Should the Movies Be Improved? If you were to compare the movies that are produced today with those of ten or fifteen years ago, you would see a great change. Movie producers have learned much in a decade. As they have learned new things, their ability to tell stories on the screen and bring beautiful scenes before us has also improved. This is as it should be. There are, no doubt, many great new adventures for the movies in the future. Continual improvements will be made and the motion picture will become an even greater force in our national life.

There have been other changes in the movies than those brought about by the movie producers. The public has been instrumental in making some important changes. Since the public is made up of the people who pay for the movies, it should have something to say about what is produced. There are still many pictures on the market that are not worth the money spent to see them. In fact, there are persons who say that many of the pictures produced today are definitely harmful to the individuals who see them, and hence to society as a whole. Certainly if the talking picture is as efficient in teaching as the scientific studies indicate it to be, then we should be concerned about the kind of material it presents.

The movies can be a tremendous force in educating the American people. Properly used, they can bring information and entertainment of a high type to every city, town, and village. Furthermore, they can play an important part in international good will, if they depict life in the various nations as it really is.

How Can the Movies Be Improved? Many different ideas have been put forward for improving motion pictures. Parents and others who are concerned about young people often do not like to have children see certain movies because of the undesirable scenes in them. According to some people, the simplest thing to do would be to set up a national system of censorship. Movie censorship means a careful review of all pictures by a group of people known as censors, whose job it is to cut out undesirable portions of the film. Several states have censorship laws at the present time. Do you know whether your state has such a law?

There are many bad as well as good features about censorship laws. In America we have prided ourselves on freedom of speech and press. It has been our custom to believe that anyone could say or print what he pleased as long as he did not harm any individual or as long as he did not advocate disobedience to a law. Our Constitution specifically guarantees us these rights of freedom of expression. The question that arises, of course, is whether the motion picture should be allowed to have this right. The question is hard to answer with a yes or no. There is much more involved in it than the simple matter of free expression.

You will recall that earlier in this chapter we pointed out that the movies are a tremendous educational force. The question naturally arises then as to whether a few persons, who happen to be in control of this force and who are essentially interested in making the movies pay, should be the only ones to determine what is contained in the films that are produced.

In some towns and cities women's clubs and Parent Teacher Associations have been able to make their wishes known to the picture producers through letters of protest. This is a splendid way to register protest, if a large group signs the petition for better films.

There is at present a National Board of Review, whose duty it is to review films and classify them, but they have no power to change a film if the producer does not want it changed. This board has been in operation for many years and has probably helped to improve the movies to some extent, but it is quite powerless as far as demanding better movies is concerned.

The best way to improve motion pictures, of course, is to educate the public so that they will appreciate good pictures and stay away from poor ones. If the cheap, trashy films did not pay the producers, they would not manufacture them. This is where you as an individual can do your part to help. It might even be a good plan to organize a small club to discuss coming pictures and decide which ones are worth paying money to see. When a good movie does come to town, it should be patronized. If it is really outstanding, the group could advertise it to their friends by conversation, phone calls, or write-ups in the papers. In this way producers would be encouraged to make more high-class films.

Another thing that such a group could do would be to promote private showings of high-class films that can be secured from many different sources. The school projector or one that belongs to some member of the group can be used for these films. In this way many films that are outstanding in the field of science, travel, industry, and so forth, which cannot be booked by the local theater, could be brought to your community. By charging a small admission fee such films could be enjoyed by your town regularly.

There are many places where films like these can be secured at a very nominal fee. The National Council of the Y. M. C A., for example, maintains an extensive film library that can be used at little cost. This organization can be addressed at 347 Madison Avenue, New York City. A catalogue will be supplied upon request.

Often commercial organizations in your own or near-by cities have films that can be had free of charge. Sometimes these films are full of advertising and therefore not very desirable; others are very instructive and worth while.

There are many government films available, too, showing various phases of government activity. The charges for these films are very reasonable. Further information about such films can be secured from the U. S. Office of Education, Department of the Interior, Washington, D. C. (Ask for circular 150.)

Conclusion

Movies speak a universal language. No matter where you wander by land, sea, or air, you'll find American films all along the way. In Latin America, in the jungles, on the deserts of Africa, in the high mountain hamlets of Europe, and in the teeming cities of Asia - no matter how remote the spot, you'll probably find our American ideas being absorbed by an eager audience. What better link can you find for the chain of good fellowship among all nations? Let's all help to make it as strong a bond as we can. Determine to know real movie value when you see it and be sure that the close-ups of American life which the rest of the world sees are true and authentic "shots" worthy of an intelligent and progressive citizenry!

Some Interesting Things To Do

1. Find pictures in movie magazines contrasting old and new ways of making a movie. Mount them carefully for the bulletin board. Use them later in your scrapbook.

2. Write up a short piece stressing the qualities of favorite actors and actresses. Pictures will add to your contributions.

3. Show the class some of the clever tricks you have observed in certain movies where "actions speak louder than words."

4. Write a review of a current motion picture.

5. Have a committee draft a proposed set of standards for enjoyable movies.

6. Ask members of your group to name all the movies they have seen lately. Then undertake to grade these for young people according to your standards.

7. Find out just what community regulations governing the motion pictures arc in operation. Are these enough? Are they really enforced?

8. Ask one of your local exhibitors to explain his problems to you.

9. Write to the clerk of the House of Representatives and the clerk of the United States Senate, asking for copies of bills now before these Houses relating to motion pictures. What do they recommend?

10. Find out which departments of the U. S. Government have free films for distribution, and what are the subjects covered. Write for some of these to show to your school at an auditorium program.

11. Make a list of movies that you would like to see and that have not come to your city. Ask your theater manager the reason why they were not shown.

Helpful References

Dale, E., How to Appreciate Motion Pictures. Film Daily Year Book. Floherty, J. J., Moviemakers. Hampton, B. B., A History of the Movies. Kiesling, B., Talking Pictures. Lambert, R. S., For Filmgoers Only.

Mees, C. E. K., Photography.

Naumburg, N., We Make the Movies.

Noble, L., Four Star Scripts (Lady for a Day, It Happened One Night, Little Women, The Story of Louis Pasteur).

Terlin, R. R., You and I and the Movies.

Thorp, M. F., America at the Movies.

Magazines And Bulletins

American Cinematographer, American Society of Cinematographers, 1782 Orange Drive, Hollywood, Calif. $2.50 a year.

Film Survey, Associated Film Audience, 250 West 57 St., New York City. 10c a copy, $2.00 a year, sample free.

Hollywood Spectator, Welford Beaton, Pres., 6513 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, Calif. S5.00 a year, sample copy upon request.

Motion Picture Review Digest, H. W. Wilson Co., 950 University Ave., New York City. S4.00 a year.

Scholastic, Chamber of Commerce Bldg., Pittsburgh, Pa. Single subscriptions SI.50 a year, rates to groups.

Theatre Arts Monthly, Theatre Arts, 40 East 49 St., New York City. S3.50 a year.

Unbiased Opinions of Current Releases, Public Relations Dept., Fox West Coast Agency, 1837 S. Vermont St., Los Angeles, Calif.