Variety (Jan 1942)

January 7, 1942 Thiriy-aixth UBIETY . Annlvenary PICTURES THERE IS ROOM FOR DEMOCRACY IN ACTION—ON THE U. S. SCREEN' Director Carson Kanin Observes It's Time to End the Ostrich Act, Face Life's Realities, and Thus Help Perpetuate All the Freedoms MASS FILM ENTERTAINMENT NEED NOT MEAN MASS REGIMENTATION Morril Tight and You'U Win' Meaning Hollywood, Which Meekly Bows To Censors^ Dictation By Morris L. Ernst [N. y. attorney prominent in defense of civil liberties] In these days we hear much talk about the Bill ol Rights. Even the men who run the giant cinema corporations talk as it they are opposed to censorship. Mr. Hays is not without high-sounding phrases on the subject, fiut Liberty is not won by words or even moving pictures. It must be won and re-won day by day by struggle and contest against the forces ot darkness, and in the entire American scene the film Industry is the solitary sector of our national life that, day by day, prefers immediate dollar profits to the fighting path leading to ultimate freedom. - ^ In the first two decades of this cen- I tury the silver screen was little more than a gigantic football game for con- trol of patents and domination of the market place. Hence, when several states established boards of pre-censorship. It was only natural for the Supreme Court to believe that films had Uttle relationship to the spread of Ideas. Reasoning on this line, the court permitted pre-cen- aorsblp of films despite the First Amendment to the Consti- tution—the springboard of the Bill of Rights. The silver screen seemed to have little relation to free speech or free press. And so for the first time In our history advance Govern- mental control of ideas became legal. But today we know, even though some of th^JIplly.wood magnates declare with a straight face to the contrary, that screenplays are more than entertainment No longer should motion pictures be analogized to a flea circus or a group of traveling vagabond players historically, licensed by the Master of the Revels in old England. Since the first creation of state censorship' boards in a half dozen states and many cities, much has hap- pened in the struggle for'artistic libtrty, much that is obvious to the owners of the' press, the sage and the publishers of books. From 1787 to 1870 there was no censorship of books or magazines. In 1870 a neurotic, distorted man named Anthony Comstock showed to a hypocritical Congress some tawdry post cards such as are still sold on the boulevards of the world's capitals. The Comstock laws were passed without debate, clamping down on books and magazines.'OProhi 1870 untU 1915| a period of nearly half a century, there was dick- ering and bargaining between the publishers and the censors: ■I will take this out if you let this in.' But in 1915, the tide turned. Publisher after publisher started to fight. After a few . setbaclis for the censors, the p^iblishers realized that abject surrender to censors in the past had not been even financially beneficial. It was cheaper to stand up and fight And now, as a result, we are living in a society where any book openly published,, with the imprint of a recognized pub- lishing house, openly reviewed by reputable critics, is im- mune from attack even after publication. Thus the pub- lishers have put themselves in a position where they, and not the busybody censors, are tlie judges of taste and social effects; no longer does the censor in th'e book field have the monopoly of deciding what is good or evil. Cowardly Hollywood 1 But Hollywood is cowardly. In fact it is the sole remain- ing receptacle of cowardice in the fight against the censor in the American scene. Reversing a score of compromises or Inept shadow tioxing^ by Hollywood, little impecunious film- makers like Kline and Steinbeck take on and lick the censor In the case of "The Forgotten Village.' But not so with the Big Boys. They have too many dollars at stake to risk a battle for the freedom of the screen. The Legion of Decency is set back and defeated. But do the major picture companies give any aid? I wonder whether the film industry wants such a victory. See what happens when a great and gracious pair like Garbo and Behrman are called corruptors,of the youth of America. Does the company or Mr. Hays taEe on the fight or do they appease'; 1 welcome 'Variety's' courageous stand. Maybe you will finally taunt the big bankers who run Holfywood to fight for the freedom of the films. In my humble judgment any kind of a contest conducted with integrity will win out. The Supreme Court in a proper case before it will reverse the old exception it created under which films—unlike books, radio and newspapers—are censored in advance of publica- tion. And if the magnates and the defenders of Hollywood's money are disinclined to fight this battle for liberty, why shouldn't combinations of the real creators of the pictures— the actors, the writers, the directors and the camera men- stand up and justify their product by matching their faith in liberty against the combined standards of the censors and we owners of Holly\vood. I am sure that the great American public will bet on Garbo, Behrman, et aL, If those creative people think that liberty Is worth fighting for. By Garson Kanin INou) in GonernTnent sen>ice as Film Consultant in the Office of Emergencv Management, Washinpton, D. C] Washington, Jan. 4. That Sunday I was worldng in Washington. It was.de- pressing. There is nothing glamorous about war when it comes to you. ' On Monday things seemed brighter. The automatic unity, the efficiency of the Government and more than anything else, the messages. The messages which started coming early Monday morning, and which haven't stopped coming to this day. Writers, actors, even a wire from the president of the Screen Directors' Guild, all ask- ing, 'What can we do?' I think I know. If the following words seem bold, it is because this is a time for boldness. This is what.I think. If anyone has another idea, or a better idea, I enclose a self-addressed envelope. Osnon KanlB It seems to me that now more than ever before the shadows must give light Now we who make the shadows have a job to do. .QW job is to express the deepest necessity of America to our people. Our job is to keep America aroused, inspired and informed. Our job is to fight with Uie weapons we know best Hundreds of men of the motion picture industry have joined the Army and the Navy and the Marines and other branches of our Government. For those who remain on the Home Front there is the great weapon ot the motion picture camera. The enemy is known and the target is clear. For the job to be done, the workers in our industry must fall in like good soldiers, and accomplish their appointed missions with speed and effectiveness. We may expect military censorship for strategic reasons. We welcome it because it integrates our services with the total War Effort, makes us more effective, opens our eyes to the target we seek. Out of the Victory for which we strive, the motion picture Industry may hope for one achievement—FREEDOM OF EXPRESiSION. This is the Fifth Freedom, which guarantees us a Free Screen. That's our stake in the outcome; to win it we must devote our total resources and talents ahd energies. We of Hollywood frequently have shrunk from our duty to America. Because of timidity and outright fear, because of knuckling-under to this loud minority and that pressure- lobby, Hollywood too often .welched on the job of awakening America. The Day Ib Paat When The day is past'when the German Embassy can order a great anti-Nazi work off the production schedule of one of our studios—and get away with It. ' The day is-past when the Japanese Embassy can forbid an historical truth in a Hollywood production—and get away with it. The day. is past when the Hays Office advises a director to eliminate a scene from his picture which shows a motion picture audience hissing a newsreel ot Hitler, You don't believe it ever happened? It happened to me. I will gladly show you the letter. The day is past when Lindbergh, Wheele.- and Nye can attempt to drive the truth- of our situation off the screen, stifle the voices trying to arouse Americi to her peril, and paralyze the leaders of the industry into negation of facts. The time for ignorance is past, because we of Hollywood won't stand for it and America won't stand for it from us. Now we have to show guts, for all the gutlessness exhibited in the past Peacetime censorship is the strategy of special groups to defeat the majority. With threats and subtle pressure,' enemies of America built up a fear-psychosis in Hollywood, to the end that they had their way with our motion pictures. And boxoffice greed was head-censor of Hollywood. Let lis not forget the courage of many excellent pictures. More important than this handful of trumpet-calls an- nouncing the future, we should remember the hundreds of givings-in, ot compromises, of chicken-hearted knuckling- under to special-interest censorships, I have no doubt that most people who advocated censor- ship of pictures were people with good intentions—most of them, but not all. Censorship Is No Substitute For Honesty or Frank Thinkjng Some people wanted censorship because they were afraid of honesty. Some wanted it because they were afraid to think, or because they were afraid somebody else would do some thinking. Some people wanted censorship because they had ulcers ot the stomach and wanted everybody else to have ulcers of the stomach. Some people who actively supported general censorship hoped to do some good by regulating what other people should hear and see and think. They hoped to check or for- bid obscenity, vulgarity, bad taste, immorality. The Public Spirit itself forbids these things, with or without censorship. Too frequently this ravaging censorship destroyed creative expression, tore truth, denied Democracy, attackctl free in- stitutions. When this happened, censorship was the enemy of all men, and deserved the courageous opposition ot all men. . We need safeguards against the damage censorship can do, (Continued on page 50) Topping the Toppers Zanies of Qub 18 (N. Y.) Are Irre- pressible Insulters By JACK WHITE and FRANKIE HYERS In his own backyard, the street corner battler feels surft he can beat the daylights out of Joe Louis. The street cor- ner wit in his own opinion—and his friend's, too—is a lot funnier than Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Abbott & Costello and all the others. Well, the 18 Club Is our backyard or street comer as you will. The big-wits step into our place and we catch them with their puns down—without a script in their hands, if you want to be more polite about It We call them up on the club's floor to say a few words and then we throw our whole book at them. , Oh, yes, yes indeed, we top the top men—giving far bet- ter than we take. But don't take our word for it All you have to do is check through the daily column of Broadway historians who have recorded these incidents as they took place. We remember the night that Fred Allen decided to Join, the fun. He started out by panning the cliib. Its size and odor. 'What are you trying to do,' he was asked, 'louse up the joint?' 'No,' Fred-replied, 'nature took care of Chat!" 'Imagine,' we fired back at him, 'Fred Allen sounding like Grade!' The night Bob Hope came in he wasn't In the mood to get up on the floor, so we brought a microphone over to his. table. 'Whereupon he emitted a loud Bronx cheer. 'Who's writing your dialog?' we asked. After the laughter subsided, Hope pushed his mike over to Jerry Colonna and said: 'Here, you answer that* "We brushed him aside and told Colonna: 'Here, use our mike—it's funnier.' It was very crowded—when isn't It?—the night Edgar Bergen was there. He got up to leave while the show waa still on, so a headwalter came ov«r to help him out At this Bergen niade some sort of crack. 'Let him go,' was our parting shot 'we've walked out In the middle of his pictures.' > ' Several years ago, shortly after Mussolini had -ordered the Marx Bros.' pictures banned in Italy, they visited the club. Groucho and Chico exchanged a few quips that didn't tickle the funnybone of this particular audience. 'The poor Marx brothers,' we observed, 'over In. Italy they can't laugh at them and over here they won't' I . 'What We Did to'Benny ' | • We had a lot of fun with Jack Benny on his flrst visit'to the 18 Club. Jack accepted our challenge to get up and say a few words, but he didn't get a chance to say one. We machine-gunned him -without a letup.. In desperation. Jack grabbed the orchestra's violin and started playing his corny version of The Bee.' 'We didn't know,' he was told, 'that Joe Miller taught violin, too.' Joe Frisco makes the club his headquarters when he's In town. On the night Joe opened at Loew's State he was on the floor When the lens lassie walked by. 'H-h-here, little g-g-gjrl,' Joe said, t-t-take a picture of me s-s-stuttering. I wanna s-s-show my folks I'm w-w-work- ing.' 'Take one of him eating,' we said, 'that'll be better proof.' The flrst crack made by most of the celebrities who take to the floor are usually directed at the club. Ben Bernle evidently had been thinking his initial remark over and over during the show. . Because, when he got up, Ben was all mixed up. A strange silence greeted his opening. 'Bernle,' we told him, 'you went over with a—hush.' It'-s not always all of us against one visitor. The' night the Stroud Twins were in the fun was fast and furious as we tangled with them both. One of them, after his gag fell flat, said to us: 'Well, haven't you guys anything toi say—you have m microphone, too?' 'We're getting the same results as you by keeping quiet,' we answered. The other' twin then cut in: 'Aw, why don't you run away from home and go on the stage?' . We repjied: 'And why don't you guys run away from the stage and go on home?' 'They both made faces at us, so we heckled: 'To look at them you wouldn't think any parents would make the same mistake twice.' For a long time Milton Berle gloried in the rumors .and reports that he was a gag-lifter—a user of other fellows' material. Maybe he still does. Anyway, one night 'bis opening crack at us was one that we had used several nights previously and which had been recorded in one of -the Broadway columns. 'We hope you make good here, tonight,' we told Him. There's a talent scout in here from Alcatraz.' There are many others, all made in good fun. We hope none of these 'straight men' feels slighted because we left them out because we've had a grand time crossing words with the top men. However, we've been toppedntoo, by two fellow-workers—waiter Willie Grogan and lounge room attendant One-Round Jackson. But between their Irish and Negro dialects you can't answer what you can't under- stand. Understand?