Qass LT- ■ 1-4 Book . Scanned from the collections of The Library of Congress AUDIO-VISUAL CONSERVATION at The LIBRARY of CONGRESS -J v\ Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation www.loc.gov/avconservation Motion Picture and Television Reading Room www.loc.gov/rr/mopic Recorded Sound Reference Center www.loc.gov/rr/record /T'-Cs-(\ INTERNATIO - ^ a m REVIEW M2A t-- Zgf*? EDUCATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHY ROME JANUARY 19 3 1 ~m MONTHLY PUBLICAT OF THE INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHIC V INSTITUTE '***£ -Ti.'ir - l rn rr>Ml» INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE LEAGUE OF NATIONS GOVERNING BODY, ROCCO Hon. Prof. Alfredo, Italian Minister of Justice, President. CARTON DE WIART H., State Minister, Hon. President of the Child Welfare Committee. CURLIS Dr. Hans, Director of the Institute of Cultural Research in Berlin, President of the Confederation of Cultural and Instructive Film Producers. DESTRfiE Jules, former Minister, Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Vice-Presi- dent of the I. C. I. C. FOCILLON Prof. Henry, Member of the International Committee on Intellectual Co- operation, Prof, at the University of Paris. HANKIN G. T., Esq., H. M. I., Board of Education. KELLOGG Dr. Vernon, President of the National Council of Research in the United States. KNOPH Ragnar, Prof, of Law at the University of Oslo. KRUSS Dr. Hugo, Director General of the Prussian State Library in Berlin. LUMIERE Louis, Member of the Institute of France. MILLIKEN CarlE., Secretary General of the Motion Picture Producers & Distributors Inc. (U. S. A). MISTRAL Prof. Gabriela. NITOBE Prof. Inazo, Senator, Member of the Imperial Japanese Academy. PARANJPYE Dr. R. P., former Minister of Instruction in Bombay, Member of the Council of the Secretary of State for India. REYNOLD Prof. Gonzague de, Member of the I. C. I. C, Prof, at the University of Berne. SANGRO Y ROS DE OLANO, don Pedro, Marques de GUAD-EL-JELU', Spanish Minister of Labour, Member of the League of Nations Child Welfare Committee. The Secretary General of the League of Nations. The President of the International Agricultural Institute. The Director of the International Labour Office. The Director of the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation are present at the meetings in an advisory capacity. OPRESCU Prof. Giorgio, Secretary. de PEO Doctor Luciano, Director. EDITORIAL COMMITTEE OF THE REVIEW. Dr. de FEO, Luciano, Director Berne de Chavannes, Pierre Gimeno, Jos* Maria Farnell, H. Leigh Jordan, H. de Feo, Giuseppe Apollonio, Maria Elena, Secretary YEAR III. JANUARY 1931 N. 1 INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF EDUCATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHY MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE — LEAGUE OF NATIONS — ROME- Via Lazzaro Spallanzani. i - ROME :y of cot: RECEIVED JUN 1 1 1932 DIVISION OF DOCU INDEX Y. Mizuno ... - Motion Picture Education in Japan 5 A. G. Bragaglia - Cinema and Theatre n - Note on Signor Bragaglia s theme (P. B. deC.) . . 23 E. Lolhoffel . . - Sound-films and International Cooperation .... 26 Eva Elie . . . . - A quasi-fairy-tale 29 INFORM A TION Riekel - The work of the films section of the Brunswick Institute of Educational Research. — J.I. Crabtree - The Society of Motion Picture Engineers and its relation to production during the past year. — Th. Trnka - Educational and instructional cinemato- graphy in Czechoslovakia 33 LEGISLA TION Film censorship in the Far East: Japan; China 41 THE INSTITUTE' S1ENQUIRIES Cinema and visual fatigue (Contd.) 53 STUDIES AND ENQUIRIES M.rs Allen Abbott - Children's responses to the motion picture « The Thief of Bagdad » 65 DOCUMENTARY FILMS Cariboo 83 An appeal to producers 89 ECHOES AND COMMENTS The cinema as a social factor 93 Proposed French Ministry of Cinematography 96 Astronomical films 96 • BIBLIOGRAPHY 102 Motion Picture Education in Japan Part I. Outline of Development. Motion pictures were introduced into Japan for the first time in 1896. In that year two vitascopes and two cinematographs were imported into this country from the United States and France, respectively, by four different people, one of whom was an Italian engineer at that time in the employ of the Military Arsenal at Tokyo. Since then motion pictures have become enormously popular. To-day there are 1,270 movie theatres in all Japan, which means that nearly 40 new houses have been opened annually. The Japanese studios have recently turned out the huge number of 718 theatrical films in a single year, all of which have been released. Further, Japan annually imports a large number of foreign films, mainly American, which are shown at these 1,270 movie houses in addition to the home products. In Tokyo and Osaka alone, there are more than 10 movie theatres where sound apparatus has been installed; among these are five with the Western Electric Sound System. If we consider the limited area of the national territory and the size of the population in comparison with other countries, the development of the film industry in Japan within so short a time is little less than miraculous. In addition to this rapid commercial development, the cinema has necessarily influenced national thought and the habits of the people. Motion pictures have, in fact, become one of the important elements in Japanese •civilization. Cinematic " movement " and " speed " are reflected through- out Japan's contemporary literature, painting, music and drama, and the Cinema represents as it were, the vanguard of our national culture. Now that films have established an intimate relationship with the life and thought of the nation, it is inevitable that their undesirable elements should have had some effect upon morals and culture. The Government and the educational authorities were the first to be alarmed at the unrestricted enjoyment of motion pictures by young people and elementary school- children, fearing the possible evil effect of such shows upon the education and health of children of tender age. They realized with concern the urgent necessity of counter-measures, and it is partly to this realisation that we owe the inauguration of the educational film campaign in this country. The Department of Education established the system of official recogni- tion for lantern-slides and motion pictures in 1911, and in 1920 began systematically to encourage educational films, inaugurating what was called the Better Film Movement. The results, however, were not very favourable. Meanwhile public movie shows became increasingly popular all over the country with a corresponding spread of their evil effects upon the public. Particularly noticeable was the influence of American films — good or otherwise — owing to their immediate appeal and enormous diffusion. At the same time, the popularity of the American film all over the world and its alleged evil effects had given rise to animated discussion in European countries' and eventually resulted in the International Motion Picture Conference at Paris held under the auspices of the League of Nations in 1926, while the first session of the European Educational Films Conference met at the same time at Basle convened by the local educational autho- rities. The educational films movement in Japan thereby received effective stimulus and some guidance as to its future policy. As a first tangible step taken in this country, the Department of Educa- tion in October, 1927, held an eight-day course for all Japanese officials engaged in cinematographic work, and special attention was paid on this occasion to training in educational cinematography. A conference was then held between the officials attending this course and the higher officials of the Department of Education, during which a resolution was passed recommending that restrictions be placed upon the hitherto unregulated enjoyment of public movie shows by children of tender age and that an educational film campaign should be inaugurated. Since the Department of Education took this definite step to improve matters the educational films campaign has spread over the whole country. The admission of children to cinemas has been subjected to certain restric- tions, while educationalists in various parts of the Empire have begun to give thought to the importance of educational pictures. One of the most remarkable results of this movement was the conference between the educational authorities of the Tokyo Municipality and movie show promoters in the city held in 1928, which led to an agreement by 29 cinemas in Tokyo to hold a periodical Children's Movie Day on. Sundays at which educational pictures would be shown. This practice still continues. Another notable phase in the development of the educational films cam- paign is marked by an attempt to produce educational films, although so far, owing to limited resources, the undertaking is making but slow progress. The output is hardly worth mentioning when compared with the total produc- tion of all films (about 2 per cent.). Commercial films account for 96 per cent, of the total, the remaining 2 per cent, being films for other purposes. In 1923 the Department of Education started producing educational films to be shown at schools and social gatherings. The equipment and scale of this enterprise, however, are still in a deplorable condition, con- — 7 — sidering it is a State undertaking, and the supply is quite unequal to the demand. There are 127 movie studios in Japan, of which 61 specialize in the pro- duction of educational pictures. The capital invested in the latter, however, is so far very limited and they are unable to turn out pictures in any appreciable number. The demand for educational films, on the other hand, has grown rapidly and considerable difficulty is found in obtaining suitable pictures. Hence the importance of the Film Library of the Osaka Mainichi. The Osaka Mainichi, one of the biggest and most influential dailies of the Empire, is known as the pioneer in the field of educational films for schools and social gatherings. To-day practically all those who are interested in the motion picture education movement in this country are united and affiliated with the educational film movement of this newspaper. It was in September, 1908 that the Osaka Mainichi started to use motion pictures for educational purposes. It created a cinema department within the company and inaugurated a movement of social education through the medium of educational films and newsreels. It sent out a travelling cinema, all over the country, including the Main Island, Korea and Formosa. Side by side with its newspaper enterprise, the motion picture department of the Osaka Mainichi was thus enabled to distribute the day's news not only through print but through pictures. Particularly noteworthy are the activities of this branch at the time when H. M. the Emperor (while still Crown Prince) proceeded to Europe in 1921. This foreign four by the Heir to the Throne was as memorable as it was unprecedented. The Osaka Mainichi had the honour and pleasure of taking pictures showing His Majesty's reception wherever he landed; these valuable news reels were rapidly despatched to Japan and there screened first before the Imperial family and then publicly. This enterprise not only marked an epoch in the newsreel service of a single newspaper company, but inaugur- ated a new era in the annals of Japan's motion picture industry. In the meantime, the organisation of the educational films campaign in Japan proceeded on systematic and scientific lines. The Osaka Mainichi opened the first Film Library of the Empire in 1927. The Osaka Mainichi Film Libraries are now to be found at the head office in Osaka, at the branch office in Tokyo (The Tokyo Nichi Nichi), and at its branch in Kyushu. To-day the company has about 2,000 different kinds of pictures at these libraries. In 1928, the All- Japan Association of Cine-Education was organized under the auspices of the Osaka Mainichi. The Association has its main offices both in Tokyo and Osaka. Its board of management includes all the prominent authorities in the field of motion picture education. Branch offices have been opened in various parts of the country to aid in unifying the educational film movement. — 8 — The Association controls three big undertakings, the School Film Circuit League, the Factory Film Circuit League Tour, and the Women's Motion Picture Society. The organ of these undertakings is a monthly magazine called " Eiga Kyoiku " (Cine-Education). In August 1930 the membership of the All-Japan Association of Cine- education totalled 6,500, all enthusiastic supporters of the motion picture education campaign, including many men and women with practical expe- rience and a large number of elementary school teachers. The history of the cine-education movement in Japan, shows that its rise and progress may be attributed to two factors: one is the vigorous ini- tiative of educationalists and their counter-measures to cope with the undesir- able effects of certain popular films and the other is the use of motion pictures in school and social education. Highly exciting and decadent photodramas likely to affect public morals or corrupt good manners are now banned by the censors, who are supported and assisted by the educational film campaign. On the other hand, the recent discovery of the educational value of selected motion pictures has resulted in the vigorous encouragement of desirable films. This movement is especially active in the western parts of the Empire, with Osaka as its centre, and is due largely to systematic guid- ance and control by the All-Japan Association of Cine-Education. Part II. Present Situation. Japan's educational film movement made great strides during 1927 and 1928. Following the discovery of the great educational value of motion pictures, a national movement was set on foot to show carefully selected films in schools and at social gatherings. The enterprise was well thought out and systematically organized. At present, the movement has two fields of activity, viz., school educa- tion and social education, and both the Government authorities and the civilians concerned enter heart and soul into the duties required of them. Social education means helping to stimulate the progress of Japan's national culture and civilization through the medium of suitable films. Local young men's associations and other public organizations are encouraged to hold meetings where good, wholesome motion pictures are shown which extol the social virtues, further a better understanding in politics, public health, religion, national defence, and colonial affairs, and cultivate whole- some thought and ideas. These meetings are held in public halls and in schools. In other words, motion pictures are being utilized for the better- ment of individual character and the education of the community. It is noteworthy in this connection that the movement is more effective in the rural districts than in the towns. — 9 - Meanwhile the press is advocating international co-operation in motion picture education through the good offices of the League of Nations so that the various problems pertaining to education through motion pictures may be solved internationally. The All-Japan Association of Cine-Education is now preparing to hold in Japan an international conference of motion picture education and it is confident that its schemes will bear valuable fruit within the next few years. From the standpoint of visual education, what is being done in Japan at present considerably differs from action in the United States and elsewhere. This is due more to a fundamental difference in the educational policy of this country — the outcome of peculiarities of nationality and circumstance — than to anything else. In Japan motion pictures are most frequently employed to cultivate refined sentiments in elementary school-children, and pictures specially selected for such purpose are shown in school halls. Next in importance come teaching-films. The performances in school are organised by the School Film Circuit League, under the patronage of the All- Japan Association of Cine-Education. In August 1930 its membership included more than 350 elementary schools in various parts of the country. Availing themselves of the Osaka Mainichi film libraries, these schools give cinema performances regularly once a month or every other month. The programmes are made up of six reels of pictures and are shown in turn in one school and another. Sometimes they are given in secondary schools, on which occasions the programme is extended to include eight reels. Programmes are chosen by a committee the members of which are elected by the schools belonging to the League. The films are projected by element- ary school teachers. During the first half of 1930 alone, 4,189 reels were shown at these schools. The projection of motion pictures has materially reduced the number of elementary schoolchildren attending the public cinemas. On this ac- count they now run less risk of imbibing undesirable ideas from theatrical films, while at the same time the educational pictures shown in the schools are giving them visual instruction in a variety of subjects. With a view to giving visual education to factory hands the Factory Film Circuit League has been organized by the All-Japan Association of Cine-Education. This organization aims at showing a selection of pictures four times a year, the programmes being at least partly recreational in character. These performances are held in company offices, factories, and also at mines of all kinds. The League was organized in March 1929 and by August 1930, the members numbered 63 factories. The organization sends out operators and lecturers as well as projecting apparatus, screen, and films. The use of motion pictures in schools and factories is thus under the — IO guidance of the All-Japan Association of Cine-Education, but the Association has also organized the Osaka Women's Film Society for domestic education. The members of this society must not be under 18, and the society aims at showing them films which will cultivate refinement and widen their knowledge and taste so that they may judge wisely and give good advice to their children and to other young people in matters concerning motion pictures. Perform- ances are given regularly once a month. This attempt to cater for women and to provide them with a chance of studying motion pictures from the point of view of the housekeeper is most promising and is likely to be followed by other similar endeavours. In view of the foregoing activities of these private organizations hardly anything is now being done by Government institutions in the field of cine- education. It may further be observed that films of 16 millimetres and 9 y2 milli- metres are widely in use in schools and homes besides the standard 35 milli- metre product. These smaller films are particularly popular in schools. In some of the latter the teachers take educational pictures themselves on the basis of textbooks in order to illustrate class-room lessons. Talking pictures are not so far' in use for educational purposes, but the question of the " talkyization " of educational films has attracted the atten- tion of people interested in picture education and is a frequent subject of discussion. The academic study of film education in Japan is still in its infancy as compared with other branches of scientific research work. Nevertheless, the constant efforts of those concerned to bring theoretical study and practical application into harmony account for a substantial measure of progress. Furthermore, the development of motion picture education abroad is closely followed through books, magazines, and pamphlets. The aim is to make cine-education into a kind of social culture movement, instead of confining it within the limits of a merely commercial undertaking. Various problems pertaining to the movement are studied and the results are applied in the broadest interests of national education whether in schools, factories or the home. With the help of this Review and with the kind approval of the League of Nations it is my wish to report on the present situation and future develop- ments of motion picture education in Japan to the people of all countries interested in the movement. My ambition is to make the matter a world question instead of a question or social phenomenon affecting merely a single country of the Far East. With the help and co-operation of other nations interested in 'the same issues, I hope for a satisfactory solution of many problems and the further promotion of the movement in this country. YOSHIYUKI MlZUNO Head of the Motion Picture Dept. of the « Osaka Mainichi » Cinema and Theatre [from the Italian) The time has come or at any rate is approaching for a reconciliation between the silent-film and the sound-film enthusiasts, the rest of the world consisting of those inveterate believers in the immortality of the Theatre who firmly refuse to see any competition or possibility of confusion between the theatre and the cinema. There is one comforting feature about the American films that have been shown in Italy and about those we know of without having seen, and that is to note how the Americans are the first to fall into the errors which, through the fault of the Americans themselves, misled Europeans into think- ing that the cinema was destined to replace the theatre. The public firmly sets its face against the kind of inferior theatre which is what the spoken film gives us when it tries to ape the drama; the result is a shadowy substi- tute, a pale reflection of flesh-and-blood actors. I have recently returned from a visit to South America. South America is directly under the influence of North American civilisation; its psychology is that of new peoples, of twenty races all imbued with the single idea of Editorial Note. In the large hall of the Institute, which was opened last year for the exhibition of artistic and educational films and for lectures by international experts, Signor Anton-Giulio Bragaglia recently gave an exceed- ingly interesting address. The speaker's originality and his independent Position as artist, dramatist and creator of an experimental theatre combined to lend the occasion especial importance. Signor Bragaglia talked about silent films, sound-films, «talkies» and the opposition between the theatre and the cinema. Convinced that the lecture would be of the first interest to readers of our Review, I begged Signor Bragaglia to embody the gist of his talk in a written article, for, apart from the topical nature of the subject, some of its aspects immediately concern the work of this Institute. Cinematography in its artistic, social and human aspects, its enormous potential importance as an educational factor, the advantages and disadvantages of the universal acceptance of the sound-film and the various intellectual pro- blems of the cinema are all matters of educational import and subjects for interesting and useful discussion. Signor Bragaglia referred in his lecture to the first Italian attempts at sound-film production by the Pittaluga Company , whose courageous experiments — 12 — creating within the New World a world still newer. Both in the Argentine and in Brazil I found that the public will stand no more " Talkies," whether in Spanish or Portuguese. There is nothing of importance to say about cinematography in these countries, unless it be that in amateur cinema clubs you can see Russian and American films that may not be shown in Italy; also pornographic films are exhibited publicly. In Brazil one of the oldest and largest theatres is de- voted to these performances. Otherwise there is nothing worth mentioning. To revert to the sound-film or " talkie " in its relation to the theatre, in South America, too, the popular verdict is in favour of restricting the use of speech and preserving for the cinema proper those novel features which were peculiarly its own. The latest films are admirable from the technical point of view: they are spoken, sung, provided with sound accompaniment and coloured. The colours may be crude and commonplace, but there they are. And yet even the South Americans are bored by these films. They lack the charm of their predecessors; they are no longer evocative in the same way as of old; they fail to hold the spectator's undivided attention and to dispel personal cares for long enough on end. Owing to the constant inconsistencies and annoyances of the modern film, we are too often brought back to the facts of daily life. The cinema is no longer the realm of oblivion it used to be. Opinion in America, therefore, is the same as over here. The world is really but a single country and men and women are the same everywhere. You may travel far and wide and see nothing particularly are inspired by the desire to serve the cause of national cinematography . To day the cinema is, as never before, both national and international — interna- tional in so far as, when several editions of the same film are to be made, economy necessitates agreements between different countries or groups of coun- tries; national, in that sound-films reflect what must be regarded as the essential elements in a country's genius; its language, art, music, scenography, etc. Although some of Signor Bragaglia's judgments may be thought rather severe and even bitter and although some of his references to financial matters are explained by the influence of the world-wide economic crisis upon the indus- trial situation of all countries, we consider that his arguments, set forth in frankness and good faith and with pungent wit, will arrest the attention of all who have the interests of the cinema at heart and who care for the cinema as art and for the sound-film as a novelty upon which judgment cannot yet be passed, because the sound-film of to-day has not yet broken away from the theatre and from the art of the silent film., which, as Signor Bragaglia rightly observes, is based upon quite different laws. Our Review will be publishing further articles on this subject; for the moment it invites discussion in any form that may contribute towards a solu- tion of the problem. — 13 — new, except folk-lore, which for the moment is not our concern. Audiences do not greatly differ in their reactions, even when they are a mixture of Latins, Anglo-Saxons, Slavs, negroes and Asiatics. The machinery of the nervous system produces everywhere the same phenomena, which are the result of the general rhythm of modern life. Here lies one of the chief reasons of the inferiority of the spoken film. Unlike the " silent," it is out of time with the quickened rhythm of modern life. Like the theatre, it is out of tune with the time-spirit. In America, therefore, as I shall try to show you, spoken films are not popular. There, too, it is questioned whether the spoken film can become an art. just as twenty years ago people were wondering whether the silent film could be a work of art. To-day as then the problem hinges upon the medium of expression. The best artists, whose judgment is not, like that of so many, influenced by self-interest or parti pris, cannot possibly form a definite opinion until the medrum of expression of this " art of the future " — the loud-speaker — has attained the necessary degree of perfection. We none of us believed in the silent cinema until it had been technically so perfected that it gave us productions so fully in accord with the spirit of our time that we could no longer resist: in other words, we believed in it when a new technique engendered a new poetic. The silence of the modern film was a refuge from the clamour of the out- side world. The success of pantomime was based upon the magical effect of a form of expression which is the result of art and is not found in daily life. Accord- ing to the Greek theatre, which will always represent the drama at its highest, despite changes of technique and form, the artistic value of a production increases in proportion as it is removed from reality. The greater its de- mands upon the public, the nearer it approached to the ideal. Nietzsche expressed this idea when he wrote in " The Birth of Tragedy " that we admire the spectator who is able to appreciate a work of art as art, that is to say, aesthetically, and not according to its approximation to reality. Silence was the very essence of pantomime. It afforded a key to the " unsaid," which each spectator interpreted as he wished, while no one spoke. This faculty is not the exclusive privilege of pantomime, but panto- mime afforded it scope for surprising developments. With the advent of the cinema miming became an incomparable medium of expression. Under the influence of strong passion, words fail. Gesture and look express it better." They are the real language of the unspoken. At a moment when the most perfect form of pantomime is being ousted by the addition of the spoken word, I may be allowed to sing the praises of dumb show and its thousands of years of uninterrupted success with great and small. We may be pardoned for regretting the passing of so many subtle — 14 — manifestations, of this silent art. We must take comfort in the hope, the certainty indeed, that sooner or later mechanical skill and poetic genius will devise technical means by which the sound-film may in its turn become an original art, and no more an imitation of the theatre than was the silent film, which likewise started its career under the name of " theatre." Before long the sound-film will be a distinct art-form, independent of the silent cinema. The evocative powers of sound will create a scenic atmosphere marvellously complete and near to the real thing. The silent art of the film — a very special form of pantomime — will find a place in it, just as pantomime proper still survives in the theatre. At the same time dramatic literature was bowing to the time-spirit and itself restricting the use of language, devising pauses in the dialogue and silences; it was, in fact, following the example of the silent cinema and allow- ing the spectator to interpret and feel in accordance with his bent. And now comes along the new ultra-realist and logical form of the spoken film which calls for colour and perspective. It is possible that such inventions may prove the saving of both theatre and " silent." From the point of view of the advanced school, the sound-film would signify a retrograde movement, if it were not — fortunately — regarded as a separate art. It is, as we have said, normality, common-sense, a return to the realism of the cinema's early days before producers had grasped the infinite possibilities of fancy and imagination, the real kingdom of cinemato- graphic art. We may console ourselves with the thought that we are still in the experimental stage. How can a producer create a work of art when he is not yet master of his medium? Artistic experiment has not kept pace with technical experiment. Enriched by a perfected technique, the cinema may evolve a new poetic, but not at once. The silent film has shown that it can convey immediate impressions in a way that words have never done. The slowness and delayed transmission of the spoken word destroy sensation. The silent film aroused emotion by the direct contact it established with the spectator. For this is the point: the sound-film suspends the action when- ever song or speech is introduced. It is the antithesis of " cinema," just as a wordy theatre is the antithesis of the theatre. As Leonardo da Vinci said: " In order to explain what the eye sees at a glance, we could talk until overcome by thirst and exhaustion." Sound-films and " talkies," as we know them at present, hold up the action so long in order to illustrate or analyse that the cinema loses the peculiar rhythm to which we are accustomed and in virtue of which we prefer it to the slow-moving play. In this age of telephones and telegrams, the silent cinema was not, like the theatre, out of its element. By a move- ment or expression of the face the silent cinema would indicate a situation or state of mind without any process of analysis, thus sparing an impatient generation the tedium of long suspense. — 15 — Far from arriving at a moment when the old cinematography had come to a standstill, the spoken film found a cinema which everyone was acknowledging as a new and original art; the critics had at last discovered the essence of the film, which imitation of the theatre and the pursuit of a literary will o'the wisp had long concealed. Modern minds and the strictest aesthetic critics recognized its artistic value, its originality and force. And just at that moment comes the spoken word to divert the new art-form from its proper function and to lead it — in this first stage — along literary and dramatic paths which are not its own and which therefore limit instead of extending the infinite possibilities of the cinema as an art sui generis. Let us disregard mechanical defects. The mechanism is still primitive, at any rate as a means of reproducing sound. The optical distinction be- tween close-ups and ordinary pictures corresponds to no difference in the volume of the voices. The latter, moreover, are poly-dimensional and do not accord with the screen reproductions of the players. The intangibility of the shadow on the screen conflicts with the corporeal character of the voice. Further, when there are more than two characters visible, it is not immediately evident which is speaking; we cannot determine the place from which the voice issues, since it reaches us through a single immobile mouth. When the figures speak, they open their mouths, but we hear the song or speech at a certain point only. At first we do not know who is talking or singing, then we look at the lips that are not moving — our only guide — and at length discover the speaker. Sometimes all the lips are moving, but we only hear one voice properly. Thus, for the moment and comparing it with the artistic perfection of the silent film, the sound-film marks a step backward and it is doubtful whether this set-back should be ascribed to uncertain technique, imperfect media of expression, a wrong conception of film possibilities or to the extreme slowness of the action due to musical interpolation. The cinematograph had reached such a perfection of expression that even the most rigid aesthetes had accepted it as a separate art-form. The absence of colour, perspective and sound, instead of being looked upon as defects, were considered to be the qualities of a new art. Everyone inter- preted the silence of the film as his feelings dictated, and this was its peculiar fascination. By imparting words to the picture we have transported the cinema back to a stage of aesthetic evolution, which, owing to the confusion of values, the impurity of expression, is primitive. Although aesthetically inferior, the sound-film is comparable with music-drama, which, compared with Greek tragedy, was looked upon as a hybrid dramatic form. The silent film, the purest and highest form of cinematography, is to the soundfilm what pantomime — the highest form of drama — is to the spoken theatre. This comparison need not startle us; everyone agrees that the best films, those which will last the longest, are comic films. The earliest films of Rido- — i6 — lini and the latest productions of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin are great works of art, in which the relation between form and substance is perfectly maintained. The comic genius of these actors lies in their very silence, their inability to speak. Just as in the theatre the comic actor obtains his best effects by exaggerat- ing the means of expression characteristic of the theatre, that is, by an abundance of words, loquacious chatter, so on the film he obtains the same success by emphasising his muteness: Charlie Chaplin and Ridolini are laconic in their methods, Buster Keaton's mouth is, as it were, hermetically sealed. They will never talk, could not, in fact; the achievement of cinematographic expression will be complete when it dispenses not only with speech but even with the written language of captions. From the aesthetic standpoint it may seem childish to try and complete a picture by the addition of sound, but business, of course, is business and no- velty attracts. There is no real comparison between the sound-film and " si- lents," although it is possible that they may result in a new artistic combina- tion. We will not repeat the doctrines of film aesthetes with their theory of " purely oj. ic effects," etc. All we can say is that the attempt to create a separate art, a sublimation of pantomime, has for the moment ended in failure. We are at present confronted with another form of expression having very little in common with its predecessor, but which may assume consider- able importance. Meanwhile, the sound-film has fluttered the theatrical dove-cots. Some believe that it comes as a blessing to opera; others think that it marks the end of the ordinary theatre. Again we may note an unfortunate confusion of values, such as arose some years ago, when photography first succeeded in conveying certain sensations of undoubted emotive foice. It was declared that this was the death-knell of portrait-painting. So, today we are told that the sound-film will supplant the theatre, as if gramophones had dealt the death-blow to concerts! The spoken cinema will never take the place of the theatre; at the best it will only be a poor imitation, supposing, to its great detriment, that it persists in this direction. I am convinced that there is a future for the mu- sical film, but in what direction this lies it is at present too early to say. It will, however, be a direction determined by its special technique. The theatre will remain the theatre and will no more become cinema than the cinema will become theatre, in spite of the sound-film; in spite too of the attempt of the theatre to acquire dramatic movement by a multiplicity of scenes and the efforts of the cinema to become vocal. The one will continue to present beings of flesh and blood, the other to reproduce pictures. The theatre, indeed, has no wish to become cinema; it is rather cinema- tography that is aping the theatre, although it cannot hope to achieve more than a photographic and mechanical copy of it, a more or less unsatisfactory copy, too, which can only create a desire for the original. — 17 — In the theatre language needs the accompaniment of action but action does not in the least require speech in order to be scenically represented. Demosthenes maintained that the whole art of oratory lay in action, that is, in the tone of the voice and in gesture. What was the passage in Cicero's " Pro Ligario " which caused Caesar to acquit the defendant, at the very last moment? Would there be any doubt if the words in the text could give us the orator's gestures and action? Without action — tone of voice and gesture — the spoken word may convey ideas, but not emotions " (Maffei, Del Teatro, Venice, 1763). Roscius, the actor, sought to reproduce Cicero's speeches by pantomime alone. However, as I said before, the theatre does not aim at imitating the films, even when it employs the thousand and one mechanical devices at the service of the stage. All these theatrical contrivances are only intended to aid words and music in conveying their effects more promptly The effect of a fairy story does not lie in the words alone, but in the com- bination of sensations, emotions and ideas which the different elements of the story evoke in us". These follow the direction of the words, it is true, but they are far more plastic, expressive and fuller of suggestion than the words themselves. Sound and light are the two powers that rule over space, by virtue of the laws of rhythm and harmony governing the universe. From the union of these two we get first the dance, later pantomime presented to us in the form of film, and now sound-film. Light and sound together seek to create a visual and musical symphony out of the lives of great and small: a hymn and a vision of the life of animals, inanimate objects and even of the elements themselves, wonderful pantheist poems such as we have never known. Turning to music, let us go right back to its primal source without any fear of sacrificing en route the pretentious telegraphy of mere words. What can words tell us, when our highest feelings and the most tragic moments in life seek expression in silent play? Human pride is stubborn and there is no one so proud as our authors. They fail to grasp that we are drowning in a torrent of words, that the whole spirit of the age is against the use of speech and that herein lies the cause of the cinema's triumph. The spoken film will have no success, for the " silents " have taught people to feel instinctively what it would take many hundreds of words to explain. Thus, I repeat, the cinema has reason to fear the theatre and not the theatre the cinema. By acquiring movement through multiplication of scenes, the theatre risks no more than it risked in mediaeval days and in the seventeenth century, its Golden Age. On the other hand, the sound-film contains an element ingl. 2 — i8 — of absurdity within itself, with its full-throated shadows and silhouettes that speak from nowhere. Pirandello likens the modern cinema to the vain peacock in Aesop's fable. Flattered by the cunning fox, who praises its plumage and majestic gait, the peacock opens its beak to sing and makes itself ridiculous. As long as it remained silent, as long as it consisted of a dumb sequence of pictures made intelligible to everyone by a few short written explanations easily translated into other languages, the cinema, which had created its own huge public, was a formidable rival to the theatre, especially quite recent- ly. Now the position has changed. The theatre will recover and revert to its old and classic traditions, from which it ought never to have departed. I do not share the fears of authors who oppose the modernisation of the theatre's technical resources. On the contrary, a new scenic technique will probably mean a new dramatic style. A new technique is a condition of a new aesthetic. The same thing happened in architecture, when the use of reinforced concrete determined a new architectural style just as the sound- film is in the course of establishing a new art-form, different from the art of the silent film. Once again it is the material which fertilises art. The less new the technique of the sound-film, the closer, that is, it con- forms to the theatre, the less value will it have as art. ff therefore it had gone on developing as it seemed likely to do, it would have ended in an aesthe • tic fiasco. Recently, however, Pittaluga himself has at last decided against lengthy dialogue and has issued instructions accordingly. Once again I will repeat that in spite of everything I still maintain that the silent film is and will always remain a very high and noble form of art in perfect harmony with our present-day feelings and ideas. Accordingly, sound-film producers are retracing their steps. They have been led astray and are now returning to the fold. The film industry has realised it, and all is well again. A little time back those of us who were against the ioo per cent spoken film were labelled as stick-in-the-mud reac- tionaries, but now we are forgiven. Generally speaking, other men's experiences in art are not of great use to the artist, who prefers to obey his instinct and buy his own experience. In cinematography, however, which is half art, half business, the influence of the business-man is strongly felt, and the sagacity of those who are ap- pointed to watch an audience's reactions is often of more value than the artist's intuition. At this point I may be excused if I speak about myself and refer to the two books on the sound-film I published last year. Last year's discussions around the sound-film were interminable and inconclusive, since, as always, posterity was the only judge. Modern life, however, moves at a great pace and posterity turns out to be ourselves, a few months later! — ig — Both these books were in favour of sound-films and against the « talkie " as the mouth-piece and substitute for the theatre. In South America — and now in Italy, on the appearance of Pittaluga's first film — the public has expressed itself against films which seek to imitate or replace the theatre. The public has enough theatre, whether in prose or verse. Pittaluga's first " talkie " was made by a first-class producer, Gen- naro Righelli, to whom we are indebted for two or three excellent films, including " The President of Costa Nueva " (of the modern school). Ri- ghelli, therefore, was no novice and it is not his work that we criticise in " La Canzone dell'Amore." Moreover, the film met with a great deal of favour, partly because it was the first Italian film of the kind produced in Italy and partly because of its strong domestic appeal (children, mothers, nurses, etc.). What astonished and delighted us technical enthusiasts was the complete success of the technicians, all of them Italian. We shall soon be seeing Petrolini's " Nero," adapted by Alexander Blasetti and provided with a splendid musical accompaniment by Cavazzuti and Lais and with the superb photography of Carlo Montuori. This will be followed by the produc- tion of Campogalliani, Almirante and my brother, Carlo Bragaglia. Even if these films are reminiscent of the theatre, they are only so up to a point. They are all obviously trying to get back to cinematography and out of the foolish theatrical morass into which the film had wandered. While the silent cinema suggests the emotions and the words to express them, music conjures up visions. I was thinking the other day about the visual externalisations of music - - what Pirandello is now contemplating doing with the cinema (with his " Cinemelograph ") — but these now seem to me to be restrictive rather than progressive. Such devices are for the benefit of the unimaginative, to whom the dialogue inherent in the silent film and the visions conjured up by the music are not enough. " For a complete work of art, the symphony is not sufficient," wrote Suares in the Revue Musicale (Dec. ist, 1921). Voices and choruses must be added, with taste and sobriety; conciseness of expression, as few words as possible, the whole rich in resonance and in imaginative appeal. Music aspires to this supreme form, seeking, as it were, release. A new form of representation, a combination of different arts; pantomime in the symphony, the warm, passionate human voice as an orchestral instrument. For certain purposes, therefore, a combination of sound-film and " talkie " may have artistic value. Whether it will ever be great art I do not know. According to Nietzsche, the association of music, picture and word, that is to say, music-drama, springs from the impulse of inartistic man to create a form of art to suit his needs. Lacking in power of pure vision, he takes refuge in aids and accessories (" The Birth of Tragedy "). Brignone's experiment marks a departure from the theatrical film. A legal trial, wholly spoken, with rare changes of scene and hardly any music. This is " anti-cinema." It is really the mechanical reproduction — 20 — of a dramatic form which is itself a break away from the ordinary theatre. Detective plays, as produced abroad, and the police-court drama, which belong to the same category, are not " theatre " in any strict sense of the term. This form of film, therefore, may constitute an exception, should it become popular in the way that the detective drama has become popular. In any case, Brignone's experiment is interesting. It is bold, as well as clever and good business. We must guard against premature judgments, even when we are adversaries of the spoken film. For me it is not cinemat- graphic art, and I shall leave it alone, but it may be a box-office success and if so, of course, criticism has no more to say. (A sound-film studio costs a lot of money!). In this connection the last number of Italia Letter aria contained an article by Francesco Ayola, stating that any attempt to make art out of the spoken film will necessarily fail through the harnessing of two incompatible media (visual language and speech) and even if a clever and patient producer should succeed in subjecting and fusing the two, the result will still be an unsatisfactory hybrid. The " talkie," concludes Ayola, is a pretentious fraud, though, by its direct imitation of the theatre and its combination of music and drama, it may attract the ignorant." Those are hard words. It must be remembered that the sound-film is still in its infancy. It must be given time to grow up quietly and if it cries a good deal, that is only its teething process. Amateur critics, those who shout the loudest and are nearly all un- successful artists or mere cowards, scatter blame indiscriminately and love to compare Italian cinema production — a new creation — with the long- established and lavishly financed American industry. It is a grave injustice — to use no harsher word — to demand im- possibilities of men who are working under existing conditions. Despite the excellence of Pittaluga's sound installation and the accessory material which enables him to introduce all kinds of happy innovations, these tech- nical advantages are not of themselves enough. I am referring to the human resources, which it is desired to find within the country, but which do not exist in the necessary abundance. Whom then are the critics attacking? They must be ignoramuses, to put it mildly, if they think they can compare what is being done in Italy with what America is able to achieve. Since the question of sound technique has not yet been solved even by the Americans, who have been working at it for four years, imagine what it is for us. The training of the necessary staff involves a systematic experi- mentation costing millions. Still, we need not be too sorry for ourselves, for our own technique is little inferior to the American, after all. — 21 — If Italian directors had the capital, the studios, the schools, international technical experts, actors from all over the world, the men to suggest sub- jects and ideas drawn from literature and served up hot to the producer — in fact, an organisation on a large scale — Italian films might startle the world. This I say for the benefit of our Jonahs. Let them look around a bit and they may learn to judge aright the real relation between Italian and American production. The same applies to the theatre. If I had the pick of Russian actors and German technical experts, I could score some nice little successes of my own. Thus, the conclusions reached are everywhere the same: in Italy, with La Canzone dell'Amore," in South America with " talkies " in Spanish or Portuguese. The hundred per cent 'talkie'-mania, which threatened to annihilate the theatre altogether, has subsided even in the United States. The shares of Warner Bros, a firm which received an immense impetus with the advent of spoken films, have fallen in a few months from 80 to 20 dollars; Paramount shares have dropped from 85 to 50, Fox Films from 90 to 40, Metro-Goldwyns from 80 to 25. It marks the collapse of the " talkie " with its dream of supplanting the theatre. We are now witnessing the birth of a new art-form, an art which derives in large measure from cinematography, although departing from pantomime, and which also has much in common with the theatre, borrowing therefrom its diction. Nearly a year ago now, Max Reinhardt, who in spite of his worldwide fame as producer and impresario, is an even greater past-master in the art of acting, declared that speech on the films and theatrical diction are two different things. When we consider that conversations condensed into three or four sentences require a compression and synthesis of ideas, it is obvious that in a spoken film intonation must be decisive, immediately convincing. Theie is no opportunity to shape, fill out or cancel the effect of these few sentences; they remain as they were uttered, their impression conveyed once for all. Hence the faults of a professional actor are accentuated on the films, even though his part may be reduced to a few lines. The artificiality of conven- tional theatrical declamation, against which the experimental theatres of the last ten years have been in revolt, is the same false note which the loud- speaker reproduces and exaggerates. This is why professional actors often speak worse than cinema amateurs. To-day the requirements of the screen in regard to naturalness and style — there is no contradiction between the two — raise the same problems, in an even more acute form, that con- fronted the theatre when it became necessary to adapt theatrical expression to modern taste. Georges Freehs said: " Nobody in real life behaves like our comedians, although they claim to be faithfully imitating reality." Nobody in Italy speaks like people on the stage. The screen refuses to endure the pronunciation and the cadences to which the footlights have accustomed us. — 22 — These problems of diction doubtless come as a surprise to the most intelligent producer. He has suddenly to cope with awkward difficulties resulting from an art which is the antithesis of his own. And now we have foreign companies making ridiculous Italian versions of their talkies, in which the actors speak definitely badly a language that is only an apology for Italian ! I propose now to say a few words about my next film, my first sound- film. I have not got very far yet, but I may tell you that it is comic. What I shall call it I do not know. A rough scenario, on a subject chosen by Pittaluga, has been written by young Raffaele Matarazzo, on the staff of the Tevere. As usual with comic films, the original draft has been handed over to a number of humorous writers and adapters to be worked up as best it can. My film will not reflect the cold, dry humour of the Anglo-Saxons, but will be full of elan, imagination and fun; simple and typically Italian in its use of repartee, by-play, etc. I have had Punch and Judy in mind, but have also remembered the futurist synthetic comedy of the Teatro degli Indipendenti, that gallant troupe sans peur et sans-recettes! We are trying not to fall into the American style, although our subject makes this at times very hard to avoid. As far as possible, I am distributing speech, song and sound at regular intervals throughout the film. From beginning to end, however, there will be a continuous musical foundation; the music will not cease during the spoken dialogue, but will be dimmed and here and there be replaced by sounds. Thus it will be a sound-film or, rather, a silent film with musical ac- companiment, a film in which the captions are replaced by short conversa- tions, question and answer. Not, therefore, a " talkie " or filmed version of a play. The words will form, as it were, a kind of pendant to the action and will be used with great economy. Sound-films must always be based essen- tially upon pictures and music. Sometimes, indeed we find ourselves remembering the pictures when we have forgotten the music, whereas in music-drarna the opposite is the case. In my comedy the short spoken passages will consist of quick thrust and parry, at most two or three such exchanges. Each comic episode will be followed by a few moments of relaxation, a pause for recovery before the next joyous sally. The theme furnished me by Pittaluga is the well-nigh classical story of a struggling boy who perseveres until success conies. His persistence, however, is broken by lapses characteristic of the irrepressible Italian tempera- ment. On a large scale and with the help of sound-technique I want to revive the classic style of film first produced by my father twenty years - 23 — ago and which gave us Zigotto. This school flourished in France in the days of Max Linder and was then transplanted to America, where it bore fruit in Charlie Chaplin, Harold IJoyd and Buster Keaton. My venture is a bold one, I know, but I cannot help it. It is ever my fate to break my neck that others may laugh. Indeed, I am rather like my own hero, Scarogna: as soon as he raises the cup of success to drink, it is snatched from his lips. But why worry? Anton-Giulio Bragaglia. NOTE ON SIGNOR BRAGAGLIA'S THEME Signor A.-G. Bragaglia needs no introduc- tion to the international world of literature and art, where his original views on the modern theatre and his brave attempts to give them practical effect have won him a well-deserved reputation. Among the most intrepid of the advanced school, Signor Bragaglia was naturally 6ne of the first to enter the arena of conflict between the advocates and opponents of the sound- film or rather of the " talkie." The readers of our Review will find in his article some interesting information on present-day developments in Italian film- of cinematography with speech and making. They will also detect echoes of what we may call family disputes, but this should surprise no one, for Italy is after all only one sector of the battle front, a part of that universal chaos of ideas and sentiments created by the advent of the sound-film. " Men's hearts are near to beating in unison, when they come to speak the same language " observed a poet, who, if he had lived in our time, would quickly realise that the best way towards mutual under- standing lies in silence, for it was by remain- ing mute that the cinema was near to realising the poet's idea. Since it began to talk, the international screen has become a Babel of tongues. In this connection a leader in " The Kinematograph Weekly (D. 10-433) points out that, as long as the film was silent, it spoke a universal language and to some extent helped to spread ideas of peace and international understanding; in acquiring speech, it has only inten- sified international friction, as witness the disturbances at Prague and Budapest and the constant protests raised in Paris and South America. The same opinion has been expressed again and again in the daily press and in film periodicals. The genius of its language is a nation's most sacred inheritance, a possession which it most jealously guards, and when that language has contributed to the advance- ment of human thought, it is precisely in virtue of that genius that a nation is great. To compel a public to listen to a language that is not its own, therefore, is to touch its most sensitive spot, and " talkies " do exercise this compulsion, now that the cinema has become a necessity for three quarters of the human race. In touching on this sensitive spot, the talking film intensified the reaction already felt in some countries under the pressure of economic and cultural factors against the monopoly of the national screen by foreign products. The economic factors are many and various. Firstly, in the countries we are speaking of, national production was heav- ily handicapped by the dumping, as it were, of the producing countries, whose means allowed them to more than cover the cost of making expensive films, within their own territory alone. Secondly, the 24 cinema having become a real need of the masses and national production being practically strangled by foreign competition, there was no choice but to import films, at the expense of the foreign trade balance. These considerations still hold good even after the arrival of the sound-film. The predominance of foreign films was often " denationalising " rather than " in- ternationalising " in its effects, but this argument has lost a large part of its force, for the silent film was undoubtedly more eloquent and seductive in its silence than is the speech of the " talkie." These factors for and against the talk- ing film create an atmosphere of some confusion in which the artistic and psy- chological aspects of the film are lost sight of, and within a single country discussion often leads to acrimonious dispute. Our association of the artistic and psy- chological aspects of films is intentional, for the two will seem hardly separable if we compare the substance of Signor Bragaglia's lecture with the essence of M. Sante de Sanctis' introduction to ' The Cinema and Scientific Manage- ment " published by the I. E. C. I. (i). It is particularly interesting to find two men whose work involves a study — from very different angles — of the human mind, reaching the same conclusions, the psychiatrist from physio-psychological ob- servation the dramatist through his art. If our readers will turn in particular to Chapters III and IV of M. de Sanctis' introduction, they cannot fail to observe the parallel reasoning by which our two contributors argue in favour of the super- iority of the silent — or at any rate the non-spoken — film over the out-and-out " talkie," as distinguished from the " pho- no-"or sound-film referred to by Signor Bragaglia, i. e. a film in which a few short sentences are spoken, linking up the action and eliminating or reducing to a minimum those tiresome captions. (i) This " Introduction ,, was published verbatim in the last number of the International Review of Educational Cinematograph;' (No. 12, 1930, pa- ges 1 340- 1 350). Whether we approach the matter from M. de Sanctis' or from Signor Bragaglia's angle, we find their point of view shared by a large number of newspapers and re- views. Mr F. Mayor, headmaster of the Hull Grammar School, says that many talkies have a deadly influence on young people because they arouse no desire for action and even remove the necessity for thought (Manchester Guardian, D. 10-435). That statement strongly confirms M. de Sanctis' plea for silent cinematography as a school of action and thought. Psychologically, it has been abundantly shown that silent films appeal to the young more strongly than sound-films. The most convincing evidence of this is supplied by " Variety " of New York (D. 19 1583). According to statistics, the weekly atten- dance of children at United States cinemas in the days of the silent film was 2.500.000; since the arrival of sound-films, the number has fallen 50 %. May we not reasonably attribute this to the fact that the talkie " slows down the action, reduces and weakens what especially appealed to children in the silent film, namely, action? A child's mind is fresher and responds more quickly than the adult mind, dulled by habit and the cares of existence, and children's reactions may therefore be regarded as a more direct indication. Among those who look at the question from Signor Bragaglia's point of view — the artistic standpoint — we note the same more or less general hostility to the spoken film as a successor to the theatre. Pirandello recently declared that the talking film is on the wrong tack. "By departing from both theatre and cinema, it should give us new emotions. That is why I am going to wed my film to music, so that the eye and the ear, our two chief aesthetic senses, may be united in a single supreme pleasure " (II Cinema Italiano, Roma, D. 10-439). This idea of the " musical film " no longer appeals to Signor Bragaglia, but it opens up wide possibili- ties for artistic cinematography. A visual interpretation of the symphonies of Beet- hoven and Schubert might well tempt an — 25 artist's dreams. The cinematographic in- terpretation of a melody or sarabande could not, of course, be too precise or literal and would aim at an atmosphere of dream- like suggestion. Let us now quote a few opinions more in accord with Signor Bragaglia's ideas. " To try and reproduce lyric drama on the screen," writes Signor Arnaldo Ginna, is technically, artistically and commercially absurd (Oggi e Domani, Rome, D. 12-720). In an article headed " L'Heure de Chariot ", M. Jean-Pierre Lainsu says that the 100 % " talkie " has had its day and that the time is ripe for sound-films with short spoken phrases aiming at no more than replacing the captions (J osy Journal, Cairo, D. 10-463), Reproducing impressions gathered from the Paris cinema public, M. L. Pralavorio, correspondent of the Regime Fascista (D. 10-450), reports that the first enthu- siasm for the 100% "talkie" is past and that, if sound-films are to retain the pub- lic's favour, conversation must be reduced so as not to hold up the 'speed of action, which is essential to a film. If it is to make good as art, M. Pralavorio concludes, the cinema must rely upon its own resour- ces; when it borrows from the theatre or the novel, it fails. In Filma (Paris, D. 10-456) M. E. Roux- Parassac maintains that, to be successful, the spoken film must find a new formula based on nature and life and must no longer follow the silent film in its misguided adaptations of books and plays. In a speech delivered to the Manchester Playgoers' Club Mr. C. B. Cochran declared that talking pictures, by depriving the cinema of its primary advantage, that of appealing to everybody, had brought about a revival of the theatre (Daily Telegraph, D. 34-892). This confirms Signor Bragaglia, who says that people prefer to see plays on the stage interpreted by flesh-and-blood actors whom they can applaud or hoot. The Deutscher Feuilleton Dienst (Berlin, D. 10-457) reproduces an article which sounds the death-knell of the " talkie." Owing to its unavoidably imperfect re- production of speech, the " talkie " no longer satisfies the public and, according to the writer, the conversational film must be replaced by a new kind combining pan- tomime with music. The shortcomings of the sound-film are generally acknowledged. Der Film (Berlin D. 12-717) publishes an open letter from the Henschel Group at Hamburg calling upon all German producers and distributors to combat the sxiperficiality of the present- day sound-film and thereby raise the Ger- man standard. These few voices suffice to show the general tendency towards a more rational and artistic use of sound and speech in films. It would of course be possible to quote many other newspapers and reviews which appear to be unaware of this tend- ency and in which the 30 %, 50 % or 75 % " talkie " is recommended to our favour and encouragement. Reading between the lines, however, we can see that these discussions are based on national consider- ations of language, politics or economics, which obscure the essential point, namely, the artistic aspect of the film. It may perhaps be asked why discussions on art should particularly interest the International Educational Cinematographic Institute? They do more than interest, however, for the cinema, before it is educ- ational, is cinema. This popular form of representation is necessarily more or less educational in proportion as it is more or less artistic, since the art training of the people is not the least important part of their education. Accordingly, in this tran- sitional stage of cinematography, the pages of the Review are open to all those experts who have anything original to say about the artistic aspects of the cinema, which, as we have shown by placing Signor Bragaglia's lecture immediately beside Prof. Sante de Sanctis' article, are closely associated with the possibilities of the film in the strict field of education. P. B. de C. Sound-films and International Cooperation (from the German) The credit of a new discovery is a frequent cause of dispute between nations. Such disputes are really one of the keenest spurs to economic and technical progress and it is often difficult to decide between rival claimants. Nowadays, when the fruits of economic and intellectual activity are the object of exchange between civilised peoples, technical progress is often si- multaneous in several countries, an invention is developed and improved in different parts of the world until the credit for the original discovery can only be ascribed to international energy and business acumen, and no longer to a single nation. In the case of the sound-film, the position is simpler. In spite of the large share of all countries in the development of its technique, the title of Ger- man professors to the privilege of the first and fundamental discoveries is undisputed. More than thirty years ago a German, Professor Ruhmer, was the first to succeed in photographing sound by converting sound- waves into electric current, thereby creating the conditions essential to the system of sound-photography most commonly employed to-day. Almost at the same time Skladonowski, of Berlin, invented his k Bioscope » and pi ejected on to a screen the first living pictures — shown as an item in the programme of a large Berlin Variety Theatre. A little later Messter, also a German, tried to combine two of the latest discoveries of his day — the newly-born cinematograph and the early gramophone - and by a tentative and incomplete association of moving picture and mechanical music, pu- blicly showed the first sound-films. (L. Gaumont, of Paris, produced a si- milar apparatus at almost exactly the same date.) Owing, however, "to the mechanical imperfections of that day, these early attempts led nowhere and for a long time nothing more was heard of the sound-film. Until 1914 no important progress was made in any country and during the World War the nations were preoccupied with other matters than the projection of sound and speech on to canvas. It was not until alter the war that efforts were made in Germany to gather up the broken threads. Three German engineers joined forces and m their Berlin laboratory laid the foundations upon which the modern sound- film has been built. \\ 'ithin a short time association between the (by then) highly developed cinematograph and the electro-acoustic experiences of the previous years led to a variety of experiments which determined the basic — 27 — characteristics of the sound-film. The first word ever spoken by the infant was « Milliampere », a word which shows the close relation of the latest pro- duct of science to cinematography and the electrical industry. The three in- ventors, Vogt, Engl and Massolle, working under the name of « Tri-Ergon » shortly afterwards published their joint efforts in the foim of the first suc- cessful photographs and a primitive reproducing apparatus. At the time, however, German industry was passing through one of its worst crises and, although the work of the Tri-Ergon combination aroused great interest in Germany itself, it met with no practical support. It would all have ended in smoke, as before, had not a Swiss concern appeared on the scene to facilitate further experimentation. But even in America it was some time before any positive results could be obtained. At length a number of American Electro-Trusts di- rected their attention to the new invention and, with the superabundance of American capital, had no difficulty in turning the preliminary results of scientific research to practical account. Almost simultaneously the Western Electric and the Radio Corporation of America set to work to give the cinema a tongue and to conquer the world with this new miracle of technique. Naturally, too, European countries had not been idle and the Lee-De Forest system of British Talking Pictures in England was following a line of development of its own. Meanwhile further important discoveries in Germany were contributing to the development of the sound-film. Audions, which first brought the electron into service, the Carolus cell, which made it possible to convert light into electric current and vice versa, the development of the electro- dynamic loud-speaker, etc., were all inventions which pointed out to the electrical industry in Germany the possibilities of the sound-film. An uninterrupted series of technical improvements led before long to the frequency capacity of both recording and reproducing apparatus being so extended as to be able to catch and reproduce nearly any wave-length perceptible to the human ear, with the result that spoken words, singing and musical instruments can now be reproduced with extraordinary fidelity. Moreover, the German sound-film industry has concentrated almost exclu- sively on the system of sound-photography, which on account of its many practical advantages, especially in manipulation, promises the best results for the future. Obviously, competition between the big firms that had been working on sound-film development in the different countries, was bound to lead to a clash of interests on. the international market. America had gained a lead over every European country and was favoured by substantially larger capital resources. Some American apparatus concerns used these advantages to try and establish a monopoly in the European markets. Permission to show films taken by the apparatus of a particular system was made conditional upon the purchase of a reproducing apparatus of the - 28 - same system. These unreasonable demands, however, encountered the united opposition of European countries. British, French and German industry joined forces to resist the American claims, and to-day the danger of an American monopoly of European sound-film business may be said to have been averted. The international negotiations, which began in August in New York and were continued in. London in September — as yet, unfortunately, without success — must lead to an understanding between the groups concerned and establish satisfactory working conditions on the international market. A particularly gratifying result of this competitive struggle is the close and friendly association which has grown up between the film in- dustry in Germany and Great Britain. British and German artists have for some time collaborated in film production, and now one of the leading British firms has installed a German Klangfilm recording apparatus in its stu- dios and will shortly be starting operations with it. This may be regarded as a favourable augury of the practical adoption of interchangeability in sound-film experience and may help to restore to the spoken film that internationality which it was in danger of losing under the influence of a polyglot world. There is no doubt that a large proportion of joint films will be manufactured in several languages, thereby increasing the cultural as well as the economic value of joint production. The sound-film involves more than certain very important international economic questions. It is also destined to become a cultural factor of the first order. Language can convey the spirit and thought of foreign countries even better than the silent film has so far succeeded in doing. Thus, in this as in other spheres, technical improvements may presage cultural progress, the ultimate aim of which is an understanding of mind between the peoples of the world. Dr. E. Lolhoffel Charlottenburg A quasi- fairy-tale (from the French) Around the empty cradle stood the fairies. The appearance of the child was the signal for general amazement, for, like the Cyclops of old, it was found to be blest with a single eye placed in the middle of its forehead. " I give you the keenest sight in the world ", said the fairy with emerald eyes. ' This eye shall see everything, travel everywhere, decom- pose rapid movements at will or impart giddy speed to the slowest of motions ". A second fairy approached the cradle and lifted the top of the skull, which opened with a little click. Merciful Heavens! Instead of the cir- cumvolutions of the brain were coils of greyish-coloured ribbon smelling of camphor. To show her power, the fairy declared in a tone of defiance: " I bequeath to you a brain which shall take the imprint of images recorded by the eye. It shall be the world's brain. " Another fairy, who was lame, granted the infant three feet. Gifts multiplied with each new fairy. Royalty was added to glory and universality accompanied the power of infinite enchantment; finally, it was predicted of the child that at the age of thirty-three it would speak the Are films socially good or bad? The discussion goes on. The rival camps abuse and exalt the cinema, the one for corrupting, the other for stimulating, ideas. The pages of the Review — and especially the number devoted to the social aspects of the cinema [March 1930) — continue to reproduce opinions for and against the modem film. The Institute's enquiry took account of this, and the first results, which appeared in the December number, show the value of the cinema and its possible effects upon children's minds. The Institute is meanwhile receiving innumerable letters extolling and decrying the influence of films upon young people. One of these — a con- tribution by Eva Elie — is especially interesting. With her charming wit and her frequently paradoxical, but always penetrating views, Eva Elie imagines the birth of cinematography in a fancy world of fairies. She shows what the cinema has to put up with and what it may attain to. This little fable has a basis in truth and the Review publishes it as indicating an attitude shared by others than its author. — 30 — world's principal languages, sing, and play all imaginable tunes. Thus the royal infant was promised the most dazzling future conceivable. Last came the old witch-fairy whose invitation was always forgotten. With a swift movement of her cold and yellow thumb she stopped the little heart from beating and suddenly plunged into the child's side - who was what humans call dead — a metal bar with a handle attached to it. Laughing shrilly, she cried, " I give you as a present to man, for good or ill". A young fairy, whom nobody had noticed, stepped forward to undo the spell " Fear not, for a thousand fairy godmothers shall watch over you ". The old witch cackled and hobbled away rubbing her bony hands. The child from the first captivated all hearts, but was immediately surrounded by a crowd of exploiters eager to grow rich at his expense. At the risk of his health and strength they often exhibited him to the public under impossibly bad conditions. Fortified, however, by inex- haustible vitality, he surmounted the various crises of early life and successfully survived the Great War. When the war was over, his god- parents thought it was high time to repair the omissions in the child's education. From all parts of the world and from every class of society people came flocking with advice and warning. On the strength of a single visit, they posed as critical pundits and pronounced oracular judg- ments. According to them, salvation lay in their recommendations alone. Cinaema — for such was the child's name — must only be allowed to see and record geometrical figures, or distorted visions; according to others, only blurred images out of focus, as if the poor little thing were suffering from chronic ophthalmia! Cinaema did his best to follow all this advice, but the people began to grumble, and fear of the people is the beginning of wisdom. The doctors came stethoscope in hand. One said " Cinaema must dream dreams, Yes, that's what he needs — dreams'.'. ' I beg your pardon", broke in another, " Cinaema must become the music of light ". " His function", said a third, "is to intensify contact between the world and our senses. Many learned doctors applauded these dicta, while others could not make head or tail of them. After the doctors came the philosophers. Less prolix than the former, these all had some single word, a special cliche, with which to present their case: " Agnosticism ", " Ultra-realism ", " Animism ", " Rhythm ", " Prag- matism ", Criticism ". Then they all began to talk at once and the child, although advanced for his years, could not understand a word, and nor could a good many other people... — 3i — Next it was the moralists' turn. These only knew Cinaema from hearsay. Animated by a laudable desire to preserve his purity, some even proposed that he should be locked up. Others, accusing him of setting a bad example to the young, were for stoning him. He was, in fact, treated as an outcast, spurned and despised. Thus, belauded by some and persecuted by others, poor Cinaema knew not where to turn and so he prayed God to deliver him from his friends. ' My enemies I can deal with myself ". To which God answered: " I will enlighten the hearts of your friends and grant them love and under- standing " and, as a first token of his blessing, sent the International Educational Cinematographic Institute and its Review! But what about Cinaema's other godfathers and godmothers, his friends, and his kind medical advisers? Will they be given grace to judge a little less self-confidently and sometimes less unjustly? Will those who blame this modern playboy for all the crimes under the sun, not admit that, even before the birth of the wonder-child, humanity was far from perfect and that not all the sins of the world can be laid at his door? Cain did not learn from the cinema to kill his brother Abel. Cinaema reflects and records man's actions. And, more than that, he shows how punishment overtakes the evil-doer. Life itselt is often less severe and many o*t our books and newspapers are not unduly burdened with scruples. Are we always to be told " it's the fault of the pictures " ? Eva Elie — 32 — MOVIE MAKERS Publication of the Amateur Cinema League, the international magazine of personal movie makers, presents each month the latest data on educational film productions, not only of the commercial field but of the independent film work of individual educators and scientists. Special articles outlining constructive and helpful applications of motion pictures in medicine, teaching, industry, welfare, religion, civics and related fields are featured, together with data on actual film production along these lines. News of what you are doing in the production or use of films of educational signifi- cance is invited for publication in MOVIE MAKERS. Educational, scientific, welfare, religious and cultural agencies may, by such interchange of information on their use of film, be of mutual assistance in this activity. Address communications to L. M. Bailey, Editor, Educational Film Department, MOVIE MAKERS, 105 West 40th Street, New York City. A sample copy of MOVIE MAKERS will gladly be sent upon request REVIEW AND NOTES MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE LEAGUE OF RED CROSS SOCIETIES 2, Avenue Velasquez - PARIS (VIII) The monthly review of the League of Red Cross Societies is published in En- glish, French and Spanish. This publication is intended to serve as a link between Red Cross Societies and to inform the public in the different countries of the work the Red Cross is doing. The first part consists of articles on all matters relating to Red Cross work in time of peace. The second part is made up of notes on the current activities of national Red Cross societies: first-aid, hygiene, nursing, Junior Red Cross. Copyright is not reserved and any individual or association may quote or re- produce articles, provided they mention the source. Price of each number: 5 French francs. Annual Subscription: 50 French francs. All cheques and money orders should be made payable to the League of Red Cross Societies. For specimen copy and a full list of the League's publications, apply to League of Red Cross Societies, 2, Avenue Velasquez, Paris VIII. Information THE WORK OF THE FILMS SECTION OF THE BRUNSWICK INSTITUTE OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH (from the German A branch of study that undertakes to investigate educational currents and cross-currents cannot but embrace those cultural problems which find their solution through the aid of modern science. The powers of suggestion which the cinema is -more and more developing as the re- production of movements and sounds approximates more closely to reality stimulate in the spectator psychological reactions identical with the cultural and educational experiences of the three- dimensional world. Realising that the film is destined more and more to replace the text-book and that the cinema now plays an essential part in the education, amusement and recreation of millions of men, women and children, the Institute of Educational Research, which was for- mally opened by Herr Severing, Mini- ster of the Interior, on Februarv 2nd, 1930, has now created a Cinematographic Section for the purpose of studying the function of the film in modern teaching. The Institute, which, through the far- sightedness of the official authorities and big teachers, organisations, has been established on a broad basis and with a wide scope, is divided into three parts, in one of which the work is treated by countries, in another by subjects, while the third is the Technical Section. These different sections are accommodated in a large building at Brunswick erected in the Empire style and constituting one of the finest architectural features of that city of beautiful buildings. The wing to the left of the entry contains the principal rooms belonging to the Films Section, while the right wing contains the reproducing section. Officially there is for convenience sake close correlation of work between the three sections, especially as regards information ' concerning existing educational and recre- ational films and the possibilities of their use in teaching, but in point of fact the work of research necessitates a cer- tain amount of independent experiment by the different sections conducted with a judicious use of tried methods. The scope of the Institute being more than national, relations have to be established with Institutes engaged in similar work, and in this connection it is an honour and a pleasure to us to mention the warm sympathy of the International Educa- tional Cinematographic Institute at Rome expressed through its Director, Dr. de Feo. We are anxious to profit by experience of industrial life and reco- gnize that the way even of scientific re- search lies through trusts and large com- bines. Our joint campaign on behalf of educational films for the betterment of humanity, especially the young, and for the mutual understanding of peoples, can only succeed if all the parties are agreed upon a common policy. Among the many problems awaiting study the following are a few with which we propose to make an early start: 1 - Backward children and films. Cura- tive pedagogy is familiar with the bene- ficial effects of music upon weak-minded people and psychopaths, and it is thought that films possess similar virtues. What kind of films should be used? Dr. Hans Ciirlis' investigations point in the right direction, but there is an almost total lack of the recorded reactions of back- ward children to film projections. 2 - Education in national and interna- tional citizenship by means of films. Teachers in all countries agree that the great danger of films lies in their force of suggestion, Uncultivated minds are often unable to distinguish between in.srl. 34 — the semblance and the reality, the screen and real life. Frequently, this peculiar power of films has been unscrupulously employed to present the cinema public with a distorted picture of social insti- tutions. How far can it be made to serve a useful purpose? 3 - Children as film actors. This is a many-sided problem. Very often the parti- cipation of children in a film is not just a pleasant pastime for the amusement of grown-up people, but hard and exhaust- ing work, an exploitation of children's health and strength which calls for pro- tection by law. The heading, however, also includes the educationally interesting experiments of the Soviet Union conducted on the principle of « Children for chil- dren's films ». For technical reasons the Film Section's own production is for the present limited to filming the results of certain individual studies, but this does not preclude the possibility of working later in cooperation with a commercial film company. Next year we shall be publishing an essay on the use of the film in Germany for imparting information on sex matters. A. Riekel THE SOCIETY OF MOTION PICTURE ENGINEERS AND ITS RELATION TO PRODUCTION DURING THE PAST YEAR The most outstanding technical develop- ment of the past year has been the great improvement in the quality of sound as recorded and reproduced in conjunction with the motion picture. This technical advance has resulted both from a better knowledge acquired from experience in the use of sound recording and reproducing equipment and a better understanding of the acoustics of studios and auditoriums. This increase in knowledge, in turn, has resulted from a deliberate effort on the part of the technicians to educate them- selves by reading, by attending lectures on scientific subjects, by interchange of ideas with their fellow workers, and by experience and research. The Society of Motion Picture Engineers has contributed in no small way to this scheme of education. The most recent improvements in sound equipment and technic have been presented in the form of technical papers at the semi-annual conventions of the Society and these scientific papers have been made avail- able to the entire industry with a minimum loss of time through the medium of the Society's Journal published monthly. The Society's conventions have provided a common meeting-ground for the represen- tatives of different manufacturing, produc- ing, and exhibiting organizations to discuss their problems, and facilities for such inti- mate discussions have been extended by the formation of local sections of the Society in New York City, Chicago, and London in addition to Hollywood. Improvements in microphone place- ment, the increasing use of single micro- phones, microphone booms, sound fade- outs and lap dissolves, remote control, and methods of dubbing, have largely resulted from the stimulation of ideas received from discussions at the Society's meetings. In future, the production executives can no longer afford to remain blind to anything but the story and artistry of the picture. The entertainment value of a picture depends so tremendously on the quality of the accompanying sound and the manner of its use that the successful production executive of the future must possess a technical training. By virtue of assisting in the education of potential production executives d uring the past year the Society of Motion Picture Engineers has made a valuable contribution to the in- dustry. Perhaps the most outstanding efforts of the Society in relation to production have been in the field of standardization 35 of the wide film. The Society has rendered a valuable service to the industry in preventing the producers from plunging blindly into this new development in the absence of a suitable standard. The danger of the recurrence of the chaos which prevailed in the early history of the film business, when each producer used a different-size film, appears to have been averted. The sizes of camera and projector aper- tures have been standardized in collabora- tion with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the American Projection Society, and the American Society of Cinematographers. Other standards adopt- ed relate to the location and width of the sound track in combined sound and picture positives, the position of the scanning line, the length of titles in silent pictures, etc. The standards adopted to date have been published in booklet form and have re- ceived the approval of the American En- gineering Standards Committee. The So- ciety has also collaborated with the British French, and German technical societies on all matters relating to standards. The results of co-operative efforts of the Society are very manifest in the reports of its committees. The annual report of the Progress Committee has made avail- able in condensed form the technical ad- vances made during the year in the fields of production, distribution, and exhibition. The Studio Lighting Committee has assembled information on the use of ex- posure meters in the lighting of sets and the elimination of heat from lamps. If the amount of light used on the studio sets could be reduced by only 25 per cent., a tremendous saving could be effected. The committee has reported that tests to date indicate that such a saving can be ex- pected from the intelligent use of photo- meters. The subject of projection is just as im- portant to the producer as that of sound recording because if the picture is not presented properly its entertainment value is greatly impaired. The Projection Com- mittee has made valuable recommendations for insuring the best quality of picture and sound presentation. A special committee has also collected data on the best method of preserving film to insure its perpetuation and the preven- tion of film losses through fire. To elate it has not been possible for the Society to extend its activities into the many fields where it would be of greater service to the producer, but through the generosity of its newly established sustain- ing members it will soon be possible to acquire paid assistance, co-ordinate the Society's various activities, and thereby render a greater service to the industry. J. I. Crabtree, President. EDUCATIONAL AND INSTRUCTIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHY IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA (from the French) Instructional cinematography has been extensively developed in Czechoslovakia, the prime mover in the matter being the Masaryk Institute for popular education, in which the education of the whole coun- try is centralised. This is a semi-official association in close touch with the Govern- ment, which has entrusted to it certain specific duties. The Masaryk Institute was responsible for a measure which came into force in 1920 whereby cinema licences are only granted to cultural and humanit- arian associations, the management of cinema theatres being left to professionals. Thanks to the Institute, the organisation of film censorship, which is in the hands of the Ministry of the Interior, has been extended to include representatives of educational, artistic and cultural associa- tions and of certain Ministries. The 36 choice of instructional films rests with the censorship and their projection is tax free. With the consent of the Ministry, the representatives of the Masaryk Insti- tute examine all censored films and a list of these is published by the Institute with short notices in the review Ceskd osvcta (Czech culture), with the result that cinema proprietors can obtain information of the films they intend showing. A list is kept of all instructional films in Czechoslo- vakia, whether of foreign or of native manufacture. The importance of instructional films finds further recognition in the obligation upon cinema theatres to give at least once a month a performance for children of which the programme is fixed by agree- ment with the teachers of the schools concerned. The price of admission is just enough to cover the actual cost of the performance. The programmes, which differ according to schools, are arranged by School Film Committees, made up of teachers and representatives of the Schools Department. These committees examine instructional films and classify them according to their quality and the age of the children for whom they are intended. Thus arranged, the programmes are chosen by schools with a view to supplementing the curriculum. For this purpose the Masaryk Institute has created a service for the loan of instruc tional films. Each year it organises 200- 400 performances attended by 50,000- 1 50,000 Prague schoolchildren. The perfor- mances, which are given in the pro- vinces as well as in the capital, take place in school-hours and are reckoned as part of the teaching. These performances represent a transitional stage, for the Ministry of Education is taking steps to recommend the cinema as a compulsory aid to school teaching. With this end in view the Ministry, in collaboration with the Masaryk Institute, is trying to develop the Institute's instruc- tional film centre and is encouraging the manufacture of educational and instruction- al films. With the assistance of scientific institutions, especially at the universities, a number of scientific films are now being made; the Exhibition of Contemporary Culture held atBrurin in 1928 manufactured and projected several excellent scientific films, including, more particularly, "Dema- nova," a film on the formation of stalactite caves. The Masaryk Institute has itself made a fine biological film on rhythmic movement. On ebig film has as its subject the Prague school system. All these films and many others are at the disposal of any foreign film associations pursuing the same ends. The Masaryk Institute has done excellent service by its encouragement of the use of instructional films as an educational instrument. Numerous instructional shows are organised for grown-ups, with lectures. At least once a year the Masaryk In- stitute publishes a list of instructional films obtainable in Czechoslovakia, divided into groups of subjects. In order to promote educational and instructional cinematography, the Masaryk Institute, assisted by teachers' associations arranges numerous enquiries among and courses for teachers and organisers of instructional performances. It has several times organised competitions with prizes for the best scenarios of instructional films. Scenarios judged worthy of a prize have been filmed. Instructional films are also used by humanitarian and cultural associations like the Y.M.C.A. and the Czechoslovak Red Cross, the latter possessing cinema- lorries for use in remote country districts. The Ministry of Agriculture employs agri- cultural films for vocational training, while the Ministry of Health uses instruc- tional films as propaganda in the interests of physical training and public health. In this work the Masaryk Institute gives strong support. University scientific ins- titutions, polytechnics, etc., also reinforce their teaching with instructional films. Nor should we underrate the importance of the amateur to instructional cinem; - tography, since an enthusiastic amateur can succeed in making very valuable films on animal life, etc. The Masaryk Institute therefore encourages the amateur and steers him towards educational ends. Dr. Thomas Trnka. 37 a(w *«> ^W1 MP MP MP MP il(3 Biotar 1:1.4 for the Cinematograph Camera H ~~ J en A Car/ Zeiss - Jena <& Mfc? ■ifcr ^7 ^ 4& X The Biotar attains to a speed about ten times greater than $* §(>g that of the customary F/4.5 universal lenses. Notwithstanding §^ ^ this extraordinary light-transmitting capacity, the lens produces, "f: l&7 even at full aperture, pictures which are sharply defined up to f* ik the extreme corners. When stopped down to F/2, F/2.7, F/3.5, ^ |§ of F/4.5 it is at least fully equivalent to the best types of lenses J* ^^ having these stops for their respective initial full apertures. ^ This entitles the Biotar to the claim of being ^ ± * afcr ITie Universal Lens sfe top. gfei X The Biotar is made, for the present, with focal lengths of §fe t>4> ^ 4, 5 and 7 cm. for the standard cinematograph film pictures %f X and with foci of 2 and 2.5 cm. for narrow-film cameras. X %2 ^ it? a% g^ To be obtained from Cinematograph Apparatus Makers and §^ ^ Photographic Dealers. %$ 4&7 i ■ 5^ ^_ for literature and further information please apply direct to A t [fARLZElSs^ ^ , ^ . T | X Telegrams: ZEISSWERK JENA - Winsley Home, London W I §fe £Wfc - - - "■$* nfer MP MP JtiP tiP tiP tip tip tip tiP tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip afe- *lP MP *lP tiP MP MP MP MP J?P MP 38 - — 39 SIM PITH HPil LIMITED Capital: 100 million lire, fully paid up General Management : 187, Via Luisa del Carretto - TURIN Telephone: 52-121 52-122 52-123 52-124 Telegrams: Anonima Pittaluga Works ROME: «Cines» (Sound, Singing and Talking Film Factory) - 51 Via Macerata (outside Porta S. Giovanni). TURIN: ;< Positiva » - Cinematographic Printing Works - Via Luisa del Carretto. General Agencies in Italy ROME: 43 Ma Viminale — Telephone: 40-568 - Telegrams: Sasp. General Agencies Abroad BERLIN S. W. 48: - ltalafilm G. m. b. H. - 235 Friedrichstrasse - Telegrams: ltalafilm. LONDON: - Agents for Great Britain: - Mitre House, 177 Regent Street, W. I. - Telegrams: Pitta/ilms. PARIS: - Agents for France - Rue de la Chaussee d'Antin, 12. - Telegrams: Pittafilms. Film Renting Agencies TRIESTE - Ufjicio noleggio films per la Venezia Giulia- Via F. Crispi, 4 - Tel: 72-80 - Telegrams: Pittafilms. VENICE: - Ufficio noleggio films per il Ve- neto e il Trentino — S. Benedetto Calle Ben- zon, 3932 — Tel.: 30-40- Telegrams: Pittafilms. MILAN - Uffiicio noleggio films per la Lom- bar&ia- ViaPrivataG. Mangili, 1— Tel.: 64-341 and 64-342 - Telegrams: Pittafilms, TURIN - Ufjicio noleggio films per il Pie- monte- Via Arcivescovado, 18. -Tel.: 50-248 - Telegrams: Pittafilms. GENOA - Ufficio nologgio films per la Li- guria - Via Ugo Foscolo, 4 - Tel.: 51-174 - Telegrams: Pittafilms. Tel. films per 28-45 - BOLOGNA - Ufficio nol I'Emilia - Via Galliera, 62 - Telegrams: Pittafilms. FLORENCE - Ufficio noleggio films per la Toscana - Via Martelli 4 - Tel.: 25-617 - Telegrams: Pittafilms. ROME - Ufficio noleggio films per I'Jta- lia Centrale - Via Viminale, 43 - Tel.: 41-869 Telegrams: Pittafilms, NAPLES - Ufficio noleggio films per la Campania - Via Armando Diaz, 61 - Tel.: 23-159 - Telegrams. Pittafilms. PALERMO- Ufficio noleggio films per la Si- cilia — Via Emerigo Amati, 312 -Tel.: 13-109 - Telegrams: Pittafilms. Local Agencies BAR.I - Via Candia, 13. - Tel.: 12-43 - Telegrams: Pittafilms. SPEZIA - Via Roma, 2. TRENTO - Via Belenzani - 15 Tel.: 5-26. CAGLIARI - Via Roma, 20 - Telegrams: Pittafilms. CATANIA - Via Coppola, 3- UDINE - Via Piave, 7 - Tel.- 5-009. Agencies for Projections on Board Ship GENOA - 6 Ma Malta - Tel.: 52-793 Telegrams: Filmbordo. TRIESTE - 4 Via Francesco Crispi - Tel.: 72-80 - Telegrams: Filmbordo. T \ T I T --i — 40 — jij mi illi ""iiim """i||||i""'""i||||| • 1 1 ii 1 1- "Mini '>i|H|M»"""ii||||ni M||||h,i"' ii|l|i"""""i|!|| •tiii i "";i||||ii' \u A.dh iilllliii mlli iillllm iillllii iillllii mlllm iilllliii iiilllliii mill hiIIh mlillm mllllii iillllin,„t-= 3 PICTURES... IDEAS... WORDS § 1 the natural road to understanding it Primitive man saw... thought... then learned to speak. Visual experience was the force that inspired his ideas, and created the need for words to express them. This is the natural road to understanding. To attempt to create the illusion of experience through words alone is to reverse this natural process. A vocabulary may be acquired by rote but it will prove limited and of small value. Through the wide range of vivid experience which they bring, EASTMAN CLASSROOM FILMS offer extraordinary help in inspiring pupils to original thinking. They give children a wealth of concrete, living experience on which to base their ideas. These ideas will demand an outlet. The vocabulary grows. Words are naturally and clearly comprehended. They become easily-used tools for genuine self-expression... one of the objectives of East- man Classroom Films. « EASTMAN TEACHING FILMS, INC. U Subsidiary of Eastman Kodak Company H ROCHESTER. N. Y, U. S. A. W"iii||i|!ii iii||||in iii||i|ii niiii Hiiiim nii nip iiiimi! 1111111111 , iiimiii 111111' 111111111 iiii|i||ir%J ,! .■'ini ni!'<,„ nun.,,, mill , 1111 iiiii>„„ mil ,,,.>>iiiii 111 1111 „„»mn \\h 1111 mi^,,,,,!^ Legislation FILM CENSORSHIP IN THE FAR EAST JAPAN The system of film censorship in Japan has no definite legislative basis, but there are certain regulations (decree of June ist, 1925) issued by the Ministry of the Interior which lay down the general rules to be followed by officials, police and other, responsible for the examination of films and the supervision of public entertainments generally. A special form of censorship, to which we refer below and which relates more parti- cularly to children, is vested in the Mi- nistry of Education, acting through the supervising officials appointed by the Home Office. Mode of Operation. — The rule is that every film intended for public exhibi- tion must be submitted for inspection to tlie Minister of the Interior, who has it examined by a secretary at the Metropol- itan Police Office. The censorship system being thus official, the Minister of the Interior assumes full responsibility for decisions, which are final and allow of no appeal. For purposes of censorship there is no distinction between theatrical and cultural films. Only topical films — which ob- viously lose their value if held up — are examined by the local governor. All other films are censored with the utmost care at the Metropolitan Police Office, Tokyo. The censor exercises his functions in three distinct forms: (a) by simply passing the film for exhibition; (b) by prohibiting its projection throughout Japan or in a specific locality; (c) by authorising projection subject to cuts or alterations which, without affecting the main theme, will eliminate scenes or parts considered dangerous or undesirable. A procedure worth noting in this connec- tion is the publication in the Official Gazette of the name of the owner or renter and the title of films of undoubted educational value. In order to encourage the circulation of this kind of film, the privilege of censor- ship exemption, which applies generally to all films shown privately, is extended to schools, associations and institutions wish- ing to show cultural, educational and scientific films at courses or gatherings. Fees. — The owner or renter is charged 5 sens (about a penny) for every three metres of film examined. Censorship Criteria. — With regard generally to the various systems of super- vising intellectual and artistic productions, a noteworthy view was expressed in " The Japan Times and Mail" of July 12th, 1930: "In estimating whether a book exceeds the limits of censorship I ask myself whether I could read it aloud in the presence of other people and of the opposite sex. If I think I could, I pass it; if not, I ban it." Thus the criterion is subjective and contingent. It is the projection of an individual attitude of mind into the clearly delimited sphere of a work of art, an indi- vidual attitude of mind resulting from the various chance elements by which mental attitudes are influenced. It is therefore impossible to lay down any hard and fast rules; all we can do is to fix the general principles upon which the individual's view is based. The same newspaper, quoting the opinion of a prominent chief of police at Tokyo, that the censorship " is fundamentally a problem of individual and mass psycho- logy," adds: "it is also a problem that must take account of time and place and innumerable other contributory factors. A scheme communicated by the Tokyo - 42 Committee on Intellectual Cooperation contains a list of the rules and principles adopted in practice by the official censors of films. These may be classified as follows: (a) internal policy. — Films or parts of films are prohibited which are offensive to the dignity of the Imperial family or to the constitution of the State or which contain elements at variance with the respect which all citizens owe to the country. For other reasons of internal policy all films are forbidden which deal with racial conflict or seek to show the inferiority or superiority of an}' race, as also films of a revolutionary character or films which preach anti-social doctrines. This last group comprises films concerned with popular risings, riots, etc. (b) foreign policy. — It is strictly forbidden to show any film or scene which might cause offence to other nations or strain diplomatic relations. (c) crime. — Films are forbidden if they offend the honour or reputation of individuals, exhibit forms of cruelty and savagery repulsive to the ideas of civilised peoples, or which treat crime in such a way as to exalt the crime itself or its perpetrator. (d) immorality. — This category, which necessarily accounts for the largest number of prohibitions, includes undesirable forms of sordid and violent human passions, the intimacies of family life, adultery, im- proper kissing, embracing and nudity, suggestive or obscene dances, unseemly behaviour, scenes between men and women which excite the passions and anything of the kind which, in the censors unchallen- geable opinion, may be considered dangerous to public morals. (e) religion. — This last category concerns the safeguarding of religious principles and, in particular, of respect for the family, piety towards the dead and Japanese ancestor- worship. Children. — The protection of children in Japan is secured in a general way through the above-mentioned decree of 1925 and, specifically, through the separate depart- ments. The Ministry of Education has for this purpose appointed a committee to give its opinion on the educational character of films and on their value not merely for teaching purposes but from the point of view of the forming of the minds of children and young people. The separate departments in the main observe the following rules, supervision being effected by the police: (a) Admission to cinemas is forbidden to children under 14, unless accompanied by their parents, guardian or other respon- sible person; (b) In no circumstances are children under 14 allowed in cinemas after 9 p. m. At 8,50 notice is given warning all children to leave the hall during the next ten minutes ; (c) Any performance to which children are admitted and which lasts more than an hour must be broken by a ten minutes interval, during which all the windows must be opened; (d) As regards the size and hygienic conditions of the room, there must be no overcrowding and by one means or another the room, must be adequately ventilated even during projections; (e) when, by reason of severe weather it is impossible to open all the windows, the spectators must all leave the hall in the interval, whereupon the windows will be opened, the audience returning to their seats at the end of the ten minutes. As regards the admission of school- children to cinemas, 6 out of the 47 depart- ments have special regulations. In others control is exercised directly by the schools. For example 43 elementary schools and 51 high schools forbid their pupils to visit the cinema, while 60 other elementary schools and 50 high schools grant permis- sion under certain conditions. The official censors help the individual departments and school authorities in their duty, of safeguarding children. Thus they prohibit films which: (a) are likely to be harmful to the intellectual and moral development of young people and to sound principles of education;. (b) are such as to suggest evil thoughts — 43 to a child's mind or diminish the teacher's prestige; (c) represent cruelty or immorality in an attractive light; (d) may encourage criminal tendencies in very young minds. Statistics. — In 1929 the censors exa- mined 6.240.056 feet of film, an increase of more than 557.000 feet over the 1928 figure. This footage corresponds to 1796 films, divided into: 1284 classified as purely theatrical (dramas or comedies); 512 classified as travel, documentary or generally educative films. Taking the first group, 867 were passed without qualification and 290 others were considered fit for public performance with a few unimportant alterations. 127 films were banned as being blasphemous, im- moral or criminal; of these 74 were dramas or comedies. The 512 films in the second group were all passed. 36 appeals were made against the official decisions. In 24 of these the decision was upheld, in 3 it was revoked and the film passed, and in 8 cases projection was allowed after alterations and the excision of parts regarded as objectionable. One appeal was left pending. 953 posters or publicity photographs were prohibited on moral grounds or because they might incite to crime. The Japanese Committee on Intellectual Cooperation points out that under the exist- ing system films are examined twice in Japan, first by the customs and again at the Metropolitan Police Office, presum- ably because the former inspection is not considered to be a proper censorship, but as determining the character of the film for fiscal purposes only. Producers recommend that matters should be improved by the establishment of a censorship office consisting not of a single official but of a committee re- presentative of the Government and film experts, with an office of second instance whose duty it would be to review the com- mittee's decisions. Japanese Colonies (a) Taiwan (Formosa). — On the island of Taiwan films are censored by the local authorities before being shown publicly. This is a form of police control and its main purpose is to prevent, as in Japan itself, the exhibition of films dangerous to public order, offensive to national customs or which might have a bad influence upon children. (b) Kwan-Tung. — By Government Ordinance of July 29th, 1922, no. 57, film control is exercised by the local police in accordance with the general rules obtain- ing throughout the Empire and in the special interests of public order and moral- ity and respect for the national life. (c) Karafuto (Sokhalin). — There are no special regulations for film censorship Chiefs of police are responsible for the examination of films intended for public showing, and for prohibiting them or ordering cuts or minor alterations, when the whole film or parts of it are dangerous to public order, national principles or good taste or when they might in any way encourage immorality and crime. The same authorities may impose an age-limit below which children shall not be admitted to public cinemas. CHINA Information on Chinese legislation cannot as yet be considered final, but is still subject to the shifting conditions which prevail in the Republic. As regards systems of film censorship, therefore, Jthe Institute is con- tent to reproduce a quite recent article by Robert Aura Smith: " Film Fate in China Hangs on Winning Interior, ' ' published in the Exhibitors Herald World of Chicago (no. 3 of July 19th, 1930), which summarises the situation of the cinema in China and the present methods of control. 44 The Ministry of the Interior of the Nationalist Government of China has established a sweeping censorship of all pictures on political and moral grounds and set ap the Shanghai Special District Film Censorship Committee. ' The twelve film distributors in Shan- ghai who represent all the major American companies, as well as some French, German and Japanese organisations, have joined in a protest against certain phases of the new regime. Political Censorship ' The mandate has some interesting angles. Obscenity, nudity, suggestion and the seventeen other points which are kept in view by the American film censor boards are conspicuously absent. The Chinese cover that entire field with one word, morality," and leave the committee and distributors to fight it out. Manifestly, the first object of the censorship is political rather than moral. ' The opening statement of the condi- tions which are laid upon producers and distributors is this: 'No film may be shown which is in violation of the political principles of Kuomintang (the theory of the Nationalist Party) or which might affect the prestige of the Nation." " Morality enters in the second condi- tion, but it is linked to other problems. It reads: 'The Committee must refuse licence to any film, or any part of film which may be disadvantageous to morality or to the public peace.' Finally, the Ministry of the Interior proposes that motion pictures shall support the public enlightenment and a strong central government, for the mandate reads: 'Licence will be refused to all pictures which might conduce to superstitious practices, or might encourage feudalism.' Those three clauses constitute the " principles " upon which films are censor- ed. So vague are they that the leading distributors are convinced the issuance of the mandate indicates simply a desire to have film import definitely under control. Question of Personal Reaction Under such conditions — declared a leading Chinese distributor — the actual footage taken from any films would depend entirely upon the personal reaction of the members of the censorship committee. We could not say in advance that this picture or that picture would be passed or rejected, and if seems likely that the censor's reaction would not be very much different from that of boards in other places with which we are familiar. But, while the " principles " of this censorship are rather vague, its provisions for application are concrete and detailed. In the case of Chinese film, the produc- ing companies must submit their stories to the censor board, in detail, before any of the picture is made, and the finished product must be sent up for censorship. This obviously is impossible in dealing with imported film, so the Committee is authorised to examine all way-bills and shipment invoices of importers, and these must be inspected and stamped by the censors before any film can clear the Chi- nese customs house. As soon as the film has been delivered, then, 'the censor board has a detailed list of all films received, The importer in turn must submit a detailed record of all film footage to be used for distribution, and this must be passed, at a showing, by the board. The expenses of the censorship are to be met by a fixed charge of fifty cents (Mexican) for each reel. Re-censored each three years. If the censors approve a film, a tempor- ary distribution and exhibition licence is issued, which must be ratified, in turn, upon report, by the department of justice and the department of education. All unlicenced film is prohibited, and the committee has the .power to enter any place of exhibition, examine the film, and if it is discovered that the regulations have not been met, assess a fine of $ 50 for each violation. " Even when all the requirements have been met, the distributors are not free from anxiety, for every picture has to 45 be re-censored at least once every three years (i). " China is a changing country — ex- plains the Ministry of the Interior — and it is quite possible that something which was in accord with the present political and social conditions might be out of date and subversive within three years, so we must insist that all films be returned, within that time, for re-censorship." But there was a harder blow than re- censorship. The committee decreed that the provisions of the mandate applied to all film distributed from Shanghai, regard- less of the time of its importation. The censorship became operative only on January ist, 1930, but the committee decided that its principles must be applied to all foreign film now in China. The distributors who have been bringing in film for ten years or more and have im- mense supplies on hand are worried. If they comply with the order, the censor board will have to see 10,000 feet of film a day for the next year "in addition to all the newly imported film, before they can come abreast of the distributors (2). (1) In the March number of the Review, an editorial note on a time-limit to film censorship certificates showed that only very few countries had established any such limit. China can new be added to the list. Without repeating the arguments previously advanced in favour of this restriction, it may once again be pointed out that the limit of time is usually in direct proportion to the technical and social value of the film. Both are essentially contingent. Limitation means im- provement, it means that a film will always be fresh and alive, up to the technical and moral standard which its creators intended when they first launched it upon the world. (2) This argument of the distributors, logical enough in itself, is countered by a de hue and de facto situation of transparent simplicity. It is a fact that for years the local market in China has been dominated by ; number of films, which to a large extent hinder the entry of new films per- haps technically and morally superior. They are largely survivals of the past. Re-censorship is therefore only fair, the more so since we are concerned with more than a simple question of Three Million Feet of Film. "It is a physical impossibility to show the film now on hand in Shanghai to the censorship committee, declared Luther Jee, director of Peacock Motion Picture Corporation, largest distributor in China. We have in our vaults, right here in the Capitol theatre, more than 2,500 reels of film. We have on hand for distribution in China at least 200 features, more than 200 magazine one-reelers, at least 100 two- reel committees, and more than a hundred miscellaneous short subjects. That is larg- ely Pathe and First National product, and I know that the other distributors are in the. same position. It would be conserv- ative to state that there are 3.000,000 feet of film in Shanghai to-day, imported before January 1st. The first thing which we are up ag- ainst — he remarked — is the actual limited size of the market. That sounds foolish, I know, and many of the folks back home can't quite understand it. Here is China, with 400,000,000 people, dozens of very large cities, and an immense area. It ought to be, they say, a perfect film market for years to come, and ex- pansion should take place at a phenomenal rate. What they do not realise is the fact that of these 400.000.000 the number of even potential theatre-goers is very small indeed." The above is the latest information emanating from public sources on the film censorship system in China. private law. Government intervention, through its authorised agents, and the right of censorship for reasons affecting the State and its political and social institutions create a bona fide rule of public law which imposes upon the Government (or its authorised agents) a duty of supervision that cannot be limited to the moment, when the danger of an infringement of the sacred laws of society already exists, but must also cover the future. 46 - Criticism, except for the two points with which the Institute has dealt in its two editorial notes, does not affect work in hand and is more directly addressed to the experts of the film industry. It remains, however, true that even in China, despite political events and the social upheavals of recent years, State intervention for the purpose of controlling films is a strict rule. Whether the system is good or bad is a matter for separate study. It is, however, certain that China, far from allowing the cinema to pursue an unfettered policy of its own, aims at establishing a close surveillance, for reasons pre-eminently political and social, or, we might say, simply social, since the censorship of films from the political point of view is, after all, one aspect of social life. G. de F. The BILDWART furnishes information on all questions bearing on the Cinematograph; it organizes and spreads film activities in the domains of Science, Art, Popular Education, Religion, Child Welfare, and Teaching. (The Film Observer) Popular Educational Survey 99 Monthly Illustrated Review of the German Cinematographic Association, the Reich Union of German Municipalities and Public Utilities. The « Bildwart » Supplements: « FILMRECHT » (Cinematograph Copyright); « PHOTO UND SCHULE » (Photo and School); « BILDGEBRAUCH » (Film Uses); « MIKROPROJEKTION »; « PATENTSCHAU > (Patents' Survey). This Review is recommended by the German Educational Authorities Specimen Copy sent free of charge on application (Bildwart Verlagsgenossenschaft G. m. b. H., Berlin, N. W. 21, Bochumer Strasse 8.a) — 47 — V ♦:♦ V V ♦:♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ * V V ♦ IE UFA„ CULTURAL SECTION KOCHSTRASSE 6-7, BERLIN Large Choice of Instructional Films for schools, universities or the theatre. We collaborate with the most important international authorities. Our sphere of activity embraces the following: All branches of natural science. Geography and ethnology; short and long films. Industry and technology. Agriculture. Sports and games. Medicine: popular and technical films. Recreational films. 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The first number came out in March 1929, in quarto format, and contained over 1,000 pages, numerous and beautiful text illustrations, and 200 coloured and black and white full page plates. Since that date one volume has appear- ed regularly every three months. As the work will consist of 36 volumes, the whole will be issued to the public in the course of not more than nine years. The text and illustrations of the Encyclopedia Italiana are entirely original. The Encyclopaedia is universal: that is to say it surveys the events, the men, and the ideas of all times and all races and peoples. Italy alone, among the great nations, has hitherto lacked a compendium of universal culture of this kind, and has been obliged to have recourse to foreign Encyclo- paedias, which often fail to give all the information wanted on the Italian contribution to civilisation in its manifold, aspects. 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" If youve been working hard all day at school or at home " (another significant remark). Another group of children — mostly between 13 and 15 — complain that coloured films tire their eyes. They attribute the reason to the excess of red tints or, generally, exaggerations of natural colours. * * * The final results of the practical enquiry carried out by the I. E. C.I. among pupils of different ages in various kinds of schools accord not only with the opinions of the health specialists and oculists requested to give their views while the enquiry was proceeding, but with the conclusions suggested by the partial results of the enquiry — conclusions which ap- peared in the International Review of Educational Cinematography (May 1930)3 and which we reproduce here in order that our study may be as com- plete as possible. With regard to the first group of causes of eye-fatigue, to which we may add the remarks about flicker, colour films and, especially, over-long films, we reached the following conclusions: a the films used should be in good condition, and the borders untorn; V) the projecting apparatus should be in first-class condition, so that jerky projection should not be produced by worn rollers; c) speed of projection should be properly regulated; d) captions should be few, printed large, and clearly legible; e) projections should not last too long. The first point is a matter for the attention of the censorship and the author- ities entrusted with the surveillance and control of public shows. The officials charged with examining films from the point of view of their moral, political, and artistic content, ought also to ascertain the condition of the copies, and demand, before granting definitive permits for exhibition, that the films, under expert examination, should be found free from blemishes and undue wear and tear. At a later stage, while the films are going the rounds — and on the assump- tion that the censors examine only one copy, while the concessionary of the film has had a number of copies taken from the negative — some special class of officials or experts ought to be charged with supervising the condition of the films during public exhibition. Under the censorship regulations, very few countries demand a preliminary ingl. 4 * — 54 - examination of all the copies of films for which permits are demanded, and when they do so this is only so as to make sure that there is perfect identity between the scenes contained therein. The competent authorities only in a very few instances examine the films from the point of view of the hygienic exigencies of sight. The most recent instance of this sort to our knowledge occurred in Hungary, where, in 1929, according to official information com- municated to the Rome Institute by the President of the National Censorship Commission, the authorities prohibited the exhibition of a film that was regarded as pernicious to the sight. In the March number of this Review, and again in the article on " A Time-iimit to Film Censorship Certificates ", we pointed out the serious social injury caused by the absence of any such time-limit under nearly all censorship systems. We might add that the social damage goes hand in hand with da- mage to the eyes. The concessionaries of films are usually entitled to re- produce a given number of positive copies from each negative. The unli- mited opportunities afforded them by the censorship permits induce them to send the films round again and again ad infinitum from the large to the small centres. When the copies are in such a bad state that they can no longer be presented to the public of big cities, they are packed off to out-of-the-way places to do their damnedest both socially and ocularly. It is therefore es- sential that the control exercised by the police authorities and experts in this field should be supported by legislative enactments limiting the duration of permits or, at any rate- limiting (by a stamp to be applied to each copy project ed on the screen before the title of the film itself is projected) — except in very exceptional cases — the age of the copy that is about to be shown. All this applies to films that are to be shown in public cinema halls. In the case of those belonging to school collections, on the contrary, or to of- ficial, semi-official, or private bodies and organizations, the control of this point would rest more properly with the technician-operator in charge of the projec- tion, and ought not to be hampered by any financial considerations which may excuse, if not justify, the resistance of public cinema managers. The second point that emerges from the enquiry is closely associated with the first, so far as the possibilities of control are concerned. Apart from the efficacy of expert inspection in the projection cabins, to check the condition of the apparatus, it should be noted that, although in point of technique we have attained to a normal projection velocity of 20 to 24 images per second, there is still in fact an imperceptible intermittence between the images, which may, in the long run, cause fatigue to the eyes of a person of normal sight. In ad- dition to this, the intermittent projection causes a state of nervous tension which is altogether detrimental to the exact observation of the pictures. These defects might be corrected and the perforation of the films avoided (thus lengthening their life) by a system of continuous-movement projection with optical compensation, which, by getting rid of the shutter, would prac- tically ensure unintermittent projection. From the technical standpoint, there are a number of continuous-move- ment projectors, but few of them are practical in the using. This is especially true of the big apparatus required in large public cinema halls, where few have so far worked satisfactorily. — 55 — The problem is less arduous in the case of school cinemas. First of all, the apparatus themselves are in less constant use and suffer less wear and tear. Secondly, they are subject to closer supervision, not being, as we have said above, hampered by business considerations. Thirdly, and lastly, because there are small machines, with continuous movement, which work much better than the big ones, suited to the purposes of smaller halls, and hence adapted to the needs of schools and similar institutions. Two classes of persons are, therefore, concerned with the two first points: official or experts to whom the service of supervision is committed; technicians to study the possibilities of obtaining projection apparatus that minimise the wear and tear of film, especially at the perforated margins, which, by aboli- shing or reducing intermission, would ensure normal projection from the standpoint of eyesight. The points stressed in the Lewis report — the angle of vision of the spec- tator, the proper distance of the screen, etc., are also matters coming within the competence of the cinema police and depend on the observance of proper standards of building. This report, however, does not invalidate the basic concept that the cinematograph, as such, does not endanger the eyesight of the audience, or at any rate does so no more than other forms of ocular activity, such as constant and tiring reading (the most frequent cause of short sight), attendance in strongly lighted lecture halls, theatres, etc. Prof. Ovio's observation on the rapidity with which films are turned is obviously important. It should be borne in mind that films are usually " shot " at the speed of from x6 to 18 images per second, while normal projection is made at the average rate of 20 per second. If the speed of the projection could be brought up to 40 images per second, the phenomenon of intermit - tence — which is certainly injurious to the sight — would be eliminated, but we should have a yet more hasty stampede on the screen, which, besides being anti-aesthetic and grotesque, would compel the eye to follow the scene yet more closely so as to keep pace with the movement; and this, in its turn, would injure the sight. Under present systems, 40 photograms of film are not turned per second because the movements of the persons would become positively ridiculous; the normal rate of 20 to 24 images being in vogue. A half-way system is sometimes followed, which diminishes the intermittence, without getting rid of it, and which tires the eyes by the speed of the movement. Thus the damage is two-fold, though each of the two concomitant factors may be diminished. Apart from the possibilities of continuous-movement apparatus already referred to, which deserves further study, it would be desirable to investigate whether, by a different system of photographing (by the slow or accelerated processes, for instance) it might not be possible to harmonize the spectator's view of the image with the reproduction on the screen. In any case, this is all matter for purely technical study, which can hardly present insuperable difficulties and might well succeed in correcting one of the worst drawbacks of the cinema. Some of the oculists who have been called upon to cooperate in our stu- dies have called particular attention to the captions, owing to the form of the type used and the brusque passage from the grey tones of the picture to the -56- staring black-and-white of the text. This criticism calls to mind another correlated phenomenon — the change from brilliant light to the absolute or quasi darkness of the cinema halls, and to the possibility of making use of light screens referred to by Prof. Van der Hoeve. The expression " in full day-light " is hardly applicable here, because screens of the kind work properly in a half-light or semi-darkness, and in any case do not require absolute darkness. In this field also diverse more or less efficacious and practical systems suggest themselves; most of them make use of transparent screens, which often absorb a good deal of light. Others are based on a system which makes it possible to produce on the white surface of the screen a state of shadow deeper than the surrounding shade, a state close akin to darkness, in such a way as to present realistically the blacks of the projected image and to bring the light shades of the same into greater relief. This system, though not free from practical drawbacks, seems to us likely to give the best results, as it allows of an intenser illumination of the auditorium, being based on the contrast of light. As for the captions, it is necessary to obtain the highest degree of visi- bility from all points of the hall. This might be obtained by making sure that the text was in harmony with the normal vision of the spectator furthest removed from the screen. This would apparently suggest the practical need of illuminating the cap- tions more brilliantly, so as to show them up better on the screen; on the other hand, this would aggravate the contrast between the effects of the soft tones of the scenes and the startling tones of the titles. Another alternative would be to modify the form of the letters, which would complicate the pre- sentation of the captions. All these difficulties, however, are on the way to being solved by the vocal film. The other violent contrast consists in the jump from the darkness or semidarkness of the halls during projection to the lighting-up during the in- tervals. Apart from the possibilities of daylight screens in full or subdued light, the illumination of the halls during intervals and at the end of the show ought to be effected gradually or else by coloured lamps, which would not tax the eye-sight. A French Review Protection, securite, hygiene dans V atelier, the monthly bulletin of the Association of French manufacturers for protection against labour accidents (Paris, No. 4, 1930), points to the results of experiments that have been made on the various degrees of light desirable in localities of different kinds. The intensity is indicated as lux, corresponding to the average illumination of a superficies of one square metre upon which a source of light, lumen, is reflected. The lumen in its turn may be defined as the quantity of light intercepted during a unit of time by a spheric superficies of one square metre, the whole of which at all points is placed at a distance of one metre from a source of light casting, in all directions, the light of one candle. The degree of lux is generally measured by an apparatus known as a lu- xometer. This Review recommends a light intensity of 30 lux for cinemas during intervals and of 1 lux during projection. — 57 — The intensity of light recommended could not be at all deleterious, being considerably more subdued than that usually allowed in schools, hospitals, libraries, theatres, and other places where a number of persons are wont to gather for one reason or another. The study cited compares the intensity of light desirable in cinemas during the suspension of projection with that usual in the corridors of schools and hospitals, underground passages, and sick- rooms, which is the minimum to see by. But it is not the intensity of light in itself that does harm, it is the brusque change from semi-darkness to bright illumination, a gradation which is wont to jump 29 lux according to the table we have quoted. And this, as we have above said, could easily be obviated by lighting up gradually or by the use of coloured lamps. * * * In a general way, for adults, it would be sufficient to have recourse to technical means (to get rid of " intermittence ", to regulate the speed of projec- tion, improve the presentation of the captions, daylight screens, or grey-toned screens, or screens in penumbra). But in the case of children and adolescents, who are, moreover, from all statistical returns, the most assiduous of cinema-goers, the problem is different and must be considered from two different points of view — that of public shows and that of school projections or special shows for children. There is no great difficulty in the second case, where cinematographic representations are placed in the hands of teachers and psychologists, or, in general, of those persons or bodies whose business and interest it is to sa- feguard the young. But it is a much more complicated question in the case of public exhib- bitions, in which children form part of a mixed audience, and at which long- footage reels are shown. The average length of " feature " films is from 1500-2500 metres, generally divided into three or four parts. Calculating that each photogram measures 18 millimetres in height and that the normal rate of projection is about 20-24 photograms per second, it would take (without interruption) from 60 to 62 minutes to show a reel measuring 1500 metres, and from one and a half to two hours to show a reel measuring 2500 metres. Each part, measuring about 500 metres would take from about 20 to 23 mi- nutes to show. Thus the eyes of the onlookers must follow the more or less harmonious movements of the actors on the screen for more than a third of an hour at a time. This may be very well for adults who do not suffer from eye trouble and who are not of a neurotic temperament, but it cannot certainly be desirable for children and adolescents, even if they are ocularly and psychically sound. The least harmful results are likely to be a form of eyestrain which in the long run, may produce the typical " cinema headache ", or may objectivate and produce disturbances of a visual and nervous order. It has been said and repeated that shows for children ought not, at the outside, to last longer than from 10 to 15 minutes; at the end of which a -58- proper interval of rest is needed, lasting from two to three minutes, before returning to the darkened hall and the projection. Thus it would appear that, for physiological reasons and owing to a lesser degree of adaptability, the endurance-limits of a child are about one half those of a grown-up person. It is obvious that these limits, notwithstanding the interruptions of the projection, must gradually give out as the show is prolonged, and sensations of tiredness, which at first may be hardly perceptible, and are probably not felt at all if the show does not last more than one hour or an hour and a half, will begin to manifest themselves if it lasts longer. No definite remedy can be suggested for this, unless the usual one of a system of separate shows for children and adolescents, apart from those intended also for adults, and so arranged as to meet the particular require- ments of their age, or else to reduce the length of the parts of normal films to an extent that could not tire the eyes of the children present among the audience. It is possible, indeed probable, that technical improvements such as we have referred to above — elimination of intermittence, supervision of the con- dition of the films, and the introduction of a new type of screen that would avoid startling contrasts of light and shade — will in time make it possible for children to attend film shows for a longer period without any damage to their sight. The introduction of colour may very probably contribute to this end (if films are made showing life in its natural hues, without exaggerating the red tones) and that of sound and talking films, by getting rid of the captions, thereby shortening the length of the reels. In connection with this last point, one need only reflect that the captions prolong by one tenth, on the average, the length of positive films as compared with negative. Thus the standard part of 500 metres would be considerably reduced. Even allowing for the scenic necessity of drawing out certain scenes in order to synchronize them with the spoken words and the reproduction of sound, the films would still be freed from those elements to which we have referred and which are so conducive to visual fatigue (contrast of light and shade, effort to read the captions, etc.) and the eyes of the audience would be relieved from a considerable strain. It remains to deal with other points which could not be treated in the first stage of the Institute's enquiry. The arrangement and hygienic conditions of the room: children complain that they are too near the screen; too often the floor-space is not tilted; they also complain of the smoking habit and of bad ventilation. These drawbacks could be eliminated without recourse to special children's shows. As regards the slope of the floor, ventilation and the habit of smoking at the cinema, the best-equipped modern cinema theatres and police regulations already provide the necessary remedy, especially in large towns; for the rest, it is for the competent authorities to issue suitable regulations and ensure their observance. Permission to smoke involves a further responsibility — the risk of fire. The floor of cinemas is usually of wood and the ordinary risks of fire, — 59 - such as defects in electric installation, would seem of themselves enough without adding to them the carelessness of smokers. The subjective elements hardly admit of inclusion within general mea- sures of prevention. Short-sightedness is a purely personal defect. It can be corrected by the oculist. Not that instruments should be placed at the entry to cinemas to gauge the eye-sight of each spectator, but some rational form of pro- paganda might acquaint parents and those in charge of the physical and spiritual welfare of children of the danger a shortsighted child runs in vi- siting the cinema too frequently or without proper spectacles. After a certain hour of the evening the cinema should be forbidden to children under 16, children, that is, who are normally most tired by the day's work. This could be a matter for the law. Sleep, it should be re- membered, is part of a child's nourishment and is the first condition for re- gaining strength lost or impaired. The old saying that children should not see sunrise or sunset is hardly applicable to our modern life, but it contains a solid truth worth the consideration of those entrusted with the care of the young. During the night-hours, which are the most dangerous to their health, physically and morally, children should not be left to their own devices. There remains the question of the kind of show. A dull film is phy- sically and mentally tiring and, as a natural effect, fatigues the eyes of the youthful observer; the only remedy would seem to lie in recommending adults who take children to the pictures to choose films suitable for the children rather than for themselves. Then there is the extremely dramatic love-film which works on the nerves, causes moral depression and physical and psychical disturbances which are bound also to react upon the eyes. This brings us to the question of censorship. Is it not a further reason for distinguishing between films that may be shown to everyone and films suitable only for persons above a certain age? * * * The observations suggested by the enquiry are many and varied, but they can be quickly summed up in a few main proposals, all of the technical or moral order, to which the right answer is not hard to find. Technical defects are by no means the only cause of eye-fatigue, since the smaller localities, in which the cinemas are as a rule less well-equipped and up-to-date and where more or less worn films are regularly projected, furnish a smaller proportion of complaints than the big towns. There is no doubt, therefore, that other factors contribute to produce eye- trouble, factors having their origin in the conditions of life in our big cities: physical, mental and emotional strain, which especially in growing children leads to exhaustion and diminished powers of resistance; the use and abuse of strong light for study and reading and in public places; late hours and even food conditions. — 6o — It will be admitted that our study of the effects of the cinema on eye- sight, based as it is upon nearly twenty thousand answers to a specific question, is more than a vague indication. Realising that previous con- clusions might have been invalidated by further study and new technical improvements, the I. E. C. I. desired to put the question afresh and, by reference to scientific experts and enquiry among children themselves, to test the value of opinions formed at an earlier date. Finally, the conclusions to be drawn from this further study of the question are the same as those we published in the May number of the International Review of Educational Cinematography. These conclusions, which with additions we reproduce below, reveal those drawbacks of the cinema most frequently met with but most easily disposed of: i. Films as such do not have any injurious effects upon the eyesight of persons whose eyes and nerves are in a healthy condition. 2. The phenomenon of intermittence, the excessive speed with which films are projected, proximity to the screen, the use of damaged, worn or perforated films, flicker and the use of defective apparatus may be considered the chief causes of visual fatigue and may have serious consequences, especially for persons with weak sight or neuropathic subjects. 3. In most cases and particularly where children and young people are concerned, it is preferable: (a) to project in full light or at any rate in half-light; (b) to prevent children attending evening performances and to arrange special shows for them which will not include unduly exciting or dramatic films; (c) to project each part of a film for not more than ten minutes or a quarter of an hour and to follow it with an interval of two or three minutes; and to avoid sudden transitions from semi-darkness to full light; (d) to arrange cinema programmes so that long films alternate with short ones. Apart from exceptional circumstances, the ordinary programme should include one theatrical film in several parts of moderate length, a short cultural or scientific film and a topical film — this, by the variety of impressions made, would provide the necessary rest for the mind. (e) to impose strict control over cinema theatres, as regards: (i) permission to smoke, in view of the danger of fire and the need of ventilating the hall, not only at the end of the performance and in the intervals, but even during projection; (ii) the arrangement of the seats, which should be such as to secure a comfortable view of the screen and save children a physical exertion which has a more or less direct influence upon the visual organs; (J) closely to supervise the condition of films and projecting ap- paratus not only in schools but in public cinemas. (To be continued) G. d. F. 6i — 62 — PHILIPS POWERFUL AND FAITHFUL REPRODUCTION ELECTRICAL SOUND-REPRODUCING APPARATUS (Movietone and Vitaphone) Gramophone and radio substitutes for or- chestras for drawing-rooms, dances and small cinemas. Micro-gramophone apparatus for lectures, captions of cinema programmes and publicity announcements. PHILIPS-RADIO Societa Anonima Italia MILAN (115) - Via Bianca di Savoia N. 18 Riunione Adriatica di Sicurta Insurance Company — Founded at Trieste in 1838 Authorised capital L. it. 100.000.000 — Paid-up L. it. 40.000.000 Life Insurance Insurance against theft Annuities Carriage risks Fire insurance Insurance against windo w breaking Insurance against dama- i, e from hail Head Offices: 35, Via Mazzini - TRIESTE -63- President : Harley L. Clarke FOX FILM CORP. The world's biggest motion picture firm Vice President and General Manager Winfield Sheehan Foreign Manager Clayton P. Sheehan -64 In this part of the Review, which is reserved for the Institute's Enquiries and in which it is our intention to devote much space to interesting unpublished reports on studies and enquiries by individuals and national or international bodies, we are to-day publishing the results of a somewhat original school test organised by Mrs. Allen Abbott, of the Hoover Child Welfare Committee, in cooperation with others whom Mrs. Abbott mentions by name. Our readers will notice, no doubt, that this is not an enquiry in the strict sense. The number of children taking part in the test — 107 — and the sameness of their social circumstances — all children of well-to-do parents — limit its scope and naturally deprive it of a great deal of its significance. Granting that the purpose of an enquiry is to ascertain something, it will be seen that Mrs. Abbott's enquiry is not so much on the cinema as on the intelli- gence of children as shown by the cinema. Mrs. Abbott is not concerned with whether films have some particular influence, good or bad, upon children's minds and morals, but sees in the cinema a means of estimating or at any rate checking the intelligence of schoolchildren, and she embarks upon her experiment with a certain predisposition in its favour. The results of this experiment have been kindly communicated to us by Mrs. Abbott and we in our turn are pleased to offer them to our readers in detailed form so that they may possess all the material that Mrs. Abbott considers necessary to a sound judgment on the question at issue. We shall welcome any opinion upon the value of Mrs. Abbott's test, especi- ally from those who are engaged in the study and training of children, for the I . E. C. I . desires nothing more than discussion, in the interests of the cause it has at heart. It is indeed for the sake of discussion , and the light thrown on matters thereby, that the Institute has established not merely a periodical report of its work, but a Review that is intended to be a platform and a mouthpiece for the expression of their views by all experts in cinematography . Some may perhaps question whether Mrs. Abbott's experiment proves the value of cinematographic vision as a test of a child's intelligence; others may wonder whether the questions recommended by Mrs. Abbott fulfil all the conditions of a conclusive test. Others again may ask whether the conception of intelligence resulting from a test of this sort is quite clear and not liable to be confused with memory, power of observation, faculty of sustained attention, which are obviously factors in understanding, but may not always be certain guarantees of intelligence in the more general meaning of the term. Doubts on these points cast no reflection upon the results of Mrs. Abbott's test, for doubt does not signify objection. We therefore invite those of our readers who entertain such doubts to put them to the same test as Mrs. Abbott and her assistants. Once again we shall be pleased to record the results of any such enquiries and by publishing them in our Review, place them at the disposal of anyone whom they may interest. Studies and Enquiries CHILDREN'S RESPONSES TO THE MOTION PICTURE "THE THIEF OF BAGDAD" A STUDY OF THE FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES, HORACE MANN SCHOOL, TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY by Mary Allen Abbott Member of White House Conference on Child Health and Protection AND A COMPARISON OF SCORES ON A PICTURE TEST WITH MENTAL ABILITY AND OTHER FACTORS by Cecile White Flemming Director of Psychological Service Horace Mann School, Teachers College, Columbia University Introductory section On the completion of this study (i) of the responses of a group of children in the Horace Mann School, New York City, to a test on " The Thief of Bagdad ", it was interesting to read in a publication of the League of Nations, a report on the influence of the cinema on Russian children (2), and to learn that a favourite film of the Russian group studied is " The Thief of Bagdad " and that their favourite actor is Douglas Fairbanks. The Russian children studied, 1074 in number, included children from workers' schools and three hundred children from the " Besprisorny " shelters for abandoned children. The questions in the enquiry were put to them verbally because some of them were barely able to write. The Horace Mann children studied were an unusually intelligent and favoured group, favoured both in their home and in their school environment. A major problem in the lives of their solicitous parents and teachers may be said to be the selection for these children from all the good things of their city, and indeed of the world. Yet both groups of children like the Thief of Bagdad and accept Douglas Fairbanks as an admirable hero. This Horace Mann study of one hundred and seven Fifth and Sixth Grade children includes a report of audience reactions at the showing of the film " The Thief of Bagdad "; a discussion of the answers to the fact que- stions on a test given four days after the showing of the film; a comparison (1) This study of motion picture reactions at Horace Mann School was possible through the co-operation of the Principal, Professor R. G. Reynolds, Dr. Cecile White Flemming, Directing Psychologist for the Horace Mann School, and a member of the Motion Picture Committee of the Parents Association. (2) Report of the Elkin enquiry, " Kino i Kultura, " pp. 45-49, " International Review of Educational Cinematography, " Rome, Jan., 1930. ingl. 5 — 66 — of the scores on the test with mental ability and other factors; and an analysis of the opinions of the children, as expressed in their answers to the judgment questions on the test, as to what was exciting, funny, scarey, cruel, and too silly in the film, and what were the qualities to be admired and what to be disliked in the main characters of the story. Comparison between intelligence and the score on a motion picture test was first brought to the attention of the writer of this portion of the study by a report on a psychological research on motion pictures conducted by Columbia University in 1926 (1). This pioneer work in an interesting field included a study by Professor Harold E. Jones. In Jones' experiment it appeared that the score on a test on the content of a motion picture correspon- ded to a considerable degree with the score on an intelligence test (2). Section 11 1 will present a comparison of the scores on the motion picture test given at Horace Mann School with mental ability, chronological age and reading ability. Section I. THE SHOWING OF THE FILM Choosing the Film. The picture used for the Horace Mann test was " The Thief of Bagdad ", shown at an entertainment for charities given by the Parents' Association, November 23, 1928. The film chosen was the result of a vote of the Sixth Grade and the Girls' Junior High School. Seventy-three out of one hun- dred and eighty-nine voted for " The Thief ". The next largest number of votes, twenty-eight, was for " Old Ironsides ". " The Thief of Bagdad " had already been seen by one hundred and four of those voting. The strength of the liking for an old favourite was also shown in the fact that though the young people were told to name any recent film, if preferred to those on the list submitted, very few did so. The Audience. The audience that gathered in the school auditorium was a very lively and enthusiastic one. There were about 500 in all, chiefly boys and girls of ten to thirteen years old. There were aiso a small number of High School pupils, some younger children and a few adults. Some of the (1) From a mimeographed memorandum signed " R. S. Woodworth " and entitled " A Preliminary Report of Psychological Research on Motion Pictures Conducted in Columbia University in 1926 ". (2) The growing interest in the educational aspect of motion pictures on the part of educators and of universities and foundations who have financed the studies is sug- gested by the extensive studies reported in publications of 1928 and 1929. See list of important recent publications at end of this study. -67- children had horns and toys, many had candy, all were talking and laughing. With the showing of the first titles, however, the talking and laughter subsid- ed and with the first picture, there was complete silence. Recording the Responses of the Audience. At a pre-view of the film, a stenographic record of the " subtitles " and " spoken titles " was taken and copies of this framework of the photo- play were supplied to the six people present to take notes. These included the school psychologist, Dr. Flemming and the members of the Horace Mann Motion Picture Committee, all accustomed to observing the responses of audiences to motion pictures. These were easy to get, since the film was not a " talkie ", and since there was no accompaniment of music. Provi- ded with flash-lights and with copies of the titles of the photo-play, the obser- vers agreed to watch for the first decided laughter and for the first decided applause and throughout the course of the film to indicate the degree of laughter and of applause. The notes taken agreed as to these general react- ions of the audience and they included also comments of individual children, very illuminating comments, too many, unfortunately, to quote in full here. In the following summary of audience responses, use has been made of some of the printed titles on the screen. REACTION OF THE AUDIENCE TO THE THIEF OF BAGDAD " Happiness must be earned ". The first picture was a night scene, showing a turbaned figure seated on a height and looking off, the stars are shining and written across the sky are the words, " Happiness must be earned ". "A street in Bagdad, magic city of the East". On the high curb of a well, a man is outstretched lazily, apparently asleep, one hand hanging down. The first laughter came when this hand reaches very casually for the purse of a man passing by. " If it be his purse, let him tell what is in it ". The man had discovered his loss and the Thief, accused, displays the empty purse (having just the minute before, emptied the contents down his blouse). " Tis empty ". (Slight laughter from the audience). In the following episodes of stealing food and the magic rope, it seemed that every motion of Douglas Fairbanks, every change of facial expression, all the surprises in his tricks as a thief were enjoyed and followed by laughter. For instance: When he smells food cooking on a balcony (slight laughter.) When he rubs his stomach (laughter from very young high voices). When, discovered by the cook, he leaps from the balcony and catches the end of the magician's magic rope. (Much laughter) - 68- When, chased for stealing the rope, he hides in a big wine jar and jumps in and out from one jar to another. (Much laughter) The first general laughter in which the whole audience joined, the older young people as well as the younger voices, came when the Thief, to escape his pursuers, enters a mosque and runs over the backs of " the believers, " who are bent in prayer. The first applause came when the Thief eluded his pursuers by jumping into the big jar. " Honest citizens of Bagdad, here is a thief to be flogged ". The Thief of Bagdad looks on as this other thief is punished. " Let all thieves beware. Four and twenty lashes for the stealing of this jewel. " The soldiers surrounding the man lash his bare back with the flat side of their swords. (" He's getting hurt, I bet you," a boy said. " I hate to see that with swords ", said another boy). " Arouse yourself, Bird of Evil. I have brought home treasure ". The Thief, with the help of the magic rope, has let himself and his plunder down into his underground home. (The " Bird of Evil ", a merry and villainous looking little old man, was very amusing to downtown audience, one of the Committee noted, but only slightly so to these children). " Tis a magic rope. With it we can scale the highest walls. " " Open wide the gates of Bagdad! Open wide! " The Thief joins the procession of porters bound for the palace of the Caliph. " We be porters bearing gifts and viands to feast the suitors who on the morrow come to woo our Princess ". (Some laughter when the Thief wraps up in a cloth the little man, his " Evil Companion, " and carries him on his head as a present). " Beasts and monsters guard the Princess. " (A slight murmur when, the huge door opening, two big dogs come out. More murmurs when a large ape appears. More when he opens his mouth. Laughter also). The magic rope takes the two thieves safely up a high wall and down into a garden. The Evil Companion is left on guard and the Thief climbs up into a window of the Princess' Palace. (Some laughter over the three fat slaves who, sound asleep, are guard- ing the Princess' treasure chest. More general laughter when the Thief carries the chest close to the slave who wears the key and so unlocks it). He has the Princess' necklace in his hand when he hears music. He follows the sound of the guitar. The Princess' maids are playing her to sleep. " The Princess sleeps. " The two men leave the room. The Thief from a balcony above her bed looks down. (At the first movement he makes to come down from the balcony, -69- a small boy said in a weary tone, " Mush, mush. " Another boy, " Aint love grand? " Another boy, " I want to see him when they chop his head off. " Many comments on his interest in the Princess' slipper, for the Thief dropped the pearl necklace to pick up her slipper). At the touch of the Thief's hand on hers, the Princess wakes, starts up and flings off the coverlet. (Laughter when the coverlet falls over the Thief concealing him. Laughter when the fat slaves wake up and hurry to the rescue. Laughter when he peeks out from under the coverlet). " Oh! " (when the Chinese maid lifts the coverlet and discovers him). The Princess is now asleep again. The guards have gone. The Thief points his dagger at the slave's back and moves her along to the wall. (Some sounds of " Oh! " Someone said, " I wouldn't like to have that stuck in mine. " And a very childish voice piped up " How can he get it out again ? ") The Thief has the Chinese girl in a corner, the handle of the dagger braced against the wall. For some time she thinks he is still there. (" There he is picking up those slippers again, " a boy's disgusted voice said). (Laughter when. the Thief escaped by jumping out of the window). " The treasure, where is it ? " " Tis here, " the Thief replied, holding the Princess' slipper. (Some laughter over this talk between the Thief and his companion, as they sit in safety outside the palace. Laughter at the face of the little man as he ridicules the Thief. And his final remark, " Nixynoodle, he's turned Love Bird, " brings the loudest laughter up to this point in the film). * * * Summing up the most noticeable reactions in these introductory reels, one may say that laughter with this youthful audience was not just for what seemed comical, like the fat guards or ludicrous facial expressions or unusual words like " Nixynoodle. " Laughter served to voice also their surprise or relief or their agreement with the same sentiment, as here with the foolishness of " turning Love Bird. " In spite of the natural dislike of most Fifth and Sixth Grade children, especially of the boys, to love-making on the screen, by the end of the next reel they were so greatly in sympathy with the Thief that they forgave him the Princess. She became an essential part of his adventures and when she said, *• I love you, " the audience responded with a hearty burst of applause. And his kissing her was not displeasing in this case, for the children now knew that the Princess would not give him up to the soldiers who were hunting for this impostor, a " common thief " who had posed as a suitor for her hand. — 7o — The moments of greatest applause, which were sometimes also moments of great laughter, were as follows: 1. When the Thief's horse rears and throws him in the midst of the Rose-Tree, thus fortunately fulfilling the prophecy that the Princess would wed the Suitor who first touched her Rose-Tree. 2. When the Princess says, c< I love you. " 3. "At the end of the Sixth Moon. " The time is almost up for the Suitors to get back to Bagdad with their rare treasure. The one who brings the rarest treasure the Princess will marry. Beginning with the title " The Fourth Moon, " there was increasing applause for these time-titles. 4. " Spread the Flying Carpet. " The three Princes, gazing in the crystal, have seen that the Princess lies dying in her bed. The fat Prince of Persia spreads his flying carpet and they sail away to the rescue. (Much laughter at this sight. "I wonder if it will hold him up?" One boy said, " I'm not for the old Chinese. I'm for the Thief or the Fat One. " The boy beside him said, " The Fat One will get her. " More laughter as the Flying Carpet arrives at the palace and sails inside). 5. " Out of the Clouds. " Great laughter and applause at the sight of the Thief riding the Winged Horse in the sky. The other suitors are already in the Palace and, having cured the Princess, are quarrelling, each claiming her. 6. " Through the Night. " The Thief, now on a magic black horse with his treasures, " the magic chest wrapped in a cloak of invisibility, " is riding fast over the plains. This reassuring sight brings applause. A flash of the Mongol soldiers fighting to capture Bagdad, then a flash of the Thief riding. Each time the Thief was seen, there was an increasing volume of applause, shrieks (from young voices) and cheers. The picture of the Mongol soldiers climbing up into the palace brought hisses. All the observers noted that though the excitement was intense, the voices quieted down to silence with every change of scene or title. Once, however, the applause for the Thief riding to the rescue continued through the next title, which was " Bagdad is in the hands of the Mongols. ". The applause came from very young high voices that couldn't stop cheering. 7. " Open wide the gates of Bagdad " and " Open wide the gates to our deliverer! " This culmination of the excitement in the arrival of the Thief at the very gates of the palace and the raising of the magic army brought the extreme point of cheers and applause; horns were brought out and tooted. " He summons armies from the earth itself. " The Thief's action in scattering his magic powder brought laughter for the first army that sprang up, laughter when repeated and with the third time, more laughter and deafening applause. It was interesting to see that, when the Thief's armies had finally con- quered and driven out the Mongol soldiers, there was applause, but when the Prince of the Mongols standing alone is told, " Every way of escape is — 71 — blocked, " there was no applause (i). And at the end, there was no applause for the final punishment of the Mongol Prince. 8. The Ending. There was applause when the Thief carries the Princess away from the Mongol Prince, and laughter as the feet of the Thief and the Princess show under the invisible cloak when they escape up the stairs of the palace. The Thief and the Princess sailing off on the Flying Carpet,- brought only moderate applause; and there was almost silence when the last picture was shown. This last picture was the night scene again with " Happiness must be earned " written across the sky. Laughter and applause were not the only sounds expressing the emotions of the audience. When the Thief entered the Valley of Fire, there were exclamations of " Oh " and " Oh, boy " and as he made his way apparently through the leaping flames, there came from the audience a sound between a shiver and a murmur. The sight of the monsters, particularly the horrid octopus under the sea, brought a distinct sound of " U-rr- u-rr. " The fight with this monster called forth a disapproving comment in a loud voice from a High School Senior, a girl, " I think that's terrible. " A small boy's voice, however, was heard at the moment when the Thief is striking atthe beast with his sword, "Pop-pop! Smack-smack!" and then he added comfortably, " His good old sword. " Other small boys sitting behind another committee member had had some discussion about how the picture was taken; at this scene, one of them said " Sure the animal is made from cardboard! That's water instead of blood! " The peculiar sound of " Ur-r- ur-r, " characterizing a sensation of horror and disgust, as at the sight of the sea-monster, occurred at another very different moment. This was when the Thief first kisses the hand of the Princess. " Good grief, " one of the small boys said, " Are they going to put that awful junk on? " Horror and disgust are not too strong expres- sions for the small boy's feelings. The above are samples of the reactions recorded by the note-takers, — not by any means all but only those most evident. The responses of the audience as a whole seemed to show the reality to these young obser- vers of what they were looking at. Also very apparent was their champion ship of the hero, as soon as he had shown himself to be really the hero. On the other hand, though there was even a little hissing when the Mongol soldiers entered the palace, there was a complete lack of any vindictive attitude at the end towards the villain of the story, the Mongol Prince. Very evident also were these characteristics of this Horace Mann audience: — keenness of attention both to the titles and to the details of the action; ready laughter (i) Compare same sort of reaction by another Horace Mann audience at the end of " A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court ". See page 4 " Motion Pictures for Different School Grades " by Mary Allen Abbott, Bureau of Publications, Tea- chers College 1928. — 72 — which expressed their relief or their satisfaction as well as their amusement; ability even in moments of great excitement to concentrate on a new title or picture. Their speed in reading titles and in comprehending situations and their self-control even under excitement suggest a very intelligent audience. Section II RELATIVE DIFFICULTY OF THE QUESTIONS; DISCUSSION OF QUESTIONS 3 AND 21 AND FORM OF TEST SUGGESTED FOR ANY MOTION PICTURE The showing of the film took place on Friday, November 23, 1928. The test was not given until the following Tuesday. Higher scores would probably have resulted if the test had been given immediately after the showing. However the report of the Columbia Research of 1926 indicates that in the case of a motion picture, the curve of forgetting proceeds slowly (1). An interval from Friday to Tuesday, which included the usually-crowded New York week-end, seems rather a long interval. More- over the film to be recalled was twelve reels in length. In spite of these apparent handicaps, the responses to the test show that the memory of what had been seen on the screen was very vivid indeed. The test was given to those in the Fifth and Sixth Grades who had seen the film in the school auditorium. The time allowed was twenty-five minutes. Some of the children had not seen the film from the beginning to the end, so their papers were not scored. The number scored was forty-six in the Fifth Grade (twenty-eight boys and eighteen girls) and sixty-one (twenty-six boys and thirty-five girls) in the Sixth Grade. Counting boys and girls, there were altogether fifty-four boys and fifty-three girls, a total of one hundred and seven pupils. The authors of this test wish to state that both the form of the test and the evaluation of the answers are frankly experimental (2). Three questions (1) " The score after a week's intermission was 80-85 % higher than it was di- rectly after the picture had been seen ", page 5. " A Preliminary Report of Psycholo- gical Research on Motion Pictures Conducted by Columbia University in 1926." Also see " Observation and Recall as a Function of Age ". H. E. Jones, A. Conrad and A. Horn, Univ. of Cal. Publications in Psychology, Vol. 3, pp. 225-242. See page 230 for comparison of the scores on a motion picture test taken immediately after seeing the picture and taken (by an equivalent group) after a week's interval. (2) For those wishing to experiment with a motion picture test, recommendations, based on experience and on data from motion picture tests, are given in a recent study by Herbert S. Conrad and Harold E. Jones. See " Suggestions for Increasing the Efficiency of Motion Picture Tests in the Measurement of Intelligence ", pp. 281-283, " Psychological Studies of Motion Pictures ", vol. 3, No. 8, Univ, of Cal., Publica- tions in Psychology, Nov. 22, 1929. - 73 - which proved misleading were dropped in scoring. Below follows a list of the questions retained with the value assigned to each. Question 5, 6, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19, judgment questions, were not scored quantita- tively; these will be discussed in a later section. Questions 3 might also be considered a judgment question, but to recall the five most exciting places in this well-constructed photo-play is to recall some of the main crises of the story and is one way of giving an outline of the story. Twelve questions were scored, ten of them fact questions. With a possible score of 25 on Question 3 and with the ten fact questions answered correctly and with over six titles recalled (Question 21), the maximum score possible on the test would be 125. The highest score was 115, made by a Sixth Grade girl. The lowest score was 15 made by two Fifth Grade boys. List of questions Maximum Score Did you see the Thief of Bagdad at the Benefit ? . . . Had you seen it before? When? 5 1. In what city did the Thief live? 5 2. What was written on the sky in the first picture? 25 3. What do you think were the most exciting places in the story? If you can, give five places. 20 4. In the following list, draw a line under the name of each thing which the Thief honestly earned A man's purse .... a winged horse a necklace a cloak of invisibility a magic chest the Princess' slipper a star-shaped key 5. What was the funniest thing in the picture? Name two other things that made you laugh 6. Was there anything which would scare children younger than yourself If you think so, name some of these things O" 5 7. From what countries did the three princes come? 5 8. What made the Thief's horse jump and throw him off into a rose tree? 9. Was there anything that seemed to you cruel in this film? . . . 10. Was there anything that seemed to you silly and too foolish?. . . 5 11. How long a time was given the three Princes to seek a rare treasure? , , . , - 74 - Maximum Score 15 12. Name the three rare treasures which the Princes brought back? 5 13. Why did the Mongol Prince order his man to poison the fisherman? 10 14. Name the treasures which the Thief brought back 15. What made you like the Thief in the first part of the picture?. . . . 16. What made you like the Thief in the second part of the picture? 17. Which of the four men who tried to win the Princess did you like the most? Why? 18. Which of the four men who tried to win the Princess did you like the least? Why? 19. Should the Mongol Prince have been punished at the end? . . 5 20. What was the signal to call the Mongol soldiers to the palace? 20 21 . If you remember the words of the printed captions, quote them here Question 3. A value of 5 was given to each exciting place recalled. The exciting places might or might not be those which an adult would recall as exciting. In Questions 4, 12, and 14, a credit of 5 was given for each object correctly underlined or named. For each object incorrectly included, 5 was deducted from the score on this question. Question 21. A value of 5 was assigned for one or two titles; of 10 for three, four or five titles; of 15 for six; of 20 for more than six. With a score of 20 on Question 21, the maximum score would be 125. RELATIVE DIFFICULTY OF THE QUESTIONS An account of the responses is presented here to aid those who may consider giving a similar motion picture test. Table I gives the number of boys and of girls answering. Table II gives the frequency and percentage of correct responses. The responses to two questions of special interest, Questions 3 and 21, will be discussed in full. -1- 73' - TABLE I. Number of correct responses to each questicn of Motion Picture Test. Total number of pupils tested in Grade V 46; in Grade VI 61. Number of Boys Grade V 28; Grade VI 26 total 54 Number of Girls Grade V 18; » VI 35 » 53 Question Number GRADE V GRADE v 1 B OTH GRADES Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total I 24 18 42 25 35 60 49 53 102 2 5 6 II 13 23 36 18 29 47 3 (1) 7 3 10 15 22 37 22 25 47 4 8 10 18 22 28 50 30 38 68 7 2 0 2 5 15 20 7 15 22 8 22 13 35 23 36 59 45 49 94 11 3 2 5 6 3 9 9 5 14 12 17 11 28 23 33 56 40 44 84 13 19 11 30 24 30 54 43 4i 84 14 11 10 21 II 20 3i 22 30 52 20 11 5 16 13 17 30 23 23 46 21 (2) 5 1 6 8 13 21 13 14 27 The introductory question brought the information that seven of the Fifth Grade and twenty-eight of the Sixth Grade had seen the film before seeing it in the school auditorium. Whether seeing the film before had any effect on the scores on the test will be discussed later. Correct Answers. Question 1. The Thief lived in the city of Bagdad. This was an easy question to start off with. Question 2. " Happiness must be earned " was written on the sky in the first picture. Question 3. The discussion of the responses to this question will follow later. Question 4. The Thief honestly earned a winged horse, a cloak of invisibility, a magic chest and a star-shaped key. (1) The numbers shown for the question indicate those who named five exciting places in the picture, thus getting the maximum score possible for this question: (2) Twelve of the 27 who gave titles in response to the question, gave 3 or more titles. The largest score on this question, namely 20, was made by two pupils in Grade VI, one boy and one girl. The median I. Q. of those who gave titles was 133, -76- Question 7. " From what countries did the three princes come? " This proved to be a difficult question. The title announcing the princes read, " The Prince of the Indies, The Prince of Persia, and the Prince of the Mongols ". Many spoke of China instead of Mongolia and that was accepted as right. There were only two correct answers from the Fifth Grade, from two exceptional boys who made high scores on the motion picture test. From the Sixth Grade there were twenty correct answers. Question 8. A bee stung the horse. An easy question, only twenty of the 106 did not mention the bee. Question 11. The Three Princes were given six moons to hunt for a rare treasure. Several titles made it clear that the Princes must be back in Bagdad on the seventh moon, they had six moons to hunt. The correct answer was given by only five in the Fifth Grade and by nine in the Sixth Grade. Question 12. The three rare treasures which the Princes brought back were the magic carpet, the magic crystal, and the magic apple. Question 13. The Mongol Prince ordered his man to poison the fisher- man to see if the magic apple would bring him back to life. Question 14. The rare treasures which the Thief brought back were the magic chest and the cloak of invisibility. Some of the children included treasures which the three Princes, but not the Thief, brought back. Some included his black horse, and this was not counted wrong, since he did come riding home on a magic black horse. Some included other objects doubtless prized by the Thief but not technically " rare treasures ". These were the Winged Horse, " gold ", " the star-shaped key " (Perhaps he did want to get into the abode of the Winged Horse some other time!), the magic rope and the Princess' slipper! One might hope that the Thief would not have to part with the Winged Horse or any of these objects; some of the chil- dren went so far as to say that he brought them all home! A Sixth Grade girl very wisely listed the treasures which the Thief brought home in this way, " The invisible cloak, the box and being a prince ". Question 20. The signal to call the Mongol soldiers to the palace was a torch waved from the window of the palace. To have noticed this detail in the midst of exciting and rapidly changing scenes towards the close of a twelve-reel film and to have recalled it four days afterward seems a real achievement. Sixteen in the Fifth Grade were able to do this. The Sixth Grade, with that increase in power of absorbing screen material indicated in other answers (see Table I) had thirty or about half their number who could recall this detail. The difficulty of this question and its appearance at the end of the test may have made it a sort of endurance test. As in some other questions, the response to Question 20 indicated that the boys of the Fifth Grade were more keenly observant than the girls of that grade, but in the Sixth Grade the boys and the girls seem to have about — 77 — equal ability. Classifying by sex, there are in the two grades fifty-four boys and fifty-three girls; twenty-three boys and twenty-three girls answered this question correctly. DISCUSSION OF THE RESPONSES TO QUESTION 3 Question 3. " What do you think were the most exciting places in the story? If you can, name five places ". The number of places named by the two grades is as follows: Grade V - 46 pupils No answer One Place Two Places Three Places Four Places Five Places Named by Named by Named by Named by Named by I II 8 12 4 10 Grade VI - 61 pupils 0 18 8 10 37 The above shows a striking difference between the responses of the two grades. To name more than three exciting places was difficult for the Fifth Grade and fairly easy for the Sixth Grade. However, ten in the Fifth Grade (seven boys and three girls) (1) could name five places and their choices show that they had thought through the entire story. Eight of these exceptional individuals belonged to the Advanced Group in the Fifth Grade. In the Sixth Grade, thirty-seven could name five places; only five of the thirty-seven did not think through the entire story. These thirty-seven in the Sixth Grade had a wide range of mental ability, ranging from 97 to 174. Average individuals in the Sixth Grade could answer a question which only exceptional individuals in the Fifth Grade could answer. Exciting places most frequently mentioned Fifth Grade Sixth Grade COTALS No. Perctge No. Perctge No. Perctge 1. When the Thief went through the Valley of Fire . . . 24 52% 34 56 % 58 54% 2. In the Valley of 23 50% 34 55% 57 53 % (including mention by some of the Thief's fight with the dragon) 3. When he was under 23 50% 29 48% 52 49% (1) The Mental ability of this Fifth Grade group who could name five places is as follows, Intelligence Quotients ranged from 113 to 178, with four over 135. Mental ages ranged from 11 to 15-4. Chronological ages, however, were from 8-9 to 11-3, with five ten and under. 30% 23 3«% 37 34 % 28% 25 40% 38 34% -78- Fifth Grade Sixth Grade Totals No. Perctge No. Perctge No. Perctge (including mention by some of his fight with the sea monster and of the "Old Man of the Midnight Sea ") 4. The Thief riding back to Bagdad. . 14 5. The fighting at the Palace in Bagdad. . 13 (including the raising of the magic army) Large numbers in the Fifth and Sixth Grades agree as to the most exciting places in the Thief of Bagdad. With both grades the impression of the Thief and his physical dangers is very vivid, more vividly recalled, as the above figures show, than even those scenes which, when shown on the screen, brought forth such a tumult of cheers and applause, namely the riding back and the fighting and raising of the magic army. Classifiying by sex there are in the two grades taken together fifty-five boys and fifty-two girls. There is no very striking difference between boys and girls in the exciting places most frequently mentioned. The most noticeable difference is the mention of the Valley of Fire by twenty-five boys and by thirty -three girls. In previous studies of the Horace Mann Junior and Senior High Schools the writer has noted that the boys have a keener interest in the problems of filming than the girls. This may be true also of the Fifth and Sixth Grades and in this scene of the Thief in the Valley of Fire more boys than girls may have known that the Thief's peril from fire was merely a matter of double exposure. Other exciting places mentioned by a smaller number Fifth Grade Sixth Grade Totals i. The Episode of the Rose- tree 6 12 18 2. The Winged Horse. . . 5 8 13 3. The Flying Carpet ... 7 6 13 4. Beating the Thief (or the other Thief) 1 11 12 5. The Thief's tricks in stealing and getting away .6 7 13 (the purse, jewel, food, (10 boys 3 girls) magic rope) 6. In the Princess' Palace .0 11 11 (3 boys 8 girls) - 79 — In the Exciting Places listed above. Numbers i, 2, and 3 represent what were in the story moments of crisis. These were all times of applause by the audience. " When he fell in the rose-tree ", " When he rode through the sky on the Winged Horse ", and " When the three Princes came to save her ", some of the children say in giving these exciting and critical places. One child recalls even more exactly the very moment of crisis, " When the Mongol Prince was about to touch the rose-tree ". Numbers 4 and 5 represent to an adult student of the film merely minor crises in the introductory or informatory reels. " Beating the Thief" would not be selected by an adult as one of the five most exciting places in this twelve-reel film of romance and adventure. However, to some of the children, these places are " most exciting ", " When he got whipped " and " When the cook chased him ". Among them, are children with high mental ability. A Sixth Grade boy with an I Q of 174 names first among his five exciting places " Jumping to the magic rope ". Another boy, also in the advanced group of the Sixth Grade, gives three of his five places to the Thief's adventures as a thief, namely, " When he took the jewel from the man ", " When he gets the rope " and " Got whipped ". Classifying by sex, there is no difference between the number of boys and of girls who record the places above, with the one exception of Number 6. More girls than boys mention the scenes in the Princess' Palace. " Seeing the Princess ", a Sixth Grade girl says, " is exciting ". Possibly the interest in romantic scenes more characteristic of girls than of boys in the Junior High School (as shown in a previous Horace Mann study) may be true also of the Sixth Grade. OTHER EXCITING PLACES MENTIONED BY A FEW INDIVIDUALS 1. When they were going to give him to the apes (6 mentions, Sixth Grade). 2. The Enchanted Trees (9 mentions, 7 in Sixth Grade). 3. Other Men's Adventures (2 mentions). 4. Getting the apple and using the apple (5 mentions, 4 in Sixth Grade). 5. Getting the crystal and using the crystal (8 mentions, 7 in Sixth Grade). 6. The Poisoning of the Princess (8 mentions, 4 in Sixth Grade). 7. Time Titles (5 mentions, 4 in Sixth Grade). " The Day the Princess' Suitors came " " The Birthday of the Princess " " The Sixth Moon, the Seventh Moon " " The 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Moons ". " A Day's Journey from Bagdad ". It is apparent that only a few in the Fifth Grade as compared with the Sixth contributed to this list of exciting places. — 8o — Both in the Fifth and the Sixth Grades, the individuals who made these unusual choices (unusual as compared with the other children of the same grade) are 35 in number. Three have mental ability of 10 1, 99 and 98 The others range from 109 to 174. Fifteen of them are 130 and over. Nine (three boys and six girls) are in the Fifth Grade, and twenty-six (thirteen boys and thirteen girls) are in the Sixth Grade. To these individuals, the Princess and the other men's adventures were interesting enough to be recalled as well as the adventures of the hero-thief. Number 7 represents interest in and remembrance of critical moments in the story. The time-element is important in the story of the Thief of Bagdad and in this well-constructed film, the time-titles were so placed as to increase the feeling of suspense. Some of the time-titles received applause from the audience. Beginning with the title « The Fourth Moon " it will be recalled by the readers of Section 1, there was increasing applause for the time-titles. The naming of the exciting places on the lists previously given has for convenience sake been based on the place in the film, for instance, « In the Valley ", " Under the Sea ", " In the Princess' Palace ". Some of the children so list the places they choose. Others more dramatically describe the moment that was exciting. The exactness of the language suggests the vividness of the original impression. Such responses suggest that among these children may be the story-tellers of their grades. Such are, Fifth Grade. " When the old woman was going to hit him ". " When he was being chased and jumped into a jug ". " When the spider swam into the Thief ". " When the tree moved ". " When the King said, " Fling him to the apes. Let them de- stroy him ". Sixth Grade. " When those big birds came down ". " When the Thief cut the dragon ". " In the church when the people started to catch him ". " When he stuck the dagger at the slave's back ". " When the Princess said, " I love you ". " When the Princess saw the Thief through the crystal ". " The Chinese soldiers surrounding the room ". "When the Thief threw the powder and the soldiers appeared ". Below are given a few of the best answers to Question 3. The five places chosen by these young people cover the whole story and frequently specify the exact moment that was exciting. The physical dangers which the Thief encountered appear in these answers, but there is also a variety of other exciting moments. The choices are sometimes those which an adult would agree are main crises in the story. (To be continued) 8i Compagnia Trasmediterranea - S. A. Series with all Spanish ports of the Peninsula, Canary Islands, Balearic Islands and Northern Africa Luxurious and comfortable motor-ships on all lines: Canary Islands " INFANTA BEATR1Z ", "INFANTA CRISTINA", "PLUS ULTRA", Barcelona-Palma (Majorca): "PRINCIPE AL- FONSO " e " INFANTA DON JAIME ". Al- giers-Ceuta-Tangier: "MIGUEL PRIMO DE RIVERA". Barcelona -Valencia: "INFANTE DON JUAN ". MADRID: Plaza de las Cortes, 6 BARCELONA: Via Layetana, 2 Agents in all ports SOCIETA CERAMICA RICHARD-GINORI - MILAN (Italy) Paid-up Capital L. 20.000.000 Factories: S. 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ITALCINE ITALCINE ITALCINE CINELUCE ITALCINE ITALCINE CINELUCE ITALCINE ITALCINE CINELUCE ITALCINE Documentary films CARIBOO One of the latest Paramount productions gives a vivid picture of the struggle and privations of the Ojibways, a nomad Red Indian tribe wandering amid the snowy deserts of Northern Canada, the last survivors of the peoples who once domin- ated North America. This filming of a whole race doomed to extinction is the work of two enthusiastic operators, whose devotion to science and strong determination enabled them to pass month after month in these inhospit- able parts, where a life of toil and sacrifice is further haunted for the natives by the constant spectre of starvation. This is a genuine documentary film, for to-morrow the Ojibways will belong to the past and in a few decades, maybe, nobody will emember their name. But the film will survive as an imperishable record of a vanished existence. In this way collec- tions of historical and documentary films serve, like gramophone records and libra- ries, to transmit to future generations the speech, writings and forms of a bygone age. Northern Canada is the home of the Cariboo rangifer, belonging to the reindeer family, but larger, darker and with shorter horns. Its habitat is the forest, but it is continually migrating towards the cold regions, for as soon as ever the temperature begins to rise, the cariboo is plagued with insects and disease. For the Canadian Indians the cariboo is the sole means of subsistence. It yields them in addition to food and clothing, their instruments of work and weapons for the chase, and the whole life of the tribe is directed towards the hunting of the cariboo. The means are primitive and savage and depend upon the courage, per- severance and skill of the hunter, who, in order to procure food and raiment for himself and his family, fears neither difficulties nor dangers. Search for the cariboo urges them ever northwards and often death overtakes them in the form of fierce attacks by bears, wolves and other famished beasts. The plot, as in all clocumentarv films, is simple. Chatoga, the chief of the Ojibways tribe and the last of an intrepid race of hunters, has led his people year after year across the immense stretches of the North and brought them peace and well-being. Grown old, he hands over his rule to two of the youngest and most vigorous of the tribe, Baluk, the bravest among the hunters, and Dagman, the subtle medicine man. Dagman's heart is full of hate and cupid- ity; his ambition is to be sole chief of the Ojibways and he wants little Niva, Cha- toga's daughter, for his wife. Niva loves Baluk and the old chief will not force her into an unwilling marriage. Fearing Dag- man's magic powers, Chatoga plays fcr time. At the approach of winter the tribe begins to feel the scarcity of food and the old man summons his chiefs to decide when they shall start outto hunt the cariboo. Balukadviscs a move to the south, where they will meet the flocks in the course of migration. Dagman disagrees and declares that, if they can find no cariboo near camp, it is due to the incapacity of the chief hunter. But Cha- toga falls in with Baluk's proposal and the hunters set out accompanied by the prayers and hopes of those left behind. The absence of the hunters makes life for i he tribe even more difficult. Food grows scarcer, winter is at hand and there is no sign of the party's return. One day, however, they are greeted by glad shouts of « Baluk is back." But their joy is short- lived: the hunters have found no trace of the cariboo. A hunter. Navigation on the big rivers of Northern Canada. Hunter in winter clothing. A woodland camp. A chief issuing orders. The^forest greeting. A funeral ceremony among the Red Indians. F""TT z1 *iKi Decoration of an Ojibways tent. A fresh council is held, and this time Baluk advises the tribe to push north towards the land that calls to the cariboo during the snowy season. The journey is a long and terrible one and Dagman seizes upon this to spread fear among the tribe. Game, he says, is plentiful in the woods near by and they had better stay where they are than go in search of hunger and the unknown. Once again Chatoga accepts Baluk's plan and the tribe sets off. After days of weary marching through snow and ice, the food supply is exhausted; the old men and the women can go no farther. Camp is pitched and only Baluk and a lew men press on. In order to call down a bless- ing upon the tribe, Chatoga goes up into a neighbouring mountain and, covered in nothing but a buffalo skin, remains there three days in solitary prayer. Meanwhile, Baluk has killed a bear and returns to camp with this first instalment of food. Chatoga's prayer is thus granted, but the strain upon the old man has been too great and he dies, nominating Baluk as his successor. Camp is struck and the tribe again starts off. Dagman, however, is rebellious and seeks to injure Baluk. After weeks of toil and suffering, Dagman calls upon all of them to implore aid from the Great Spirit, and during a propitiatory dance a snowstorm suddenly falls and as suddenly ceases. This is recognized by all as a sign of Dagman's supernatural powers and the latter, sensing victory, in the name of the Great Spirit demands the sacrifice of Baluk. Informed of this decision, Baluk aban- dons the chase and returns to camp, choos- ing the noblest death for a Chief, death by fire. A funeral pyre is then prepared and the young hunter takes his place upon it. As the flames mount, the implacable Dagman declaims his incantations. Sud- denly, a shout is heard « Cariboos, hundreds of cariboos!" Thereupon Baluk is released from the pyre and leads the men to the chase. The flocks are surrounded and the arrows of the Ojibways find their target The animals fall one after another, restor- ing peace and plenty to the whole tribe. Great rejoicings follow and Baluk is proclaimed Grand Chief. Dagman and his false magic are repudiated and the magician is driven out into the unknown, unarmed and without food or drink. Baluk marries little Niva. The actors are none of them film-stars but simple men who depict their weary nomad existence as it actually is. For this reason perhaps, their acting is pro- foundly human and bears that stamp of truth which is the hallmark of all good documentary work. The Rome Institute draws attention to this film as signifying the new tendencies of the cinema. The spectators must be shown real life with its darker sides, its forces manifest or latent, but with the splendid strength that lies in very simple things. G. de F. THE CATALOGUES OF THE I E C I AN APPEAL TO PRODUCERS Our Institute, being convinced that educational films are a most effective means towards the physical, intellectual and moral improvement of peoples and greatly contribute towards mutual understanding in the spirit of the League of Nations, has ever since its inception been at the utmost pains to encourage the manufacture, distribution and exchange of such films between one country and another. Our study of the problem, however, soon showed us that the chief obstacle to such production is the Customs barriers erected by the individual States. Accordingly, in October 1929 our GoverningBody appointed a Committee of Experts with the duty of framing a draft international Convention for the abolition of Cus- toms duties on educational films. This draft, duly approved by the Permanent Executive Committee and the Governing Body of our Institute, was submitted to the Council of the League of Nations at its meeting on May 13th, 1930. The Council, which favoured the examination of the draft, instructed the Secretary- General to forward it to all States Members and non-Members of the League together with the opinion of the League of Nations Economic Committee. On July 14th, 1930, the Secretary- General, having received a favourable opinion from the Economic Committee, -sent our draft convention to all States, requesting them to communicate to the League Secretariat before the end of 1930 any observa- tions or proposals their Governments might wish to make and which could serve as a basis for discussion at an international Conference to be held during 1931 . They were also asked whether they would be willing to send representatives to this Conference. A large number of countries have already expressed themselves in favour of the study of our draft convention and have intimated their willingness to attend the Conference. We are therefore hoping that this Conference will take place during the coming year and that it will have fruitful results. Pending the approval of its draft Convention, the Institute is pursuing its current wjrk and is engaged in compiling international catalogues of educational films for the information of other countries, to facilitate international exchange and thus create an excellent form of international cooperation with a view to the higher intellec- tual and moral development of mankind. For the purposes of this compilation we have urgently appealed to the Foreign Ministers of all States to request the organ or organs officially responsible for the censorship and classification of films in their countries to be so good as to send our Institute a catalogue of all educational and instructional films produced since 1925 by cinema firms, laboratories, universities, etc. Those countries which have no such official organ have been asked to call upon all associations and institutions which concern themselves with the cinema as an in- strument of education and social improvement to furnish our Institute direct with detailed informatibn of any educational films they may have made. — go — Having thus applied officially to the foreign representatives of each country, we consider it our duty, in view of the industrial and commercial importance of cine- matography, to approach through our Review the producers of educational films in e/ery country and ask them to supply the Institute with a list of educational films t ley have produced since 1925, together with all details, even of a commercial kind, inferring to each film, such as the title, a short account of the plot, the footage, n ime of manufacturing company, renter, price of hire, etc. We consider it unnecessary to point out to producers and renters the great advan- tiges to them of our compilation. Producers will benefit from the world-wide publicity officially given to their wares b/ our Institute, since our catalogues, divided into subjects and published in five lan- g lages, will circulate in every country. Renters will find in them their main source of information, for they will contain all particulars of each educational film and the terms on which they can be rented. We are sure that producers of educational films in every country will in their own interests comply with our request; in the meantime we offer them our thanks and cordial good wishes. I. E. C. I. gi - :: The Experts of the :: Cinematograph Industry Les Etablissements ANDRE DEBRIE PARIS -111-113, Rue Saint Maur- PARIS Are also at your service for the supply of every- thing in the way of ♦ Teaching Material ♦ Information and estimates forwarded upon application Automobiles 6 Cylinders Tou ring and Sporting Models S. A. I. Ing. NICOLA ROMEO & C. MILAN " ferrama „ positive and Jiegative Cinematographic films " Piam „ fabbrica Jta/iana £ amine jVfi/ano (Suneii anil Paid-up capital: Hire i3.ooo.ooo) Head Office: Piazza Francesco Crispi, 5 - MILAM All our products are made In the factories of Ferrania - Savona (Italy) — 92 Burgo Paper Mills Ltd. VERZUOLO 7 Factories - 3 Electric Power Stations - 2 Forest Holdings CARTIERE BURGO S. A. Katxling Abbiategrasso SopfjartaD Vena sea Yearly Output 100,000,000 Kw hours 20,000 tons of Cellulose 45,000 tons of Woodpulp 70,000 tons of Paper Glazed Paper Calendered Paper Rotogravure - Publications Illustrations Placards and Posters Writing Paper of all qualities, Ordinary, fine, extra fine and handmade Style Cellulose. Packing Paper Echoes and comments THE CINEMA AS A SOCIAL FACTOR Two recent reports by Mr. Carl E. Mil- liken, Secretary of the Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors of America, throw light upon the influence of films in America and invite a study of the question how far the cinema can be considered a social factor. These two reports, which are ioo per cent American, are perhaps on that ac- count a little one-sided; moreover, Mr. Mil- liken, in spite of his undoubted knowledge of the whole cinema world, quite naturally speaks from the point of view of a film producer. In order, however, properly to appreciate the cinema as a phenomenon in its various aspects, we cannot be content with one side of the medal only, but should examine and compare the views of both producers and consumers — in this case, the public — to see where they coincide and where they diverge. In its concrete and practical mani- festations, industrial life often presents diametrically opposed and yet perfectly orthodox standpoints, both adopted in p?rfect good faith despite their contrary natures. The clash of ideas and free dis- cussion may lead towards the truth, if only a very relative truth. Firstly, then, the cinema to-day is one of the chief items in the industrial and commercial life of the different coun- tries. In our Review we have several times quoted fabulous figures to show the host of people who gain their living by cinematography: commercial, technical and artistic directors; scenario-writers, stage managers and operators; stars, minor ac- tors and supers; employees and workmen of every calibre, electricians, carpenters, prcperty men, scene-painters, etc.; staff employed on sticking work and montage, printing and developing of positive, etc. The human capital in the film industry, therefore, in addition to the producer, consists of two groups of workers — brain-workers and manual workers. Outside the film industry itself, however, are various trades and industries from which the cinema obtains its raw material and technical machinery (apparatus, silver, various metals and woods, cotton, cel- luloid, etc.) and which owe their existence or expansion to that fact. Then there is the trade in films (sale, distribution and renting); finally their exhibition, with the ever-growing number of cinema theatres. It will readily be understood, therefore, that a vast amount of capital is invested in the film and as- sociated industries and that an enormous number of people depend directly or in- directly upon the cinema for their liveli- hood. Cinematography, in fact, is in the forefront of international economic life. Viewed in this aspect, its importance as a social factor is indisputable. Statistics. -- According to recent cal- culations, the capital invested in the cinema industry throughout the world is about four milliards of dollars, of which more than two are invested in America and one in Europe. Even these large figures cannot be con- sidered complete, for some countries claim a share which would considerably add to the total as estimated in these statistics. Germany, for example, at the end of June 1929 calculated that 87,600,000 marks were invested in the cinema industry; estimates made at the same time in Great Britain gave the figure of L. 6,000,000. It is estimated that 125 million dollars have been put into American cinema thea- tres onlv, but the commercial value of these houses — including buildings and instal- lation — is far greater — one and a half milliard dollars, according to a recent calculation. The New York Film Daily of August 7th, iQ2y, told us that at that time more than 90,000,000 people visited American cinemas during the week. Ci- nema attendance is understood to have 94 increased since then by 15 to 20 %, so, if we suppose that the average price of admission is from 35 to 50 cents, the daily takings of American cinemas must exceed two million dollars. We have already mentioned that more than 215,000 people in America earn their living directly or indirectly from the ci- nema. Of these 75,000 are engaged in production, 110,000 in cinema halls and 30,000 in industries associated with cine- matography. The same applies, in dif- ferent proportions, to other countries, all of which have developed in greater or less degree a cinema industry and tra-'e. This gives an idea of the vast army recruit- ed in the service of the film. The economic consequences are easy to deduce. Apart from the movement of capital involved, which is reflected in a constant increase of industrial activity, the result is also a substantial revenue to the State, since in one forrtr or another both industry and trade pay their contri- bution to the exchequer in every country. Moreover, while the import and export of films are a source of fiscal revenue to Governments, they also react upon the general economy of each country, and more particularly affect its balance of foreign payments. Mr. Milliken points out in one of his reports that the motion picture, besides supplying the bread for its millions of dependents, is supplying the butter for the bread of other millions unconnected with the industry. The influence of the screen is widespread. We are told that when Paris stenographers saw the well-lit and well-ventilated offices as shown in Ame- rican films, they demanded similar con- ditions. A newspaper correspondent in Macedonia tells of a visit to a barber's shop and of how he commented upon the style of chair used in American establish- ments. " Don't tell me ", said the barber, '' I know. I saw Adolphe Menjou runn- ing a barber's shop ". An American sewing-machine factory was surprised to receive orders for machines from Java and Sumatra, for the firm had no agents in those parts. It transpired that this flow of orders was clue to an American film showing the machine being operated by a film actress. So much for industry; it now remains to consider the purely social value of the screen, in the light of Mr. Milliken's reports. In two countries, the United States in the W^-jt and Japan in the East, the average attendances at the cinema are enormous, reaching figures which admit cf no compa- rison with any European country. These masses of people learn from the cinema aspects of life they have never known or only dimly been aware of. Therefore the good or harm they derive from a film will have a corresponding effect upon their minds or their morals. According to Mr. Milliken, this ignorance of certain sides of life is due to habits and human institutions, in some cases built around an idea or ideal, in others originat- ing out of practical necessities. Mr. Mil- liken traces attendance at the cinema to this second category. It satisfies the need of relaxation after a day's work, and he concludes that films, like every recreative activity, are useful to the community. The test of this utility, according to our writer, is the factor of attendance. During the last eight years attendance has steadily increased and in 1929 and 1930 the rate of increase has greatly accelerated. In round figures weekly attendance at Ame- rican cinemas is thought to be as follows: in 1922, 40 million spectators; in 1923, 43 millions; in 1924, 46 millions; in 1925, 48 millions; in 1926, 50 millions; in 1927, 57 millions, in 1928, 65 millions; in 1929, 95 millions; in 1930, 115 millions. From these enormous figures it may be concluded that, supposing for the sake of argument that every single inhabitant of the United States is a potential visitor to the cinema, everyone goes to the pictures fifty times a year. Deducting all those who by reason of age, health, etc., do not go, this individual rate of attendance may safely be doubled. Mr. Milliken does not doubt that this is the consequence of a higher moral and artistic standard of film production. It would not have been possible to draw these — 95 crowds to the cinema — and Europe and other parts of the world also show a large and continually increasing number of re- gular cinema-goers — unless production had greatly improved upon the pre-war film, which was open to criticism on ar- tistic and technical as well as on moral grounds. An all-round improvement in quality, therefore, to satisfy the demands of an ever-growing and increasingly cri- tical public. In support of this statement, Mr. Mil- liken quotes a number of measures taken by the American film industry and which have crystallised into what is known as a " code of production procedure " (The International Review of Educational Ci- nematography has already had occasion to refer to this code). One of the most important of the pro- visions mentioned in Mr. Milliken's re- ports is that which relates to the censorship or, more exactly, the " pre-viewing " of films. Before being exhibited, every film has to be examined by persons qualified to judge not only its aesthetic and technical value, but also its moral influence. It is, in fact, a kind of private censorship or- ganised by the industry itself and is pro- bably much more effective than any of "the many official censorship systems of other countries. This auto-censorship reminds us of another form which would also appear to be very useful, and that is the practice sometimes adopted in Russia of directly sounding public opinion about a film before finally releasing it; the public — a normal public. — is invited to give its views on the film, which is then cut or altered according to the opinions expressed. In this way the producer obtains in ad- vance useful indication of the probable reception of the film by the public at large. * * * In the same way that the cinema has become an active element in industrial and economic life, it also tends to become an instrument of social progress by re- vealing to the masses a wealth of phe- nomena which would otherwise never come within their view. It may be asked whether the motion- picture has altogether discharged its func- tion as a moral and educational influence, but Mr. Milliken makes one very pertinent observation in reply to such questions. The cinema, he says, is an art-form; like all expressions of human thought, it has passed through its embryonic, rudimentary and dangerous phase and its successive stages of growth have enabled it — and will enable it still further in the future — to purge itself of its grosser and cruder features, not only on the aesthetic and technical sides, but from the moral and social points of view. In its thirty years of existence the motion-picture has undergone a quite miraculous change. A huge legion of men have devoted to it their whole energy, their thought and intellectual capacity; they have listened to all the observation.?, criticisms and protests against the cinema as a source of immorality and crime and have gradually discarded outworn and su- perannuated forms that cease to appeal to current taste. To-day cinematography can look forward to a brighter and better future. We need only observe the increasing enthusiasm with which the public greets really artistic films, pure culture, scientific and documentary films, and the growing popularity of the cinema in schools, in the family and among amateurs. Ama- teur cinematograph}'- is particularly an- xious to avoid the intricacies of the theatrical film and concentrates almost entirely on scientific and educational subjects. Accordingly, the cinema as a pheno- menon deserves close investigation. It is obviously destined as time goes on to be transformed and improved in a variety of ways and the advance of technique will doubtless be accompanied by the raising of the moral level of films from which should follow an improvement in the social standard of the whole community. For these reasons, which our Review has on more than one occasion developed and discussed, Mr. Milliken's observations are of especial importance, of fundamental importance, indeed, since they indicate the course which the cinematography of tomorrow, under the guidance of a duly responsible industry, will need to pursue. G. de F. — 96 — PROPOSED FRENCH MINISTRY OF CINEMATOGRAPHY In the Cineopse, that valiant French monthly which leads the campaign on behalf of better films, M. G. Michel Coissac breaks a lance — not for the first time — in favour of the creation of an official French Films Department, " a Ministry, Under-Secretary's Office, Commissariat or otherwise-named Bureau, which shall be independent of changes of ministry and granted reasonable autonomy." M. Coissac reminds his readers that M. Herriot, when Minister of Education and Fine Arts, fully realised the need of apply- ing the cinema to education and invited a number of experts, including M. Coissac himself, to draw up a " Statement of Reasons," to serve to introduce the official publication of the first decree appointing a National Office of Social Instruction and Education. The question seemed on the point of settlement when events brought about the fall of a ministry which had been prepared to give effective Government support to the educational cinema. Let us glance at the reasons of internal policy which, according to M. Coissac, explain why an idea that found the support of all French ministers has not yet taken effect. The recent ministerial crisis will have keenly disappointed those persons who had rightly hoped much from the interest in cinematography shown by M. Eugene Lautier, Under-Secretary of State for the Fine Arts. M. Coissac quotes M. Lautier's statements to a Parisian newspaper, which conclude with this categorical announcement: " We have no longer the right officially to ignore cinema- tography and the cinema." We hope that these parliamentary vicissitudes will not discourage our friends in France and that the realisation of their aims is only postponed. From many points of view this is a purely national question and with such aspects the I. E.C.I, is of course not con- cerned. It cannot, however, help following with the closest sympathy the attempts of the French cinema world to ensure for cinematography that " patronage d'ex- ception," which M. Coissac so warmly advocates. Such patronage would confer upon cinematography official sanction as an art and as a medium of social education. In some countries — M. Coissac quotes Soviet Russia and Italy -- films have already received this sanction and they enjoy a still higher sanction — that of the League of Nations; vide the existence and work of the International Educatio- nal Cinematographic Institute. Naturally, therefore, the Rome Institute is delighted to see the Governments of the different countries turning their attention to a movement the encouragement of which on behalf of States Members of the League is the Institute's mission. P. B. de C. ASTRONOMICAL FILMS The discovery of photography very soon led to the idea of taking camera photo- graphs of the heavenly bodies. The moon was first selected, its luminosity lending itself excellently for the purpose, and good results were obtained at the very first attempt. It was, however, in regard to the fixed stars that the photographic plate proved most successful ; a plate has a cumulative power of absorbing impressions of light to which the human eye is insensible and is thus able to photograph stars that the eye can only see, if at all, through the most powerful telescope. Measurements can be applied to a plate so accurately that the old methods of determining the position of stars (heliometer) have almost fallen into disuse. The big astronomic and astrophysical surveys (Durchmusterun- gen) could never have been made without the help of photography, for example, the publication of the Cartes du del and - 97 their accompanying catalogues. We owe to the camera the study of the spectrum; photometric work, our added knowledge of variable stars, the study of the Milky Way system and of nebulae — in a word, the accumulation of the stati- stical material furnishing the basis of the work of scientists like Kapteyn. The only direction in which the camera failed was in the photography of the planets; the detail was poor, almost useless, in fact, for scientific work. In the case of the cinematograph the position is reversed: the planets are particularly suited for filming, as is indeed natural, since in films, which are mostly required for demonstration, it is not so important to have an absolutely clear and sharp photograph of the planet's surface; what is needed is a workable reproduction of the conditions gover- ning the movement of planets — that is, the rotation of the planets themselves and the movements of their satellites within their orbits — eclipses, shadows passing across the planets, etc. The Jupiter system is especially well adapted for the purpose and has already been filmed in the United States. In Germany Dr. Gramatzky and Dr. Thost have de- voted special study to the planets and we would draw our readers' attention to two very interesting articles, one by Dr. Thost in « Kinotechnik » (December 20th, 1929), the other by Herr Gramatzky in "Photographische Industrie" (November 19 th, 1930). Dr. Gramatzky works with very simple means, which he has very cleverly developed for his purposes. The diurnal movement of the solar system is hardly worth recording on film; more can be achieved by trick-films, and a number of pictures have already been made for purposes of demonstration. We will quote the single example of « Astronomische Monatsschau », a film by Dr. Kaiser, an astronomer of Wiesbaden. The cinematograph cannot tell us a great deal about the fixed stars, because they require too long an exposure, espe- cially the less luminous of them; this is a pity, for the variable stars would make most interesting material. There remain the comets, which will presumably soon be filmed, sunspots, the moon's surface with the longer or shorter shadows thrown by the mountains in the moon, eclipses of the sun and other phenomena; Mr. C. G. Clark on Mount Wilson and Mr. J. Stewart of Princeton filmed some of these not long ago. For purposes of demonstration astro- nomical films will be very valuable. Most of us only know of these matters from books; to watch the movements of the Jupiter satellites or the passage of a comet through the solar system will be a new and instructive experience. H. J. CONTEMPORANEOS MEXICAN CULTURAL <$> 4- REVIEW <$> 4- Chief Editor: BERNARDO ORTIZ DE MOHTELLANO Foreign terms : Single copy 0.25 dollars || Subscription price for 6 copies 1.50 dollars APARTADO POSTAL 1811 MEXICO, D F. ingl. Mary Pickford - Norma Talmadge - Gloria Swanson - Charlie Chaplin Douglas Fairbanks - D. W. Griffith Joseph M. Schenok - Samuel Goldwyn ifNfrIB\ "UNITED ARTISTS CORPORATION,, \\ Tl T? T I S 1 iSy^/ Joseph « Schenck President and Chairman of the Board of Directors ^ ' 729 Seventh Avenue, New York - United Artists Studios, Hollywood, Calif. UNITED ARTISTS CORPORATION, LTD. Film House, Wardour Street, London, W. I. England. LES ARTISTES ASSOClfiS, S. A., 20 Rue d'Aguesseau, Paris, France. LOS ARTISTAS ASOCIADOS, Rambla de Cataluna 62, Barcelona, Spain. ARTISTI ASSOCIATI, 22 Via del Quirinale, Rome, Italy. TERRA - UNITED ARTISTS, Kochstrasse 73, Berlin, S. W. 68, Germany. LES ARTISTES ASSOClES, S. A. B., 18 Rue d'Arenberg, Brussels, Belgium. UNITED ARTISTS, 14 Hammerichgade, Copenhagen, Denmark. UNITED ARTISTS SPOLECNAST, s. r. o. Prag II, Vaclavske nam 49, Palais Avion, Prague, Czechoslovakia. N. V. UNITED ARTISTS, Hoefkad 9, The Hague, Holland. A. B. UNITED ARTISTS, O. Y., 39 Esplanadgatan, Helsingfors, Finland. UNITED ARTISTS A/S, Kirkegaten 20, Oslo, Norway. UNITED ARTISTS a/B, Birger Jarlsgatan 15, Stockholm, Sweden. UNARTISCO, S. A., 3 Rue de la Confederation, Geneva, Switzerland. UNITED ARTISTS (AUSTRALASIA) LIMITED, 55 Courtenay Place, Wellington, New Zealand. UNITED ARTISTS CORPORATION OF CUBA, S. A., 39-41-Rafael Maria de Labra (Aguila) Street, Havana, Cuba. LOS ARTISTAS UNIDOS, S. A. Calle Cordoba 1249, Buenos Aires, Argentina. UNITED ARTISTS CORPORATION, Calle Huerfanos, 768, Santiago, Chile, ARTISTS UNIDOS, S. A., Capuchinas 67, Mexico, D. F. Mexico. UNITED ARTISTS CORPORATION, Masonic Temple, Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone. UNITED ARTISTS CORPORATION, Pracha Marechal Floriano 51, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. KRISEL & KRISEL, Agents, 21 Museum Road, Shanghai, China. L 1 A m m*4 ft I Br^ wT %tm^ m-^Jk w*Jk & Jb fila Via Friuli, 31 - Ml LA NO - Via Friuli, 31 PHOTOGRAPHIC AND RADIOGRAPHIC PLATES EVERY TYPE AND EVERY GRADE OF SENSITIVITY FILMS ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ For Sale everywhere ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ B B O R H Crime and the Motion Picture by Carleton Simon, M. D.; presented at the Conven- tion of the International Chiefs of Police Association, held at Colorado Springs, Colorado, on June 25th, 1928, 13 pages. These few words emanate from an expert and are therefore deserving of notice. In reply to those people who in all good faith have criticised and even violently attacked the cinema, Dr. Simon maintains that present-clay cinematography, under the control of Mr. Will H. Hays, disposes of all doubts and apprehensions. It is a psychological axiom that the things we see are more easily remembered than the things we read about and that all of us emplo}' the aid of visual memory to record facts which it is our "interest not to forget. What impression does cinemato- graphic vision leave with us? Even if the film dcpi:ts a crime, it never ends with the triumph of the malefactor. Any impartial person must admit that the public's sense of justice, its sympathy with the weak and the oppressed, its indignation against treachery and its desire to see virtue rewarded have led the large majority of film producers to cater for this high level of taste and feeling. According to Dr. Simon, the spread of crime is to be attributed to other factors than the cinema. The war is one of them, since history teaches us that every war is followed by waves of crime. Society itself is another, for as long as society produces psychopaths and morons, crime will continue. The campaign against crime needs organi- sation; society defends itself as best it can and uses all means at its disposal to punish the criminal and to segregate those who have tried to harm the community. These measures are both repressive and preventive, and, while they deal with the evil and prevent it from spreading, they do not really help good to triumph. Punish- ment is, in fact, in itself an acknowledg- ment of defeat, and the important thing is not to devise means of punishin g the acts of a number of mental defectives, but to stamp out crime itself and to guide the activities of criminals into right chan- nels. It is towards the prevention of crime that criminologists and sociologists are more and more directing their efforts. Many of them are even calling upon the screen to help in educating the mass of adult opinion and in spreading those religious, humanitarian and patriotic ideals which shine like good deeds in a naughty world. The History of the Zeiss Works from early days until the death of Ernst Abbe, Jena. J930. With the help of publications now half- forgotten, personal records, important docu- ments never yet published and a quantity of research and comparative study, Herr von Rohr has succeeded in furnishing an account of the origins and growth of the Zeiss Works and in showing that the merits of Carl Zeiss were fully equal to those of Abbe. Carl Zeiss (1816-1888), after four years at the University of Jena (1834-1838) as the pupil of Friedrich Korner, Professor of Mechanical Science, and a few years of travelling apprenticeship, settled at Jena in 1846. Here he opened a small shop with a capital of 100 thaler, his wares consist- ing of simple microscopes of his own manu- facture and optical instruments of foreign production. By 1858 he had developed his business to the extent of selling lenses, glasses and other instruments of his own making, for which he was awarded a prize at the Thuringian Industrial Exhibi- tion of 1861. The extent of his influence on the market may be gathered from the growing list of his products. Served by a staff of highly skilled workers, he received especial ingl. I (JO help from his foreman August Loeber (1830- 19.14), who in 1861 — independently of the method already adopted by Fraunhofer — discovered a similar system of examin- ing optical surfaces. Zeiss, however, realised that his experi- mental system could not be the right one and he therefore persuaded Ernst Abbe (1840-1905), who had been his colleague since 1870, to reexamine the fundamental theories of microscopy. These investiga- tions led between 1870 and 1S80 to the invention of a number of microscopic lenses made no longer on an experimental basis, but on a basis of calculations. During this same period new systems of illumination were discovered. From that time on Abbe's collaboration become closer and in 1876 he acquired an interest in the business. Further improvements in microscopy were hampered by defective material. In 1879 Abbe entered into business rela- tions with O. Schott and in 1884 founded the optical firm with the support of the Prussian Government. Abbe's work led to fresh improvements in microscopic and ocular lenses. After the death of Carl Zeiss and the resignation of his son Roderich, Abbe made a present of his interest in the business. The share capital which, when Abbe first became a shareholder had been worth 70,000 marks, was by then worth several millions. In later years Abbe worked at the manufacture of new articles in the form of eye-glasses, telescopes, photographic lenses, telemeters, etc. Scenario-Writing and Producing for the Amateur, by Marion Morris Gleason; American Photographic Publishing Co., Boston, 308 pages, 16 illustrations. In a short preface to this book Mr. C. E. Kenneth Mees points out that cinema- tography is now in its second phase of existence. It has overcome the initial difficulties of theory and technique and has become the possession of the amateur. As the latter represents a large and grow- ing element, his collaboration is bound to influence the development of the cinema in the direction, let us hope, of its improve- ment. The writer of this book is addressing amateurs in cinematography. He wants to coordinate their separate efforts, many of which are fertile in suggestions, so that their work, undertaken perhaps as relaxa- tion from some more arduous labours, may prove a real and valuable contribu- tion to the future of the screen. The authcr leaves to others the task of dealing with technical difficulties and only seeks to show how scenarios should be compiled. He divides films into family film;-, films for child actors, films for festive occasior.r, etc. and gives 20 scenarios as examples. T. O'Connor Sloane, Ph. D., LI. D., Motion Picture Projection. Falk Publish- ing Company, New York. Mr. O'Connor Sloane's new book on the general aspects of the cinema gives us a short account of the history and present situation of the film industry. After a rapid ■- and necessarily incomplete — survey of the past, the author proceeds to illustrate and enumerate the various aspects of cinematographic art and industry. The early chapters are devoted to the relations between the cinema and electricity, electric plant and its use, the laws governing electric current, circuits, resistance, etc. These chapters also describe the various methods of illumination, electric generators, swit- ches, control apparatus, etc. The second part of the book deals at length with lenses, condensers, focussing, etc. This is followed by information concerning cinema cameras and films, inflammable and non- inflammable, perforations, film defects, etc. Lastly, the book tells us of the different kinds of screen and of the principles which their inventors have followed and it ends by touching upon the problem of portable cinemas and the sources of light required for projection where electric current is lacking. This last is a problem of especial importance to propagandists of educational cinematography. Agrarian propaganda work in the country, hygiene propaganda — 101 in small places, etc., is often held up by the impossibility of obtaining electric current, either because the source is too far from the place of projection or because the current itself is insufficient or restricted to certain hours of the day. Mr. O'Connor Sloane's volume, despite its omissions, gives in a pleasant and rea- dable form a useful account of the complex theoretical and practical problems connected with the film industry. Peter Milne, .Motion Picture Directing. Falk Publishing Company, Inc., 145, West 36th Street, New York, 234 pages, 48 illustrations, 1 map. Everybody at all acquainted with cinema technique knows how much a successful film owes to its director. The stage director must have deep artistic insight, be himself an " artist," according to Mr. Milne, who has been careful not to compile a dry list of precepts t-hat probably no one would read, but has given us the theories and principles of the best-known film producers. The result is a collection of opinions many of them divergent, but none the less interesting to the cinema student, who can choose from this material whatever suits his own artistic tempera- ment. After defining the essential qualities of a stage director as experience and imagina- tion, since he has to be able to visualise the plot in all its details, the author draws up a list of the producers whose successes have made them famous above all others. The reader is introduced to them one after the other: the de Mille brothers, who attribute the success of a film to its con- tinuity of action and the ability of the actors to identify themselves with their parts; Rex Ingram, whose masterpiece, " The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," reveals his special power of creating atmos- phere by minute and careful detail; D. W. Griffith, whose name will always be associated with " The Birth of a Nation " and who, like a true artist, obeys no laws and follows no methods, but trusts to the inspiration of the moment; Frank Borzage, who aims at presenting man, not as he might or ought to be, but as he really is, with his ups and downs, his triumphs and his failures, with the result that every spectator sees his own image reflected on the screen; Edward Dillon, who rightly attaches importance to a wise distribution of incidents in such manner as to assist and not obscure the development of the main plot; Ernest Lubitsch, the producer of " Dr. Caligari;" Marshall Neilan, who shrewdly remarks that the producer should consider the point of view of the public and survey his work with a critical and not too friendly eye. The last chapter in the book quotes those modern films which, in Mr. Milne's opinion, contain the essential character- istics of good production. A. R. Schulze, Kinopraxis. Published by August Scherl, Berlin. This is an excellent handbook for those who are interested in the technical side of film projection and themselves operate and therefore know the principles of optics, mechanics and electricity and their applica- tion to projectors, and know also how to use the various accessories and adjuncts to the machine itself. The book is further of interest because it indicates the different ways of prevent- ing breakages and of making the necessary repairs and mentions the general causes of sudden stoppages and of the break- down of essential parts of the apparatus. Advice is therefore given about the electric plant in cinema boxes, its operation and regulation, the measures to be taken to avoid fire, etc. The book is abundantly provided with graphs, diagrams and model reproductions and, though essentially technical, it makes easv reading. Inez and Helen Klumph, Screen acting — its requirements and rewards. Falk Publishing Company, New York. This is another book for persons inter- ested in the specific problems of dramatic film-making. With the help of a number of film stars, directors, operators and others — 102 — the authors have sought to give a rapid survey of- the various essential requisites and the fundamental rules to be followed in film-making. The book is especially valuable for its wise words concerning the need of extreme care in the selection and control of costume so as to prevent a single detail from spoiling the beauty and success of a film. The "accounts of film studio secrets, with frequent references to particular cases, and the stories of cinema artists given first-hand make the whole book unusually entertaining. Herbert C. McKay, The Handbook of Motion Picture Photography. Falk Pu- blishing Company, New York. A good handbook of cinematography. Mr. McKay, who is already well-known for several works on the cinema, is head of the New York Photographic Institute. The present book is intended to illustrate the principles of film technique and practice. Separate chapters are devoted to apparatus, lenses, tripods, portable machines, and the use of all these. The author then gives a short but clear and practical description of film laboratories, the developing and printing of film, the arrangement of captions, etc., and after references to certain kinds of cameras ends with an account of how trick-films are taken. Mr. McKay's book is to be recommended strongly to all who wish to form a general idea of cinematography. WifcLiAM Lord Wright, Photoplay Writing. Falk Publishing Company, New York. William Lord Wright is one of our best writers on film technique and in his book on photoplay writing he has chosen a very interesting and vital theme. The cinema is increasingly in need of its own literature, its own authors, writers who will enter its service and furnish it with plots, dialogue, actor's parts, etc., which will arouse the public's interest. A new literature is being created with a literary form of its own. Hitherto — and except for a few universally popular works — cinema plays have been nothing but adaptations from existing books or stage plays. The author further discusses the language of the film, the development and printing of films in various sizes, the problem of captions, etc. L'ECO DEL CINEMA - Florence. Summary of Contents: The World's Voice - John Mack Brown - With Byrd to the South Pole - Rifredi and his Theatres - Radio Cinema and Advertising - Ramon Novarro - Dynamite - Bibliography. LA VITA CINEMATOGRAFICA an International Illustrated (21st Year). The oldest and most-read Italian Review. Managing Editor Cav. A. A. Cavallaro. Offices, Via. Pio Ouinto, n. 17, Turin. Summary of Special Number, December 1930: Editorial: The Year's balance-sheet.. An improvement - C. B. Bonzi, The cinema conscience, Problems of the Cinema - Carlo Ve- neziani, A contribution to the discussion - Lucio Ridenti, Star - Bruno Cjuaiat, The real- Francois Villon - Spinamonte, The educational cinema - Umberto Paradisi, Kissing and the screen - Giuseppe Faraci, The psychological effects of darkness in the ciyiema - Gaeta.no Amendola, The Cinema, publicity and the " Cine-Group " - Ennio Cosimo, Music and the spoken film - Giovanni Marchesini, Vittorio Podrecca, you are a miracle-maker! - Libero M.'.stracchi, Unfolding the wings - G. F. de Katt, The Red Sign (New) - Greta Garbo as a business woman - The Byrd Expedition to the South Pole - Italian topical events - American topical events - German topical events - Criticism - Correspondence - Notes. — 103 — GINEGRAPH. Index of the January number: Editorial, Jean Velu - The new movement, Germaine Ducal - An hour ivith Inkijinoff, Roberte Landrin -- Monte Carlo, Andre Hirschmann - The Cinema as a labour question, Robert Jarville - The hand of Signoret, H. Mangin-Balthazar - Super-realism, a School of cinematography , Edouard Lcngue - The end of the world, Andre Langere - James Ensor, Katia Hirschmann -- Love's first journey (a poem), Jean Velu - Dance, Simone Surdieux - Madame Simone Volterra, manager and producer, Max Dorigny - Travel impressions, M. Marcellin - Music-hall, theatre, circus, Max Dorigny. LA REVUE DE L'ECRAN. Index of Special New Year number: The review... of the screen, Pierre Ogouz - Five times eight, scenario for animated drawings, Gabriel Bertin - Towards the polydi- mensional film? , Raymond Huguenard - Criticism and slander, Emile Capelicr - In my opinion, Georges Vial - Trade shows, A. de Masini — Mechanical music, Gaston Mouren - Paris news, R. Huguenard - Managers' Association, a report - Local news - Round the studios - Short notes - Echoes. DIE SCHULPHOTOGRAPHIE. Magazine for teachers and students of photography. Editor: Richard Lange. Publishers: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, Zimmerstrasse 94, Berlin, S. W., 68. 1st Vear; Vol. 4, December 1930. The fourth number of this magazine, which is edited by Richard Lange, well-know.n in the field of school photography and at one time at the Prussian Ministry of Education, has now appeared. It contains the following: The function of photography in schools, by Dr. Jahnke, of the Prussian Ministry of Education - Photography by artificial light, by Dr. Beck, of Berlin University - Photography and physics teaching, by Dr. Baier - An interesting article by Dr. Warstatt, himself a teacher, on the mounting of photographs, a matter of importance for schools — Camera possibilities on a school outing in winter, by Herr Landschullehrer Leon - The camera and the little ones, by Dr. Winkler, of Munich (this last charmingly illustrated). The contents further include: Official news - Subjects for school exercises in photo- graphy — Photographic interchanges - Photographic criticism - Review of books and newspapers - Correspondence column. CINE-EDUCATION. A List of principal articles that have appeared: A Study of Effects of Films on Children, by Ippei Fukuro (Cine-Education, Jan., March, April and May numbers) - Attitude in Making of Educational Films, by Kiyohsi Masumoto (C.-E., February, 1930) - Inquiries on the Efficient Results of Films, by Nagata, Yoshida, Inada (C.-E., March) - The New School and Cine-Education, by Dr. T. Tanimoto (C.-E., April) - A Study of Methods of Utilizing Movies according to the Different Classes at a School, by Seishichi Akasaka (C.-E., May) - Trend of Cinema For Children, h ■ Masata Tanaka (C.-E., June) - Educational Value of Films, by Yoshio Miura (C.-E., August). - " Reading " Lesson Through Medium of Films, by Masamaru Kondo (C.-E., August) — Children's Impressions of Films as Expressed in terms of Writing and Pictures, by Yoneda, Kinomata and Kano. (C.-E., September). Cine-Education. The Osaka Mainiclii Publishing Co., Dojima, Kita-Ku. Osaka (Japan) Dr. LUCIANO de FEO, Editor and Responsible Manager (;rafia » S. A. I. Industrie Grafiche - Via Ennio Quirino Visconti, 13 - Roma — 104 — ^Uli «,,HlIlllll"-*«S,>iltllIllliS%«r,*lllllllllii*«ff*l|||iiiHi»:«Ji»i«itiIII.;-«!»Hiiin|||>:».;»lii [ I . ■ - . : 1 1 1 1 1 1 • < : ' M 1 1 . r ; |h>(;H|lniillli^<|illiiiillli:'<>,iimillli>:-ii,illllHllli:<.-T=. GENERAL DIRECTION: ROMA The Capital insured with the ISTITUTO NAZIONALE DELLE A5SICURAZI0NI is guaranteed by the Italian State Treasury, as well as by the ordi- nary and extraordinary reserves of the Institute. The Institute has adopted diverse systems of insurance suitable to all social conditions. There is no need of medical examination for our « Popular In- surances » and the premiums are paid by monthly instalments. 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A. owns the following Stores: Alexandria - Ancona - Bari (Fabbriche Riunite Como) - Bergamo - Bologna - Bologna {Seterie haliane) - Brescia - Catania - Cremona - Ferrara - Florence - Florence {Tessiture Seriche Comensi) - Fiume - Genoa - Genoa (Moda Serica) - Lecce - Leghorn - Le- ghorn {Casa del Blocco) - Luce a - Mantua - Milan - Milan {La Comense) - Modena {La Comaise) - Naples - Naples (Citta di Como) - Naples (Trionfo della Seta) - Novara - Padua - Palermo - Parma - Perugia - Piacenza - Pisa - San Remo - Savona - Spezia - Taranto Turin - Trieste - Trieste (Paradiso della Seta) Udine - Venice - Verona m+ % ^ FIRST CLASS GOODS SEVERAL PRIZES KLFIiai Ik rivieba di'castellammare j>4^ 5AM RE/AO (ITALIAN RIVIERA) 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (!) 0 0 GLORIOUS SUNSHINE BLUE SKIES v» ^ **> SPARKLING SEA ca> MUNICIPAL CASIMO OPEN ALL THE YEAR ROUND INTERfftTIOfVL REVIEW "Si EDUCATONAUWmiAPIIY ROME FEBRUARY 19 3 1 OF THE INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL aNEMATOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE *UUQ INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHIC. INSTITUTE LEAGUE OF NATIONS GOVERNING BODY. ROCCO Hon. Prof. Alfredo, Italian Minister of Justice, Prof, of Right at the Uni- versity of Rome, President. CARTON DE WIART H., State Minister, Hon. President of the Child Welfare Committee. CHRZANOWSKI Leon, Head of the Press Office of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. CLJRLIS Dr. Hans, Director of the Institute of Cultural Research in Berlin, Presidtnt of the Confederation of Cultural and Instructive Film Producers. DESTRfiE Jules, ex-Minister, Vice-President of the I. C. I. C. FINEGAN Thos., President of the Eastman Teaching Corp. FOCILLON Prof. Henry, Prof, at the University of Paris. HANKIN G. T., Esq., H. M. I., Board of Education. KRUSS Dr. Hugo, Director General of the Prussian State Library in Berlin. LUMIERE Louis, Member of the Institute of France. MILLIKEN Carl E., Secretary General of the Motion Picture Producers & Distributors Inc. (U. S. A). MISTRAL Prof. Gabriela. OPRESCU Prof. Giorgio, Secretary. PARANJPYE Dr. R. P., former Minister of Instruction in Bombay, Member of the Council of the Secretary of State for India. REYNOLD Prof. Gonzague de, Prof, at the University of Berne. SANGRO Y ROS DE OLANO, don Pedro, Marques de GUAD-EL-JELU', Minister of Labour. The Secretary General of the League of Nations. The President of the International Agricultural Institute. The Director of the International Labour Office. The Director of the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation are present at the meetings in an advisory capacity. de MONTENACH Jean-Daniel, Secretary. de FEO Doctor Luciano, Director. EDITORIAL COMMITTEE OF THE REVIEW. Dr. de FEO, Luciano, Director Berne de Chavannes, Pierre . .• ;Gimeno, Jose' Mari» Farnell, H. Leigh Jordan, H. de Feo, Giuseppe Apollonio, Maria Elena, Secretary YEAR III. FEBRUARY 1931 N. 2 INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF EDUCATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHY MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE — LEAGUE OF NATIONS — ROME - Via Lazzaro Spallanzani, i - ROME INDEX G. Fanciulli . . - The Aeneid 113 E. Duvillard. . - The Censorship of Films for the Young 136 Cavaillon ... - The Cinema and Educational Propaganda against Venereal Risks 143 F. Strube . , . - The Cinema in the Service of Labour Hygiene . . 151 STUDIES AND ENQUIRIES M.rs Allen Abbott - Children's responses to the motion picture « The Thief of Bagdad » (Contd.) 157 THE INSTITUTE'S ENQUIRIES Cinema and fatigue (Contd.) 165 INFORMATION The Congress for open-air instruction — Cinema and philanthropy in Holland — Stabilising the. sound-film in Germany — Lantern- Slide and Film Section of the Association of German Culture, Prague 177 LEGISLA TION Film censorship in Soviet Russia and Turkey 180 DOCUMENTARY FILMS Pori 184 ECHOES AND COMMENTS Cinematographic criticism 188 BIBLIOGRAPHY 190 THE AENEID SCENARIO FOR A FILM BASED ON VIRGIL'S POEM PART I. (from the Italian) Scene I. The house of Aeneas, at Troy, during the night. - Aeneas is asleep in his room and through the windows we see the flare of distant burning. - The shade of Hector appears to the sleeper in a dream. - It points to the burning city, then towards the sea and a departing ship. - Aeneas awakes, jumps up and seizes his arms; from the window he sees Troy besieged and already set on fire by the enemy. Scene II. Aeneas, with a handful of men, is fighting in the streets by the light of the fires; many fall and he is left almost alone. Near the Temple of Vesta he meets Helen, the cause of so much woe, and is about to run her through with his sword, when Venus, his mother, appears, stays his arm and bids him turn home to defend his house and family. Scene III. A ground-floor room in Aeneas' house. - Creusa and the boy Ascanius are waiting anxiously; with them are old Anchises and a few slaves. - Aeneas joins them and announces that all is lost; they must follow advice given by Hector in the dream and escape by sea. - Anchises refuses, preferring death among the ruins of his home and city. - Suddenly, a thin flame surrounds the boy's head without burning him, while thunder is heard from the left. At this portent of future glory, Anchises gives way and the fugitives abandon the house; Aeneas carries old Anchises on his back and leads the boy by the hand, Creusa following. Scene IV. The fugitives are passing beyond the walls, when they hear pursuers and take to hasty flight. Once in safety, they stop on the wooded slopes of Mount Ida. Creusa has been left behind and, as other fugitives enter the forest, Aeneas returns to the city to seek his wife. - ii4 Scene V. Aeneas is roaming the streets calling Creusa by name. - He finds his house already in flames, sees the piles of booty and columns of captive Trojan women being driven by the Greeks towards the ships. - The shade of Creusa appears, signs to him to take comfort and points to a vision; on the sea is seen a ship in flight (like the one in the dream), then a sun-lit shore and Aeneas mounting a throne, a young princess at his side. Scene VI. Between the forest of Mount Ida and the sea. - At Aeneas' orders the carpenters are cutting down trees and building ships. - The Trojan fugitives embark and the new fleet sets sail. PART II. Scene VII. The ships put in along the coast of Thrace. - Aeneas points to a spot along the desert shore as the site of the new city and prepares to propitiate the gods with a sacrifice. The altar is erected. Some go out and gather branches to adorn it but, at the breaking of the first branch, blood gushes forth; Aeneas breaks another branch, with the same result. - As all stand amazed, a sepulchral voice is heard: " What harm have I done ye?. Leave me in peace. I am Polydorus, son of Priam. Hither was I sent with treasure together with my kinsman Polymnestor, and he, false traitor, slew me for the sake of the gold; for every arrow that pierced me, a branch has sprung... Father Anchises decides that they cannot remain in a place where hospitality was thus violated and they return to the ships. Scene VIII. The Temple of Apollo on the island of Delos. - The Trojan exiles wish to question the deity. The priest invokes the oracle; from the sacred tripod a voice is heard: " O warrior race of Dardanus, turn to the land whence ye came; there Aeneas shall reign and thence his descendants shall one day govern the world." Anchises interprets the oracle: " The god is directing us to the island of Crete.; I remember that Teucer, one of our earliest ancestors, came from Crete. Once again, the ships put out to the sea. Scene IX. The ships reach Crete and are drawn up on dry land. - Joy of the fugitives. - Aeneas plans the new city and building is already well under — H5 — way when a terrible plague breaks out. Even the vegetation withers and no prayers avail against the scourge. - The household gods, transported from Troy, appear to Aeneas in a dream, saying: " This is not the land destined for thee and thine offspring. There is a far-off country called by the Greeks Hesperia, famous for its antiquity, the valour of its people and the fertility of its soil. The (Enotri once lived there and it is now called Italy. Thence came thy forefathers Dardanus and Jason and thither must thou go..." Scene X. Terrible storm at sea. - The ships have left Crete and are tossed about by the waves. They reach an island of the Strophades. Some of the men capture the grazing heifers, offer them as sacrifices and set the tables. - Scar- cely is the food served when the Harpies appear, monsters with women's faces, the bodies of birds and fierce claws. They steal the food, foul the tables and repeat their assaults again and again. At last the harpy Celaeno, from the summit of a rock, utters this sinister prophecy: " Aeneas, thou wilt be punished for slaying our heifers. Ye will reach Italy, but will suffer such hunger that ye will devour the very trenchers." Anchises beseeches the aid of the gods. Scene XI. The fleet at sea. - The ships sail past the islands of Zacynthus, Dulicchium and Ithaca; they reach the promotory of Leucas with its temple to Apollo. - A rest at Actium. - Another rest by night at Cape Cerannus. As dawn breaks, a distant line of hills is dimly visible and a coast-line below; this is Italy. The crews rejoice. Anchises raises a wine-cup gar- landed with flowers and pours out a libation that the gods may guide the ships to shore. Taranto is seen with its great temple to Juno Lucina. The ships cast anchor along the coasts of the Cyclops in a harbour from which Etna is seen smoking. Scene XII. At dawn they see coming towards them a torn and emaciated figure, which implores their aid. This is Achemenides, one of the Greeks who failed to escape with Ulysses and was captured by Polyphemus. Blind Polyphemus then comes down from the hill, driving his flocks before him. He wades up to his waist in the water to bathe his blinded eyes. - The Trojans with Ache- menides go on board and make ready to depart. - Polyphemus, unable to follow, utters a loud cry and, at his command, hundreds of Cyclops issue from the hillside and come rushing down to the sea. The ships make good their escape. Scene XIII. The Trojans arrive at the coast of Sicily and land at Trapani. Over- come with the fatigues of the long voyage, Anchises falls sick and dies in Aeneas' arms. lib Scene XIV. The Trojan vessels are making their way across the glassy sea. - Juno flies down to the Aeolian Islands and urges Aeolus to release his winds in order that a storm may scatter the Trojans. Aeolus consents and the winds issue from their hiding-places. A violent storm; Aeneas' fleet is in danger of shipwreck, when Neptune, the protector of the Trojans, rises from the waves; he threatens the winds and compels them to withdraw; then he rides the calm waters in his chariot attended by Tritons and nymphs. - Aeneas directs the prows towards the neighbouring coast of Libya, but many of the ships fail to answer the call. Scene XV. The encampment of the shipwrecked navigators. - Aeneas and his trusted henchman Achates have ascended a hill from which they observe a city in course of construction — it is Carthage — and they decide to ask for help. Scene XVI. Aeneas and Achates mix with the busy crowd in the new city. - They arrive at a temple dedicated to Juno, now almost completed. Within is Queen Dido, surrounded by a splendid court and seated upon the throne of justice. Aeneas announces himself and is received with honours. The Queen tells him that other shipwrecked mariners have landed and orders that succour shall be given them all. Scene XVII. Venus and Cupid are near the camp. Venus says: " Take the place of the boy Ascanius and arrange that Dido shall fall fatally in love with Aeneas, so that her goodwill towards him shall not fail. I will take charge of the boy and restore him to his father to-morrow." Cupid approaches Ascanius in invisible form and assumes his exact appearance. Then Venus, also invisible, carries off the boy. Scene XVIII. A room in the palace prepared for a sumptuous banquet. — Soldiers and courtiers. — Queen Dido enters radiant in beauty. Aeneas arrives with Ascanius and the Trojan leaders. Ascanius offers the Queen rich gifts. The banquet has begun and the Queen begs Aeneas to tell the story of the sack of Troy and the adventures of his journey. The hero begins his tale; the Queen listens eagerly, taking Ascanius on her knee. The boy — un- observed — transfixes her with one of his magic darts. u <_> o < h«i b£ u C m o o II? o p o Ii8 — ng — Scene XIX. In Olympus. - Juno is joined by Venus, and proposes to unite Dido and Aeneas in marriage, because she secretly thinks by this means to prevent the birth of Rome, Carthage's future enemy. - The pact is concluded. Scene XX. A hunt near Carthage. - Dido and Aeneas, separated from their retinue, hold soft discourse. A sudden hurricane gets up and the pair take refuge in a cave. Cupid appears at the entrance armed with bow and arrows. Scene XXI. Olympus. - Jupiter regards the Earth and sees Aeneas arrayed in Tyrian splendour directing building work at Carthage. - The father of the gods summons Mercury, who on receipt of orders dons the winged sandals and flies away. Scene XXII. Mercury appears to Aeneas and says: " O Trojan Prince, hast thou forgotten thine imperial destiny? For thine own sake and still more thy son's sake remember Italy and Rome. The father of the gods has bidden me urge thee to depart. Scene XXIII. Aeneas is torn by conflicting desires, but feels he cannot oppose the divine command. - He summons his leaders and orders the fleet to be made ready. Dido discovers his intentions and pleads with him, but Aeneas, though distressed, cannot forgo departure. Scene XXIV. Dido returns to her apartments and sinks lifeless upon her couch. When she recovers, she goes to the balcony and sees the ships about to leave. - Her despair. Her sister Anna is powerless to console her. A sorceress is summoned to weave an enchantment. In the palace courtyard a pyre is raised and upon it are laid Aeneas' clothes and armour; the sorceress says that the flames of this pyre, together with certain spells and incantations, will hold the Trojan prince captive. Scene XXV. On the beach before dawn. - The Trojans are already aboard. With his sword Aeneas cuts the stern-cable and the whole fleet moves off. ingl. 120 Scene XXVI. At the first light of day. Dido from her balcony sees the Trojan ships already far out to sea. - Scene of grief and despair. - The Queen hurls the most terrible curses at Aeneas and invokes from the gods eternal hatred between Carthage and Aeneas' descendants. She then rushes out into the courtyard distraught, lights the pyre and mounts upon it; she plunges Aeneas' sword into her breast and dies. - Anna and others hasten horror-struck towards the flaming pyre. PART III. Scene XXVII. The Trojan fleet on its course. The pilot informs Aeneas that a contrary wind is preventing them from reaching Italy. Aeneas orders him to make for Trapani. They arrive there and land and are ceremoniously received by the old king Acestes. It is the anniversary of Anchises' death; Aeneas proclaims a feast and solemn games in his honour. Scene XXVIII. The games; races between the ships; running competitions; boxing matches; archery. Jousts between the young horsemen under Ascanius' command. Scene XXIX. Olympus. - Juno summons Iris and shows her the Trojan women left on the beach lamenting their fate. " Fly thither," she commands, " assume the guise of old Beroe and do as I bid you..." Scene XXX. The sea-shore. - The fires are still burning on Neptune's altars. - The supposed Bute stirs up the Trojan women to revolt and suggests that they set fire to the ships. The brands are snatched from the altars and hurled at the ships. - Some of these are set alight. - A large crowd of men come running from the games, whither news of the fire had been brought. Aeneas implores Jupiter's help. -A violent storm arises and extinguishes the flames. Scene XXXI. Night in Aeneas' room. - The shade of Anchises appears to his son and says: " Fear not, thou wilt arrive at thy destination. Take with thee to — 121 — Italy only the strongest of the Trojans, who will have to contend against at brave people. But before embarking upon this war, thou must descend into the infernal regions. I shall await thee there; a Sibyl shall guide thee to me. Scene XXXII. Departure from Trapani. - Aeneas waves farewell to the Trojans who remain behind in the Sicilian city. - The ships leave harbour and after a calm voyage enter the Bay of Cumae. Scene XXXIII. Aeneas and a few of bis companions visit the temple of Apollo behind the wood of Hecate. The Sibyl appears at the threshold and invites the Trojans to enter. Within the temple, near the cave from which the oracle speaks. - The Sibyl has a vision of the future and utters inspired words: " Safety lies on the sea; fear the land. I see fierce battles in the kingdom of the Latins. Juno is persecuting thee. Face ill-fortune with an indomit- able will. Later I see royal nuptials." - Aeneas accepts the risks of the enterprise, but asks to visit Pluto's realm. - The Sibyl says that this, though very difficult, is not impossible; the favour has already been granted to others. First, however, he must obtain the golden bough to offer as a gift to Proserpine. Scene XXXIV. Aeneas is wandering in a dark forest in search of the golden bough. Two doves appear, birds sacred to his mother Venus, and lead him to an oak-tree, in which a bough is gleaming. The hero breaks off the branch, which immediately sprouts again. Scene XXXV. At dawn, between the wood and the dark lake of Avernus. Aeneas is waiting with a few followers. The Sibyl appears, dismisses the attendants and bids Aeneas alone follow her into the dark entrance of a cave. The hero obeys with sword drawn. Scene XXXVI. In the Infernal Regions. — The way lies through the bowels of the earth. - The infernal abyss. At the entry are stationed the Penitences and Remorses; it is the home of pale Diseases, Old Age, Fear, Hunger and Poverty. Other dread phantoms are met; Fatigue, Death and his brother Sleep, the fatal — 122 — Joys. On the threshold can be seen War, the Eumenides and Discord. In the centre rises an ancient tree from which hang the Vain Dreams. Other monsters throng the space: the Centaurs, Briareus, the Lernaean Hydra, the Chimera, the Gorgons, the Harpies, Geryon. - Aeneas lifts his sword, but the Sibyl stops hin. The Acheron. - Charon the ferryman is carrying the dead to the farther bank. Aeneas recognizes some of his companions who perished by ship- wreck. - Charon, appeased by the sight of the golden bough, ferries Aeneas and the Sibyl across. An infernal forest. - Shadows pass. - Aeneas meets Dido and asks her forgiveness, but the Queen passes by without raising her eyes and disappears silently into the darkness. Cross-roads. Tartarus, the place of punishment. - Pluto's palace. Aeneas hangs the golden bough upon the door and, accompanied by the Sibyl, takes the other road to the Elysian Fields. The Elysian Fields. - Bright, translucent air and bland meadows and groves. The happy inhabitants are pursuing what were in life their favourite occupations; songs and dances; war horses and chariots, weapons clean of bloodstain. - Heroes, priests and poets. - Meeting with the poet Museus. The Sibyl asks him where they can find Anchises, and Museus accompanies the two guests to a hill. From there they see Anchises choosing his lineage from among the souls who are ready to return to earth. Aeneas runs down to the meadow. Meeting between Aeneas and Anchises. Tender embraces. - Near the river Lethe, where innumerable souls are assembled. Anchises points out his descendants to his son. (Each figure is shown in surroundings with which his name is associated). -Sylvius, the founder of Alba Longa, Romulus, Augustus Caesar, Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Martius, the Tarquins, Brutus. The first Consul. The Decii and the Drusi. Titus Manlius Torquatus. Camillus. Caesar and Pompey. Warriors and law- givers. Claudius Marcellus. - Anchises concludes by exhorting his son to perform the noble deeds which are to inaugurate a period of glory. Scene XXXVII. The fleet under way. - The ships cast anchor in the Gulf of Gaeta. Scene XXXVIII. Again under way. - A calm sea; the wind drops and the men take to the oars. - Aeneas espies the shining waters of a large river issuing from a forest; flocks of birds overhead. The hero orders the rowers to make for the mouth of the river. - The ships follow the stream a short way, beneath leafy trees. The Trojans have reached Latium at last. < < > w R Ci o S o o O oj o S u3 o 123 MODENA — R. Galleria Esten.se. Aeneas descends to the infernal regions (Niccolo dell' Abate). 125 — PART IV. Scene XXXIX. At the court of King Latinus. - Young Turnus, prince of the Rutoli and affianced to Lavinia, the king's daughter, demands the celebration of the nuptials. The King is unable to decide and resolves to consult his father, the god Faunus. - A sacred grove. Latinus asks Faunus to pronounce an oracle and the god replies: " Avoid giving thy daughter in marriage to a Latin prince. Strangers will shortly arrive. They will unite themselves with our family and plant a race destined for a glorious future." The King announces this reply to the people. Scene XL. The Trojans have landed and are busy pitching a fortified camp. Ae- neas, lulus and other leaders are resting beneath a large tree. They are served with fruit laid upon wheat-cakes and are so hungry that after the fruit they eat the cakes. lulus exclaims: " We have eaten the very trenchers!" Aeneas recognizes in these words the fulfilment — in unexpected form — of the Harpies' dread prophecy. He offers up thanks to the gods. Three thunderclaps are the propitious reply. Scene XLL Trojan envoys arrive at Laurentum, the seat of King Latinus. -Outside the walls they meet young men engaged in military exercises, who conduct them to the palace. A magnificent edifice surrounded by a sacred wood situated in the highest part of the city; porticoes with hundreds of columns and statues commemorating the royal ancestors. The King, seated upon a throne, welcomes the envoys. Ilioneus, the Trojan spokesman, relates how fate has delivered them from the destruction of Troy and concludes with these words: " Aeneas begs for a little land along the river bank where we can set up our household gods, and for the use of air and water. He promises faithful gratitude if you will also grant him your friendship and the alliance of your people ". King Latinus readily accords these requests and invites Aeneas to Laurentum so that the friendship may be cemented by gentler ties. This is evidently the stranger prince whom the gods have destined for the hand of his daughter Lavinia. Scene XLII. Juno, flying from heaven in her aerial chariot, arrives at Cape Passaro and looks down upon the land of Italy. She sees the Trojans already en- — 126 — camped along the Tiber, the envoys returning with the pact of alliance and is seized with rage. - She descends to earth and summons the Fury Alectro from the nether world. The Fury appears and is commanded by the goddess to sow strife in Latium. Scene XLIII. In the palace at Laurentum. - Queen Amata is in distress at the cancell- ing of her daughter's betrothal to Turnus. - Alecto joins her unseen, detaches a serpent from her hair and hurls it at the queen. The reptile, taken by surprise, injects its venom into the queen, whose grief is turned to fury. - Amata issues from the palace leading her daughter by the hand. She rouses the women to revolt and passes thus from one place to another. Bands of women follow the queen and rush through the woods with savage cries. The peace of the Kingdom is broken. Scene XLIV. At Ardea, the capital of the Rutoli. - Turnus asleep. Alecto ap- proaches him, assumes the appearance of the old priestess Calibea and says. My son, thou art betrayed by King Latinus. Wilt thou suffer this? Arise and stir up thy men to war against the stranger. " Turnus remains in- different. Alecto then resumes her own shape, makes her serpents hiss, sends out flames from their eyes and scatters brands that encircle the prince with fire and smoke. - Turnus awakes in anger. He puts on his armour, summons his leaders and proclaims war. Scene XLV. At Laurentum. - The excited populace is gathered before the palace. Numerous shepherds arrive carrying the bodies of two youths, who, they say, were slain in an encounter with the invaders. The people clamour for war. King Latinus alone resists the demand, but in vain and at last he withdraws to his own quarters. Another crowd in front of the temple of Janus, which has to be opened before war can be declared. None can open the doors. Juno swoops down from heaven, batters in the great doors and thus war is declared by a portent. Busy preparations everywhere; soldiers collect from all sides. One ot the first to arrive is the Etruscan prince Me- zentius, banished as a tyrant, with his fair son Laurus and his followers. The Amazon Camilla arrives at the head ot a big force of cavalry. Scene XLVI. The Trojan camp. Ferment caused by the threat of war. Aeneas is studying plans of defence. He issues wearied from his tent and lies down to sleep on the bank of the Tiber. The river-god appears disguised as — 127 — an old man, his brow crowned with roses and thus addresses the sleeper: " Here, hero, thou must set up the household gods of Troy. The gods will aid thee. Ascend my river and seek help at Pallantea, where the Ar- cadian farmers are always at feud with the Latins. I am the god of the Tiber..." Scene XLVII. Two Trojan ships which have ascended the river under Aeneas' command arrive beneath the walls of Pallantea. On the bank is Pallantes, son of the old king Evander, with some young men. - Exchange of greetings and explanations. - Aeneas holds out an olive-branch, is received kindly and, together with his men, is brought before the King. - A joyful welcome; Evander was once the friend of Anchises. An alliance is concluded and celebrated by a feast. The scene changes to the wooded hills of future Rome; for an instant rises the future Urbs imperialis, then vanishes like a dream. Scene XL VIII. Venus visits her husband Vulcan and asks him to forge splendid and magic weapons for Aeneas, as for Achilles of old. The Cyclops' under- ground forge. - At Vulcan's behest, the Cyclops set to work. Scene XLIX. Evander advises Aeneas to conclude another alliance. - " Thou must know," he said, " that the Etruscans have already equipped an army against the Rutoli and at the word of the oracle are awaiting a leader from foreign parts. Thou art the destined leader." - Aeneas departs with his ships and some of his men to visit the Etruscans. Pallantes, at the head of picked horsemen and with a force of Trojans, prepares to set out for Aeneas' camp. He takes tender leave of the old king and the party leaves the city amid the cheers of the populace. Scene L. The Trojan ships have stopped on their journey up the Tiber. Aeneas is resting on a wooded hill side. - Venus issues from a cloud and lays beside him Vulcan's arms. She then vanishes. - Aeneas wonders at the glittering helmet surmounted by its great crest, the huge sword, the flashing bronze breastplate, the leg-pieces of gold, the spear and, above all, the magic shield, upon which Vulcan has depicted the most illustrious events in the history of Rome. — 128 Scene LI. Before the Trojan camp. - A cloud of dust announces the approach of Turnus' army. The alarm is given and the defenders run to their posts. Turnus arrives with the vanguard of his troops. An unsuccessful attack. - Turnus proposes to burn the Trojan ships. Scene LII. On the beach. - The Rutoli are preparing to set the Trojan ships on fire. These are indestructible, however, being made of firs from the sacred grove of the goddess Cybele. Across the sky passes a golden cloud with a great sound of music and cymbals, it is the goddess herself. At the same moment the ships break their anchor-cables and disappear beneath the waters; their place is taken by maidens who sing as they float upon the waves. The Rutoli are dismayed but, urged on by Turnus, withdraw and proceed to blockade the camp. Scene LIII. Night-time on one of the turrets of the Trojan camp. Euryalus and Nisus, two young soldiers, are on guard. The enemy's camp-fires go out one by one. Nisus, the elder of the youths, explains to his friend a plan he has conceived. He proposes to rejoin Aeneas and report events to him, and, to do so, must pass through the enemy's lines. Euryalus desires to share in this bold enterprise and Nisus is unable to dissuade him. The two youths get themselves replaced on guard and seek out their leaders to obtain consent to their plan. - The latter, seated in council in the midst of the camp, approve the scheme and commend the two young soldiers. Ascanius offers Euryalus his sword. Euryalus and Nisus issue from the defences and pass among the enemy, all of whom are asleep and many of them drunk; they slay Rutoli as they go, and Euryalus puts on the splendid armour of some of the slaughtered leaders. Dawn, however, is approaching and Nisus decides they must delay no longer. They pass through the empty countryside towards a wood. - Vol- scian horsemen suddenly appear and sign to them to halt. The youths run into the wood, but are pursued. Nisus passes out of the wood and is safely away, when he sees that Euryalus is no longer beside him. He turns back to look for his friend and finds him surrounded by Volscians. He shoots two of the horsemen with arrows. The Volscian leader is enraged and by way of vengeance runs Euryalus through with his sword. Nisus hurls himself into the midst of the Volscians, kills their leader and after a violent combat is himself slain. MODENA — R. Galleria Estense. Father Tiber counsels the sleeping Aeneas (Niccolo dell'Abate) MODENA i— R. Galleria Estense. The death of Tumus (Niccolo dell'Abate) 130 i3i — Scene LIV. The assault is renewed. - In the forefront march two soldiers bearing on the ends of their spears the heads of Euryalus and Nisus. Within the camp, Euryalus' old mother, the only woman who has followed the Trojans thus far, is seated in the doorway of a hut working at a coat for her son. The noise of battle reaches her and with a cry she runs to the edge of the battlements and sees the mutilated remains of her son. - Her despair; Ascanius and others lead her gently away. Scene LV. Scene of battle; the assaults are all repulsed. Ascanius performs deeds of valour. - Apollo descends upon the camp, assumes the guise of old Butes, at one time henchman to Anchises, and removes the young man from the melee, as his life must be preserved for the sake of posterity. The Trojans recognize the god and in their exaltation break out of camp to seek an issue in the open field. In spite of their bravery they are in danger of being overwhelmed and only with difficulty withdraw behind their defences. Scene LVI. In Olympus. - A council of the gods. - Venus supports the Trojans, Juno desires their destruction. Jupiter forbids the gods to interfere with the course of events. He himself will leave matters to late. Scene LVII. Night-time. - Aeneas' ships and the fleet of the Etruscan allies are coming down the Tiber. The sea nymphs who were former Trojan ships, meet the oncoming fleet and Cimodoce, raising herself upon the end of Aeneas' ship, reveals her identity and gives him tidings of the war: Turnus is seeking to prevent a junction between Pallantes and the Etruscan forces already with the Trojans. -The nymphs urge on Aeneas' ships with all their strength. Scene LVIII. On the seashore. - Turnus' army is trying to prevent the landing of Aeneas' forces, but fails. A general battle is opened. - A combat between Pallantes, son of Evander, and Lausus, son of Mezentius. At Jupiter's instigation Turnus is warned of this duel by the nymph Juturna, his sister. He hastens in his chariot and hurls a poisoned dart at Pallantes. The youth falls and Turnus, after first transferring the magnificent bandolier to his own shoulders, allows his companions to remove the corpse. Aeneas learns of the death of Pallantes and hastens to avenge him. He slays many of the enemy and draws near to Turnus. ingl. 3 132 — Scene LIX. Juno implores Jupiter to save Turnus, and he consents. She descends in a cloud upon the field of battle, creates a figure in the exact image of Aeneas and places it among the warriors. Turnus picks out the figure, is deceived and challenges it to fight. The sham Aeneas wavers, flees towards the sea and leaps upon an Etruscan ship. Turnus follows him on board. The ship then breaks from its moorings and rapidly moves away, while the figure of Aeneas vanishes into thin air. Turnus is unable to stop the ship, which carries him to his own city of Ardea. Scene LX. On the battle-field. During Turnus' strange flight, Mezentius takes his place and slays a number of victims, among others Orodes, an Etruscan chief. Aeneas encounters Mezentius, who hurls a javelin against his adversary, but it breaks against Aeneas' shield. At the same moment Aeneas discharges an arrow and wounds Mezentius in the side. The Trojan hero unsheathes his sword and is about to continue the duel, when Lausus throws himself between the combatants, enabling his wounded father to retire. A shower of arrows falls all about Aeneas, but cannot harm him. Lausus threatens and Aeneas warns him that a duel will be fatal to him, but the impetuous youth renews the attack and after a short encounter falls mortally wounded. Ae- neas bends over the boy and mourns his fate. He declares his intention not to remove the armour and to allow the youth to be buried among his own people. Scene LXI. Mezentius, unarmed and seated beneath a tree in company with some of his men, is bathing his wounds. He hears steps approaching and, as he gets up, sees the dead boy borne upon his shield. Mezentius' rage and despair. He orders his horse, buckles on his armour, leaps into the saddle and rides off, wounded as he is, to avenge his son's death. Scene LXII. Still on the battle-field. - Mezentius is challenging Aeneas with loud shouts and Aeneas arrives to resume the duel. In vain Mezentius hurls his javelins against Aeneas' magic armour. The latter releases a dart; the horse falls wounded and Mezentius is pinned underneath; Aeneas lifts his sword and administers the coup de grace. Scene LXIII. Latin envoys apply to Aeneas for a truce. Aeneas grants it and declares that, to avoid further bloodshed, he is willing to end the conflict by a duel — 133 — with Turnus. - Honours are paid to the fallen Pallantes. A cortege of a thousand picked men carry back the spoils to Evander. In front, a litter bears the rich trophies of arms followed by the horses captured from the enemy; behind them march eight prisoners who are to be sacrificed to the departed spirit of Pallantes; then come the bloodstained chariot of the dead hero and his war-horse shorn ot its trappings. A group of leaders bear further trophies. A few mourners brings up the rear. The cortege disappears. - On the field of battle smoke rises from the funeral pyres. Scene LXIV. At Laurentum. - The townsfolk are assembled under the leadership of King Latinus. The King is proposing to make peace. The chief envoy to the Trojan camp reports Aeneas' suggestion. Turnus is in favour of continuing the war, but says he is ready to meet Aeneas in single combat. - A messenger arrives and announces that Aeneas has broken camp and is approaching the city by forced marches. - General confusion. Turnus rushes from the palace. Scene LXV. Council of leaders headed by Turnus. - The plan of defence is explained. The enemy is advancing in two columns. Etruscans and Arcadians, arriving first, encounter cavalry under command of Camilla and put it to rout; Ca- milla herself is slain. Turnus' army, pursued by Aeneas' troops, comes up to stiffen the defence. - Night falls and the battle is broken off. Scene LXVI. In the palace of King Latinus. - Turnus enters and declares his readiness to terminate hostilities by accepting Aeneas' challenge. The King tries to dissuade him, by urging that peace might be obtained without his incurring this great risk, but the young prince is obdurate and more and more in- furiated. - Queen Amata arrives with Lavinia. The terrified Queen endea- vours to dissuade Turnus; Lavinia weeps silently. Turnus declares that nothing can move him and that the challenge has already reached Aeneas. Scene LXVII. Juno, from the top of the Alban Mount, regards the blockaded city and the plain strewn with troops. - A prey to anxiety she summons Juturna, Turnus' nymph-sister, and declares that her protection can no longer avail. " Try to prevent this duel," she concludes, " and to prolong the war." She disappears. Scene LXVIII. The duelling-ground. - The armies are drawn up on each side of the arena. King Latinus in pomp arrives upon the scene. A moment later - — 134 — Turn us enters in his chariot drawn by white horses, clasping two javelins. Aeneas advances, escorted by Ascanius. The high priest sacrifices the victims before the altar-flames. Aeneas and King Latinvis swear an oath to abide by the decision. Murmurs arise amoung the Rutoli, who see that Turnus is no match for his adversary. The nymph Juturna appears and assumes the form of Ca- mertes, the illustrious warrior. In this disguise she mixes among the crowd and urges the soldiers not to allow their prince to be defeated in the duel, and their country thus destroyed. - A portent: an eagle swoops down upon a flock of swans sailing upon the river and seizes one between its claws; a moment later the whole flock rise in the air and compel the eagle to release its prisoner. The meaning is clear and at once one of the Rutoli discharges an arrow which kills a young Arcadian. - Cries are raised, there is a rush to arms and a general melee ensues. King Latinus retires horror-struck by the breach ot faith. - Aeneas is wounded in trying to make his men lay down their arms. Scene LXIX. In Aeneas' tent. - The surgeon is unable to dislodge the arrow from the wound. He is preparing an infusion of herbs, when Venus approaches in invisible form and throws in to the concoction some dittany leaves and a few drops of ambrosia; then she disappears. When this liquid is applied, the arrow falls to the ground. The wound quickly heals and Aeneas, filled with renewed vigour, is ready to return to the fray. - General amazement at this miracle. Scene LXX. Turnus and the Ausonii are dismayed when they see Aeneas again in the field. - Juturna impetuously ejects the driver from Turnus' chariot, assumes his place and appearance and urges the horses into a breakneck gallop. In this way Turnus is taken from Aeneas' reach and borne away from the field. He succeeds in bringing the horses to a standstill. He tells his sister that he had recognized her as soon as she entered the arena to prevent the combat, but that he cannot and will not flee from death. - A wounded messenger arrives with news that Aeneas is already attacking the city. Turnus urges the chariot towards the walls, sets down Juturna, begging her to do no more on his behalf, and rushes into the city to fight Aeneas. Scene LXXI. Aeneas, too, is advancing to meet his foe. A lull in the battle. The two armies are drawn up on either side of a vast stretch of ground. The two adversaries launch their javelins and then engage with swords. After a few exchanges, Turnus delivers a tremendous thrust and his sword smashes in pieces against Aeneas' shield. Thus disarmed, the Rutoli chief is forced — 135 — to make his escape from the field. A javelin has stuck fast in the ground, but he cannot wrench it free. Juturna, still in the guise of the charioteer, hands Turnus a sword and at the same time, at Venus' wish, the javelin remains in Aeneas' hands. The two heroes thus armed, regard each other. Scene LXXII. Olympus. - Juno tells Jupiter she sees now that all is over: Aeneas, the victor, will marry Lavinia. " One favour only I request," she adds, " and that is that the people of Italy shall not be forced to take the name of the Trojans..." The father of the gods smiles as he says: " It shall be as thou desirest. The two peoples shall form one nation; they shall all be Latin and from their union shall spring a race exceeding all men in valour." Juno withdraws, satisfied. Jupiter orders one of the Night Furies, standing about his throne, to descend to earth and to frighten Juturna away by some evil portent. The Fury flies off. Scene LXXIII. Reaching the field of battle, the Fury assumes the shape of a screech-owl. In this form she passes several times in front of Turnus and brushes his shield with her wing. The warrior starts back. Juturna however, sees the screech-owl and screams in terror; she then folds herself within her blue veil and vanishes. Aeneas, armed with the terrible javelin, advances towards his rival. - Turnus picks up an enormous boulder and hurls it at Aeneas; the stone misses its aim and Turnus overbalances with his effort and falls to his knees. He realises he is lost. -Aeneas launches the javelin, wounds Turnus and stands over him with sword uplifted, while the Latins utter a loud cry of despair, Turnus, stretched on the ground, raises imploring hands and begs that, if he must die, his body may be restored to his father. Aeneas is about to spare his life, when suddenly the sun casts a beam upon the gold bandolier which Turnus is wearing across his shoulder. In amazement he bends down and recognizes it as that of the dead Pallantes. " Can I let thee live," he cries, " when thou hast upon thy back the spoils of a friend? It is the hand of Pallantes that slays thee!" He deals him the last remorseless blow. In silence the troops raise their arms aloft. - A flock of eagles mount into the blue sky and write across the heavens the great word: ROME. Giuseppe Fanciulli. The Censorship of Films for the Young (from the French) Recent numbers of the Inter national Review of Educational Cinemato- graphy have discussed the question of film censorship. This is indeed the central problem of the educational cinema and its aspects are many: social, ethical, psychological, economic and legal. Social. Its solution affects to some extent the very life of the modern world. The representation of lawlessness, wrong-doing, dishonesty and contempt for human life is not without grave dangers to the community, the risks lying not so much in the examples set by this collective or indi- vidual lawlessness as in the excuse they offer to the weak of will and the unbalanced. Ethical. Films are often contrary to good morals and hold up the law to ridicule. Psychological. We can neither judge the intensity of the impressions produced on young minds nor anticipate their associations of ideas or their conscious or subconscious reactions to a particular film. Economic. The solution of the problem will determine the future of the cinema industry and the very existence of educational cinematography. Legal. Censorship raises the debatable question of the right of the community directly or indirectly to replace the head of the family as the moral educator of children. Aims of existing legislation Laws agree upon " the need of protecting children from the dangers of attending the exhibition of certain films." The efficacy of this protection is a function of generally accepted moral or social concepts, of the opinion held in religious, educational and political circles with regard to the cinema and its influence. The measures applied may be classified as follows: (a) Protection of the health and physical development of children by absolutely prohibiting the cinema for children under an age varying between 10 and 17 and, in countries with a less severe regime, by prohibiting atten- dance at evening shows; — 137 — (b) Protection of children's minds and morals by forbidding cinema attendance up to an age at which the subject is able to resist the suggestive force of films. The laws of some countries allow exceptions and authorise perform- ances of programmes which are specially selected for the young or are such as cannot harm them. In Northern countries the authorities themselves organise children's performances, distinct from the instructional films shown as part of class- teaching; in other countries children's shows are organised by the trade under the control or with the aid of the authorities. Responsibility for choice of children's films. This summary of existing legislation furnishes two important conclusions: (i) Current cinematographic productions cannot be exhibited before the young without previous censorship. This amounts to a condemnation of the present-day film and an express admission of its demoralising influence. (2) The existing output of films, however, appears to offer material for special children's performances. If we examine the choice of films avail- able for one reason or another for children and young people, we find that the selection can only be made by a third person, who replaces, even legally, the only responsible and competent person, the head of the family. Madame Elie's article shows — quite unintentionally, I admit — the impossibility of deciding for others what is educational and what is not. Why, Madame Elie asks, should children be forbidden to see war-films? They must be prepared, she says, to face the struggle for life and death that human laws decree. This is an opinion, not a fact. To claim to impose it as a fact is arbi- trary and to do so, after an investigation or study, is even a grave error of method. It is impossible to determine the exact effects of a war-film on children, the young people themselves being in most cases incapable of ana- lysing their feelings. There are other reasons for exercising care in the choice of present- day films intended for children. Film producers are not philanthropists, but business men. In their most harmless and apparently perfectly inoffensive productions there are invariably incidents " to please the crowd " which ensure the financial success of the enterprise and which on that very account justify our apprehensions. In " Uncle Tom's Cabin," for example, our feelings are stirred at times by the exhibition of unbridled instincts, sensuality, brutality and sadistic cruelty. Out of regard for historical verisimilitude, the naval battle in " Ben Hur " gives us pictures of decapitated heads dripping with blood and stuck - 138 - on the end of pikes; the scene of seduction in the tent of the Arab chief is justified on psychological grounds, but it is not educational or is too much so. Douglas Fairbanks, for all his high spirits and healthy vigour, is also not blind to commercial appeal, and there are elements of brutality in " Robin Hood," of sensuality in the " Zorro " films. As for Harold Lloyd, his whole humour lies in the contrast between his own impassivity and the loosening of human instincts amid scenes which are at times positively terrifying. The object, I shall be told, is to provoke mirth, which is, of course, true, but who can guarantee that a child will not take the matter seriously and receive a moral shock? Let it not be supposed, however, that there is no room for a children's cinema. As models, we have already a number of first-class films by Charlie Chaplin. Children, whose instinct in such matters seldom errs, love Chaplin as they love the Grimm brothers, Hans Andersen and others whose concern was art and art alone. The State or the Parent? It is the duty of the State to oppose whatever is intentionally or unintentionally morally corrupting, but it has no more right to assume the functions of head of the family and decide about films to be shown to the young than it has to decide what children shall read. Even the most harmless of children's entertainments are apt at times to alarm parents and it would be a mistake to dismiss their protests as isolated examples or as ridiculous. The law of the majority does not apply in such circumstances, and to submit the liberty of the paterfamilias to this absurd law would be a gross abuse. It would be dangerous to let parents think that the moral education of their children was a matter for bureaucratic control. Finally, it would be fatal to lead people to place a blind unquest- ioning faith in the judgment of an anonymous organ. The State has no right to lull parents' consciences with the illusion of security. Legislation recognizes the futility of censorship by nowhere laying down any exact or detailed definition of the rules which shall determine the autho- rising or banning of a film. A study of texts shows that reliance is placed upon the opinion of individuals or members of committees, to whom is delegated a power which belongs incontestably to the head of the family. Accordingly, there is no possible censorship of cinematographic perform- ances for children. The neutrality which it is the duty of the authorities to observe in matters of moral training demands that they shall forbid access to cinemas to children and adolescents who are unable to resist the varied suggestional influences of present-day films. Against this view two arguments are adduced: — 139 — (i) Freedom of commerce, which in that case means nothing else than the right to corrupt a defenceless generation for the sake of gain. (2) Differential treatment betwen dramatic or lyric pieces and cinema- tographic performances. As a matter of fact, children seldom witness musical plays or comic operas, attendance being restricted by habit and the price of admission. The custom of going to the pictures en famille is more widespread, because the prices are more modest. The cinema is more democratic, though this does not mean that it is without danger to every class of spectator. Documentary films There are, however, a number of instructional documentary films. The recommendation of such films and the description of them as of educa- tional value should be accepted with caution. Many long-meterage docu- mentary films create a confusion of ideas and unless they are drastically cut and carefully prepared, they constitute a very real intellectual danger. To be intelligible, even the best of them demand a rather advanced degree of education and are better-suited for adolescents than for children. The understanding is not so easily penetrated as is generally believed and this mistake has been responsible for many absurd methods of teaching. The most absurd of all would be the mechanical method towards which the gramophone, the cinema and the wireless are leading. There is no educa- tion without determination, no study without effort, no art without pains. Special films for the young. The commercial cinema being inaccessible to children for the reasons we have given, is it not possible to provide a recreational and instructional cinema for the young? The establishment by the League of Nations of the International Educ- ational Cinematographic Institute is the best possible reply to this question and furnishes a solution, which, if perhaps somewhat remote, is of a nature to satisfy the most exacting demands. The International Review of Educational Cinematography has published scenarios which, taken as a whole, supply material for films especially adapted for young people. The writers of these have had a free hand, and this has enabled them to produce works of art of a higher quality than those of pro- fessional scenario-writers in the pay of cinematographic firms. Admitting, as we must, that the influence of films is not in proportion to meterage, it may be urged that one good film every two or three years would be more effective than the innumerable products with which the market is at present flooded. — 140 — Unfortunately, no film-manufacturing concern will undertake the job, but is it too much to hope that the cinema, like the other arts, may receive official encouragement? Could not the necessary funds be collected by international agreement and employed under careful control? The right of parents to choose the films they wish their children to see need not suffer. If the films produced were both educationally and artistic- ally of value, they could be pre-viewed by an adult public, which would exercise its judgment without any delegation of its rights. Opportunity would also be given for impartial criticism. The publication of an interna- tional bulletin containing an analysis of films and summarised scenarios would be the same help to parents as are the bibliographical bulletins pu- blished in some countries by associations which aim at the diffusion of good books. E. DUVILLARD M. Duvillard' s article raises again a question which has been discussed many times in this Review and at which our collaborator Eva Elie hints in the October number. What is the real value of official censoring? What is its practical result, we may ask, in preventing the child and the adolescent from seeing films that do not conform to his delicate psychology and immature mind? Madame Elie considers the problem from the war film point of view and maintains that it is absurd of the school authorities not to allow them to be shown in halls that serve educational purposes. She proposes, however, as a restraint upon the liberty of running the above films and as a corrective, when parents' guidance lacks, that an international catalogue of films adapted for minors should be compiled by the Institute of Rome or under its auspices and this, in the writer's mind, may be the first step towards the creation of cinematographic exhi- bitions exclusively prepared for children. M. Duvillard asserts that film censorship has missed its aim and that the chief reason of its inefficacy lies in the fact that it attempts to replace the authority and mind of the father of the family, and to impose, as representing the majority's will, views that do not correspond to general opinions. He believes that parents' minds should not be coerced and denies the possibility of creating a special censor- ship for films that are to be exhibited to young folk. But M. Duvillard' s article does not provide a practical solution of the problem. The question must be seen from a different point of view: is Govern- ment film censorship advisable or is it not? If the first hypothesis is accepted, the creation of a special censorship for films that are to be projected before children is expedient, but in the second the intervention would be illogical, for adults' films as well as for those that are to be exhibited to youth. — 141 — The first thesis, however, is accepted by almost all European and many non- European States. Some of these countries confine their action to the protection of juvenile morals, and censorship only intervenes to determine what films are not adapted for youth by issuing a public notice, thus warning parents of the moral danger of certain films. The second thesis, generally applied in North American countries, has not the approval of positive law. In England film control is operated through a semi-official institution, the British Board; much importance is attached to its opinions and motion picture producers pay great heed to its suggestions. In America, where, as has been said, only a few countries have official boards, the industrial organisations have published a Code of Film Morals in order to meet the views of those whose special activities make them responsible for youth's moral education. To this Code film producers should conform and it should serve them as a guide so that their films may coincide as nearly as possible with public requirements and good taste. The two contrasting theses have been weighed by experts and the Review has discussed them impartially on the basis of such legislative and other material as the I. E. C. I. was able to obtain. Both have their faults but they also have their merits. The first, as the reader will observe in the first part of the present number, where the right of cinematographic criticism is discussed, may be consid- ered in many ways exaggerated: when, for instance, it is asserted that a small number of persons, even granted that they are artistically , technically and sociologic- ally competent, may freely impose their will and ideas upon a large majority which may happen to see things from a perfectly different angle; again when as M. Duvilllard explains, censorship completely replaces the authority of the head of the family, which as a rule should be exerciced with reference to the individual character of the children, although one might in this last case point out that censorship will never intervene to prevent a father from forbidding his child to see a film which he judges unsuitable. Another fault of the first thesis is that it hampers producers both technically and artistically . This is at variance with the general principle of liberty of production, which does not tolerate government intervention, at any rate in coun- tries whose policy it is to avoid confining public life within rigid and narrow boundaries. The second thesis admits no form of official censorship, but only such un- official control as producing and renting firms may choose to exercise in their own interests. This complete absence of control involves the danger that liberty may degenerate into licence and end by directly or indirectly injuring the minds of spectators and particularly of children. However, in many countries where films are produced and rented on a large scale there is a very wide choice so that those who buy exploitation rights can impose their taste and thus minimise the afore -said danger. In fact renters must bear in mind that they must please the public, and this indirectly induces the producer to attain a higher artistic, technical and moral standard. But in a — 142 — country where the film output is very limited and where foreign films pay high duties, the few producers who have the monopoly have the power to impose their taste and views. The two theses are in open conflict and the Institute is carefully analysing them in the light of existing legislative texts and with due reference to the various opinions for and against which have reached it from all parts of the world. Before pronouncing definitely, the Institute wants to observe the practical results of the different systems followed in the various countries. In the meantime the I. E.C.I, would appreciate judgments and opinions from readers who are interested in the problem and whose individual views will help to form a general body of doctrine. G. d. F. The BILDWART furnishes information on all questions hearing on the Cinematograph; it organizes and spreads film activities in the domains of Science, Art, Popular Education, Religion, Child Welfare, and Teaching. (The Film Observer) Popular Educational Survey Monthly Illustrated Review of the German Cinematographic Association, the Reich Union of German Municipalities and Public Utilities. The « Bildwart » Supplements: « FILMRECHT » (Cinematograph Copyright); « PHOTO UND SCHULE » (Photo and School); « BILDGEBRAUCH » (Film Uses); « MIKROPROJEKTION »; « PATENTSCHAU » (Patents' Survey). This Review is recommended by the German Educational Authorities Specimen Copy sent free of charge on application (Bildwart Verlagsgenossenschaft G. m. b. H., Berlin, N. W. 21, Bochumer Strasse 8.a) The Cinema and Educational Propaganda against Venereal Risks {from the French) Much has been said and written about the educational possibilities of the cinema. Through its accessibility to rich and poor alike, to the city populations, big industrial centres and the smallest village, it affects us all, the educated and the illiterate, the intelligent and well-informed as well as those to whom almost any kind of idea is something strange. The cinema enters the lives of adults, adolescents and children; it penetrates all minds and especially those which owing to lack of time or pressure of work are least open to the influence of books, lectures and other instruments of learning. To be convinced of its power we need only consider the wide popular- ity of the best-known writers for the screen; how favourite film-stars are treated like royalty by the public; the visits of Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford and others are in the nature of triumphant processions; they are greeted with ovations and outbursts of what really amounts to popular thanks. If we admit that any interesting well-made entertainment film intended for the weekly recreation of the general public is able to transmit the idea of a single mind to millions of other minds, we can imagine the boundless possibilities of an educational and propaganda film, skilfully and carefully designed to inculcate a specific idea or teach some definite lesson. Undoubtedly, one of the most neglected fields of popular education is the teaching of health, as a glance at official syllabuses will quickly show. For many generations the growing mind, whether within the humble limits of elementary education or in the higher and more ample training of our public schools, has been nurtured on the same cycle of subjects: history, geography, mathematics, physics, chemistry, philosophy, the language of the country, other living and dead languages; on all these matters young people receive abundant information. But in all the hours of work which this study represents what place has been found for teaching the all- important science of health preservation, the preservation of life itself? The answer is, almost none whatever. For the instruction of untrained minds a film which contains a principle of health, illustrates it and fixes it in the memory by a series of unforgettable pictures, is an admirable instrument of teaching, and propaganda films can — 144 — therefore be of great help in all branches of social hygiene — anti-tuberculosis work, maternity care, infant welfare, anti-alcohol campaign, bad hous- ing, etc. They will be of most value of all — the best conceivable means of instruction — in that branch of public health which relates to the preven- tion and treatment of venereal disease. In tackling this question we encounter not only involuntary ignorance of the subject and the absence of instruction through forgetfulness or careless omission, but often deliberate ignorance, an organised and systematic absence of instruction, as if the very study of this question were subversive of good morals. The campaign against tuberculosis, the care of children, the need of fresh air, pure water and cleanliness are now becoming accepted things and they are being granted a modest place in the curriculum of some of our schools. It is no longer disgraceful, as it was a few years ago, to tell a mother that one of her children is tubercular; a patient can now be informed of his state and impressed with the duty of undergoing treatment and not infecting his family. Girls of to-day can be taught their duties as mothers. But in many cases, and not among the unenlightened, the idea of propaganda against venereal disease is confronted by an impenetrable wall of opposition. In almost every family we find parents and teachers alike silent on this matter; health periodicals, intended for family reading and dealing as a matter of course with all other questions, exclude any article that seeks even cautiously to discuss the topic of venereal disease. Only too often the wireless, which welcomes any subject for a causerie and accepts every kind of advertise- ment, draws in its antennae in shocked surprise when a qualified doctor offers to speak on this question. The result is that young people leave their homes at an early age and enter on life without any defence, ignorant of the risks they run, knowing nothing about preventives, or how to cure themselves if they contract disease. They have no idea of the means of protecting offspring, and many are unaware of the very existence of venereal disease. Still, the dark ages are passing away and a more enlightened era is dawn- ing. Doctors, teachers and parents are now beginning to study the question and although many people are still against imparting any information to children, more and more others are in favour of doing so and do actually tell boys and girls of the dangers they may incur. At the same time, most parents, while subscribing to the principle, are embarrassed and do not like discussing these matters with their children. They await a favourable opportunity, put off the evil day and end by saying nothing at all. How are we to reconcile this need of warning with, the respect for one of the most beautiful sentiments in children and young people the pure faith in the mother, father or a loved and respected teacher as one who is above and beyond all physiological circumstances? A suitable film is undoubtedly - 145 - the most tactful method of instructing the young and obviates possible em- barrassment between parents and children. Instead boys and girls will be shown life in pictures which they can keep to themselves for a time and allow to enter and take shape in their minds little by little. The lesson will be taught to the child in moving images by life itself and not by those whom he believes to be superior to all human conditions. Moreover, in a good film a scene of gaiety and fun or an incident reflect- ing some pure sentiment will rapidly allay an emotion that may have been stirred. Lastly, and this is one of its great advantages, a good film will afford parents and children a suitable opportunity of discussing these problems. In France a film dealing with congenital syphilis (we shall refer to it later) was recently shown by its maker, Dr. Devraigne, to the girls of one of our secondary schools. The doctor afterwards received letters of thanks from mothers: " I did not know how to approach the question with my girl and your film gave me the chance. Now we can talk quite easily about it." Of what nature must these films be which are to point out to young people the possible risks of a kiss, the serious dangers ot doubtful intercourse, the ravages of untreated syphilis, the terrible law which visits the offspring of an untreated or inadequately treated case, often until the third generation? How should the film show that we are armed against the disease, that a con- scientious patient has only to seek immediate treatment at the hands of a competent doctor to be completely cured? In the first place, these films must be " human;" they must not frighten. The writer must constantly bear in mind that his film is one that can be shown to his sons and daughters, to mothers of families and to patients whom above all it is important not to discourage. These films, which are to appeal to everyone, but especially to the unin- formed young, should throughout preserve the utmost delicacy. If they are to serve their purpose, they must be presentable to any public anywhere; too much care cannot be devoted to this point. Finally, they must make a strong appeal to ideal love. In drawing attention to possible dangers, they must not destroy the dreams of youth, to whom love represents the ideal of self-surrender. The film must there- fore contain tender scenes of pure affection, happy family life, of loyalty and union in suffering. There must also be amusing interludes, with the charm and majesty of nature as a constant background. Excellent films of this kind already exist and among the best is that of Dr. Devraigne, Chief Medical Officer at the Lying-in Hospital of Lari- boisiere. It was prepared for the screen by M. J. Benoit-Levy and is called ' The Three Friends." The many thousands who have seen it will agree that it contains all the qualities that I demand for an educational film on this subject. This film proves the possibility of teaching and saying all — 146 — that is necessary and projecting it upon the screen, while preserving utmost delicacy throughout. The subject of the film is congenital syphilis and the idea it aims at conveying is one which, if understood and acted upon, would save in France alone many thousands of children's lives every year. If you have syphilis, or have had it even long ago and have not been properly treated, or if your parents had it and were not completely cured, it is almost certain that you will have children who are either still-born, deformed, or infirm; they may even be monstrous freaks. By one simple act you may avoid all these calamities. Have yourself examined and, if necessary, treated, either at a hospital, the public health dispensary or by a private doctor. Do this, however slight the doubt may be and even in any case, for you can never be sure of what you have inherited. In my opinion, this lesson, with its power to save thousands of little lives, could not be conveyed with more feeling and delicacy or with better effect than in " The Three Friends ". The consultation at the Maternity Hospital is a masterpiece of truthful and moving representation. Mention should also be made of the exchange of food or microbes between mother and unborn child as shown in animated drawings by M. Mourlan. The orchestra has ceased and in complete silence