Motion Picture Reviews (1935)

Motion Picturb Reviews Three MOTION • PICTURE • REVIEWS Published monthly by THE WOMEN’S UNIVERSITY CLUB LOS ANGELES BRANCH AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN Mrs. Palmer Cook, General Co-Chairman Mrs. John Vruwink, General Co-Chairman Mrs. Chester A. Ommanney, Preview Chairman Mrs. Charles Booth Assistant Preview Chairmen Mrs. Thomas B. Williamson EDITORS Mrs. Palmer Cook Mrs. J. Allen Davis Mrs. George Ryall Mrs. Walter Van Dyke Mrs. John Vruwink Addresi all communication! to The Woum'i University Club, 943 South Hoover St., Loi Angelej, Calif. Advance Supplement is published and mailed approximately the 15th of each month. 1 Oe Per Copy $1.00 Per Year Vol. VII JANUARY, 1935 No. 1 EDITORIAL We are often asked whether or not we are really accomplishing anything, whether or not we really consider our work worth while. With the beginning of the new year it seems appropriate that we should look backward as well as forward and try if possible to determine whether or not we have been on the right track and if it is wise to continue in the same line of endeavor. In the whole field of striving towards better pictures and the protection of youth against the subversive influences of bad pictures, ours is only one organization doing a specialized type of work. The past year has seen a surprising growth of activity among all kinds of groups and a tremendous amount of publicity both intelligent and mistaken a propos of the public indignation against improper films. We are hopeful to note that the public has at last become aroused to the need for action but fearful also lest, like other popular cries, the clamor for a change will soon quiet down because people will join some hewer crusade in the belief that they have already accomplished their purpose. No matter what may be the quality of the new pictures there will always be the necessity for intelligent choice among types of film entertainment especially for those whose minds are immature and who have not yet learned by experience what to reject as false. In the past twelve months we have reviewed 3532 feature films. Only 132 of these are by any stretch of imagination suitable for children or adolescents under sixteen. This does not mean that we would care to see the other 220 films denied to adult audiences. Many of the pictures are fine, others of course properly belong in the trash barrel, but with such a comparatively small amount of family entertainment available it seems imperative that the public should continue to demand more of this type and that they should take care to use some reliable guide when selecting pictures for the young people for whose character development they are responsible. Believing in this necessity we shall continue to furnish such a guide, to work towards the education of adults concerning the importance of discriminating selection of the films they attend, and to cooperate with better film councils, research committees and educational groups to further the cause of more and better family pictures. How much we can accomplish only time will tell. In the interests of almost any cause it is possible to rouse the public to follow a popular leader, but the task of teaching them to think for themselves seems to require more wisdom than any human agent can offer. — D. J. C. WHAT MOVIES FOR CHILDREN? “An adult is a free agent but our children need protection” is a cryptic sentence to be found in the conclusion of a report on “Certain Attitudes of Elementary Children Toward Motion Pictures” published in the August, 1934, California Journal of Education. The article is well worth reading. The study was carried out by a committee appointed by California