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12
UNIVERSAL WEEKLY
Aug. 25. 1934
WILL HAYS NOW HAS POWER
Producer Declares Czar Position Was A Myth Praises Leadership
MANY a cheap publicity seeker, inside and outside of the motion picture business, has managed to get reams of unpaid-for newspaper and tradepaper space for himself by laying the blame for ail motion picture troubles at the door of the so-called "czar" Will H. Hays.
They have demanded his resignation as head of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Assn., because that sort of demand lands on the front page. His resignation would not be accepted if he presented it, nor even if he urged its acceptance.
Every producer and distributor and every man who owns or operates a motion picture theatre, owes a debt of gratitude to Mr. Hays. So does the public. He has accomplished miracles even though he has never been a "czar."
Title Wholly Fictitious It has been said that Will Hays was drawn into the picture industry because he was a Republican Cabinet member. That story should have been nailed at the start for it was — a plain lie. He was drafted because of his remarkable ability as an organizer at a time when the whole picture industry was sadly disorganized. He was dubbed a "czar," because the title
makes good reading. But the truth is that he never had any power except his power of persuasion until less than two months ago.
At meeting after meeting he has sounded sharp warnings against the trend of certain types of movies, begged and demanded a cleaning up of pictures. Year in and year out he argued on behalf of higher ethics. He drafted codes of decency, long before there was a thought of a
Will H, Hays
THE TRUTH ABOUT CZAR WILL HAYS
By R. H. COCHRANE Vice President, Universal Pictures Corp. (From N. Y. World Telegram, Aug. 13)
League of Decency. He attempted to build machinery which he hoped would automatically make the movies fit the demands of even the puritanical, yet without submitting to the demands of the fanatics.
Much Accomplished In twelve years, with no weapon except persuasion, his efforts were not 100 per cent perfect, but they worked wonders nevertheless. They stopped thousands of movie "shots" and dialogues with which short-sighted producers were willing to take a chance for the sake of box office returns.
Little of this was ever made public. During all of these years Mr. Hays has submitted patiently and without rancor to the role of target for the shafts of every cheap publicity seeker on the ragged fringe of the industry who felt that the best way to keep his job was to "raise hell with Hays." For years he has been urged by the finest men in the industry to fight back and to show up the selfish animus behind most of these attacks. This he has consistenfly refused to do. I do not know whether I admire him for his tolerance or whether I am impatient with him because of it.
Producers Welcome Drive
The attack on the movies by the various churches is welcomed by many producers (of which I am one) because it has served i-o strengthen Hays' hand and tended to make him a czar in fact instead of merely in newspaper headlines. It would be impossible to endow Mr. Hays with absolute authority, because he would not accept it.
He always has maintained that no individual is enough (Continued on Page 26)