The Stratford Evening Post. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. CENSORSHIP.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 86, 18 April 1913, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. CENSORSHIP.

The censorship of cinematograph films is now being carried out in Britain, and is certainly a remarkable development which has come about in deference to public opinion and a sense of what is right and proper. It is imposed not by law or local body regulation, but by the trade itself and all the film manufacturers and exhibitors have agreed to abide by its decisions'. The films are judged by a board of four, at the head of which is Mr G. A. Bedford, late Examiner of Plays, and two certificates are issued, one showing that a picture has been passed for "universal” exhibition, the other that it has been affirmed for “public” exhibition. The difference is this—that the pictures passed for “universal” exhibition are especially recommended for children’s matinees, though no picture of any kind is passed that is not considered “clean and wholesome, and absolutely above suspicion.” The examiners are stated to keep a sharp look out for anything objectionable, and are largely guided by their own feelings on seeing a picture produced. Sometimes, if the subject is in doubt, it is repeated and discussed from various standpoints, and when an objection is found by the Board, the publisher ot the firm is summoned, and the picture run off again in his presence. The board lias, up to the present, had no trouble with manufacturers, and the president -finds his new work absorbing, and is very hopeful as to its effecton the moving picture business. The step is an excellent one, for the moving picture is becoming a great educative force as well as a favourite recreation. Mr Bedford considers there are too many films of the stereotyped order, and regrets the popularity of the trick picture. He believes that, just as public taste has immensely improved the class of performance in the music-halls, so it will rise above the cheap humour of the moving picture.

This will doubtless come in time, for with the wealth of splendid films that may be produced depicting great industries, great plays, and the world’s peoples and scenery, there ought to bo little need for the faked drama which in the past has found place. Of course the work being done by the Board will bo felt out here, and there is little doubt but what it will tend to make the picture entertainment even more popular than it is at this