Evening star., 1931-12-06

Usually Cne Latin American person.
age in an American-made Aim Is the
bad man" OF the picture. To him be-
long the comic moustaches and tricky
ways OF the villain" He Is always
on the wrong side, plans the lowest of
schemes and Is the slave of the basest
passions. He laughs at morals and
sneers sarcastically at good deeds One
thing is left to his credit; he Is always
a good lover, but good in the sense
That ne places love before everything
else: The Spanish or Latin American
villain OF the moving pictures seems
/ to have no other interests In life than
women, liquor. cards and idleness, or
other skill than shooting straight and
running fast.
Naturally, this evil-minded, wicked
human being Is almost invariably
beaten, Inundated and even spanked
by the American hero" before the pic
ture Is over. One or two American
tourists knock dozen or more natives
down with touch Of their fingertips
another couple Of loyal American
citizens stampede whole regiment of
Sans nephew has the best Of it all
the time.
Break Down Good VIII.
It is not dificult to understand the
III effects of such an exhibition Of un-
| fairness and ridicule Of race which
occupies today the most promising
region Of the earth. 1t Is but natural
| that it should arouse resentment among
| the Latin Americans. A single one OF
these films can spoil the laborious and
intelligent achievements of many am
bassadors of good will sent across the
Rio Grande.
Last year an Official voice was for
the first time raised in this matter
The Cuban charge d'affaires made
| representatio tions to the State Department
asking Government officials to take the
to Cuba stricken from the Aim Her
Man" exhibiting at one Of the local
theaters, and purporting to be dra-
matte picture of the Cuban capitals
underwo: Id. He charged that no such
underwo- Id as that depicted in the
film exLSted in Havana. That the
squalid buildings shown for atmosphere
were fakes destined to mislead the
American public" And that the pic
ture 'ridiculed Havana police in the
presentation Of various street scenes
and brawls."
Film Head Apologies.
| These formal charges-supported by
the report Of the American trade com.
missioner in Havana, who added that
the picture 1t presents Of one Arneri-
can sailor cowing whole groups OF
Cubans, of American gangmen and
brothel keepers defying Cuban Law
and Cuban police is simply conf1rmA-
tion Of the ever-present Latin suspicion
that we are Nation Of braggarts and
| bullies"-merited a most diplomatic
reply from the head of the Pathe In
ternational Corporation, offering ali
kinds OF apologies and promising the
Cuban charge d'affaires that "in the
future Cuba will be shown only in a
most favorable light to the rest of the
world"
/ do not know to what extent the
officers of the Paramount Corporation
may be responsible for the Aims which
after the release of Her Man" have
continued the Misrepresentation, not
merely OF Cuban, but of Latin Ameri-
can life and people in general The
talkies mentioned at the beginning OF
this article are only the latest instances
Women of All Nations" Once a
Sinner" THE Cisco Kid" and mum
Der Of others could be added to the
list
| Situation Is Unchanged.
In spite of the promises made by the
movie producers, the situation remains
the same. If anything, it is worse
because formal representation by a
| foreign embassy has been forgotten and
the constant protests Of Latin Ameri-
can newspapers do not seem to reach
the eyes of the Hollywood dictators. ]
feel. therefore, justified in repeating
here what I said in these columns when
commenting upon the action taken by
the Cuban charge d'affaires some time
ago.
Aside from the moral aspect Of the
problem, It is not only in the interest
of better relations between the Latin
and Saxon American peoples that some :
thing must be done about this. 1t is
also in the interest Of the American
film industry and of its own profes-
sional prestige that the ignorance and
misrepresentation Of things Latin
American which have been shown here
tofore ought to be stopped.
Bring Feeling of Injustice.
To the spectator who has been In
tne Latln countries and has had an
opportunity to know the Latins and
Lnelr MODES OF living this capricious
qiseof tion ana the haphazard mixing of
t,m na.m american characters with old
time colonial settings, with traditions
exclusively Spanish, or characteristic
OF other foreign elements-Italian.
french, etc.-leaves not only feeling
tnat an injustice has been done. but
also very poor idea OF the cultural
ststus OF whoever directed the Aim or
eo!iaporated In It's production,
cannot help but smile everv time I
see supposedly Mexican plantation
owner pictured in the most classic
azure OF a Spanish toreador. Or a
central American general In the
poncno' and boots characteristic of an
Arsentlne gaucho. Or beautiful
senoria dancing the typical Argen-
ene tango With Spanish castanets and
nuee. gay Mexican sonbreroI
Diplomat Leaves Theater.
s, happened to be with an Argentine
diplomat one day when Rod La ROGUE,
III rox moving picture, was showing
wnat was supposed to be his home In
buenos Aires; tiny, ramshackle
rancho, with an old Spanish door and
TWO drty windows. That an American
mlliionaire (Rod La Rooue was per
soniiylng one( could not have found
i De'Iel place than that in which to live
IN atin Suenos NO Aires, the largest capital in
hsit stp' - anellca, with two million and
,n, oi ihnaDltsnts and a city which
Ior It's material development and
european standards of Ivins In the
prloe OF spanish-speaking people. ap-
peareo not only ridiculous, but out
fsa faseous; AT least to an Argentine. Ny
friend left the theater.
1 was not with n pro ,1I,s~ -.l
neard Victor McLaelen, PLAYING the role
o. an American sailor couninr back
ION south America. protesting that he
NAG not been able to find clean water
ana : a. good soap in Rio de Janeiro but
no,,ia imagine tnat any native of Brazil
theater, tool '"'' WAC
swear Not to Attend Movies.
l know two Central American bows
VINO nave sworn not to attend another