Motography (Apr-Jun 1916)

May 13, 1916. MOTOGRAPHY 1105 c ensonng the C ensors WHAT IS BEING DONE BY AND TO THE FILM REVIEWERS THE Motion Picture Producers' Association of Los Angeles has launched a nation-wide fight against the censorship of pictures. The campaign has been carefully laid out by the officers and members of the association. This list includes H. O. Davis, of the Universal Film Manufacturing Company ; Thomas H. Ince, of the New York Motion Picture Corporation ; David W. Griffith, of the Fine Arts Film Company; David Horsley, Bostock Jungle and Film Company; Frank A. Garbutt, of the Oliver Morosco Photoplay Company, and George W. Stout, of the Keystone Film Company. The association has chosen a unique way of getting its ideas before the public. To each exhibitor they are sending a letter setting forth the evils of censorship and claiming that if the Federal, state and city censorship become a reality the motion picture industry will be a thing of the past. They state to the exhibitor that their business is threatened, their investment will be a total loss, their enterprise will be wiped out of existence. With this letter goes a perforated slip which is to be placed between two pieces of glass the size of the slides used and projected on the screen. It contains brief but emphatic reasons why the American people should be the censors instead of permitting politicians to take the matter into their hands. After the audience have read this message the exhibitor is instructed to turn the lights on all over the house and explain to the audience in a few words that the motion pictures — their own popular form of entertainment and amusement — are seriously threatened by a lot of politicians and ill-advised reformers, and ask them all to sign a petition asking that all forms of censorship be done away with. The ushers are then to pass around the petitions, which will be supplied by the agency from which the service is obtained. The theater owner is urged to repeat this at each )erformance until everyone attending his house has signed the petition, and then to go out to the business len for signatures, urge the newspapers to take up the matter editorially, and talk non-censorship to everybody. This is only the beginning of the campaign which the association has in mind and they are making every effort to further the cause through the exhibitors in the hope of inducing everyone to take an active part in this campaign and kill censorship in every form. Common Sense Censorship The Chicago Tribune of April 22 contained a very interesting editorial on "Common Sense Censorship." This editorial speaks of the way in which crime was exploited in the films a number of years ago, showing not only that the wages of sin is death, but showing the process by which that end was reached. Now all the horrible details are eliminated but at the same time the moral is brought out just as forcefully. While this is at it should be, and everyone is willing to admit that good work has been done in this respect, the writer of the article claims there is still great room for the use of common sense in censorship. In part the arguments advanced are as follows : We need a common sense censorship. We have not had one. The duty of determining what we shall be permitted to see in the motion picture theaters and what we shall not see has reposed apparently in a body of people enormously sensitive to shock, in people who dislike seeing unpleasant things. We are all, in the eyes of the motion picture censors, on the edge of committing some dastardly deed without regard to consequences the moment the method of perpetrating it is shown us. There is some mdical support for their opinion of us. It is a strange man whom some physician cannot prove to be mentally subnormal these days. But in spite of the opinions of the alienists we have not completely adopted their point of view. Somehow most men, and most women also, feel that they are not completely out of their heads nor devoid of all restraint. They resent the evident assumption of the censors that they are all morons. San Francisco Committee Discusses Question ' A very spirited and lengthy discussion lasting about three hours Avas held before the San Francisco supervisors' police committee on the proposed amendments to the motion picture censorship. The proposed changes were sponsored by the California Club. The amendments would increase the present board from five to nine members, and would give them power to order the discontinuance of any pictures tending to incite race hatred or prejudice. The latter amendment has been stamped "unenforceable" by City Attorney Percy V. Long. He advised the supervisors that it was too farreaching. He said : "This amendment would vest in the censorship board discretion to reject films delineating character periods of history if, though true to life, they tend to offend the sensibilities of some race. "War pictures or the filming of stories or plays which have become classics could be barred if the people of any race felt that they reflected reproach on them. "The prohibition would be almost unlimited where portrayal of character or type was sought." Liberal Policy for Chicago The moving picture producers, theater owners and general public in Chicago are rejoicing over the lifting of thestrict censorship of films that has been in force for many months. Corporation Counsel Ettleson submitted to Mayor Thompson an opinion which held that Chief of Police Charles C. Healey and nqt Major. M. C; L. Funkhouser, second deputy superintendent' of po-, lice, has full authority to pass on motion picture plays underthe prevailing city ordinance. While this means, that the censorship in the future will be much moreliberal it does not mean that the bars are to be let down entirely or that any sor±..of.play may be shown. It does mean, however, that more discrimination in the ordering of "cut-outs" will be displayed, and that every little incident in a filmed drama that involves the use of fire-arms or depictions of crimes will not be ordered cut-out as at present.