; it is democracy's expression of the drama ; it is seen by 10 times as many people as see plays in the regular theaters: it is democracy's newspaper; tilms can be produced for $1,500. For us to permit censorship prior to i)roduction of what is. in effect, one of the greatest press agencies of the times, would be like sanc- tifining a bill to censor the newspapers of New York. The Chairman. The Secretary of the Treasury has power to ex- clnde immoral films? r>r. Howe. That are imported; yes. The Chairman. That is censorship, is it not? Di'. HoAVE. Yes; that is. ]\[r. Towner. I would like to ask yon. in connection with Mayor Gaynor's statement—I remember the controversy in the newspapers— whether the board of aldermen did not pass an ordinance which he vetoed ? Dr. FLoAVE. Yes. Mr. ToAVNER. And they then passed it over his veto? Dr. Howe. In the original ordinance there was a combination of things, censorship on the one hand and provisions for the buildings, regulations as to interior decorations, and other regulations regard- ing motion-picture shows; they were merged together, and he vetoed the ordinance. The board of aldermen then passed a new ordinance, which was drawn by the national board of censorship, providing