Right Triumphs

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1046, 9 August 1930, Page 26

Right Triumphs

MOTION PICTURE IDEALS

Defence of American Methods THE rejection of au article defending the motion picture industry against charges contained in a series of stories printed recently in the “Christian Century,” of Chicago, has resulted in a criticism of the magazine by Carl E. Milliken, executive secretary of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America. Mr. Milliken asserts that the “Christian Century” articles were “based largely on casual opinions submitted by correspondents, on statistics quoted out of relation to their significance, on statements taken out of context from the general purport of: the complete declarations and npon-tcsti-rnony chosen purely upon the basis of partiality.”

In the published articles, he says the main points seemed to be that the industry had made no progress during the past, eight years; that motion pictures caused child delinquency; that the motion picture screen presents an unrelieved background of crime and violence; that American pictures are ambassadors of ‘‘ill-will” to other nations, and that, as such, they have been criticised in official circles. In his rejected article Mr. Milliken makes the following observations “Since men differ in their interpretation of holy writ, (here is no reason to expect that any form of entertainment, code or no code, self-discipline or otherwise, will ever be free from ! criticism. “No medium of expression so uniformly portrays right trium- i phant, virtue rewarded and evil I punished as does the average motion picture. “But by citing incomplete figures which give dramatic incidents and events out of all relation to the purpose or moral of the story told on the screen, the writer of the “Christian Century” articles presents violence, crime and alleged immorality as rife on the screen. What au opportunity this opens for demand that the Bible be placed under political censorship! CHILD STANDARDS “The responsibility of any popular form of entertainment which appeals to the entire family group must be regulated to some extent by the needs of childhood. But nothing could bo more absurd or prejudicial to public interest than to attempt to key all motion picture entertainment to the child mind. “The denouement of every motion picture story since 1922 has been that ‘right must triumph.’ The charge that movies are a cause of crime is denied by such leading authorities as Dr. George W. Kirchwey, formerly dean of Columbia Law School and Warden of Sing Sing prison. “The code adopted by the motion picture industry relating to the production of talking pictures contains specific provisions for the presenta tion of any subject dealing with sex “But no man-made code or manmade provision will even remova the suggestions only apparent to the evil-minded.” SCOUTER’S OPINION

America, as saying;—"t am thankful that there is au increasing number of wholesome, clean pictures, full of thrills and line ideals of the out-of-doors, pictures that educate and do build tlie right sort of character." Concerning the charge that the Government admits motion pictures are “ill-will ambassadors,” Mr. Milliken quotes a speech made by President Hoover when he was Secretary of Commerce. Mr. Hoover said: “We have had a score of pictures of different lands in recent years, each year coming nearer and nearer to the highest ideals of dramatic art. They carry a fund of universal humour, of gaiety and appeal to the human heart. They bring dreamland to the boy in the street and the lonely herdsman on the plain. “They can carry with it all a friendly acquaintance and under standing between neighbours and nations, a confidence in rightmindedness and an inspiration to friendliness.” In conclusion, Mr. Milliken asserts that narrow-minded, intolerant attacks upon motion picture entertainment can only lead to counter-prejudice, •which, he adds, w-ould be a great misfortune, for "constructive leadership of the Church has been one of the vital influences in the progress of American motion pictures.”

Mr. Milliken quotes James E. Wes', chief executive of the Boy Scouts of