American Cinematographer - January 15, 1922 - 15

THE

January 15, 1922

AMERICAN

A Thousand Miles of Film
By

ORRIN

CINEMATOGRAPHER

COCKS

OVER a thousand miles of film (measured in negative
stock), enough to reach from New York to Chicago or
a third of the way to Europe, was seen by The National
Board of Review of Motion Pictures during 1921, every
foot of which was screened before committees drawn from
a volunteer membership of a hundred and fifty. This
means that one thousand two hundred and twenty hours
were spent in projection rooms by committees of the
Board, viewing the pictures alone, without counting in
the time taken up with discussion, repeat showings, etc.
More than two hundred state and city officials and
other correspondents scattered over thirty-eight states are
at present cooperating with the National Board, several
of these, located where state censorship exists, accepting
also the dictum of this organization. The weekly bulletin
of action on all films, sent to city officials or boards of
regulation is known world-wide, as it has subscribers as
far off as Sydney, Australia; Halifax, Nova Scotia;
and Cape Town, South Africa.
While the greater part of the work of the National
Board is taken up with reviewing pictures, for general
exhibition, it concerns itself also, as a public servant,
with many other angles of motion pictures as exemplified
in the work of the National Committee for Better Films,
and the Committee on Critique, under whose auspices if?
published the critical magazine, "Exceptional Photoplays."
The National Committee for Better Films reports
768 pictures placed on the Selected List for the year of
1921, of which 730 were listed as family entertainment
and 38 for adults only. Among the "family" pictures
130 were chosen as being especially suitable for young
people, and 140 for children under 12 years of age.
There were 454 dramas and 108 comedies.
By request of the various organizations interested,
special lists were prepared and circulated, among them
being: Pictures boys want, pictures for church entertainment, geography of North America, geography of the
rest of the world, biology, zoology, botany, films valu~ able to Americanization, films drawn from standard
literature, films appropriate for Children's Book Week,
and, most recently, those appropriate for the Christmas
season, and the hest photoplays of 192I.
From carefully prepared figures it is estimated that
there are now in the U. S. in touch with the National
Committee, 625 Better Films Committees, 1200 correspondents using the above-mentioned lists regularly and
3000 correspondents altogether. There are others in
Canada, Europe and Asia.
Along the lines of critical work tending towards improvement of the calibre of the films, the Critique Com-mittee of The National Board has selected and reviewed
in their publication, EXCEPTIONAL PHOTOPLAYS,
twenty-five feature pictures of lengths varying from five
reels to twelve. During the current season 1920·21 three
of these have been given special showings under the
auspices of the Critique Committee, "One Arabian
Night," being presented at Aeolian Hall, and "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and "Shattered" at Town Hall.
Ballots were taken at both of these showings, which indicated the audience as being almost solidly against legal
censorship of pictures. -

The Movies Would Aid the School Book
MOTION pictures can never totally usurp in the educational field the position held by the schools, is the
opinion of Dr. David E. Weglein, assistant super intendent of Baltimore schools.
Visual education should fail in so far as it could not
be made expansive enough to supersede a school system
as well organized as the present one, Dr. Weglein said.
"I believe," he continued, "that educational movingpictures should be introduced into the schools, but I also
believe that there are some subjects which probably cannot be taught by the suggested visual method.
"For instance, classroom instruction teaches the child
self-control, citizenship, and respect for the rights and
privileges of others. It is a question as to whether or
not these essentials could be emphasized sufficiently in
an all-visual system. Personally I feel that there should
be no opposition between the school and the motionpicture. I think that the introduction of educational
pictures would greatly aid the present system, providing
the pictures are inserted as a supplementary and subordinate feature."
Dr. Weglein also said that the fact that the motionpicture exerts a wide influence remains undisputed.
"The school is too highly developed, too finely consolidated an organization to be supplanted by an absorbing feature," he added. "The pictures may serve to eke
out classroom instruction, but it is doubtful whether or
not a complete unit of visual education could be devised
so as to include in its comprehensiveness every phase of
education included in the present system."

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American Cinematographer - January 15, 1922

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