ANTI-FAN PROTECTION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 May 1939, Page 5

ANTI-FAN PROTECTION

ATTITUDE OF FILM INDUSTRY. At the recent premiere of “Wings of the Navy,” held in San Diego, it seems that Rosemary Lane was “painfully jabbed in the eye by the pencil of* an autograph-seeker.”. This unlucky accident has started some knotty thinking on the difficulty of providing any form of effective antifan protection for siaro.

The comments of W. R. Wilkerson, well known to Hollywood as the owner of the “Hollywood Reporter,” throw a strange light on the attitude of the film industry to such risks. First, he makes clear that: “Certainly nobody, least of all the stars themselves, wants to do anything which will offend the paying customers. “The players themselves are aware of the fact that such acts, as the one which occurred to Rosemary Lane, are merely an unfortunate expression of admiration and not intended to be destructive.”

On the other hand, he points out: “The major companies have huge investments in their stars. ... A serious injury, such as might result from the action of an over-enthusiastic fan,

might cost the picture life of the player and hundreds of thousands'of del lars to the studio. “Perhaps a partial solution might be found,” Wilkerson concludes, “in a campaign to educate the public to show more consideration for. the player they idolise.” You will see that the official conaeration analysed above is more financial than human. But the solution has some sense to it. Honestly-admiring filmgoers certainly have no intention of tearing the objects of their admiration to pieces. They would probably be considerably more distressed —ana more disinterestedly so—than the people who reagrd the stars as so much saleable flesh-and-blood to be protected for financial reasons.