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Show I MOTION PICTURE PRODUCERS BEGIN I - FIGHT AGAINST ARBITRARY CENSORS 1 1 Some Companies Use I the Screen in Appeal 1 1 Against the H Boards that Cut j Films Which Are H O.K.'d Elsewhere 1. l iy HE question of censorship J 'Wf - each day becomes more so- I "d rious to the motion-picture 1 f porducors. That It has reached the point where I J something will have to be II "" done either the establlsh- IV J ment of a federal board and V J 0 the elimination of the state H K v" censors Is evidenced by tho H bitter flght many of tho producing companies t are making. H Not infrequently In the motion-picture thoa- I ters will occur a scene In which tho father or H husband, rescued from death, will clasp his H baby daughter, or his wife or his sister In his H arms. Then will flash upon the Bcono the fol- H lowing bit of sarcasm: H Permitted by the Censors j I And the falntcBt suggestion of a kiss, which Immediately fades Into darkness, will bo shown. So quickly Is tho kiss made, and so artfully has the producor brought homo to tho publlo H the ricldulous prudery of some censors by H ! Immediately covering up the most Innocent of H kisses with a blank, black space, that ono H '.. cannot but help feel tho anger which the pro- S' ducer harbored while doing It. The Balboa Company attaches a trailer to h their plcturos which reads: H "Free speech, free press and a free stage H have always been Ideals of tho American peo- H pie. Then why not a froo screen? Our constl- Hl ' tution's most sacred guarantee Is freedom of H oppression. When censorship or any form of H It Is legalized here, then will begin the end of H our democracy." H The Balboa Company says further: "This H ' statement is Intended to present tho whole H I censorship controversy to motion-picture spec- H tators In its true light If it it established H the spectators will suffer more than tho pro- H ducers. Hence, the associated picture makers , H have decided to put tho issue squarely to tho H people in this manner. It 1b for them to say H If they want their amusements censored or H I Censorship Is one of the most aggravating H Influences the builders of a great Industry cvor H had to deal with. The question of submitting H . ovcry film made to the opinion of a small body H of men and women, to be judged and measured H by the personal opinions of these few indlvld- H uals, has arisen like a specter on the horizon H of one of the largest and most bonoficent Industries In-dustries thoN world has over seen. It Is already sorlously hampering the broad and democratic development of the art, and producers declare If the question 1b not put aside or solved In a sensible manner, thore is gravo dangor that film making will be crippled; crip-pled; indocd, many producers claim that actual ruination is Btarlng them In tho face. If a hundred photo plays woro taken at random ran-dom and compared with a hundrod rogular stago plays, or a hundred vaudeville acts, the balance will be found to be decidedly In favor of the photo play, when morality and good taste aro considered. Most of the operas aro based on crime and immorality, and peoplo of culture and refinement refine-ment nil ovor the world consider grand opora. the highest form of entertainment. Many of the Btage successes of today ore far bolow the moral standard of the worst picture plays made, but not a thing Is said about censoring thorn. Vaudoville, with doublo-mcanlng Jokes, musical musi-cal comedy of tho few clothes variety, are shown dally and nightly on ,tho stages of the best theaters, and not a hand or volco Is raised Jn protest. Censors of moving plcturos ha,ve barrel that old standby. Ton Nights In a Barroom, becauso of the number of gin mill scenes, yet this play haB boon presented thousands of times on the regular stago and by tomporanco eocIo-tles eocIo-tles and in churches. The censors of Kansas will not allow tho Birth of a Nation, which is adapted from Tho Clansman, a speaking Btago play, to be shown in tho state. Is It worso to look upon the picturod sconeB of a play than to have tho samo thing sot up and acted out with tho addition of tho performers' per-formers' voices to make it doubly harmful, if thero is any harm? Many states have enacted drastic censorship laws for motion pictures, and, in addition to this, are many local boards and a great host of self-appointed keepers of tho public morals working without ofllclal sanction. Few of those peoplo ever agroo on what should be and what should not be eliminated from pictures. What tho Censor Board of one city or town will pass unchallenged will bo viewed with horror by the next board that applies Its rules to the picture. One of the paid censors of Ohio expressed her delight in the comedy police pictures, and the pollco ofllclal on whoso shoulders rested the weighty duty of deciding what should be shown In the plcturo-show houses of Chicago suppressed sup-pressed all pictures where a comedy policeman was shown in a ridiculous position, although tho chaciactore of tho ofllcers of tho law -wore o plainly burlesqued that no one could sco anything that would tend to ridicule uniformed authority. The operation of the Censorship Board subject sub-ject all films to Inspection, the good and the bad aio all judged, and always for a fee, and tho Innocent aro assessed Just as much for being declared good as the guilty aro charged for being declared wicked. Tho ruling of one board is seldom acceptod by another. It is said that tho censors in xl?ACIOUS!TH LADY 8 - ACTUALLY TYJNG HER . SHOE LACE! -THEY " WOULD BE ASKJNQ s. J IL . ME, WHO TOOK gfl . r "qFw , V - THE SENSE Vf-WgB .' M F CENSOR! BSiw I 1 y V " il As the producer sees the arbitrary censor. ' ' J ';"" ''' 1 ' Pennsylvania objected to a news picture of a statue being moved, because tho workmen placed a ropo around tho bronze to swing It to its new position under the censorship laws that prohibit scenes In pictures of hangings. Many of the film makers themselves are In faor of logical censorship. Indeed, they have themselves maintained tho National Board of Censorship for yearG, for tho purpose of cro-ating cro-ating a standard and keeping bad plcturos out of the markot. Most of tho producors consider this sufficient. Others, believing that censorship of somo sort is inevitable, favor a board under the control of tho Federal Government, with tho belief that this would subject the films to but one examination, and eliminate tho many stato and local boards, which cause gieat delay and expense. Tho majority of producers aro opposed to censorship of any kind, and claim that the public pub-lic should bo its own judge. Just the samo as it Is Its own Judge as to the kind of books they read. Below are the opinions of two men who speak with authority ono a producer, and tho other a critic and authority on pictures. W. Stephen Bush, editor of tho Moving Picture World, who Is opposed to any censorship, says: "Giving all duo credit to tho right motlvos of those who aro advocating and even clamoring clamor-ing for censorship of moving pictures, ono only has to discuss tho question with z. very few to discover that urdcrneath it all thero la not & " llttlo of the Belf-rlghteous spirit, A little fur- thor consideration will dovolop tho fact that t tho Ideas and convictions of no two Individuals on all subJcctB will over bo found to coincide, "All our educatois today are devoting .more and still more time and attention to tho do- velopment of the Individual and are realizing that tho best system Is the ono that adapts Itself most fully to the peculiar mentality of ) each unit In tho cltiss. "By what lino of argument can it bo shown f that the dovclopmont of tho enormous moving l' picture industry should bo placed in the hands of a few officially appointed censors, to bo measurod by their individual yardstick? Who is thero in this country or In any other coun- t try that Is sufficiently free from prejudices and personal likes nnd dislikes, whose mental and l! spiritual outlook Is so broad and Infinite whoso artistic and moral nenso Is sufficiently developed, to bo mado tho sponsor for the in- dividual tastes of ono hundred million Amerl- enne people, and If thero were such an Indl- V vidual, would tho proper amusement standards 1. of tho peoplo of this country be more likely to f dovolop without tho exercise of their own In- , dividual seloctlon and approval of what they . considered helpful, and condemnation of tho j-harmful? j-harmful? ? "Tho only conclusion that we can arrive at , on tho question is that legalized censorship of ', any kind is likely to be productive of greater evils than it seeks to overcome. "Wo note with great satisfaction that tha ' press is beginning to grasp the danger or cen- J sorshlp as far as its own welfare Is concerned. We have always pointed out that- censorship of J motion pictures is an entering wedge for the t rurtallmont of the freedom of expression In ' general." The following is an interview with J. A- Bcrst, vice president and general manager of , tho Pa tho Exchar.gos, Inc. Berst is a pioneer I in film production and declares for federal ' censorship. "The motion picture companies today neod j a Federal Board of Censorship to protect them- '. jelves," Berst declares. "If wo don't decide on ' a Federal EoarJ, local state boards will muah-room muah-room over night to throttlo the industry "It is not my opinion that tho producers need , censoishlp to prevent them from making pic- ( tures that would offend public decency or that j would tend to corrupt the morals of the young, J although, it is truo that there are somo few I unscrupulous men in the business who would , stoop to the lowest depths to produce pictures not fit to be shown to any audience becauso of ' the luro of quick riches All of tho roputable, fc responslblo producing companies today are r conscientiously trying to mako the kind of pic- f. tures tho public wants and the public will - never tolerate indecency True, mistakes aro ' made, but generally they are honest ones s "If Congress will pass a bill for a Federal J Board of Censorship, it will sound the death knell of tho local state boards. Some of theso boards will continue for a tlmo, but eventually they will have to go. , "Tho reason that no progress Is being made in the present fight in tho case of tho Stato 1 Couboi ships is that neither the public nor the exhibitors arc vitally Interested. The public doesn't look upon motion pictures as a ncces- J slty. They go to them for amusement, but If all tho motion picture theaters wero closed, thore would be no revolution in the United States The exhibitors are In sympathy with tho fight against the ConsorshJp, but they aro not interested enough to cooperato with tho manufacturers to tho etont necessary to accomplish ac-complish anything." |