The Dominion SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1926. FILMS AND THE EMPIRE

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 42, 13 November 1926, Page 8

The Dominion SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1926. FILMS AND THE EMPIRE

Once again the parlous state of the British film industry has been given an airing—this time; at the Imperial Conference. As stated in* the report which appeared in the cablegrams yesterday, the problem is to find some means of helping the industry to meet the keen unslacking energy of its dominators —the-Americans so that Empire customs, traditions, and charms might be more truly depicted thi oughout the w0r1d.,.,. . - If the British film industry were purely a commercial proposition, then the only thing to be said about its hardships would.be that if it could not make headway in the face of foreign competition it could .not reasonably expert to be subsidised by the' public either in money or in kind. Merit and efficient organisation in the matter of distribution are the factors which have enabled the Americans to achieve a preponderating percentage of the screen space of the world s kinema theatres. But there are other and more important sides to the problem, the kinenia is a powerful agent of propaganda, fhe screen public absorbs unconsciously the suggestions conveyed by the actors and the scenes in the film. The quantity of American pictures thrown on the screen in the British Dominions and Colonies alone averages 90 per cent. In the opinion of Sir Robert Donald, . who contributes an illuminating article on the subject to the Nineteenth Century and After,” the effect of this virtual monopoly of the world’s screens 'is a subtle process of Americanisation. The Americans themselves are very much alive to the value of this kind of piopaganda, for they believe that trade follows the film. . ... . Mr. Will ■ Hays, head of the moving picture-industry in the United States, says that ‘‘American films abroad create a demand for American clothes and other American products, and have been, an important aid to American manufacturers doing business, in foreign markets.” - Mr. D. W. Griffith declares that,-.“all sales efforts have never spread commercial America through the world as motion pictures have done. Our manners, our customs, our standards, are becoming current in the most distant lands. ... If 90 per cent, of the Empire’s Press were tinder American control, it would be considered, from., the standpoint of propaganda,, a very serious matter, ; From the same standpoint the. dominating influence of the American film is in its way almost as serious. The difhculty is that. British, film production'is labouring under such a serious handicap as the. result of the disorganisation caused by the war that it cannot assist the Dominions in their genuine desire to display a greater proportion of British films on their screens. The Americans are, quite well aware of the. advantage which this tremendous handicap has given them in promoting their enterprise. Mr. C. .J. North, head of the Motion Picture Section of the United States Department of Commerce, frankly acknowledges thi5.:.....; . . . . “The war, which halted foreign , picture, production, .gave,” he. .says, enor-mous-impetus to America’s .foreign.trade in motion, pictures which lasted, in common with nearly all.other manufactured commodities,. through the-two years of inflation- which followed the Armistice. By that time the Americans had built a world-organisation and created vested, interests m. every country. •i' - But there is .yet a further handicap to the British film industry. ■The Americans cover the cost of film production in thbir enormous home market, and can therefore afford to sell, and do sell, at cut rates and still make profits. -It-is estimated that from the sale of films in Australia and New Zealand alone the American producers draw in net revenue something, like £22,500 per week. . It will therefore be seen that this problem of the Bribsh film, apart‘from the purely commercial aspect., afi.d'.apart altogether' f/om any question of ; the merit of the American film .and- the enterpiise of the producers,. has for ..the British people serious economic and social considerations. The remedy is riot,easy to find, for it depends ■primarily on a substantial- increase in the production and in certain respects improvement iri the quality of the British film. If these were assured it would be possible to apply a similar , rule to that which protects .very effectively the‘German film industry, namely, that a stipulated’ percentage of local film must be screened. Under present conditions it would be useless to institute such a system here, for the films do not appear to be available. They tried the system- in Ireland, with the result that the exhibitors frequently were unable to fill their .-programmes. -.- ; - t . Considered as a question of Imperial, propaganda it. would appear that the State has.an obligation to the British film industry to the. extent at'least of assisting it to recover its lost vitality. Other things being , equal; British people would just, as soon’ see British films as foreign, bat human nature being what it is they are not prepared to ispend their money-on seeing? inferior films merely from patriotic motives'. " '■ ' '■ ' ’v--..j::..........