The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1935-01-28
and
CLOSEUPS
by del
BY DAVID PLArT

Q JGdlS ID BC4llS SdtllCQ vi III UilC
current sessions of Congress for fed
eral supervision of the motion pic
ture industry
Senator Gerald P. Nye Of North
! Dakota, and Francis D. Culkin, Of
New York, are among the leading
proponents Of federal control Of the
movies; in this they have the unani-
NOUS support Of the Hearst press
and the Legion of Decancy. whose
recently appointed N. Y. Council in
cludes the names Of Alfred E. Smith
former Governor Of New York,
/ James A. Farrell, former President
of the U, s. Steel Corp. Jrsn P
OBrien, former Mayor of New York,
Martin Quigley, red-baiting pub
Usher of the Motion Picture Herald
and Motion Picture Daily, and John
J. Raskob, former Chairman of tile
Democratic National Committee.
/ We can be certain that the line
up of notorious reactionaries is not
for the entertainment of the movie
goer. We know that federal author
tiles have been tremendously pleased
/ with the campaign and reception
/ accorded their recent darling Fir
tation Walk the Warner Bros.
military musicale produced at West
Point with the entire cadet corps as
supporting castl and President
Vanishes," ParamountS sequel to
Gabriel Over the White House"
We also know that the government
is becoming more fearful of the
potentialities Of a medium that can
be used against them very nicely.
Recently we read that certain prints
of new motion pictures which re-
vealed the existence of American
naval aircraft devices had been Sc
cretly acquired by foreign powers
who had put the new apparatus to
good use. AS a result of this dis
closure, rigid Instructions governing
future motion picture production of
naval activities have been issued by
the government to the movie COM
panies. No doubt carried out to the
letter in the Warner Bros. w. r.
Hearst-U. S. War Department pro-
ductien of Devil Dogs of the Air"
We have also witnessed the increas-
ing attention paid to the rejection
of hewsreelS that reflect workers
struggles and capitalist violence;
/ the many attempts to censor Soviet
films. The Film and Photo League
of NJ Y. is up before the courts this
week for showing newsreels at its
headquarters couple Of Saturdays
ago.
WE know that government battle
W ships and the U. S. Marine Cor
poration stand solidly behind the
Hearst Warner Bros merger from
whom we can expect plenty of
forthcoming lingo dressed up to look
innocent and attractive. We know
that the U. S. government through
the War Department sends Signal
Corps officers to Hollywood for
motion picture training to enable
them to come back and produce
federal films to help instruct officers
and soldiers in the maneuvers of
war We know all these things and
much more.
Nothing, therefore, would more
please the Secretary of War, the
Chief of staff Macarthur, the Hearst
press or the N. Y. Council of the
Legion Of Decency, than a federal
investigation of the motion picture
industry similar to the one on NUM-
lions land the st. Louis indictments
of the biggest of the producers and
distributors Is splendid opportun-
ity), which would probably result in
federal supervision and censorship
| of the movie industry as a prologue
to putting this powerful propaganda
arfnory under the surveillance of
military authority and on an eff
Gent war time basis.
The capitalist class has too much
wool to pull over the eyes of the
masses to continue to neglect a
medium as powerful as the movie
which they know served them in
good stead during the last World
War That is why an aggressive bat
tie by theatre, literary, film and
other cultural groups against federal
Intervention is essential at this time,
if we are to noticeably retard the
progress of the movement Of the
Legion Of Decency and its hackers
towards fascist RECOMMENDATION. Not
merely the film is being affected by
these linderhsnd moves. but ali cul-
tural activities. The danger cannot
be underestimate.