WERE THERE NO BAD BOYS BEFORE THE MOVIES?

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 65, 3 April 1937, Page 13

WERE THERE NO BAD BOYS BEFORE THE MOVIES?

" Well, that's that," remarks Mr. Tanner, as he switehes on the white light and swings ba'ck the curtains. "Quite an interesting picture." That, coming from a man who sees from 11 to 12 feature pictures a week, in addition to a whole host of smaller pictures and "trailers" — amounting to some 1200 a year — would' appear to be commendation indeed. "No, there was nothing to cut in that picture," he xemarked. "As a matter of fact, I haven't had to tio much lately, and so far this year 1 have not had to reject any, You see, what we do is to send small portions of the excised film back to the producers — either that, or a description of them, and they get to know what we want and what we don't want. And the result is that we donJt have much trouble now." The censor is equipped with very wide powers under the Aet. He is, in fact, the guardian of the -publie welfare so far as the film industry is concerned, and if he thinks the publie should not see a certain film, or portion of a film— well, they don't see it, and that is all there is to it. But, as he says himself, he has wide discretion, and he does not try to place too narrow an interpretation upon it. "You know, a lot is blamed on to the pictures," he remarked. "If a boy or a girl is caught in any misdemeanour, it is of ten blamed on to the pictures. The children theinselves will say, by way of excuse, that they 'saw it in the pictures.' One is eiititled to" ask whether there were any bad boys or girls before the pictures wer« thought of . " . Effect of Literature. Mr. Tanner thinks that undesirable ' literature, over which children were prone to pore, had more bad influence than a picture, which, after all, was more or less ephemeral in its effect. It is Mr Tanner 's experience that these types of picture are a very small proportion 0f the total output. A comprehensive survey in England recently disclosed that only 4 per cent. of the pictures viewed were below the code. "I realise," he said, "that 90 per cent. of the people go to the pictures for entertaihuitmt only. ' ' ' .Touching on the question of rejections, Mr. Tanner said he had had it thrown at him about the number of gangster pictures that were shown. "I cannot regulate the number of gangster pictures made," he stated, "and I would like to point out that we have had gangsters for hundreds of years. Eveu Shaltespeare knew about them and incorporated them in his 'Romeo and Juliet.' " ' Mr. Tanner said that all suggestive matter in a film was excised, but there were times when an indifferent artist might make a crudity of a scene which could be handled by a finished artist in an attractive and artistie manner. The job of cutting a film, he explained, required considerable care and technical knowledge. Bound travelled more slowly than light, and as a rule the sound tracks were some 15 or 16 inches ahead of the corresponding picture, and in oiaking a cut in a film this had to be taken into account. Othervrise, some rather ' curious synthronised 'effects were liable to develop.