Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-21

N and community censor
" " ship, every now and
v v then one hears talk OF
Federal censorship of the photo
play. But the latter has not
reached the. proportion Of serious
consideration from the lawmakers
themselves, although now and
then. comes a rumor from the
Hill. The Hudson bill for the
organization of Federal board
of control was drastic in many OF
its features and it did not pass.
AS has been pointed out in these
columns before, there will be no
need of Federal censorship If the
producers are wise. The VIII
Hays organization-The Motion
Picture Producers & Distributors
of America, Inc.-iS attempting,
with a certain amount of success,
to impress upon the producers the
necessity of turning out clean pic
tures-pictureS that will not re-
quire censorship and that will not
attract special attention from
advocates of the Federal censor
ship idea.
As the result of an editorial
which appeared recently in The
Star, the following letter comes
from Carl E. Milliken, secretary
of the Motion Picture Producers
& Distributors of America:
ITO the Editor of The Star: The
Evening Star is so important a
publication, both from the stand
point of it's influence as leading
family newspaper and because OF
it's strategical position in the Ma
TONS Capital, that the motion
picture industry naturally desires
its sympathetic understanding in
the fight against censorship,
which is so closely allied to the
ultimate fortunes of the freedom
of the press in this country that
every editor who has inquired into
the full facts and implications Of
the attempted trend recognizes
the mutual danger.
"Mr. Hays is now on the West
Coast. When he returns I shall
show him The Evening Stars
editorial titled, Jazz, Cocktails
and Crime It is written in such
unassailable good faith and from
so sound a basic premiSe-i.e., the
recognition that wholeSomeneSS
of tone is vital necessity in our
major American media of express
Sion-that I know it will interest
him, as does every thoughtful ex-
preston of opinion pertinent to
molten pictures.
"In the meantime, I am taking
the liberty of writing primarily to
assure you that the motion pic
ture industry has long since
passed the initiating of house
cleaning at home program and is
now in constructive phase OF
tranSlating through the screen its
recognition of it's own attitude
forming power! Secondarily, to
put respectfully before you some
observations occasioned by the
editorial in the light of other
studies of, and comments on, mo-
ton pictures. Part of the work
of this Office is to supply, gratis,
programs of motion pictures for
hospitals, prisons and other in
StitutionS where the screen con-
stitutes a peculiarly induplicable
blessing. AS part of the work,
Paramount Famous Lasky sent a
print of Underworld one of the
pictures your editorial cites, to
the United States Penitentiary at
Steilaceonl,. Wash. The editor of
the prison magazine spoke of it
in the highest terms, mentioning
it as medium Of providing
amusement in proper form and
quantity and as highly educative.
TO my mind said the editor, it
was worth a hundred sermons to
the prisoners of this institution.
"Deductive processes from titles
only are like to be treacherouS.
One of the other pictures men
toned in your editorial was a
sheer comedy, whereas the writer
obviously took it to be a sex
drama.
1.-The motion picture industry
has, under a deliberately con-
ceived and considered policy,
taken care to see that wherever
the plots of entertainment pic
lures necessitate presentation of
the evil-doer, the consequences of
evil shall be portrayed swiftly, I'M
'n1iStakably and inevitably. The
motion picture criminal is always
caught and always punished. We
do not believe that The Ballad of
Reading GaoP ever inspired man
to want to go to prison or be hung.
We do not believe that Ten Nights
in a Bar Room ever led to the
use of alcohol. Neither do we be-
lieve that pictures like Under
world can have any effect except
a beneficial one on a community
life. The severest and one of the
oldest forms of municipal censor
ship of motion pictures exists in
the city Of Chicago.
"For six years the motion pic
ture industry has welcomed CO.
operation and counsel, at the
source of production, from re-
sponsible religious, civic and social
welfare groups. Thirty-one such
organizations now have the privi-
lege Of pre-viewing silent and
sound pictures alike before the
pictures are released to the public.
Their comments and recommen-
dations are received with eager
ness and wholehearted response.
The records show many instances
of actual changes in pictures, at
great cost, due to reactions from
these cross sections of public
opinion. I earnestly suggest that
you read the Hudson bill, which
died in the last Congress, but
which will probably be reintro-
duced, as it is the pet measure of
the proponents of Federal censor
ship of motion pictures. It is the
most astonishing attempt to
destroy the American tradition
and the practice of free express
sion that has been made in the
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