TSAR OF PICTURES.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 326, 6 January 1937, Page 2

TSAR OF PICTURES.

MR. WILL HAYS. Eloquent Speech To London Exhibitors. Press Association—Copyright. London, Dec. 30. Mr Will Hays, America’s “Tsar of Motion Pictures” is in London. Beginning with an apology for the brevity of his speech “on such an. intimate, informal occasion”—-there were about 300 guests at the Cinematograph Exhibitors’ Association luncheon—he spoke continuously, fierily, for nearly three-quarters of an hour.

The diplomacy for which he is famous was such that at the end of his hearers carried away not one idea, except everybody should hope for the best of all possible trades. Short and slim, Mr Hays has the manner of the typical American orator, with a touch of the fencing master thrown in.

“We need hope” (a lunge with right forefinger fully stretched) “and confidence” (lunge with the left) “within” (a quick recovery) “friendship” (clasped hands) ‘‘with all the world without’' (both hands flung high in the manner of Mr Jols-on singing “Hallelujah.” There were bursts of eloquence:— “After 15 years of earnest application to the amazing complexity of our problems, I like moving pictures for the happiness they spread, for the relief they bring from all the burdens of all the days. I like them.”