The Moving picture world (May 1921)

36 MOVING PICTURE WORLD May 7, 1921 ernor, "to try this experiment and enforce decency and see if the producers will not make pictures cleaner and better." Canon William C. Chase, of Brooklyn, who together with Mrs. Waterman and the Rev. O. R. Miller, of the New York- Civic League, has been active in further- ing the bill, was next introduced. "There has never been a bill so fair to the trade," said Canon Chase, "as this bill." This statement caused a ripple of amusement among the crowd of producers and exhibitors. Professes Friendship "Are you willing to leave the children of New York State," said Canon Chase, "to Mr. Lasky, Mr. Loew and Mr. Fox, or are you willing to leave them to the three men who will represent the public? The motion picture business needs what we are offering it today. We are not ene- mies. We are friends. And we would like to teach our friends the lesson that liberty and righteousness are a power in this country." Mrs. Ellen O'Grady, former deputy police commissioner of New York City, and who, it is said, is also rather anxious to be named as a member of the censor- ship board, spoke for five or six min- utes, during which she went on to tell of the "harm" which was being done to the children of New York City through the type of pictures shown. Mrs. Hanlon, of Buffalo, spoke briefly in telling of conditions that prevail in that city and how hard it is for exhibitors, even if they desire to show clean pictures, to secure them. Howard Barber spoke briefly. In one place, where Mr. Barber referred to the proposition which had been made to the governor by the pro- ducers, Governor Miller interrupted and said: Docs Xot Question Good Faith "I have no doubt but that the individ- uals who are making the proposition are doing so in the utmost good faith." Mr. Barber replied by saying that the enactment of the bill would do the very self-same thing which the producers were desirous of accomplishing. "I see no reason," said Mr. Barber, "why, if this bill was put into effect, it could not work out to practically the same end as that which they suggest could be brought about through their own board." Mrs. C. B. Richards, former head of the women's division of the War Labor Board, the next speaker, said that she had come to the hearing on her own accord. At the conclusion of her speech there was applause. Not as Bad as Painted "I do not believe motion pictures are as bad as they have been painted," said Mrs. Richards. "I believe that some im- provement should be provided and that the proposition suggested would bring this about. Let us have better moving pictures, but let us have them as the re- sult of a thorough investigation and un- der the judgment, in the words of Theo- dore Roosevelt, of a square deal." Dr. Albert Shields spoke briefly in favor of the bill. H. E. Bowlby, of the Lord's Day Alliance, and a reformer who has been present on several past occasions in Albany, was given two or three minutes, but devoted his entire time to the question of Sunday shows and apparently forgot that censorship was under discussion. The Rev. O. R. Miller concluded the day's program and the hearing closed at 7:45. Those Present Among those present at the hearing were the following: Oscar A. Price, As- sociated Producers; William A. Brady, president of the National Association of the Motion Picture Industry; Frederick H. Elliot, executive secretary, and Lloyd Willis, publicity director of the same or- ganization; George A. Skinner, Educa- tional Films; H. D. Connick, Lee Coun- selman, E. J. V. Ludvigh, Gayer G. Dom- inick, John C. Flinn, R. W. Saunders, Famous Players-Lasky; William Fox and Saul E. Rogers, Fox Film; Gabriel L. Hess, F. A. Gudger and George P. Bissell, Goldwyn Pictures; John G. Pem- bleton, Griffith's Enterprises; Paul H. Cromelin, Inter-Ocean Film; Harry J. Shepard, Kineto Company of America; Paul Gulick, L-K-O Pictures and Uni- versal ; J. Robert Rubin, Metro, Anita Stewart Productions and Louis B. Mayer, Inc.; David Bernstein and Charles E. Danforth, for Marcus Loew; I. E. Chad- wick, Merit Film; M. S. Epstein and Mrs. R. Gleason, Norma and Constance Talmadge companies; Morris Kohn, Realart; Charles C. Pettijohn, Selznick; John M. Quinn, Vitagraph; Cathrine Curtis, Associated First National and the Cathrine Curtis Productions; Edward Earl, Nicholas Power; H. S. Lott, Bell & Howell; while the state association of exhibitors was represented by its presi- dent, Charles L. O'Reilly, W. H. Linton of Utica, treasurer, and Samuel I. Ber- man, secretary. Moving Picture World prints more reviews and better reviews than any other publication in the field. This is only part of the actual and consistent service continually rendered to exhibitors and all the other elements of the industry. We don't claim perfection but we do proclaim our honest views on the merits or demerits of any and all productions. The longer you read Moving Picture World the more you realize that it never straddles. Four Censorship Bills Are Defeated (By Wire to Moving Picture World) Dertoit, Mich., April 28. We win! Following a bitter two-hour fight the Senate today voted 20 to 9 to refuse to take the censorship bill from the state af- fairs committee. Senator Tufts, chairman, refused to report the bill out. Senator Wood said 45,- 000 petitioners were represented in day against the measure. MICHIGAN MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITORS ASSOCIATION, Per A. J. Moeller. On April 28, also, censorship was defeated in Rhode Island. During the last few days it was beaten in Wisconsin, and the Mc- Coy bill, providing more drastic censorship for Ohio, has been killed. All Censor and Blue Law Bills Dead in California There will be no moving picture cen- sorship or Sunday closing bills passed at the present session of the California Leg- islature. One by one the numerous meas- ures along these lines have been weeded out, the last censorship bill having died a painless death at Sacramento on April 19, when the Assembly Committee on Public Morals voted to postpone action indefinitely on the Colburn measure. The reform element did not confine its attention to one censorship bill, but intro- duced a number, ranging from the Eden bill, a sugar-coated measure which pro- vided for the dividing of pictures into various classes and the exploitation of them along lines prescribed by the Board of Review, to the Colburn bill which sought to establish a state board of cen- sors with wide powers. The Allied Amusement Industries of Northern California maintained repre- sentatives at Sacramento throughout the session of the legislature, and it is largely due to its untiring efforts that the various measures were killed in committee. Kansas City Picture Men Take Up Censor Question The Kansas City Motion Picture As- sociation has appointed committees, head- ed by President D. H. Harding. Charles Burke y and Lawrence Goldwyn, and composed of the civic societies and women's clubs and a commitee from the Film Board of Trade, to take up the mat- ter pertaining to an amendment to a part of the censorship ordinance. This committee has been successful in eliminating the agitation put forward to force another censorship ordinance up ex- changes and exhibitors of this city.