Evening star., 1931-06-14
HINA has always been a
C0od Ynarket for American

interesting to observe the
various censorship rules that pre-
vail in that troubled land. The
motion picture division OF the
Bureau of Foreign and Domestic
Commerce, Department OF COM
rnerce, has taken the trouble to
investigate the somewhat jumbled
censorship rules of North China,
and they are passing them along
to me. As a rule, these commerce
reports are pretty dry reading, but,
in view of censorship troubles In
our own Land of the Free, they
are worth looking into.
For instance, there are five sep
arate municipal entities at Tien-
tsin-the British concession, the
French concession, the japanese
concession, the Italian concession
and the Chinese City, under Chi
nese Jurisdiction. So in one town
there are five different sets Of
rules of motion picture censor
ship. There is no central board
to handle all of the work.
In the British concession, under
the surveillance of the police de-
partment of the British Municipal
Council, the chief censor, who Is
the head of the police, has banned
pictures that show acts of violence
(mu urder. kidnapping, burglary,
undue use of firearms, etc.
scenes instilling disrespect of law
and order; action or remarks con-
demning or radically criticizing
British administration in the
colonies and possessions of the
British Empire; remarks uncom-
plirnentary to the King; scenes
unnecessarily offensive to Chinese
SenSibilities; acts or remarks
derogatory to the prestige of
women, particularly white women
In the French concession the
municipal police are the cenSorS.
The regulations are not specific
on the scope of the censorship
imposed, but in general the pic
lures Objectionable to the French
police follow closely those laid
down by the British chief of po-
lice. Criticism of the French rule
of colonial possessions will ban q
film quicker than anything else.
The Japanese, in their conces-
sion. are the most lenient, but they
also ban Communistic propaganda,
remarks uncomplimentary to the
Emperor and scenes showing un-
due violence on the screen. At
the present time, there are no
motion picture theaters in the
Italian concession, but the GEN.
sors have their set Of rules just
the same. In the Chinese juris-
diction, special care is taken that
no pictures are detrimental to the
dignity of the Chinese people.
There must be no films in contra
diction to the three principles of
the Kuomintang party, and the
ban Is placed on pictures which
might lead to SuperstitionS or
heterodoxy. In Peiping the same
Chinese rules prevail, but the ex-
hibitors report that the city CEN
Sors do not pay much attention
to the set regulations. Rather,
they have worked out their own
rule of thumb" censorship, which
Is not at all severe.
So how would you like to be a
motion picture producer supply
ing films to the five districts of
one Chinese city?
4
viii Hays, Gear of the moU-
teS," in conference tOith PreSi-
dent HooUer, and, according to
reliable information, the sub
ject of politics 1UaS not brought
up. Probably the poor quality
OF the recent pictures came up
for discussion, and Car Will
may hare been requested to in
ject some netD ideas into Holly
tOood. OF course, all this is just
0ueSSDork, but it's not q bad
thought at that.
GRADUALLY the press agents
are taking all the illusion
from the movies. They have told
us how various trick pictures are
made; they have related all the
intimate goings-on of the stars
and near stars, and now we are
treated with story on how a
thrilling war picture is made
and made so that it resembles the
real thing. In filming the A. Ham,
ilton Gibbs novel, Chances" a
war scene was required, and here
Is the way it was managed:
Trenches were dug with a trac-
tor. A space as large as a city
block was rufied up in a little over
half hour. Shell holes, at least
10 feet deep, were Scooped out OF
the ground with combination
dredge and steam shovel. Each
she'll hole had a placard with
directions for the Soldiers" who
stumbled into it. The shells fired
powder alone. The smoke screen
was made of torches of Smudge
oil, on sticks, and one torch made
enough smoke to hide an entire
Mexican army. But the oil smoke
was thinned considerably in order
that 1t might not hide the star.
All around the battlefield were
placed arc lights, Sporadically
flashed off and on to help along
the impression Of exploding bombs.
Flares, planted before the battle"
in the ground were exploded at
intervals, throwing quantities of
earth into the air. Then, at
large keyboard, somewhat resem-
bling that Of an organ, the Official
powder man" pushed levers and
exploded $4,000 worth of powder.
That was war!
Robert Milton, 1Uho directed
"OutUdrd Bound" says the
photopldy should not confne
itself to the technique of the
stage. Here are his WordS:
"The eye comes first, then the
ear, but the heart must rule
oUer all. The transition from
the stage to the screen does not
alter its ultimate aim OF appeal
fnQ to the emotions, but Ii Ger