VOLUME 01 - NUMBER 04 - WINTER 1963

~ MOGUBGUB LIMITED PR OGUBGUB DA NUICOLOR TODAY 7 6 EAST 46T

/ ~ RESENTS THE FRED MOGUBGUB PRODUCTION OF B OF ARABIA -SU Pl::H TEu:n SIOI\\ 7-8544 TH STREET

PUBLISHER 1 Clara Hoover Published quarterly by LOIUEN Productions Inc., 11 St. Luke's Place, New EDITOR York 14, New York. Copyright 1963. Subscription Rates: U.S.A. and Canada, Gordon Hitchen $2.75; Overseas $4.00. Advertising rates on request. CIRCULATION MANAGER COVER: Hugh Hurd in SHHKU (The Catch) , a Japanese film directed fary Batten by Oshima Nagasa, as yet unreleased in the United States. ADVERTISI G MANAGER William Hennigar STAFF Anna DeVaris Diana 1ifacbeth Tanya Osadca TABLE OF CONTENTS AN INTERVIEW WITH EPHRAIM LONDON 2 Mary B atten__________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ MORE ABOUT NOVOSTI 20 Tanya 0 sadca_______________________________________________________________________-+-_________________________________________ 22 23 FILM APPRECIATI0 N IN DIXIE _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ CHICAGO'S MIDWEST FILM FESTIVAL _________________________________________________________________________________________ AN INTERVIEW WITH HUGH HURD 24 Clara H 0 over_________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _______________________ 28 AN AFFAIR OF THE SKIN________________________________________________________________ ______________________~________________________ FILM REVIEWS: 30 ELECTRA by Anna de V ariL_________________________________________________________________________________________________ 31 THE FOUR DAYS OF NAPLES by Peter Goode and Robert Connolly___________________ _______________________________________________________ THE SAN SEBASTIAN FESTIVAL IN SPAIN 33 34 J0 se L uis To r res----------------_--_______~________________________.___________________________________________________________ FILM NEWS FROM THE Fll\"TIETH STATE Tats Yoshimaya________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ MOVIES WITHOUT A BLUSH Mrs. Louis E. Schecter----___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________ 38 MUST MOVIES TALK TO TEACH? Edith Laurie____________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________ 39 THE CHICAGO FILM SCENE 41 Carol Brightman _---------------__--_________________________________________ __________________________________________________ 46 BOOK REVIEWS: -------------------------------_'____ ______________________________ ______________________________________________________________

2 AN There INTERVIEW Must WITH Be Freedom EPHRAIM To Expound LONDON All The following interview of the famed attorney, who has fought censorship in the courts for Ideas years, was conducted by Mary Batten.

,,----_._-------_.-.... - ----- 3 STATEMENT BY -,---.-- -- _........ -- ----------- ARTHUR L. MAYER of foreign film - through the importations of such partners of mine as Joe Burstyn I feel very st'rongly about Ephraim Lon- and Ed Kingsley - inspired and galvanized don. I don't know anyone else who has American film makers, with the happy result rendered more enduring services to the cause that they, too, are incurring the wrath of the of creative expression in film. Indeed, his pressure groups who assault film by devious struggle against censorship has made us con- means and from various quat·ters. scious of repressive tlu'eats to the other arts and to soc'iety at lat·ge. Weare reminded Although censorship today is waning, we again that the price of liberty is eternal must not assume that it is no longer a force vigilance-and a top-notch fighting attorney. to be reckoned with. Ephraim London will not always be with us in this fight. And so The censoring impulse presupposes that it is mandatory that the young people com- the would-be censor 1'egards hi1nself as of the ing into film each yeat' remain aware of the elite class, a breed apart, the master stratum dangers of censorship. The expanding pos- fit to pass on what is \"good\" and \"bad\" for sibilities of the film art require ever-renew- the masses. This is a notion alien to our democratic precepts. And yet until recent l_____________ .ing concern and dedication to creative years movie censorship has been at home liberty. in America, unchecked except for the efforts ~~~~u: :ay~___l of Mr. London and a handful of daring others. A climate of repression, originating BATTEN: We would like to know something about perhaps in our Puritan traditions, pervades your early background, your childhood and your edu- our thinking on matters as far-ranging as pol- cation. it'ics and morality. The thou-shalt-notters of LONDON : It isn't fascinating. I was born in the City this world are still among us, within even of New York and was educated in New York, and our own minds, deploring man's complexity, had a normal, pleasant childhood. his unpredictable creative impulses, his BATTEN: Regular public school education? never-ending experimentation with hi1nself LONDON: Public school, public high school, NYU and his at·t for1ns. We must preserve fr ee- undergraduate school, and then NYU Law School and dom for the artist, because he is the means then, after the war, graduate degrees at NYU Law by which we may renew and refresh our- School. selves. The artist teaches us empathy and BATTEN: How would you describe your family life? forbearance, necessities for the civilized life. LONDON: My parents were-and my mother still is The artist is, as Shelley knew, the unacknowl- - intelligent, kind and devoted to her children. I have edged legislat01' of mankind. two sisters. My father was a lawyer and died when I was about 27. My mother is a lawyer but is not prac- Itwas Joseph Burstyn who first retained ticing. She married again, after my father's death, Ephraim London for the legal fight against to a lawyer. One sister is a lawyer but practiced for censorship. In selecting a lawyer at that only a year or two. About sixteen uncles, aunts and time unknown in the anti-censorship strug- cousins are or were lawyers . gle, Joe showed his characteristically amaz- BATTEN: Were they involved in civil rights and cen- ing intuition. Today, we all turn to Ephraim sorship questions? London for advice on censorship matters. LONDON : One of my uncles was very much involved with civil rights issues. His name was Meyer London, Significantly, London has distinguished and he was one of two Socialists elected to the United hi1nself primarily in regard to the foreign States Congress. Many of the New Deal laws - such film. Domestic production, hampered by a as the Social Security Law, Minimum Wage Law, _~f:~ ~~:::~_~~._~~t.t~::\"~~::Jkind of conspiracy of \"good taste,\" did not I

4 Na tional Labor Relations Act, Unemployment Insur- You know that he is urinating against a building. Some ance - were first introduced in Congress by my uncle people found that sequence objectionable, obscene. between 1914 and 1922. None of th e bills he introduced BATTEN: Was any court bill overhlrned as a result becam e law until long after his dea th. of that case? LONDON: No, no; it wasn't necessary. The objection BATTEN : Did any member of your family inspire was that the scene was obscene. You know that that you to go into the particular area of law you're in? word, in law, is supposed to mean something that LONDON: No . I am a general practitioner. arouses lustful desire in th e average person in the BATTEN : Can you remember when you began to be community. I told the censors that I would hate to, interested in civil liberties? if I were in t11eir place, have it known that I thought the average p erson in the community would be sexually LONDON: 'Well, I was always interested in civil aroused by t11e sight of a little boy urinating. The point liber ties issues, but I tried more cases involving civil was well taken, and the objection was withdrawn. rights after the war. BATTEN : What stimulated this involvement with THE BICYCLE THIEF? BATTEN: Have you traveled in the southern part of LONDON: Joe Burstyn, whom I knew, and who was t11 e United States? one of the greatest film distributors, asked me to repre- LONDON: Yes. But I didn't become interested in civil sent the film. If a film disb.\"ibutor can be, he was rights because I saw Negroes being denied their rights creative. I believe he and his partner, Arthur Mayer, in t11e South. BATTEN : Oh, no, I realize yo ur efforts extend beyond the integration area. 'What can you tell us about your law practice in areas other t11an film? LONDON : \\iVell, we have a varied and general prac- tice. Much of my time is sp ent in litigation, appeals, contract work, and some criminal cases. I am at t11e moment appealing a case to the United States Supreme Court for a man convicted of murder and sentenced to deat11 . BATTE N: How did you become involved in the Soblen case? LONDON: Soblen asked me to represent him. That was my only reason for b ecoming involved . I had read about t11e case in the newspapers before he came to see me, but had no thought of taking part in it. BATTEN: Can you tell us something about your non- legal interests? LONDON: I listen to music a great deal. I read quite a bit; I have a young son who keeps me physically active. I read a good deal of non-fiction, biographies, history books, books on art, essays - what th ey used to call belles lettres and some fiction. Since I repre- sent publishers I have r ead an average of a book every two weeks in order to answer libel or right-of-privacy questions and the like. BATTEN: What was your first activity in regard to film ? LONDON: That was for a perfectly beautiful picture called THE BICYCLE THIEF, a r eally great film. Th ere was one scene in th ere that caused a stir, and ... BATTEN : Did this incident occur in New York State? LONDON: And elsewhere. You remember that after the bicycle was stolen the boy and his father wandered for hours through the streets of Rome. Finally the boy, unable to contain himself, hlrns hiS back to the camera.

5 more than any other persons, were responsible for BATTEN : Do you feel Ulat the film is a peculiarly the present interest in foreign films , or if you will, sensitive medium th at requires special regulations be- cause of its impact on the senses? art films. LONDON: No. The argument made to justify more BATTEN: Would you follow-up your statement about sh'in gent regula tion of film is th at it is a more effective Burstyn's having b een a creative dish'ibutor? medium, th at it is more easily understood, more com- LONDON: H e was creative in th e selection , th e pres- pelling. But I b elieve that th e more effective th e entation, th e advertising and in some cases, edi ting. mediulll , th e greater th e freedom it should have. Free- He was also th e first to combin e short films into one dom of communication isn't of much valu e if it is feature-length picture. H e took a short film by Ross el- received for expression th at doesn't move us. lini, one by Renoir, and a third and combin ed them BATTEN: Do you think th at film may meet a great into WAYS OF LOVE. Since then, th ere have been deal of censorship because it's a popular art form? many such films. BOCCACCIO 70 is one of th e more LONDON: Yes, surely. Censorship unquestionably recent ones. Burstyn's conh'ibution was greater th an has an economic base - th e less expensive, the more th e film anulology. Before Burstyn and Mayer began available th e medium, th e greater the censorship. There to distribute pictures th ere wasn't any general com- is much grea ter latitude in th e th eater, where th e merce in this counh'y in foreign films or in art films. tickets are rather expensive, than is allowed movies. Of course, a number of great foreign films were shown A play, shown freely on stage, may be sh'ictly cen- in America long befor e Burstyn started. There was sored when it's made into a movie. A r ecent example POTEMKIN in th e middle or late 20's, CALIGARI is THE CONNECTION . It ran, I think, two years as even before that - A NOUS LA LIBERTE, CARNET a play, without any interference - not only in New DU BAL, LE GRANDE ILLUSION, LA KERMISSE HEROIQUE were others. But they were like angel's York but in other cities and in four or five other visits, very few, and one never kn ew when th ere would countries. When it was made into a picture it was be anoUler. As a result of Burstyn's work-and that of refus ed a license in New York. The same is tru e of his partner, Arthur Mayer - th e distribution of good books .You find that there is r elatively little censorship of foreign films in the United States b ecame a continuing of hard-coverbooks-what publishers call\"h'adebooks,\" and flourishing business . And as a result I think Ameri- ordinary hard-cover books selling from $3.50 to $10. can films generally are b etter. Burstyn and Mayer When th e same book is reprinted in a cheaper edition started with some good Russian films. Then th ey dis- as a paper-back, th en th e regulation is much more tributed OPEN CITY and PAISAN. Fortunately, Bur- stringent. The assumption of the censor is that if a styn was able to bring those films here and to make man can afford to spend $8.80 for a th ea ter ticket, money by dish'ibuting U1em. Burstyn's and Mayer's th en he's sophisticated and won't b e corrupted by what finan cial successes led a number of other distributors he sees on the stage. But the people who see films in to emulate them and to deal in good art films . Their a neighborhood movie-house, where Ule price of admis- success encouraged producers , particularly of foreign sion may b e a dollar, are presumably in need of pro- films , to make good pictures knowing that a market tection. I remember hearing the lady-censor in Atlanta, existed for them in Ule United States. They were Christine Gilliam, say something to that effect. wonderful films. There was a ready market for th em. People here wanted to see such films but had had th e opportunity to see them only occasionally before th en. Also OPEN CITY was made on a very low budget which made its success more important or significant for the foreign film producer. I may seem to be over- emphasizing profit and cost, but that, of course, is of primary importance to th e men who deal in films as a business. BATTEN: The new film makers today are h'ying to revive small budget independent production . LONDON: I agree. I think th ere's a debt owed to Rossellini that hasn't been acknowledged. I don't think he's made any film in the last few years that is worth seeing, but his first films were excellent, and he intro- duced new techniques that are being us ed today.

6 BATTEN: Out of what motivation do you think cen- tllat BABY DOLL was the only film he had seen during sorship arises? tlle past tllirteen years. I think the Providence censor LONDON: Oh, the motivations may be many. I think was one of the few adults in the United States who it's a little sophomoric to say that people who are had seen only one movie in tllirteen years . H e must censors are frustrated (a phrase I've often heard used have hated movies. about censors). It isn't tru e. New York has had a series BATTEN: When .film has built up a body of scholar- of censors who have b een extremely intelligent, cul- ship and criticism that now exists in regard to drama, hued men. Dr. Flick, former Chief of the New York when film has more respectability and recognition from Motion Pichll·e Division, is a Ph.D. , and an historian; academic institutions, do you think that censorship his predecessor, Dr. Bowen, was an educated gentle- will ease? man; the present chief, Louis Pesche, is a man of intel- LONDON: Regarding serious criticism of film , J would ligence with a good knowledge and appreciation of say tllat there is more comment today more tlloughtful films , and that is also true of Mr. Bernstein and some criticism, more writing about film than th ere is about of his other associates. In Kansas, Mrs. Kitty McMahon the stage. is Chief of the Censor Board. She is a sweet lady, BATTEN : I was refeLTing to a tradition, a large body but I doubt that she knows much or gives a damn of literature and criticism on the art form . about films as an mt form. I don't know what her back- LONDON: Of course, there has been writing about ground is or what h er qualifications are for judging the theatre for a\" long time. But I would say that in films, but I would guess that b efore she became a censor the last few years th ere are more books written about she was a housewife. cinema as art, and th e techniques of film making, than are written about play analysis and dramahlrgy. I'd say BATTEN : In reading the literature I've received from there are five or six books about the aesthetics and state censorship boards, I discovered that New York craft of film making, published in the last few years , State was th e only state that really had specific require- to everyone about the producing, directing and staging ments, such as a college d egree, for the position of of plays. censor. In the three other states, you find only the BATTEN: Do you foresee any changes in censorship? vague statement \"well qualified by experience,\" as a LONDON: We've made enormous strides since 1952. prerequisite. Are you involved with the censors in any You can't appreciate the difference between the laws other states besides New York? as they are enforced today and as they were enforced LONDON: Oh yes; I've b een involved with very many or applied ten years ago. I'm inclined to think there of them. will be furth er steps taken in the same direction. Before 1952, films were censored for a great number BATTEN: How do the local censorship boards operate? of reasons . If a censor thought a film sacrilegious or LONDON: You mean in cities like Providence? if he thought it immoral or if he thought it in bad BATTEN: Yes, or like Chicago or Houston. taste, or if one of the characters in th e film was por- LONDON: Well, Providence is very strict. Until r e- trayed as having committed some wrong but was not cently Providence used to follow or at least rely on the punished, the film could be banned. At present, the Legion of D ecency ratings. Some years ago if you had only permissible ground of censorship is if the film a \"C\" or Condemned rating you just couldn't show is thought to be obscene. your picture in Providence. More recently, if you got BATTEN: Do you feel that producers in any way a \"C\" rating, tll e film would b e examined more closely. invite censorship and profit from it? If your film had an \"A\" rating, the police censor didn't LONDON: No. That is a widely held belief, but it even look at the picture. They have a police censorship is not true. No producer in his right mind would invite there. They used to have a board of three who were censorship. Fighting a legal censorship battle is costly. th e nominal censors, but all the reviewing was done by A film that has been banned rarely makes money for a police lieutenant whose name, I believe, was Blessing. that reason. If while the fight is going on the fact is I subpoenaed one of the censors. He seemed to have publicized, then the film may make money if it can so little knowledge about motion pictures when he be shown. But after the legal battle is over, a film is tes tified that I asked him when was the last time he usually not successful because of the censorship battle. had seen a picture. He said that he had seen one about BATTEN: Do you feel that film censorship can serve two years before that ·time. It was BABY DOLL. I any social purpose now? asked him how he happened to see it and he said that LONDON: I think it does a great deal of harm. Lieutenant Blessing invited him and a Catholic Priest, BATTEN : Can you conceive any situation in which a Jewish Rabbi and a Protestant minister to get their opinions. It appeared, when I questioned him further,

7 film censorship might be justified, such as during war- have succeeded at least in postponing further shOwing time? in Ohio. In Kansas , there is a great deal of censoring LONDON: During war, different rules apply. Where and temporary interference with exhibition by the survival of a people may be at stake you may have licensing board. There is the expense of litigation, costly to forget about freedom of speech. For example, a film delay, and loss of revenue while you're fighting the extrolling the virtues of the German government or battle. Two cases recently in Kansas involved BOC- showing the German army to be unbeatable might CACCIO 70 and THE SKY ABOVE, THE MUD properly have been banned during the Second World BELOW. The latter won a Hollywood Oscar and had War, because it might have impeded the war effort been recommended by Boy Scout officials, the New or adversely affected morale. The interference with York Board of Education, and 'Parents Magazine.' such a film during peace-time would be a clear viola- There were a few naked aborigines in the film. The tion of the freedom of communication. film censorship board in Kansas got ups et about that. BATTEN: What about a cold war sihlation? Of course, we were, finally, able to show th e pic hIre; LONDON: I don't think there is any justification for but there was a delay. The owner of th e film , Joe such censorship today. We've had some good Soviet Levine, refused to permit the deletion of a single foot films brought to the United States, and everybody's of film as a matter of principle. Anotller producer or been delighted with them. The fact that they suggest disb'ibutor might have deleted the scenes the Board that the Soviet form of government is superior does objected to. not justify censorship of the films. Our form of govern- ment depends upon the greatest possible freedom of speech and expression. Suppression of speech would be more des tructive of our government than allowing freedom to extol the virtues of any other form of government. BATTEN: What specific negative function would you say that censorship serves? LONDON: Well, I think to the limited extent that it is effective, censorship can delay the showing of films . Take a picture like THE LOVERS. It can't b e shown in Ohio at present because of the criminal BATTEN: How have censorship laws managed to prosecution of a theatre manager who showed the film. evade the First Amendment's protection of free speech? We appealed the conviction to the United States Supreme Court and are awaiting its decision. No one would dare to show the picture in Ohio at present, for fear of prosecution. If the case is finally won, as I think it will be, the right to show the film will be vindicated , but in the meantime the police censor will

8 LONDON: The legal theory is that something that is separate Church and State. But, the Burstyn case obscene is not expression, is not a communication . established the principle that motion pictures are not Since obscenity isn't communication, the courts have just exhibitions, like circuses, but are really meaningful reasoned, interference with it is not interfering with communications. the right of expression guaranteed by the First Amend- ment. The courts are, in a way, reverting to the same BATTEN: This business of Church and State separa- reasoning that the United States Supreme Court used tion is relative to the next question. The grounds in 1915 (in a case that was later overruled) when it justifying film censorship seem to be obscenity, in- said films could be censored and that censoring them decency, immorality, sacrilege, tendency to corrupt was not a violation of the right of communication morals, and tendency to incite crime. Aren't these tlle because films were merely a form of entertainment, proper spheres of religious teachers and philosophers? like circuses, and not a medium for the communication And if so, doesn't censorship on these areas of life of ideas. I am paraphrasing the Court's decision, not breach the separation of Church and State? my own views. The question arose, for the first time, LONDON: What you have just read is the statute in 1915 in a case called \"Mutual Films against Ohio.\" providing for licensing of films in New York. The In that case, a film was banned, and the question was Statute says that a license must be denied if the film raised as to whether the ban was an interference with is immoral, sacrilegious, et cetera. But the statute has the First Amendment, the right of free expression. The been held unconstitutional with respect to each one of United States Supreme Court, in that case, said that these words except the word, \"obscene.\" You cannot motion pictures were not a means of communication. ban a film on the ground that it is indecent. There There was greater justi£cation for such an opinion in was a case that I argued involving a film called MOM 1915, because then most films were shown in nickel- AND DAD, in which that principle was established. odeons. These were pretty poor and pointless. Unfor- BATTEN: What about other states, such as Virginia tunately, the United States Supreme Court refused, for and Maryland? tlle thirty-seven years following its opinion in that Ohio case, even to consider the question again. Meanwhile, LONDON: The same rule applies in every state. The all the State courts permitted censorship of films be- word \"immoral\" was sh·icken from the statute twice- cause the United States Supreme Court sanctioned it. once in a case involving LA RONDE and then later It wasn't until 1952 that the Supreme Court finally in another case involving LADY CHATTERLEY'S said, in effect, \"VVe reverse our decision in tlle case, LOVER. I argued the LADY CHATTERLEY'S Mutual Film versus Ohio, and we recognize that motion LOVER case in the United States Supreme Court, and pictures are a medium of communication protected by the Court said that there may not be interference witIl the First Amendment.\" a means of expression on the grounds of morality. If a work is immoral, it is so because it expresses an BATTEN: What case brought about tllis reversal? attitude or an idea. A government cannot interfere with a statemeilt because it disapproves of tJl e idea LONDON: That was \"Burstyn against Wilson.\" That expressed. That applies to books as well as to film. was a case involving THE MIRACLE. The plaintiff BATTEN: How is it tJlat immorality is still listed as was Joe Burstyn, whom I mentioned before. a ground for censoring film in ilie Maryland Film Censors' report? BATTEN: What was the argument that persuaded the Court to change its ruling? LONDON : I argued that case in the Supreme Court. We had a unanimous Court, but I can't say that any one argument persuaded the Court, for several of the Justices gave different reasons for their decisions. The majority took the position, first, that films are a medium of communication and they can't be interfered with arbitrarily, and second, that THE MIRACLE had been banned because it was said to be sacrilegious. The majority felt that tlle term sacrilegious was so vague as to be meaningless. Another opinion emphasized the point that in banning a film as sacrilegious the State was adopting the view of one religious group and in doing that violated the constitutional guarantee of

9 LONDON: The word appears in the New York Statute, number of film study groups in Roman Catholic too. The legislators are either ignorant of the Comt schools? decisions or are relu ctant to r e-enact the law without LONDON: The ChUl'ch has always b een extl'emely these words, and so th ey are left in Statute. But any- interested in motion pictures because its leadership body who has any knowledge of the law knows th at has r ecognized film's power as a means of communica- th e language we have been talking about can't be given tion. I think that is an intelligent attitude. Movies can effect. At the present time, most censors don' t attempt affect social a ttitudes, and it would b e absUl'd for the to interfere with films on any ground other than their ChUl'ch not to be concerned . I find no fault whatever supposed obscenity. with any r eligious leader who believes motion pictUl'es BATTEN : Have you had experience with film censor- ought to be examined and approved or disapproved ship on th e ground that the film contains un-Christian for the members of his sect or religion. content? LONDON : \\Vell, of cours e that was b.-ue of THE BATTEN: You feel tha t a church has a responsibility MIRACLE. Cardinal Spellman said that the film ridi- to tell its members to see or not to see this or that film ? culed the immaculate conception of Clu·ist. I don't LONDON: If you accept the religious leader's basic think Cardinal Spellman would have said that if he assumptions, then you must also accept the idea he had seen th e picture. I am reasonably sure that when has a r esponsibility to advise his followers about films. he made the statement he had not seen the pictUl'e. I see no reason why a chUl'ch should not set up its own But the ChUl'ch fathers here in New York took the board or advisors to look at films and to recommend position that the picture ridiculed the virgin birth, and or to condemn them. It is not more improper for a I must say they couldn't have been more in error. chUl'ch than for a newspaper to do that. I may never Everyone connected with the picture, with the possible agree with the church's judgments. I may add that if exception of .Mr. F ellini (who wrote the script), was you followed the judgments of the Legion of D ecency a devout Catholic-Rossellini in particular; he directed you'd miss a lot of good pictUl'es. But th e Legion has th e picture. Ross ellini is a devout and religious person. the right to examine films and to advise Catholics that Anna Magnani was the star of the picture, and she is such and such a picture is immoral, that another film a devout Catholic. And that was true of all the cast, is not suitable for children, and the like. cameramen, and a pries t who appeared in the picture. BATTEN: Are you familiar with this New York Times BATTEN: What attitude toward the chUl'ch member- article by Reverend Douglas in which he Ul'ged a cmb ship is in1plied by chUl'ch censorship and publication on the export of American films becaus e of un-Clu'istian of lists? content? LONDON: I'm afraid I missed the article. I can't say LONDON : Ther e is implicit in your question the that I am impressed by the statement. assumption th at the church that publishes such opinions BATTEN : What are your views on the increasing doesn't respect its p eople. I wouldn't say that was true. I do think that a church is in error when it assumes that a picture may corrupt an aault viewer. I think ther e is no foundation, no basis, for that assumption. Nobody's ever been corrupted, so far as I know, by a pictUl'e or b y any art form. But again, you must accept the right of a church to advise its followers on what is morally proper on what should or should not b e seen and read. BATTEN : Do you feel that the Catholic Church's censorship is becoming broader? LONDON: Well, if you're talking about movies, the Catholic Church exerts considerable power through the Legion of D ecency ratings. There are millions of Catholics in the United States who want to be guided by the Church; and if they want to, they should be. BATTEN: Have you seen a new book, \"Tenets for ~IIovie Viewers,\" by a Jesuit priest, Harold C. Gardiner ? LONDON : I've met Doctor Gardiner. H e is, b y the way, liberal in his views, generally. H e is certainly a cultivated and charming gentleman. Dr. Chandler and

10 I, of com se, don't agree. ' Ve have spoken together able basis, and I would sincerely hope that efforts and find ourselves on opposite sides, but I have great will be made to that end.''' How does this statement respect for him. reflect political involvement in film censorship? BATTEN: Do you feel that the censorship, not just LONDON : Rogers obviously has no knowledge of the the chmch censorship but also the state and local subject and his statement can't be considered seriously censorship, presupposes an antagonism between the as a political commitment. Local censorship is not an film maker and society? In other words, does govern- interference with interstate commerce, according to ment in censoring imply that the film artist is not fully tlle Supreme Court. Also, Rogers says that it is the sympathetic toward organized society and that there- offi ce of the F ederal Government to assume its respon- fore the public must be protected ? sibility in connection with immoral films. Had he known LONDON: No, no, no. The basic assumption of censor- anything about the law, he would have known that ship is that the p eople just can't be u'usted to see the F ederal Government may not ( and a State govern- everything that appears on the screen. That's very ment may not ) attempt to regulate a film because it diHer ent from assuming th at the film maker and society is thought to be immoral. That is so clearly established are a t odds. On the conu'm'y, the film maker assumes that we can assume Mr. Rogers knew very little about the burden of communication with other members of the subject. His premises are false and his conclusion society, and so there must be a r elationship or a sym- unreasonable. pa thetic bond es tablished . The film maker in a way BATTEN : What part does tlle F ederal Government tries to see for his audience. play in film censorship? BATTEN: D o you have any thoughts on the argument that the mass of p eople can't b e trusted and have to LONDON: It plays a very minor role in Customs and have films screened for them? possibly in censoring film sent through the mails. That L ONDON: Well, I think this is contrary to the funda - is, I think, tlle only role tllat the Fed eral Government mental, underlying principles of democracy. One must plays. have faith in the judgment of the p eople. The p eople BATTEN : Under what statute does the Customs in a democracy have a right to vote and to select those Bureau have the right to censor films? who are going to represent them in government. If LONDON: There is a law prohibiting the importing they can b e trusted to make such vital decisions, then of obscene matter into the United States, and it's under they can be trusted to determine what kind of films that statute that Customs often examines films and they ought to see, and to d ecide what recreations are sometimes refu ses to allow them to be brought into appropriate for them. the United States. BATTE N : D o you feel that this censorship encourages BATTEN: Is that the Tariff Act of 1930? antagonism between the film maker and society? LONDON: It is the Tariff Act based on what was LONDON: No. The antagonism is between the film known as tlle Comstock Law. maker and censor. F ellini, one of the really great film BATTEN: Well, can the Customs also prohibit impor- makers today, directed in BOCCACCIO 70 an attack tation, under this law, of films that would tend to be on censors. H e made that episode because of his subversive to the United States Government? annoyance at the censorship of his earlier film, LA LONDON : There was a time when they did do just DOLCE VITA. that. I don't think that would be attempted at this time. In the last two or three years, during the present BATTEN: r d like your reaction to the following article administration, the Custom Bureau and Treasury D e- p artment have interfered with very few films . in Variety, January 2: \"A Republican, Representative BATTEN: I r ead of this law in \"F ederal Censorship,\" W alter Rogers, r ecently r e-elected to serve in Congress sub-h eaded Obscenity in the Mail (Free Press of from the eighteentll District of Texas, used a campaign Glencoe, Inc., New York, 1961 ). The statement was against 'lewd films,' but assured the industry, 'it has made that the Customs at one time prohibited impor- never been my desire or my purpose to interfere with tation of films only on tlle ground of nudity. the legitinlate tlleatre or tlle motion picture industry LONDON: No, no. They did it on political grounds as such . ... However, since tlle states and communities as well. One of th e films that they prohibited ( this was cannot place undue burdens on interstate commerce, just before World War II ) - was anti-British. Our it b ecomes tlle offi ce of the F eder al Government to government wa5 strengtllening its ties with England. assume its responsibilities in not burdening the states, The Customs interfered with the import of a picture etc., with immoral films. This is a problem tha t can be called THE SPIRIT OF 76. It was a picture showing worked out between the motion picture industry and the Americans how badly they were treated by the the F ederal Government on an agreeable and acoept-

11 English at the time of th Hevolution. The name of seize a film tbat was approved by a local censor board? the case was a perfect one under the circumstances. According to Variety, this happened recently in Mem- It was \"The United States against th e Spirit of 76.\" phis, in regard to the French film, I SPIT ON YOUR BATTEN : Are there any rights of non-resident artists GHA VE, which was approved by the Memphis Censor that are not protected by the First Amendment tlu'ough Board and was then seized by the vice squad. this Customs censorship? LONDON: The usual rule is that where you have a LONDO : Non-resident artists? censor in au thority, as th ey do in Memphi , and that BATTEN : Well, I'm assuming that imported film s censor passes a film, tll e film may not be interfered would be made by non-American artists. witll by any otller government official. That is the law LONDON: I don't think it makes any difference in the State of New York. I always assumed it was whether the film is made by an American or an Italian also the law in the City of Memphis. In one of tlle or a Spaniard. The right of communication protected cases against the City of Chicago in th e United States by th e Constitution includes th e right of the p eople Supreme Court, the counsel for Chicago claimed th at to hear what others may say (to receive a communica- tlle police tlleoretically could find a film obscene after tion ), as well as tlle right of an individual to speak the censors passed it. However, tllat never happened or publish a communication. in Chicago. I suspect that the vice squad in Memphis BATTEN: What I want to know is whether there is acted illegally, as the police sometimes do. No doubt any discrepancy in applying censorship on films tllat a case brought by the owner of the film to enjoin the are imported and films that are made inside the United vice squad would be won. States? BATTEN : Is this a form of totalitarianism? LONDON : None. LONDON: I would say that of any unlawful action BATTEN: There's no discrimination made. b y the police. LONDON: Oh, I would say this: that sometimes you BATTEN : Do you feel that any totalitarian philosophy get to an area that has local censorship, that may favor is being expressed in film censorship or any otller cen- pictures that bear a Motion Picture Association seal, sorship of the arts? or a film made in the United States as opposed to a LONDOI : I do. The dictator fears books and all film that is imported. But that is rare. expressions of ideas tllat he considers subversive of BATTEN: Has Customs censorship been challenged tlle political order. The censor fears books, movies and recently? all other art forms tbat he believes subversive of the LONDON: Oh surely. It's challenged all the time. I moral order. Both feel that tlle people must be directed challenged it twice in the last two or three years. I and tlleir r eading and their thinking controlled . There challenged it, for example, in connection with a book is a parallel between the Nazi book burnings, and the called \"Tropic of Cancer.\" I challenged tlle Customs' .removal by tlle police of books from libraries and book- right to witllhold entry of that book or any book. We stores in America. There is a parallel between the didn't get a decision on tllat issue, for in the middle arrest of a book-seller by Nazi storm troopers for of the case the Government changed its position and selling or having the writings of Thomas Mann, and announced that it was going to release tlle book. I'd th e arrest of a book-seller in America for selling or say tllat is a serious question at the moment. Hegarding having a book by D . H. Lawrence or Henry Miller. film, the Customs authorities are liberal in their judg- Neither the censor nor the totalitarian dictator can ments at present. The existence or non-existence of countenance complete freedom of tlle mind, or com- Customs censorship would not effect censorship in other plete freedom of inquiry. areas. BATTEN: Do you feel that most Americans are con- BATTEN: In last summer's issue of Film Comment, cerned enough Witll censorship to look into its social a Spanish film maker, Jose Luis Font, made the state- and political implications? ment that in America we do not have any F ederal LONDON: I do not know how most people think, office of censorship, and yet there are many things we but most people I have discussed it with are opposed do not speak about in our films . to censorship because of the inlplications that I just LONDON: We do have official State censorship in spoke about. four States and censorship by a number of municipal BATTEN: Do you know of the decision of tlle Israeli agencies. The fact that th ere is no F ederal official Supreme Court over-ruling th e Government Censor- called a censor doesn't alter the fact that we are subject ship Board for having censored a newsreel? to censorship. LONDON : I didn't know about it. BATTEN: How is it possible for a local vice squad to BATTE N: That was in Variety recently.

12 LONDON : You've really been reading Variety re- of films that show Americans ill a poor light. I would ligiously. imagine, for example, that the export of Rick Carrier's film , showing misb\"eahllent of Puerto Ricans in New BATTEN : They had about eight articles on censor- York, will not make our State Department very happy. ship this week. It is called STRANGERS IN THE CITY. LONDON : Variety generally has very good coverage BATTEN: What is your opinion regarding the caution on the subject of censorship. Vincent Canby writes a of the United States Information Agency in sending good deal about it. He is first-rate and he knows the abroad material that emphasizes the positive and avoids subject very well. Two other newspaper writers have th e negative? For example, the policy against using made a considerable contribution in the field - Bosley riot, sit-in and freedom-bus footage in these films. Crowther and Archer W'insten. Of course, I agree with the Israeli Supreme Court's decision. I didn't know LONDON: I suppose the USIA wants the people of that there is a censor in Israel, and I'm sorry to learn other countries to like Americans . If its function is to of it. I do know that Israel doesn't have quite the same help cement or bring about good relations between attitude toward the press that we do. They do not have the United States and other counh'ies, you can't blame any guarantee of freedom of the press. Professor Ed- the Agency for hoping that the seedy aspects of Ameri- mond Cahn, one of America's foremost legal philoso- can life will not be shown abroad, and you can't blame phers, went to Israel a few months ago to speak about the Agency for wishing to emphasize those aspects of our laws relating to the press and the need for allowing American life that will favorably impress other nations. freedom to all media of expression. I think that it's much better, even as a practical BATTEN: What essential differences are there? matter, to be candid and to permit a free statement of LONDON : I'd say the basic difference is the fact that all aspects of life even if one believes the emphasis, there isn't in Israel a constitutional guarantee of free- in some statements, may be false. The people in foreign dom of the press as we know it. I believe a newspaper countries are fully aware of our frailties and weak- can be censored, in Israel, if it criticizes the govern- nesses. There is little purpose in trying to conceal ment. them. I thiuk we can aHord to tell the whole b\"uth. BATTEN: What is your opinion r ega.rding quasi- BATTEN: What do you think of Heywood Broun's governmental supervision of festival enb\"ies by which comment tha t a good case can be made for censorship films are required to pass criteria unrelated to film? if administered by a panel of the wisest men within For example, a film must reflect the \"American Image\" the society? in a positive fashion. LONDON: Well, I suppose the best answer to that is LONDON: W ell, I don't think there is a Federal rule in John Milton's \"Areopagitica.\" Milton said, in eHect, or law to that eHect. I think that film makers here that no man who was worthy to be a censor would and the State Department a.re anxious to have life in ever accept the role. I would go further and say that America pOl'b\"ayed favorably. But I must say we are there's no man so superior that he can be a censor not alone in this. I remember the French government for the rest of society. Broun's position, as you state objected to the release in America of a delightful it, was Plato's position too, wasn't it? The assumption French picture called THE LOVE GAME (not to be is you have the intellectual aristocracy determine the confused with GAMES OF LOVE). It was very sweet intellectual substance to be fed to the people. and funny - the first, I believe, of the New Wave BATTEN: Does a free democracy permit the exhibi- comedies. The French govenunent delayed the export tion of films that attack or subvert democracy? of that film on the ground that the French were being portrayed as loose. In the picture a man and woman LONDON: 'Vell, obviously in a democracy, you have are living together, having great fun, and they don't bother getting married until the end of the film. As to allow every statement - negative and positive. I remember, they finally do get married just before There's no freedom of expression if only expression the film ends because the girl wants children. The approving the government is to be allowed. French government thought that the film would give BATTEN: What would you do about films that pro- Americans a false idea of what French people were mote race hate, master race theory, and genocide? like. The film finally was released. LONDON: I would permit them to be shown. But I BATTEN : What is this \"American Image,\" if it exists? would use every means available to educate the people LONDON: I don't think they're b\"ying to have a to the fact that what they were being shown was specmc concept of life portrayed. I think that our monstrous. I think that you have to combat false doc- government simply may not be happy about the export trine not by suppression but by more information: I think you must allow every policy and philosophy, no matter how distasteful, to be stated. That debate has

13 been going on for some time. When George Lincoln hear is quite poor. Rockwell, the American Nazi, wanted to speak here BATTEN: Do you think anything will be done to get in New York, I favored of his right to speak in the these films into the country? park although I hated what he had to say. I think LONDON: Oh, I think in time; MONSIEUR VER- this is what must be done in a democracy. There must DOUX was in this country. There weren't many exhibi- be a completely unhampered discussion of all ideas. tors who were willing to show it. My recollection is The doctrine that is hateful to authority or to the that MONSIEUR VERDOUX played at the Capitol majority today may be what people live by tomorrow. for about a week. But there aren't so many films of Remember what I spoke of before. The bills intro- that calibre that we can afford to miss anyone of them. duced in Congress before the First World War by my Sooner or later, people will realize that we and not uncle, and the theories behind them, were anathema Chaplin are the ones punished by the withdrawal of to the majority then. Today they are not only law but the film, and then it will be shown again. they are so completely accepted that I doubt that any BATTEN: Do you know anything about the Finnish one nmning for public office would suggest their pacifist film , THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER? It was repeal. To quote the psalm, \"The stone which th e shown here by Cinema 16 several years ago, at which builders rejected is become the corner stone.\" But only time the cIaim was made that the film's pacifistic con- in a working democracy can freedom of speech be tent prevented clearance for importation. permitted. We can permit anti-Semitic and anti-Negro LONDON : I represent Cinema 16, but I don't know films to be shown here, but I think it would have been anything about that. I'll have to ask Amos Vogel. I'm dangerous to show such £lms in Germany immediately sure that if he made the statement, it's true, but I'm after World War II. astonished to learn about it. If the rejection is chal- BATTEN: You spoke of educating the public to reject lenged I am sure the film could be brought in. the evil ideologies of the race-hate £lms you'd permit BATTEN: What do you think of the Museum of to be shown; how would you accomplish this education? Modern Art's withholding the Nazi film, TRIUMPH LONDON: You can administer the antidote in the OF THE WILL, from exhibition in its complete form, same way the poison is given, in the very same way and in its abridged form only under university auspices? that the information, the statement arousing race hatred, LONDON: Well, as I indicated before, I think that is made. You can show the viciousness of race hatred there must be freedom here to expound all ideas, even in all of the very same media that are available to Naziism. Although the Museum could say, very prop- those who want to promote race hatreds. erly, that it would not approve the suppression of the BATTEN: Recently a statement was made by one of film , but at the same time doesn't want its facilities the school librarians in the Long Island area that the used to disseminate Naziism. If I were the Museum's school library was not to put books on its shelves that Curator of film , that probably would be my position. might arouse controversy. When I say that the statement of Nazi philosophy LONDON: Well, that sort of thing has been going on should not be suppressed, I say it with a keener aware- all over the country. But, in general, the librarians, ness of what Naziism means than most people in this more than any other group, have insisted upon freedom country have. I was a war crimes investigator after to read. I think controversy is very healthy. Condemn- the war. I was in the Army during the Second World ing something because it will arouse controversy is War, and when the war was over, I was in Germany. condemning something because it will make us think I was then transferred to war crimes investigation, and, or move us to action. Usually what the school boards I think, I learned more at first-hand about what Naziism mean, when they say something is controversial, is means than most Germans. Despite that knowledge, that they are opposed to the statement or the idea. I say the way to combat Naziism is not by censoring BATTEN: What do you think of the inability to exhibit the statement of its principles or by pretending it never here Chaplin's KING IN NEW YORK and MON- existed, but by showing and re-stating the truth about it. SIEUR VERDOUX? BATTEN: The statement has been made that the Nazi LONDON: That has been our loss. I don't know about party in the United States is increasing in membership. KING IN NEW YORK, but MONSIEUR VERDOUX LONDON: I would say that the statement is com- is a good picture. I think the American people lost a pletely false, utter nonsense. I don't think the Nazi great deal when they were prevented from seeing it. party has, or, at present, even claims, more than a That would be true of practically every Chaplin picture hundred members in the entire United States. Even with the possible exception of the last, THE KING if it were true that the party is growing in strength, IN NEW YORK, which I haven't seen and which I my answer would still be the same. Fortunately, the

14 party has no influence at all; its members are the lunatic frightened when the giant went after Jack. A lot of fringe and many of the members are ordinary criminals. the children hlfned around and wouldn't look at the BATTEN : What are your views about classmcation stage. Others were hiding under the seats. Seeing of films? something like that is a frightening experience for a LO DON: If what you mean is grading £lms with child, but I never heard anyone suggest that BAMBI re pect to th eir fitn ess for children, I would say th at or \"Jack and The Beanstock\" be classmed as unfit for I doubt th a t it will work out well, but I do not think children. it violates any basic constitutional right. There are BATTEN: Why do you think Disney makes children's many laws regulating conduct of children that are films with so much violence? Do you think the public appropriate under our system of governm ent if th ey basically prefers violence to peace? apply only to children. For example, we have com- LONDON : You mean the p eople who make such fihns pulsory educa tion for children and laws prohibiting assume that we or children prefer violence? Perhaps th e sale of liquor to children and so on. The assumption we do. But I was speaking of that only to indicate that underlying those laws is that children cannot be r elied classmcation for children will probably be administered on to direct even their private lives. In theory, we according to the wrong standards, or at least according cannot make that assumption with respect to adults. to standards that I don't approve. We can accept, even if we don't particularly want it, BATTEN: What comments do you have on the British a limited censorship for children, provided it does not system of classification? apply to adults. I would prefer to have parents decide LONDON : Well, I'm no great admirer of the British what their children should see, although there is cer- sys tem. I think that, in general, there is much greater tainly nothing wrong in a government agency's making freedom here with respect to films than there is in a recommendation to parents . England. BATTEN: How can we create an environment for The reason I am not p articularly enthusiastic about film conducive to art and social criticism? That is, compulsory classification of films for children is that what laws if any are needful in regard to film? I don' t think such a law would ever b e properly admin- LONDON: I would allow complete freedom. I am istered. I don't think qualmed people would b e em- as opposed to laws designed to encourage a particular ployed. If films are to b e classified as fit or unfit for kind of film as I am to laws designed to suppress children, for example, it seems to me the classification others. I don't mean that I am opposed to govermnent should b e done by people who know something about subsidies, but I am opposed to the kind of intervention the problems of children and the education of children. your question suggests. There isn't any real danger in I don't think we are going to find such p eople willing allowing complete freedom. You will find that most to spend th eir time classifying films. If I were the people reject th e tasteless and pornographic when it person acting as th e classmer, I would not allow the is mad e available to them. I would describe the films exhibition to children of most westerns and some of shown generally at the Rialto Theater on 42nd Street th e early Disney films. There is too much emphasis as vulgar and offensive. Anyone may go to see them on brutality even in the Disney animal pichue. The but very few (in relation to the total movie audience) animals fr equently attack and sometimes kill each other, do. and the fights between them are brutal. I can't claim BATTEN: Do you favor , then, total freedom for the any knowledge of children other than mine, but I film maker, the distributor, and the exhibitor? think such films are disturbing to a youngster. LONDON : I would have complete freedom. BATTEN: I remember when we took my baby sister BATTEN: Does a victory or defeat in film affect other to see BAMBI; she was about four years old and areas of civil liberties? suddenly started screaming hys terically in the middle LONDON : Well, I would say that ultimately a defeat of BAMBI, th e scene in which th e mother deer is for films will affect other means of communication. burning . . . It would be an encouragement to the censor to extend LONDON: I must say I liked BAMBI. his activities to other fi elds, to impose greater restric- BATTEN : My mother had to take her out of the tions on books, for example. In the same way, re- th eater, and it was many years b efore my sister would strictions upon other media ultimately affect films. It go back to the movies again. was for that reason that th e Motion Pichlfe Association LONDON: I've had this same experience with a child intervened in the action I brought to prevent the watching a stage production of \"Jack and The Bean- Customs from interfering with the importing of \"Tropic stock.\" I took some children to see it, and they and of Cancer.\" half the other children in th e theater were terribl y

]5 BATTEN: 'What is needed in order to eliminate cen- hostility to religion but rather respect for religion. In effect, the court said that in a country where people sorship? hold many differen t religious beliefs, no religion can LONDON: Time and edu cation and resisting every prosper if any religion is ei ther favored by th e govern- attempt to inhibit freedom of expression. ment or is sponsored by the government; that such BATTEN: Does th e heavy emphasis in American film s sponsorship will only result in conflict between th e on violence, eroticism combined with puritanism, and religious groups. psychopathology indicate an indirect rebellion of the BATTEN: Do you feel that th e American film maker film maker against conformity? is politically naive? LONDON : I don't think emphasis on violence shows LONDON: Is th e film maker naive? I wou ld say no. rebellion against conformity. There is greatest con- I suppos e you have to talk about individuals. Spiegel, formity in the making of vVestern movies - the th emes, Kramer, and Preminger are American film makers. They ideas, resolutions are almost always the same - so are not naive politically. that you have almost rigid conventions, yet th e em- BATTEN: I mean with regard to th e films th at have phasis th ere is on violence - fi st fighting and shooting. come out of America. The problems generally are solved b y an act of vio- LONDON: Well, I suppose if you judge our political lence. This is th e final resolution ; people face each sophistication and intelligence by our films , we'd come other with guns and th e good fellow shoots th e bad off pretty badly. The general run of films made in the fellow. past by the major producers would reflect their assump- BATTEN: Are the violent, sex-sahlrated films an open- tions about American taste and American interests ing wedge by which we may expect films of direct rather than their own political naivete. social concern or are they inviting further repressive BATTEN: Th en th e film reflects, not the film maker's legislation? taste, but his es timation of the public's taste. LONDON: Well, I don't think there can be any furth er LONDON : I would think so. The statemen t isn't true repressive legislation. I think that much of the recent of all the major producers . Kramer, whether you con- legislation inh·oduced in the State legislations is uncon- sider him a great film maker or not, certainly is con- stitutional, not lawful. Ultimately, such laws will be cerned with pressing social problems. His films have stricken and held void. In answer to the other part dealt with the atomic bomb, race relations, retarded of your question - as to whether sex-saturated or children, veterans who were emotionally and physi- violent films will lead to film s of direct social concern cally crippled, and the like. - my answer is \"No.\" We have had many films of BATTEN: What do you think about Kramer's h·eat- social concern that were not inspired by and are not ment of race relations in THE DEFIANT ONES? Did the result of films of violence or sex. There are pichues this treatmen t tend to present a realistic picture? like UMBERTO D, concerned with the problems of LONDON: I don't think so, but I thought it was a older people. Such films are a comment inspired by the fine picture. Realism isn't an end in itself or necessarily condition commented on, not a reaction to other films a virtue. There is a difference b etween artistic truth of a totally different kind. and historic h·uth , and in a work of art one should aim BATTEN: What about the future of th e docum entary? at th e former. While a Negro and white convict might LONDON: I hope there will be more of th em. The not act as th e two main characters did at the end of techniques of the documentary film maker have been THE DEFIANT ONES, th e ending was artistically used very effectively by people like Rossellini and necessary. I think it was Kramer's fines t picture. Truffaut. BATTEN: .Do you feel that th e American film maker BATTEN: Does an extension of civil liberties in one is generally expected to b e an instrumen t of national area tend to invite repressions in another, that is, have policy or a spokesman for an homogenized Christian you observed attempts to introduce film censorship morality? bills since th e Supreme Court decision abolishing segre- LONDON : I don't know how to answer that. \"Ex- gation and since th e decision holding the New York pected\" by whom? Church groups? The government? State Regents prayer in violation of th e First Amend- I suppose th e film maker is exp ected to be a spokesman ment's \"Establishment clause?\" for morality by the Motion Pichue Association - but LONDON: After every major victory for civil liberties I don't believe that producers are much concerned by someone like Senator Eastland recommends an amend- what is expected of by them the Motion Picture ment to the Constitution to res trict the liberty or th e Association of America - although I would say that right that was vindicated. The decision in the New generally, to avoid conflict, th ey try to live within York Regents prayer case, by th e way, did not r eHect

16 the code. Power and other male stars have appeared in perhaps BATTEN: Have there been any changes in this code hundreds of films as fighter pilots, frogmen, com- in recent years? mandoes, Naval officers, infantrymen, Coast Guards- LONDON: There have been changes, minor ones men, submariners, and so forth. These films cumu- though; in general, the purposes and principles have latively foster an appetite for killing, and war is remained unchanged. approved of, in effect. Why is this? BATTEN: Does anyone protest these principles? LONDON: To the extent that the films glorify the LONDON: Yes. The code has occasionally been Houted. fighting forces , they foster an appetite for war. By Preminger, for example. I think it is possible now BATTEN: Would you say that man loves war and to get a wide distribution for a film that does not have that such films excite us, whereas peace is dull? a code seal, although that may not have been possible LONDON: Peace and quiet are certainly not the best years ago. I suppose the code is applied more Hexibly dramatic material no matter how much we may, indi- now, possibly because the Association realizes that vidually, long for it. The dramatic interest in war isn't producers will ignore the the code if the regulation necessarily evil. A newspaper full of accounts of good is too stringent. deeds, pious statements, and of acts of obedience to BATTEN: You feel, then, that this code is going to the law, will not be of great interest even to confirmed become more and more relaxed. pacifists. LONDON: I think it is more relaxed and less effective. BATTEN: It seems that efforts for peace are becoming BATTEN: What can you say about the collaboration more exciting these days. What are your views on the between the Pentagon and Hollywood in regard to recent subpoena of the Women's Strike For Peace? war films by which tax-supported military facilities are lent to private industry film makers? LONDON: I made a public statement about that. I LONDON: I don't know how that can be justilled. thought it was outrageous. I guess really the best com- The armed services have from time to time made ment of all was made by Herblock in a cartoon, pub- everything from aircraft carriers or destroyers to cannon lished, unfortunately, during the newspaper strike. I'm available to particular producers. It is shocking to me afraid not many people saw it. It shows one of the that men and equipment will be lent to one producer members of the House Un-American Activities Com- and not another. Also, I don't know how the govern- mittee coming in late to the Committee investigation ment justilles such use of the taxpayer's money for of the Women's Strike For Peace, and he says to the private enterprise. There's no question of corruption chairman, 'What's un-American, women or peace?\" at all. I assume that the government's position is that BATTEN: How did you feel about the HUAC film, films glamorizing the Air Force or Navy will popularize OPERATION ABOLITION? the service, encourage enlistments, and perhaps even LONDON: The young Fulton Lewis and I had three inHuence appropriations. But I don't believe it proper or four debates about the movie. I thought the film to permit Mr. Selznick, or Stanley Kramer for example, stank. So that the audience could form its own opinion to have the use of Army equipment but deny it to the movie was shown first. Then we discussed it. We spoke at a college, a church, and in a public hall. In citizen John Doe. each case I think the people in the audience had BATTEN: What determines to whom the government formed their opinions before the film was shown. I do will lend its equipment? not say that with any bitterness because on at least LONDON: My guess would be that those in charge two occasions the audience favored my view. of public 'relations for the service make the decision; BATTEN: What kind of films would come out of a but if Joe Doakes with a budget for his film of three totally free situation? hundred thousand dollars were to make the request, LONDON: There has been increasingly greater free- I suspect he'd have a more difficult time than a pro- dom during the last eleven years, and we've had, I think, ducer who has a budget of twenty times that sum. much better films , much more interesting films, much BATTEN: Films that collaborate with the government more honest films. If there were complete freedom I in this way or that use the government facilities in this think films would be even better. Look at the current way - do they become propaganda films? pictures that are being shown in New York. Possibly LONDON: They do, yes. They're propaganda films in nine or ten are really fine films. Heretofore, we would the sense that the government service that is lending have been lucky if there were two good movies playing its facilities is, almost invariably, shown in a favorable in the City of New York. If the artist were freer - I light. don't suppose there can be complete freedom - he BATTEN: Gable, Bogart, Cooper, Flynn, Stewart, wouldn't have to make his film conform to any notions

17 of th e censor. Usually, the censor has very little con- LO DON: The original Congressional investigation cern with the aesthetic or artistic values of film. I think was a political one. Certainly the refusal to employ tlle both Dr. Flick and Dr. Pesce of New York's Censorship Hollywood Ten was only for political reasons . No one Board are exceptions in that aspect. Both, I believe questioned their ability. allowed greater freedom when they thought th e film BATTEN: Turning to anoth er aspect of fih115 , do you feel that American films rarely show a sense of tragedy? well made. LONDON: Well, I think more American films are BATTEN: Which nations have the leas t inhibitions on dealing honestly with human problems and that means film freedom? th at th ey are dealing with tragic situations. I suppose LONDON: Inhibitions may be imposed by considera- th e reason they did not to the same exten t in th e past tions other than legal ones. Financial considerations was the general tlleory (Mr. Samuel Goldwyn having are also a factor. If one makes a film at a cost of t\\,yo been one of the chief proponents) that p eople went and a half million dollars (which is not a high budget to th e movies to be amused. That evidenced a lack of today) , he may hesitate to experiment, or he may be respect for the medium. Goldwyn was, in effect, taking constrained to alter his script so that th e film will be tll e position that the Supreme Court took in 1915, that suitable for, or interes ting to teen-agers , because they movies achlally were not a medium of cOimnunication are a substantial part of th e market. Failure to make but a meaningless form of amusement. such compromises may mean that the film will not BATTEN: Do you think the American film comedy return its cost, and th e producer will have a harder has declined ? time securin g financing for his next film . For that reason, LONDON : D efinitely. Some of the earlier American and because they aren't concerned with codes or cen- comedies were superb. Those made by Chaplin, H arold sorship, the Italian and French film makers appear less Lloyd , Buster Keaton. Certainly no one has reached inhibited than the American producers. I don't know the h eights that Chaplin reached. And it's true that whether you saw THE FOUR HUNDRED BLOWS, today, with th e possible exception of Danny Kaye, you but this was one made on a low budget with great don't have any great comedians. There are a number freedom so far as techniques and subject matter were of q uite funny \"stand-up comedians\" who are good at concerned , and a perfectly beautiful movie was made. telling jokes or delivering gags - principally, Bob Censorship was not a factor, for nothing in the picture Hope. But th ey are not great actors as Chaplin was or is. could be considered sexually stimulating. We are just BATTEN: What effect do you feel th e talkies had on beginning to make such films here - perhaps DAVID this decline in th e American comedy film? AND LlSA is comparable. LO JDON: I don't think that sound con tributed to the BATTEN: Is j\\tlcCarthyism still alive in any way'? W h y decline of American comedy. I tllink Chaplin took that did he flourish and did this period harm films? position because his particular genius was in panto- LONDO : The reason McCarthyism flourished, assum- mime. But great comedy can be talky - the classic ing that my opinion on it is of value, is a much larger examples are Moliere and Shaw. problem than, I think, we have time for now. In my BATTEN: But within the American comedy .film, for view, the McCarthy era was one of the dark p eriods example . .. in our history. Is McCarthyism still alive today'? Yes. LONDON: Why would talking in English make the It is not the force it was, but it still exists. You still difference? If you can make good comedy in the Italian have McCarthyism in that although people who were language, like DIVORCE ITALlAN STYLE, why not blacklisted for political reasons are employed in making in English also? Why should tllat be a factor? English movies (some even winning Oscars) , they are not is a richer language and as well suited to comedy as employed in television. Television and radio nen.vorks any other. still conduct political investigations of people employed BATTEN: So many of the comedians at the time b y them or appearing on th eir programs. One of the sound came in felt that they were finished ; only Harold major networks recently had, and probably still has, Lloyd felt that he could successfully bridge this gap a former investigator of the House Commit~ee on and make talking comedies. Un-American activities whose main function is political LONDON : Well I suppose th at the stars of tlle silent screening. I consider that a vestige of McCarthyism. films found the transition difficult, like Buster Keaton And tll e most important influence on American culture and Chaplin. But that was a problem personal to them. today is television, not the movies. I think it had nothing to do with the medium. Shaw's BATTEN: Do you feel that the imprisonment of the comedies d epend entirely on his expression - entirely \"Unfriendly Ten\" was motivated in part by political on dialogue. The sihlations are not in tllemselves funny considerations?

18 and are contrived to present th e basic ideas - and his every evening. I r ead it because, at least in the King plays do not dep end as much upon the actors as those James version , the writing is glorious, but it gives me of other playwrights. great advantage in that area of the United States BATTEN: What fa ctors do you think are influential wh ere th e literal language of the Bible is accepted as in this decline of the comic RIm in this cowllTY? the Rnal autll0rity. LONDON: Well, we have had very few p eople making BATTEN: In regard to RIm censorship, what infonna- good comic Rhus . Lubitsch made some good talking tion should th e press be able to obtain upon demand? comedies here and so did Preston Sturges. We haven't I was recently denied tlle titles of fihus banned and mention ed the Marx Broth ers or W . C. Fields, but films licensed witll eliminations by both New York's they were unique. The RIms they were in were funny Board of Censors and the Virginia Board of Cen ors. becau se they wer e in th em. The following answer came from the Virginia Board: BATTEN : Is there a corresponding d ecline of comedy \"We calIDot expos e conRdentialmatters regarding :films in th e th eab:e here in America? that have been controversial.\" At what point can the LO DO : I don't think the word decline is appro- press be denied information governing films that may priate. There never was great comedy in the American or may not be presented to tlle public? theater, and with a few exceptions, not even very good LONDON : W ell, in point of fact, I don't know enough comedy. The great comedies shown on the stage in about th e law witll respect to access to information in th e United States were not written by Americans but Virginia, but I'm inclined to tllink that you would have by Shaw, Anouilh, et al. I am not speaking of musical a right in New York to get that information. The censor- comedy. vVe have been superior in that. ship board is a government agency and under our law BATTEN: Do you feel that this decline in comedy is public records of acts and determinations by govern- related to pre-censorship \"off limits\" about certain ment agencies must be made availabl'e to tlle public. subjects? I suppose if tllere were considerations relating to public LO DON: No; I don't think so. The great Rhus you safety the rule might be otherwise, but that wouldn't wer e talking about before, like Chaplin's, were made be b·ue of censorship of movies. when censorship was most sb·ict. BATTEN: I have a very long letter I will show you BATTEN: Doesn't Hollywood over-rely on the wise- from Mr. Pesce of tlle New York Board in which he crack, th e bedroom farce, and unfunny family humor? denied me the titles of tllese censored RIms. If this is so, how can Rhn makers again make real LONDON: I think if you would call Mr. Pesce's atten- comedy? tion to tlle governing cases, you will Rnd he's a law- LO DO 1: I wish I kn ew. Your asking the question is abiding fellow and will probably comply. Battering. Of course, there's a difference of opinion as BATTEN: Doesn't tlle public have the right to know to what is comedy and real humor. George Meredith's what it's being denied? answer is differ ent from Shaw's. Shaw believed the only LONDON: The public does. Wilbur Cross, formerly way of getting people to listen to a serious statement one of the lawyers for tlle The New York Herald was to present it in the form of a comedy. Tribune, wrote a book dealing witll the subject. The BATTEN: In the report of the Kansas State Board of titIe, as I recall, is 'The People's Right To Know.\" The Review for August, 1962, the following elimination book deals witIl th e right of access to public records, \\-vas made in NO EXIT: \"Reel 5-A Dialogue, Gaston not censorship questions particularly. says to Inez, 'You bitch, you cold castrating bitch.' BATTEN: Qualifications listed by tIle Kansas , Mary- Elinlinate the word, bitch.' Obscene according to our land, and Virginia Boards of Censors are as follows: ruling.\" It would appear that the Kansas State Board \"well qualiRed by education and experience to act as is not offended by castration. censors.\" How do you become qualified by education LONDON: The Kansas Board is sensitive to particular or experience to detect smut? words. I haven't been able to determine the reasons LONDON: In New York, you used to - still have, behind some of their rulings. Recently I had a small as far as I know - a test for eligibility to serve as a dispute with the Kansas Board over the use of tlle £1m censor. I once asked if I could have a look at that word, \"whore,\" which tlley wanted eliminated. I sent test, but the answer was evasive. I don't know what th e board a quote from Ezekial in which the Lord is test will qualify you to discover obscenity, or how one quoted as using th e same word - in translation - in is qualified (without taking a kind of Gallop-poll) to the same sense; and I said, \"Surely you're not going determine when something arouses lustful desires in to say that tll e Lord's word was obscene.\" Their objec- other people of the community. The arousing of lustful tion was then withdrawn. Fortunately I read the Bible desires in the average adult of tlle community, Y0U

19 remember, is the basic test of obscenity. involved in a par·ticular case. Where a producer is opposing the censoring of his film he obviously b elieves BATTEN : In this connection I wrote a letter to Mrs. it in his interest, or feels that for reasons of principle, Gregory, Director of the Virginia Motion Picture Cen- he should not p ermit it. Film makers generally - and sorship Division, and I asked her: 'Will you give me there are a number of exceptions such as Preminger the ages and educational qualifications of the tlu-ee and Joe Levine - are a pusillanimous lot. Or they censors in the Division? This would give me a specific believe it is in their interes t to accept censorship so idea of what is meant in Section 99 by 'well qualified long as it doesn't des troy tlle box-office appeal of a film . by education and experience to act as censors.''' In The Motion Picture Association has joined in some reply, she says: \"The censor board is composed of censorship battles, but usually the wrong ones . three members appointed by tlle Attorney General of BATTEN : Is most of tlle litigation in which you're Virginia. The three-member board holds office at the involved instituted by the exhibitor or by tll e film maker pleasure of the Attorney General; the Directorship himself? rotates each year. From the stationery you can get tlle LONDON : U.sually by the producer or by the dis- names of tlle members.\" And tllat's the most sp ecific tributor of the film. Sometimes, but no t often, by the answer I received. Do you know anything about a exhibitor, the theater owner. Houston statute upholding the right to ban films having BATTEN : Can you offer any suggestions to film viewers \"unsanitary character? and film makers who wish to protest censorship laws in their p articular localities? What may film makers LONDON: If there is such a law, it's nullity and can do to enlarge their own freedom? be ignored. LONDON: It may sound like champer ty ( that is, encouraging litigation ), but actually I do believe the BATTEN: It is my understanding tllat the immorality bes t thing that any :film maker can do is to fight censor- ,standard is unconstitutional as of a 1959 Supreme Court ship wherever and whenever it is attempted. Wh en decision written by Justice Stewart. If this is correct, one fights and wins, he is winning not only his par- how do many local censorship boards continue to ban ticular' case but discouraging censorship in tl1e future. films or parts of films on tlle basis of in1morality? It becomes more difficult for the censor to attempt it again. There is a value in a fight of th at kind even LONDON : You were asking about Justice Stewart's when it is lost, for the knowledge that an act will b e opinion in the case involving the film LADY CHAT- fought vigorously will also discourage censorship. The cases against the fihn board in Chicago - some TERLEY'S LOVER. I don't know that many boards won, some lost - have resulted in a much more liberal still use tlle immorality of a film as a basis for censoring approach to film censorship there. By the way, I had it, even though the court says tlley may not. If tlley do no part in any of tlle cases there. I've had business us it as a standard they don't admit it. I argued the witll tlle censors in Chicago but prevailed without action. LADY CHATTERLEY case in the United States Supreme Court. The majority of the court made it The individual fibn-goer can make a contribution to clear that in1morality may not b e used as a standard. the fig'ht against censorship - if he is opposed to it - BATTEN: Do most Americans think about tl1eir civil by letting his State and City legislators know that he's liberties and about :film censorship particularly? opposed to censorship. LONDON : People become most interes ted in their RUNNETTE FILM AGENCY, investment civil liberties when they are denied in particular case. I've talked on tlle subject to audiences in a number of and film production co-ordinators, is places in the country and tllose who bother to come to listen to me appear to share my abhorrence of established for promotion of experi- censorship. mental art films. For further detail BATTEN; Would you imagine that public opinion concern ing films currently in produc- polls would find most Americans advocating greater tion write: RUNNETTE FILM AGENCY, or lesser degrees of censorship? LONDON: It would be very hard for me to tell what 1131 DeVictor Place, Pittsburgh 6, Pa. public opinion polls would reveal, assuming their ac- curacy. I can only speak of my own experience and I mentioned that. BATTEN: Do you find sometimes that film makers do not understand where their own interests lie in regard to assisting you in fighting film censorship? LONDON : I assume you mean those who are not

20 \"Short reels; a kind of television report dealing with vanous aspects of life ill the Soviet Union and abroad\" MORE ABOUT NOVOSTI (Editor's note: In an interview printed in our last issue of FILM COMMENT, George Stevens, Jr., Chief of the Motion Picture Service of the United States Information Agency, stated that Novosti, a Soviet organisation, paralleled in some respects the functions of U.S.LA. Seeking amplification on the matter, Film Comment contacted Novosti, and we now have the following statement, printed in its entirety, from Boris Burkov, Novosti's Board Chairman, whose offices are in Pushkin Square, Moscow. Mr. Burkov's statement consists of answers to forty-three questions prepared by Tanya Osadca, Soviet-born student at Columbia University's School of Journalism. Miss Osadca is presently completing her master's degree with an essay on Soviet film. Many of Miss Osadca's questions were unanswered, and so for purposes of brevity we have compressed them.) Question: Mr. Burkov, w ill you please tell us something Soviet press ( more than five hundred newsp apers are A.P.N. of yo ur bac kground ? subscribers) , radio, and television make wide use of the A.P.N. bulletins - 'Here and Th ere in the So'viet Union ,' Answer: My full n ame is Boris Sergeyevich Burko v. I am 'Sciel1ce a11rl Engineering,' 'Culture and A rt,' 'S1)ort,' '[nte/,- a Russian , fifty-five years old. I ha ve been associated with nati011al Information.' journalism for more than t wenty- fi ve years no'w. Before bein g elected Board C hairman of Novosti Press Agen cy Q. Is Novosti similar in its operations to the United States (in the spri ng of 1961 ), I worked on the ne wspapers Inform ation Agency? 'Komosomolska ya Pravda,' 'Trud' and 'Pravda.' I am Secre- A. No. The United States Information Agency is a gov- tary of the Board of the Union of Journalists of the U .S.S.R. ernmental organisa tion. Novosti is an information organ of the Soviet public organisations. Q. Briefly, wh at is the function of Novosti? Q. When was Novosti formed? A. The chief purpose of the Novosti Press Agency (A.P .N.) is, as it is laid do w n in its Statute, to disseminate widely A. The A.P.N. was organised III the spnng of 1961 and abro<ld truthful informat ion about the Soviet Union and to began to work in August 'of the same yea r. acquaint the Soviet public with the life of the peoples of foreign co un tries, so as to assist in every way in the develop- Q. Is Novosti an outgrowth of an organisation established ment and consolidation of mutual underst anding, confidence and friendship among peoples . earli er? A. The A.P.N. is a new agency se t up by the decision of The Novosti Press Agency prepares various literary and the sponsors. illustrative m aterial for the press, news agencies, radio, television, and public organisations abroad on Soviet domes- Q. Soviet Embassy officials here h ave stated that Novosti tic and foreign policy and the Sovie t people 's public, eco- nomic, and cultural affa irs, as well as m aterial reflec ting is independent of government. Will you tell us more of the Soviet public 's . v iew on key developments. In addition, what this statement means? the A.P.N. supplies informative m aterial to Soviet publica- A. It means precisely what is the most characteristic feature tions abroad - magazines, newspapers and bulletins pub- of the A.P.N. Our agenc y does not belong to the Soviet lished by Soviet embassies and legations in many countries. Government. It was founded as an information agency of Specifically, much A.P.N. material is printed by the 'USSR' Soviet public organisations: the Union of Journalists of magazine p'ublished by the Soviet Union's embassy in the the U .S.S.R., the Union of Writers of the U.S.S.R., the United Stat es. The A.P.N. publishes in a number of countries Union of Soviet Societies for Friendship and Cultural Rela- its own magazines, news papers, brochures and booklets com- tions wi th Foreign Countries, and the U.S.S.R. Society for prehensively elucidating the life of the Soviet people. The the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge. The Agency's supreme governing bod y is the Council of Spon- sors which is elec ted at the conference of these organisations

21 for a term of four years. Soviet organ bears responsibility for the business aCtiVItIes Q. How is Novosti administrated? and financial obligations, or any other actions of the A. The Council of Sponsors appoints the Board which Agency . . .\" We favor, however, the broadest possible supervises the daily activities of the Agency and acts as exchange of information with all foreign news agencies its representative. The Board consists of a Chairman, Vice- and press organs wishing to have truthful information about Chairman and Members of the Board, the number to be the life of the Soviet people. determined by the council of Sponsors. Q. Does Novosti distribute only Soviet news within the Q. (Unanswered) Are you a member of the Communist U.S.S.R., or does it also distribute news, articles and films from abroad? For example, would N ovosti distribute articles Party? about the American civil rights struggle at Oxford, Missis- Q. How is such a large number of participating organisa- sippi? How would sLlch a topic be handled? Would there tions within Novosti coordinated? be a film on this crisis? A. Each of the organisations that founded the A.P.N. works A. Our Agency prepares, for the most part, illustrated quite independently. They exercise guidance of their infor- materials (articles, commentaries, news items, etc.) about mation organ, as has been said above, through the Council life in the Soviet Union for foreign countries. As has been of Sponsors, in which each of them has five representatives. pointed out above, the Soviet press uses materials from the The council meets at least once a year to hear and to A.P.N. bulletins published in the Soviet Union, including approve the reports of the Board and to determine the the international information bulletin. This bulletin, which Agency's further tasks. appears daily, contains comments on topical international Q. Please tell us about Novosti's network of news bureaux problems and reports from the Agency's foreign correspond- within the Soviet Union and abroad. ents. It contains, naturally, information about the life of A . Novosti has its own correspondents and photographers the American people. Facts connected with the \"crisis in in the capitals of the Union republics and in big cities of Oxford\" have also been dealt with in it. the U.S.S.R. Besides, the Agency sets up its public branches Q. Who gathers the opinion'S distributed by Novosti? And in the Soviet Union. Such branches have already been organ- who edits the work? ised in the Ukraine, Byelorussia and Leningrad. The members A. The Novosti Press Agency collects opinions independ- of these branches work on a non-paid basis, preparing, at ently. An example is furnished by the poll on the subject the Agency's request or on their own initiative, literary \"The World Twenty Years Hence,\" organised by us in material about the life of their republics, cities, etc. In connection with the work of the Twenty-second Congress Britain, France, Italy, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, of the c.P.S.U. and the adoption of the new Program of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Scandinavian coun- the c.P.S.U. (October, 1961). The A.P.N. received more tries, the People's Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Japan, than a thousand answers to its questionnaire from over Cuba, Brazil, Argentina and other countries, the A.P.N. fifty countries. They constituted the basis for a large amount either has its offices or avails itself of the services of Soviet of material printed in the Soviet and foreign press. At journalists working in those countries. present a book is being prepared. Q. Does Novosti have offices in the United States? Questions 18 through 33: Does Novosti produce and dis- A. The Novosti Press Agency does not have an office in tribute films? In what countries and in what languages? the United States yet, but it uses the help of members of What are the subjects of these films? Some typical titles? the Union of Journalists of the U.S.S.R. working in the How do these films compare with those made by the United States as well as of correspondents representing var- U.S.LA.? Production set-up? Dialogue and/ or narration? ious Soviet press organs. Costs? Circulating libraries of Novosti films? Depots abroad Q. Does Novosti supply news to any special organisations with Soviet film equipment and projectors? Aim of the in the United States? films? Soviet television use N ovosti film ? Would N ovosti A. Novosti prepares various literary materials and photo- ever produce a film critical of Soviet governmental policies? graphs for various agencies, publishing houses and press Questions 35 through 39: How many films does N ovol')ti organs in the United States at their request. circulate? By what means? Under what viewing conditions? Q. Is there any exchange of information between the United Films designed to be shown in only one area? Use local States Information Agency and Novosti? writers and technicians from the area within which you show A. No. films? What films about the United States? Q. If not, would Novosti be willing to undertake such an Questions 42 and 43: Do you show Novosti films to labor exchange? unions abroad? Do you wish to broaden the film activities A. I would like to reply to this question as foHows: the of Novosti? Do you have a training program for young U.S.LA. is a governmental organisation, while the A.P.N. film makers? is a public one, and Clause Nine of our Statute reads: \"No

22 A. Briefly on the questions about films - In the very near monthly sub-headed The White Man's Viewpoint, available future the A.P.N. plans to launch the supplying of Soviet at three dollars yearly (I'm renewing my subscription) and foreign television with short reels, a kind of TV reports from the National Headquarters of the National States dealing with various aspects of life in the Soviet Union and Rights Party, P. O. BGX 783 (don't ask me how the Yankee abroad. These TV reports, as well as some of the Agency's guvmint 'lows it through the mails), in God's country - material for foreign press organs, will also be prepared at Birmingham, Alabama, suh. The Thunderbolt is the work the request of foreign TV companies, the American ones of Dr. Edward R. Fields, Information Director, and a hairy- included - if, of course, they want them. chested job he does of it. The newspaper breathes fire from its front page to. its last. There ain't a boring line of type In any case, if you want to ask me these questions in a in the hull issue and it's all gospel: (October issue) \"Draft year's time I shall be able to give a more detailed answer. General Walker for President,\" \"God Bless Mississippi Stu- Q. Where does Tass news agency stand in relation to dents - Courage and Valor,\" \"Four Jews Master-Minded Novosti? War Against GGvernor Barnett and Mississippi,\" \"Kennedy's A. TASS, the information agency of the Soviet Govern- Roman Orgies,\" \"Kennedy's Sister Reveals Mental Illness in ment, circulates official documents and current everyday Family\" (I shore like them pictures and the caption \"Bobby, information for the Soviet and foreign newspapers. The Teddy, and Jacky - Lunatics on The Loose?\"), \"'Freedom' activities of the A.P.N., as follows from the above, are of for Blacks Means Freedom to. Murder, Rob, and Rape a different nature. In some cases, however, TASS and A.P.N. Whites.\" One of my most favorite parts of the paper - cooperate in circulating the most interesting materials, mak- always turn to it first - is the series Gn \"The International ing the natural reservations as to their origin. Jew,\" by that historian Henry Ford, speshly what he sez about them pro-tockles of the learned elders of Zion. Q. How many countries use Novosti facilities? I used to go regler to the movies but now The Thunder- A. Materials of our Agency are printed systematically in bolt gives me my quota of thrills right here in the wicker: sixty-five to seventy countries. The total number of coun- \"Race Mixing Movies Flood North. South is Next. Jews tries using A.P.N. material reaches ninety. Propagandize for All-Out Inter-Marriage.\" That's about that English movie, FLAME IN THE STREETS, and my Q. Are Novosti materials distributed in Africa? blood shore got hot to see them pictures of a colored bOy kissing that white woman (and blond at that!). Now, down A. African countries, where an ever greater interest is home you know what we'd do with a colored boy done that? shown in the life of the Soviet Union, are not an exception as far as contacts are concerned. A.P.N. material can be Old Doc Fields so.metimes mixes me up with them big seen in the press of the U.A.R., Ghana, Nigeria, the Sudan, words, but I believe everything he says about the \"Mental Tunisia, Morocco, and other African countries. A.P.N. also Illness in Jewry:\" \"The incredible savagery depicted in the supplies material to the information bulletins published by Jew-made Hollywood movie, in the Jew-made television the Soviet embassies in Ethiopia, Somali, Morocco and program, and in the Jew-made book is a picture of the Jew Tunisia and to the magazine published by the U.S.S.R. mind, and it speaks for itself.\" Embassy in the United Arab Republic. Them movies is all that and wust. If the Bijou ever starts (Editor's summary: If we correctly understand Mr. Burkov's showing genuwine Christian chast-titty, then I'll go back. statement above, Novosti would seem to be quite distinct from U.S.LA. in its operations. We thank Mr. Burkov for \"In no other sphere of human endeavo.ur is the Jew so his reply to our questions. We will avail ourselves of his rabid as in the matter of sexual activities. Child molesting, invitation to query him again in a year on Novosti's activi- lesbianism, male homosexuality, cannibalism - these com- ties, particularly in regard to film.) prise themes of recent Jew-made movies, and now that the Jew has attained his power, he will run amok in the cultural FILM APPRECIATION field. \" IN DIXIE You tell 'em, Doc. And there's a right smart piece of All you burned-out liberals in Yankee-land had better sense in Point Four of the NSRP Social Po.licy platform: chuck away your sissified New York Times and join me \"We demand the elimination of all ideology and influences in reading a he-man's newspaper - The Thunderbolt, a from the movies, television, radio, newspaper and all other phases of our national life, which tend to cause the degenera- tion o.f our White Folk Community.\" And we better do this elimination right quick, cuz the community down home here has already got a big crop of disintegrated and degen- erate White Folks.

23 CHICAGO'S MIDWEST FILM FESTIVAL The second annual Midwest Film Fe tival wa held in the recentl), completed Center for Continuing Education , on the Univer ity of Chicago campu . Th e fe\"tival, a part of th e ixth annual Univer ity F e tiva l of th e Art , ran ix days, Ap ril 25 throuO\"h April 30. The a im of the festival is to howcaS'e the work of young Am erica n and for eign film m akers, parti cul arl y th e work of the independ ent film maker, that virtuall y unrecognized n ew breed of m en a nd women who go abo ut with ca mera, film , and very littl e mon ey, a ttcmptinO\" to crea te film s with meaning, film s that can be con id ered work of art. The aim of th e Fe tival is a lso, th en, to provid e a ta teful Jtmospherein which C hicago audiences will be able to ee a nd to judge exciting, ori ginal films that f r th e most part will never reac h th e comm ercial th ea tre , film s tha t are too \"controver ial\" for general audi ence eekin g enter- tainment might not und er. tand or enjoy. Th e festival is intended to .fill th e vacuum th a t ex ists between th e film a ppreciated by a omewhat pecialized audi en e and th e film m aker with no creen for his film . On e of the aim of th e fe. tival is to encourage the film-goer to explore not onl y th e la test creative enterpri es of the ind epend ent film maker, but a lso th e co ll a tera l intere t of film criti c, exhibitors, and distributors. erving in pa rt a a howcase for new tal ent th e fe tiva l has th e effect of promoting the careers of gifted new film ma ker through bookings stimul ated by exposure of the film s. A the competition is without ca tegorie , each film is judged on it own merits, and generall y upon th e effectiveness with which the film maker ha transposed hi particular vi ion into cinem a tic form. Th e jury for th e Fe tiva l this year wa as foll ows : Harold Hayden, artist and profe sor of art at the Univer ity of Chicago ; Paulin e K ael, film criti ; Art hur Kni ght, film criti c and histori an; Gerald T amener, film editor of ew University Thought and lecturer in film at th e Un iver it y; and Parker T yler, esoteric film theorist, aut hor of several film books and num erou articles. A co mprdhen ive rep ort on th e Midwe t Festival wi ll appea r in FILM COMMENT, next issue. Sidney Huttner, left, head of the Midwest Film Festival, The Documentary Film Group, University of Chicago, Vernon Zimmerman, center, University graduate who made LEMON HEARTS and TO L. A. WITH LUST, and Gerald T a mener, right, film instructor at the University and film critic for 'New University Thought,' are seen here at work on a documentary about the University. The inter-action of film makers, critics, and festiva l peopl e a t the University is one explana ti on for the interesting new films coming from the Chicago area. Photo by D anny Lyon .

24 Negro Actors with Images to D estroy An IntervieflT With HUGH HURD eoudueted by Clara Hoover ( Editor's Not e: Miss H oo ver is FILM COMMENT's publisher. HOOVE R : In m akin g th e film SHADOWS, how much did Th e follo wing is a transcription of her tape d int erview with you start out with? Did you h ave a genera l pl ot lin e, or H uuh H urd, well-kn own N egro actOT who is perhaf)s best situation, or what? rem emb ered as the old er brother in S HADO WS, th e contTo- HURD: Actually, th e scene th at we go t th e movie idea from 1·ersiall ow-budge t independent feature film shot experim entall y was done in c1as , on th e stage, and was not th e beginning of in N ew York severa l years ago. the film but was th e pl ace where I m eet th e bigo t for th e first tim e. That's the first scene we did. And because we lik ed A lthough seen infrequently in the Uni ted S tates, S H A DOWS th at scene a mu ch, we wond ered whether a pi cture co uld be has bee n enthusiastically acclaim ed in Europ e as a refr eshing built a round the relati onship. departure from slick H oll ywood formula e. I mpro visational in HOOVER : What did th e titl e m ean, in reference to th e conce pt, S H A DO WS required the creative as well as interpre- ma teri a l? tative skills of its cast, in that dial ogue and action weTe largely HURD : I rem ember when I first asked that qu estion . Shadows. w orked out in actual shooting. Th e film laun ched the directorial Oh, I think th at our li ves are touched by incidents, emotions career of John Cassa vetes, until th en known solely as an actor. hurts, feelings and so forth , and we pass on. I don 't mean di e, H e appeared wit h Ruby D ee, Sidn ey Poitier, and Ja ck War den but go on. And these things are shadows. W e ca rry them with in R obert A lan Authur's A MAN I S TEN FEET TALL, us, but th ey're not th e focus. It ha to do with past, present among other films. Cassavetes later starred in his own television and future. dramatic series. H e has directed TOO L A TE BLUES and A C HILD f S WAfTING, both H ollywoo d productions, since I didn 't pi ck out th at titl e - J ohn did . I'm trying to think his debut with S HADO WS. did we ever have anoth er titl e. No, th at was th e on ly one. Aside from th e int eTest accruing to S HADOWS as a dis- I didn' t pi ck out th at titl e - J ohn did. I'm trying to tinguished instan ce of the anti-Hollyw ood trend and as an think - did we ever have another titl e? No, th at the was acting ensemble's pxpeTim ent in attem f)ting to find new dra- the on ly one. matic truth by a kind of non-precon ception of charact eT, HOOVER: And how far a lon.!l; were you when th e titl e was S HAD OWS earn ed th e attention of Europ ean cr'itics as a cho en ? serious comm ent on American Bohemia. Th e film concerns H U RD : Oh, abo ut ha lf way throu gh. I ju t fini shed making th e shadowy youthful vagabonds who are neither NegTo nor som ething th e other day, a short. I found out th e name of it white, neit her good nor bad. Th e charac ters in the film aTe when th ey screened it at th e Bl eecker Street Cinema. vocational and social misfits whose innat e d ecencies can not HOOV ER: I s th a t th e \" Bo ton Bl acki e\" film ? lull y implem ent th emselves. S HADO WS ends, characteristi- HURD : Oh, th at's just an in-j oke! The fi lm is actu a lly ca ll ed cally of its title, in irresolution and ambiguity. Ben Ca1\"Tuth eTs, THE WINNER. I think SHADOWS a a titl e came out of wh o played Hugh Hu rd's youn g brotheT, drifts off aimlessly th e pi cture, too. Beca use genera ll y th e titl e is pi cked from so me in th e night in the film's final shot. Carruthers lateT appeaTed th eme, som e pa rt of th e story or om ething it a ppli es to. I in GUNS OF THE TREES, th e first feature film of Jonas was accepting everything in th ose days ! M ekas. HOOVER : You've go tten more criti cal since. HURD: Yes, I would have demand ed to kn ow why it was Sinc e S HADOWS , Hugh Hu rd has been busy with oth er to be ca ll ed SHADOWS. acting an d singing chores. H e appears in THE W INNER , a HOOVER: H ow, when, where, and by whom was th e film short writt en and produced by Bert Brown, concerning rac e re lat ions. H urd played th e sale American role in SHIIKU, shot? a Japan ese film not Teleased as yet in th e U nit ed Stat es. HURD : On e of th e thin gs that ha ppen ed was that we all go t Directed b), Oshima Nagasa and shot in a remote Japan ese a liberal edu ca ti on. Ju t a lot of peo pl e working and cutting mounta in village, th e film is based on a tru e story. H urd plays and learnin g and doing things. It was a lot of fun doin g it. Ih e sale survivor of th e crash of an American bomb er du ring HOOVER: Were th e e Actor's Studio peopl e? World War II . Feelin g an extTll.ordinaTY empathy for th eir HURD : No, strangely enough, no one was from Actor's Studio. dark -skin ned Am erican en emy, th e villagers attemf)t to hid e I have some a rgum ent with th em. him fTOm th eir own go vernm ent .) HOOVER : Argue, argue!

25 H U RD: N o, m y a rg-um ent is th at I have no thin g aga inst th e I-TU RD : W e ll , ye , beca use we had specifi c - S tudi o. I'm aga inst peo pl e thinking th e re' only one m eth od of ac ting. An y m eth od by whi ch you com e to a conclusion HOOVER : You were character for one thing - toward acting is a meth od. I'm quite ure we had actor before th e Studio cam e into be ing. What ha ppened to th e e H U RD : Y es, but th e ch a racter we ren' t fa r re m oved fr om ac tor ? Wh ere did th ey stud y? ourselves. I pl aye d a eg ro - easy for m e ! L e li a Gold oni W e Am eri ca ns ar e o . et on littl e cubb yhole. W e wa nt to label, and can't label crea tivity becau e this is a sum of had th e biggest cha rac ter pa rt ; she had to pl a y a Negro. individu a ls. H ow th ey li ve, how th ey eva lua te thin , how th y sce things; a nd th en yo u h a ve a different ph y ica l stru cture. Interes ting ly enough, a lot of peo pl e th oug ht sh e was - still All th ese thing com e to a um to ta l. think he i . Whi c h i a tribute to her acting, of co urse. Th ere a re mo re M eth od emul a tor th a n th ere a re peo pl e who' ve studi ed th e M eth od. A nd th e M eth od emul a tor a re HOOVER: Wh a t is th e positi on of th e eg ro in ac tin g, a nd proba bl y th e on es wh o a re d o ing more ha rm , beca use th ey' re ta kin g th e extern a l result and u. ing th a t as a way. I t's pa rti cul a rl y in New Yo rk C ity? H U RD: If yo u desire to be a n ac tor, a nd yo u ha ppen to be ridi cul ous. HOOVER : But i n' t th ere a tru e Sta nislavsk y course of tra in- a N egro, you' re in vo lved in a fi g ht, beca use we have im age. to ing, a set forth in hi s boo ks? This is wh a t th ey're supposed to be u ing. d es troy. Eve ry tim e I co me ac ross th e qu es ti on , I feel lik e HURD: Everyon e h as read Sta ni la vsk y and everyon e works differentl y. You know, th ere's a n interesting thing. H e wrote Sh ylock in \" Th e M ercha nt of Veni ce\" w hen he goe. thro ug h 'An Actor Prepares' - but he never wrote 'An Actor Act .' Thi is wh ere we ha ve a littl e probl em. W e have peo pl e comin g thi whole speech, you kn ow? on stage, and th ey're not rea d y to act. HOOVER: Yes, I certa inl y d o. W ell , d o you see a ny ho pe In this total sch em e of things, where i th e auth or ? Wh a t doc he have to do with things? I m ean , everyone doesn' t in th e futur e? have to m oa n a nd scratch. I d on't like to ee peo ple's probl em . I think it' emba rra ssing. I have nothing aga inst th e p eopl e HURD: Oh , th ere's going to be ho pe. It' not going to be who a re hon es t about thi s thing, but wh en do you stop ? I'm quite sure Bra ndo was h ones t, but everyon e who imitates easy, but th ere's G OING to be hop e, th ere's go t to be. Beca use Bra ndo is not being honest. we' re no t go ing to sto p fi ghtin g, yo u kn ow. You know, it's like teachin g of a ny sort ; it's a n inta ngibl e thing. You can ' t turn a switch a nd everyone will sing th e sam e HOOVER: H ow d o yo u ho pe to acco mpli sh it? I m ea n you way; it's an exchange of id ea . And when you get to an exchange of ideas, it beco mes a sem anti c probl em. I know as a you, and yo u as a pa rt of th e N egro race, a nd yo u as a ll a tra in ed singer, th ere were tim e wh en I a nd m y teac her would be di sagreeing, and he' d say one thing, I'd say a noth er, th e o th er things you m ay be. and r eali se a bout three or four lessons la ter th a t we were both saying th e sam e thing. You can only hope your stud ents H U RD: W ell , you must never le t up, yo u kn ow. As mu ch will acce pt what you have acce pted, ho pe th ey acce pt it in p a rt. as I possibl y can, I reitera te tim e a nd tim e a nd tim e aga in HOOVER: What is a n improvi sati on ? HURD: An improvisa tion ? Wh a t d oes it mean ? Th e word ? what and wh o I am, and w hat th ey-a nd say \" th ey,\" I m ean HOOVER: Yes. th ose wh o a re inclin ed to be bigo ted , or wh o a re ju t blind HURD: W e ll , I im agin e an improvi sa ti on is an y - as a ppli ed to ac ting, th at is - let's see now - i n' t th a t diffi cult ? I by ign oran ce - W ell , yo u kn ow, yo u d on' t wa nt to be as bad . ta rt to r o ll off som ething glibl y - HOOVER: And you know exactl y wh at you want to say - as th e enem y ! Tha t puts m e d own on hi level, you kn ow! HURD : Yes. Now here we a re again with se m a nti cs. I kn ow what it i , you know what it is, and I find it diffi cult to put So we ha ve to de troy w ha tever mi sco ncepti ons h e ha , des troy it into words. W ell, I figur e it' a ny coh esive bit of acting betw een two or more p ersons, without a script and without a th em with truth, so - prior knowledge of the subj ect m atter, of what's going to be a id. And if it can flow, with beli evability, I think th a t's HOOVER : So you try to be yo urse lf ? probably what it mean. Sounds good, anyway! HOOVER : R ega rding SHADOWS, when you were in a HURD: Of co urse, you kn ow, we traditi onall y h ave to be cene with oth er cha racter , with everyo ne improvi ing, how did it work out ' Did yo u ever find yourself a t a d ea d-end ? BETTER than ourse lve , to be acce pted as \"a. good as.\" G e t. Not re-acting to wh a t th ey were d oing? Or was th ere always a rapport? kind of tireso m e, you kn ow. HURD : Well , you a nd I a re improvi sing ri ght now; thi s is bas ica lly wh a t an improvi a tion is. HOOVER: Yes. On e of th e thin gs we wo uld lik e to kn ow HOOVER: You were u ua ll y involved with m ore em o ti on though. a bout SHADOWS is w here did it leave th e three of you: yo u, yo ur sister a nd yo ur broth er ? HURD: W e ll , let m e sta rt with th e bro th er, with Benni e C a rruthers. H e has a situ a ti on peculi a r to him as a N egro. In cidenta ll y, yo u kn ow, he is a N eg ro. W ell , as a cha rac ter in thi s film , he h a d thi s peculi a r thin O\" this problem of b ein O\" b' b a ble to be acce pted in th e qu ote White W orld unqu o te, yo u kn ow. His basic conAi ct was his rela ti on hip to m e, as a rea dily identifi ed N egro, a nd hi s rela ti onship to acce pta nce in th e \" White World, \" hi s fri ends. And to aggrava te thi sdetchiisni ~o~ we tri ed to establish a ve ry cl ose-knit famil y. His to ac kn owl edge himself a pa rt of th e fa mil y, is, I think , his growing up. Now Leli a, th e sister. By be ing a g irl, she is m ore protected . It wa n 't such a tra um a ti c situa tion a it was with him , a lthough it should ha ve been. It beca me a tragic thing wh en she was involved with this fe ll ow. And th ere aga in , we tri ed to pit th e fa mily aga inst society. And her d ecision - ac tu a ll y she d oesn' t come to a d ec i ion in th e film , I think. She . .. well , we weren' t trying to solve a n ythin g. I m ean if th e bi o·o t sud- denl y became ... HOOVER: Oh lord, you wouldn ' t beli eve it- HURD: Ri g ht, yo u ee. If he udd entl y jumped on th e Free- d om Train, went d own South, got his brains kn ocked in - no, it wa ju t a pa rti cul a r part of life, of thi s fa mil y, a nd th e thing we had to d o to survive. The compromi se I have to m ake, a old er broth er. In fac t I co mpromi se m y wh o le life, rea ll y, beca use I h ave thi s fa th er thing with th ese kid s,

26 a I have to subj ect my personal - or professional - desires HOOVER : D o you know anything about the Lincoln Center because of m oney, beca use of the necessity to protect them, repertory group, how it's shaping up ? to support th em. H U RD : Well , I don' t know how it's shaping up, but I'm quite ure they're not going to be an improvi ational group. In fact, th at's a very good cene, where Benni e com es to HOOVER : Th ey' re ori ented toward the classical repertory. ask me for money. I don' t kn ow whether we got it across - H U RD : I t's such a funn y bit, isn't it ? We seem to have a hate yo u know, it' so difficult for m e to judge the picture, because on for Am eri can things. I'm completely and totall y subj ective to anything I do, can' t be objecti ve about it. W ell , in this scene, Bennie, who fights HOOVER : Wha t d o yo u think of J ohn Cassavetes as a the love he has for me as his broth er - he fights this con- dir ect o r ? tinually - h ere he's forced to come to m e for m oney. And with all th e oth er probl em he's go t, he would like to b e H U RD : W ell , my relati onship to J ohn is more as a fri end , proud of m e a brother, and he hears the man tell m e that I as opposed to being a director. I never rea ll y worked with have to ta ke a second-rate job , and I co mpromise. I compromise J ohn when he did wha t we would call a stra ight directing job. beca use i f I don' t, no one else in th e famil y is wo rking. But, As far as SH ADOWS is concerned, it was such a coo pera tive of course, he take it personall y, and as mu ch as he needs th e thing, where we actu a ll y wrote the script. H e would have money, now he doesn't want to face me. So I take th e money to set out a scene, hoping th at the valu es he feels - well , he a nd I pu t i t in his pocket. Now I have a probl em, see; I feel did more accepting th an a nything else. like I'm bu yi ng him . Th e m ore I think about that script, the more involved it gets. Aft er we had go tten ha lf way throu gh, there were certain H OOVER : What was th e difference between the reactions of ends of the pi cture tha t were presented to J ohn, and I think the Ameri can and E uro pean critics? it occurred to him to try to direct in terms of holding to one lin e. H U RD : Practically, th e Ameri can critics were upset with the story in terms of th e Negro situ ation, and this colored their You kn ow, he set up one scene with Benni e, aft er the fight reviews. T he foreign cri tics started from th e acting, and th e Benni e and I have. J ohn wanted a certain resolution to th at uniqueness of th e film itself. T his expl ain why it was more scene. H owever, he sa id .if we didn' t work it out that way, we uccessful abroad. I was j ust told , I think, that it won anoth er would go in another directi on. H e hold Bennie, \"You go in award in Italy. there, and yo u've had it - I m ean had it. You ha te your HOOVER : The subj ect matter is m ore acce ptabl e to th em brother. Throw yo ur keys in hi s face - you don' t give a damn. than it is here? Just go in there and get yo ur clothes and get the hell out. \" H U RD : W ell, yo u kn ow, it's a big bugaboo here. It's a thing that we Ameri cans are not m ature enough to acce pt as a And he said, \" Hugh, all I have to say is, don' t let him out. \" rea lit y. Then he told Benni e, \" I don' t want you to give in to Hugh, to HOOV ER : Th ere are some of the sa me things going on in compromise because I want you to.\" In one cut th e publi c Euro pe. didn' t see, we almost got into anoth er fi ght. H U RD : Yes. London and the T edd y boys and so forth . Of course, I understand they're getting a lot of ideas from here. I understand there were a coupl e of my lin es he had to cut HOOV ER: W e ex port all th e best things, d on' t we! out. I didn ' t kn ow I was saying such things ! HOOVER : Th at sounds like tota l improvi sa ti on. H U RD: Ye , we do. Someone call ed SHADOWS a bad film . H U RD: You kn ow, it's th e difference. I didn 't reali se I had Bad because it set a precedent, bad because it wo rked, and sa id some things. I didn ' t rehearse anything, and I didn 't wo rked where so many other efforts have fail ed. commit to memory anything, and so as soon as it was sa id , H O O VER : In oth er words, \" bad\" for all th e good reasons. it was forgo tten. When I heard some of the things th at were H U RD : Ri gh t. Our intenti on was not to make a comm ercial sa id in a certain version - some of the things that can't be film - I m ea n, if yo u' re going to pl an to do an improvisati on heard in the theatre - it surprised me. I was a pretty alty a nd at the am e tim e ma ke a million doll ars, lot of luck! charac ter there sometim es ! HOOVER : D o yo u think there's a futu re for improvisa ti onal HOOVER: Was there any loss of fr es hn ess when yo u had to film s? repl ay a scene? Did th e improvi sati on copy itself, or wa th ere H U RD : Yes. always something new? H U RD : Well , th ere would be something new, but if th e scene HOOVER : Wh ere do yo u think it will be done? had to be done over and over, th en it would be in the nature HURD : W ell , I'd like to see it done here, but I don' t kn ow of a rehearsal. I mean if you're trying to fix something, and if it ... I'm afr aid of this conservative feeling we have, and the other actor is deciding to be arbitrary, yo u've go t to go this fight that we have. I think the way to do it is to mainta in with it. But we didn' t actua lly have too many scenes to do a company, because wha t is important is the rapport, and th e over - or I didn' t. contac t between people. Like Ingm ar Bergman, you see, who HOOV ER : Which did you have to repeat ? uses the sa me actors over and over. By keeping the group HURD : Th ose running scenes tha t were taken in the sub way. together, you will be abl e to perpetuate an improvisational HOOVER : T echnical difficulties? type of thing. HURD : I would have pl eased Mr. K enned y's health program! HOOVER : And you think it would be possible to film such I ra n for miles, miles, running back and forth, back and forth. M ost of the difficult y was technical, actually. Generall y what- a group? ever happened we would acce pt on one or two takes. H U RD : Yes, well , it's happened alread y! Yes, I think so. HOOVER : H ow carefull y was the film laid out before you And , of course, I feel like being part of any on e of those groups. began ? Did yo u add anything as you went along that you felt Wha t they should r ealise is, you're not going to make a needed anything? And what about cutting? I understand that million doll ars. W e're prone to think money a nd forget art. th e film was ori ginally a great deal longer. You've go t to go for as mu eh quality as you can. H URD : I think there are enough outakes to m ake three pictures ! There were scenes cut out that I was very unhappy about. I im agine the oth er actors were unha ppy, too. Because

27 1 aw a ft erwa rd , th ere we re thin gs th at ha ppened to me th at I lo ve J a pan. I had a lovely tim e. A a lmo t got adopted by I wa n' t pl anning to have ha ppen. Th ere wa a cene where the fa mil y I tayed with. I learned to peak J apane e quile I broke down and cri ed. I wanted to ee tha t in the film . a bit. HOOVER : H ow long wa thefini hed fi lm ? HOOVE R : That mu t be a fearfull y diffi cult language. J-TURD : Well , it wa feature length. H U RD : Well, no . Th e writin g is diffi cult, but jf yo u ca n peak any L atin language, it's ea y. As th ey Angli cize it, it HOOVER : Yes, it was, but perh a ps ome of those scenes could wou ld be pron oun ced ju t lik e any L atin language. And I have been add ed. d abb le in French, Italian, et cetera - that comes from m y HURD: I think o. I definitely think o. singing. HOOVER: H ere'. a nasty qu esti on. H ow wa pay ment made Anywa y, I got back to America a nd all orts of qu eer things to ta lent a nd technician ? happened. Did you hea r what ha ppened fi ve month ago? J-TURD : That's such a nas ty qu estion, beca u e durin g th e HOOVER : No. . hooting of SHADOWS, no payment was mad e. W e didn't re eive any pay, because ma in ly we weren' t plan ning on HURD: I d elivered m y own da ughter ! At the moment, I'm c0111m ercia lising the fi lm. wa iting for confirma ti on on w hether I'm going to d o a film HOOVER : Ye , how did it come about that it was di stributed in Nige ri a with an Italian co mpany. But one d ay I wou ld comm ercia ll y? lik e to produ ce m y own film. So me victi m, so me Negro, ha to produ ce, and he must not be a fr a id to tell th e truth . I wa nt HURD : I think J ohn somehow - I don't kn ow wheth er to make pi ctures th at I ca n docum ent. someone to ld h im - entered it in S0me sort of festival. But I und erstand it won th e fe tiva l and ra ised . 0 mu ch hell that _ FILM peo ple tarted bidding on it. And sudd en ly the possibility was there comm ercially. ~ And that's when all of the hu ll aball oo tarted. You kn ow, AMERI CA'S I NDEPENDENT MOTION PICTURE MAGAZI NE everyo ne sta rt ed clamoring out for money, and some of the others instituted a suit aga inst J ohn . I 'm not involved in tha t. Ed itor-in-chief Jona s Mekas. When I got back fr0111 J apan, I found that ome money had been sent me, and I und er tand th ere' quite a bit of money, •• but it's all tied up beca u e of th e l iti ga tion . HOOVER: Who put up the money for SHADOWS? P ublished qua r t e r I y. Subscription rates: $4.00 per 4 i sue. HURD : Th at's anoth er cute tale. John appeared one night D~ciTHE -.. FILM CULTURE on th e Gene Shepard show, and durin g the interview, Gene f ORDEROF as ked h im what he was doing. J ohn mentioned his school, workshop, and so forth , and he a id , \" Ri ght now we're talkin g @ ~ +T @ about doing a movie. H owever, you rea lise it costs a lot of G.P.O. Box 1499, New York 1, New York money; we don' t have any money.\" So a pitch was made, and I guess J ohn figured - well , th at was that, you kn ow, but within a week we had received twenty-five hundred doll ars. Whi ch was fantas ti c. And contributi on sta rted coming in . HOOVER: I t's ni ce to kn ow that such pub lic res ponse is po sible. HURD : It' - it's grea t, and I don ' t und erstand it, yo u know, beca use th ese peo pl e sent in doll ars and so forth . They couldn 't hope to ge t any money ba ck. It' peculiar. I don' t und erstand peo ple like that. HOOVER : Well , maybe th ey reall y liked the proj ect. I do feel th ere are a few idealists left around! HURD : I can' t see myself doing th at. I met some of th ese peopl e, and they're perfectly norm al lookin g peopl e! I love everyone of them! HOOVER : H ow did the film help the careers of th e peo ple involved in it? HURD : W ell, I think the one who benefitted the most was John, of course. He was given the directing deal with P ara- mount pi ctures. It d idn 't work out, but it ga ve him a start. HOOVER : H ave you seen hi s new fi lm, A CHILD IS WAITING? HURD: No, I haven' t. I saw Lelia once, on television . She's marri ed ince th e fi lm. Bennie - I don' t kn ow what Benni e ha done. And I went to J a pan. HOOVER: Ye, I understand you were the only Engli h- pea kin g per on in th at film. HURD : Tne only American! I pl ay th e capti\\'e. It's a weird stor how I go t that role.

28 Phot·o by Bill Troy Diana Sands and The Matter of Pure Ability AN AFFAIR OF THE SKIN The 1 ew York film scene is alive with low-budget fea ture production units a t work in obscure corners of th e city. New realism, new social concerns, new talen t, new budgetary sleight-of-hand will add up, hopefully, to new authenticity and perhaps even art. Even Life magazine, 5 April, has taken notice of th e extensive on-location shootin g taking place in the city. One such feature, now in editing, is AN AFFAIR OF THE SKIN, directed and produced b y Ben Mad- dow ( THE SAVAGE EYE, THE BALCO Y) from his own scenario. Maddow is associated with Joseph Strick in the City-Film Corporation. Appearing in the film are Diana Sands, Kevin McCarthy, Viveca Lind- fors , Lee Grant, H erbert Berghof, Nancy Malone, Osceola Archer, and others. \"The a udience is ready,\" sta tes Maddow, \"for th e realism of grown-up, contemporary sex, the way people live today, not in England or France or Italy, but here in our own country. vVhat has been lacking is a story that is both truthful and exploitable in commercial terms.\" The film concerns the relations of a man of forty with three women, one of th em (\"curiously enough,\" adds Maddow) his wife. The film team undertook work on a special com- bination of salary and deferred percentage. Bernard Gersten was production manager, Roger Barlow chief photographer, Dave Shore his assistant. Although the crew was small, each man is highly skilled, \"accus- tomed like myself,\" states Maddow, \"to lighting and shoo ting and recording in this special way. The method is not novel, of course. It has been done in Europe for many years. However, advances in film speed and in highly portable sound equipment make it more logical than ever. Ther e is no question that more and more films will be made this way in America.\" D espite the implication of its title and th e presence in the cast of a Negro actress, AN AFFAIR OF THE SKIN is not concerned with race r elations. Diana Sands, who has distin guished herself in Negro mate- rial on Broadway (\"Tiger, Tiger\" and \"Raisin in The Sun\" ) plays in AFFAIR tJ1e \"straight\" role of a human being, a photographer at that, and not a Problem. The film is something of a milestone -- impossible five

years ago and commonplace five years from now - 29 in that it reflects changing public attitudes about long- stifled Negro talent. The cas ting of Miss Sands purely Announcement No. 1 April 25, 1962 in terms of her ability, not her pigmentation, leads one to hope that other producers will follow suit. In In September 1960, the independent film-makers this way, Negro performers will be accepted in their of New York met and bound themselves into a own right, simply as performers, with the eventual free and open organization, the N.A.C. Group. withering away of racial overtones in characterization. One of the aims set forward by the Group was \"to In this regard, the AFFAIR casting of Miss Sands promote and / or create a film distribution center.\" heralds a transition in the film indush\"y, which is We are now announcing the creation of such a becoming increasingly color-blind. This u·ansition can center to be known as be seen by contrasting the self-consciously conh\"o- versial and heavily-dramatic \"Negro Problem\" films FILM-MAKER'S COOPERATIVE of Hollywood - PINKY, INTRUDER IN THE DUST, HOME OF THE BRAVE - with the new low-budget - a cooperative for the distribution of films made independents shot in New York - AFFAIR, SHAD- by independent film-makers, including 35mm OWS, THE COOL WORLD, THE CONNECTION, and 16mm, both features and shorts PURLIE VICTORIOUS - in which latter films the race business is either ignored or kidded or scorned. - a non-profit cooperative organized and operated This is not to say that the new films over-simplify a by film-makers national issue; rather, they seek through irreverence and unorthodox form to strike through the platitude- - all income from the film rentals and ' sales will barrier that prevents most people from seeing their go to the film-makers fellow citizens, of all colors, as fundamentally the same, beset by their humanity primarily and only The Cooperative will distribute films, organize secondarily Victims of Society. national and international traveling exhibitions, and work cl osely with film exchanges in other In AFFAIR, Diana Sands is making her second countries. excursion into film. Her first was a re-creation of her The Cooperative invites participation by inde- Broadway role in Columbia Pictures' RAISIN IN THE pendent film-makers in other countries. SUN, produced by David Susskind. Curious about all We urge the independent film-makers throughout the hardware on the set of AFFAIR, peering into the world to establi sh similar cooperative distri- view-finders, picking up the jargon from the techni- bution centers in their respective lands. cians, Miss Sands confesses a growing love for film We suggest that all art theatres, film societies and acting but concedes that it has disadvantages to a other film users keep in touch with the Film- stage-h·ained performer, e.g. , the lack of immediate Maker's Cooperative. audience response, the necessity for exact blocking in order to stay in frame, the handicap of having to Write for our cata logue of available films: build a character in fragments of action. Film-Maker's Cooperative Although still in her early twenties, Miss Sands brings 414 Park Avenue South a wealth of experience to her role. Her summer-theau·e New York 16, N. Y. and Off-Broadway performance include \"Brecht on Tel. : MU 5-2210 Brecht,\" improvisational satire, and a variety of roles. Miss Sands participates in readings for the New Dram- atists Committee and continually studies acting, danc- ing, and singing. During April, she appeared as Cleo- pah·a in scenes from \"Antony and Cleopau·a\" at the Americana Hotel, where a fund-raising banquet was held on behalf of Joseph Papp's. Shakespeare Festival of New York. During the coming summer, she will travel through the South in the Festival's touring pro- duction of the play, which may later go to Europe through a special State Deparhnent grant.

30 M odern without m odernization THE NEW GREEK FILM, \"ELECTRA\" by Anna D eV aris ( M iss D eTfaris was bo rn in Greece alL d sludied Gree k p hilosophy at th e U nive rsi ty 0/ At hell s. S he has had years 0/ intense research in Greek Iraged), and com ed)l, as well as in mo dern theatre. S he stu died at the D ra m atic Academy of Athens, at L ondon's R oyal Academy of D ramatic Arts, and observe d the Th eatre Nat'ional Populaire in Paris. S he was fi ve years with Radio Athens and has directed pla)ls in various jlarts of EurO jle. S he is jJres ently in talks with WNYC and with W N DT about a series 0/ program s related to mo dern and ancient Greece.) In thi s magnificent fi lm, M ichae l Cacoya nni s has adapted intell ectua lity, hi ' audi en e bel ieved tha t he wrote a a COlll1l1 0n th e E uri pides traged y, \" Electra,\" in a tru ly creative way in man for comm on men. H e was the first to take charac ter ' a ll depa rtments - produ ction, direc tion, a nd scena rio. from real life and use them as they were. Cacoyannis h a managed, with speech, movem ent and rh ythms, with the m od- Hi s cript prese rves the plot of the \"E lectra,\" as well as ern, everyday life of the Greeks, with the fema le mourners of the id eas an d purpose of E uripides. H e has combined the the chorus, and th e tarkly photographed natural landscape, ancient pirit with the m odern without m oderni zing the story. to keep thi tradition . Like a sculptor, he ha carved onto the screen a living, pulsing im age of th e rea l Greek, both ancient and modern, who is Hi s choice of cast wa extremely fort unate. Irene Pap a pure, simple, and deeply re ponsive to a ll hum an uffering. was ind eed m arvelou - powerfu l inn er acting beautifull y Thi s i the Greek of E uripide , of the Fifth Century B.C. adapted to th e screen. Yannis Fertis as Oreste had good mom ents. I must m ention the superior p erform ance of N oti Cacoyanni s has draw n with bold strokes the power of Pergiales as the husband of El ectra. traged y; the unsuspected and subcon 'cious forces th at ex plode within his character . In blending realism with id ealism he Theodorakes' mu ic, intersp ersed with folk songs, seems to aga in p rove him elf fa ithful to E uripides, a , for example, me to a ppea l to a ll , even to the uni nitiated. With thi use of his treatm ent of Electra's pea a nt husband , and in elevating folk music, a t long las t, Cacoyannis has modernized th e chorus. the humble and expo ina' the degeneracy of th e high and royal C lytemn e tra and Aegi tho . Cacoyanni s leap forward twenty-five centurie for the mate- ri a l of his next fi lm. H e is adapting the first play of a great The language of thi adaptati on has th e fl avo r of the ori gina l G reek novelist. \" Alexis Zorvaf\" is the la t work of the late to an a mazing degree in its fl exibi lity, lyri cism, implicity and N ikos K azantza kis, wh ose \"H e Who Must Die\" was fi lmed ag il it y. by Ju les D assin. Cacoyannis produces and directs, a well as adapts. Anthony Quinn may tar in the fi lm. Aristotle, in praising E uripides, aid tha t in pite of his TRACE not only supplies un1que informational coverage of independent m agazines and presses, international literary -avant coverage, and select presentations of original creative w ritings . but now offers photo and graphics sect1ons, with noted moderns. $3.00 for 4 fat ' 63 quarterlies $3.50 for 360-page h ardbound '62-Series book (ready 1n late J an.) VILLIERS Publications P .O. Box 1068 , Hollywood 28 , California

31 Two Reviews of the New Italian War Film THE FOUR DAYS OF NAPLES PART I by Peter Goode \"IN THE EVENING WHEN THE CHINESE WALL WAS FINISHED, WHERE DID THE MASONS GO?\" from Bertolt Brecht (M r. Goo d e, a free-lance writer, will substitut e for Gordon H itchens as editor 0/ FILM COMMliNT during the latt er's Julltllt cr trip 10 A/ rica, where he will shoot a film for the V.S .I.A.) THE FOUR DAYS OF APLES succeeds admirably in The film makes it point we ll - the enseless horror of war the ex positi on of a stirring dramati c event. With no roster of and its Kafkae qu e effect on th e individu al. Only by united stars to detract from its statem ent - a method not unlike action, we are shown, can people find salvation. More than substituting black and white for color to achieve dram atic any thing else, we are graphi ca lly reminded of th e insensate fo cus - director NANNY LOY realistically and with mount- war cult of the German. Its portrayal h ere is till consistent ing pace records th e uprising of Neapolitans against their city's with Tacitus' writings on Gaul in th e 1st century A.D . Yet, Nazi Command in the last days before Allied occupation. afte r he has resumm oned a ll our dorm an t hostiliti e to Nazism , the director strikes at our conscience by winning ou r emotional A group of four writers, among whom the director i credited, concern for a youn g German so ldier captured by a band of use th eir cha racters sparingly in a series of vignettes that Ita li an yo uth. thread through and heighten the dram a by giving human con- text to the succession of events. Perha ps the great ness of this film lies in th e Ita li an ability to translate broad hi toric events into the persona li zed concern. Except for a few unimportant moment of sentim enta l over- of living individu a l-. Like Brecht's C hinese Masons above, the indulgence th e film presents war bruta ll y and honestl y. H ow- Neapolitan guerril as have go ne anonymously back into life. ever, th e film falls short of it best potential because of the But they a re th ere, read y, if tyranny again compel forth th ei r director's cinematic approach, for example, his often obvious unselfconscious heroism . \"staging\" of shots when a spontaneous use of camera in news- reel style could have achieved greater realism and immediacy. PART II by Robert Connolly THE REVENGE OF PARIAHS ( Mr . Connolly lived for years in Naples and speaks Italian flu ently. H e is presently em /Jloyed at the Casa Italian a, Columbia University, and is com pleting his master's degree in Th e Program in Th e Arts with an essay on the wOTk of Fellini.) There is a theory that many good film s do not travel well. THE FOUR DAYS OF NAPLES is the sort of foreign film Holl ywood films do, because they are usua lly about dreams, th at probably would not have found its way to this country and the e dreams are equally understandable in Calcutta, three yea rs ago. It has received relatively littl e advance ballyhoo Marseill es, and Des Moines. But Italian films, even the bad and boa ts neith er stars nor a en ational theme. But the ones, have a lways been extremel y Itali an in na ture: they deal Ameri can output ha diminished, and the theatres need prod- with people, idea , and probl ems that are typi cally Italian . ucts, and thus the film was imported.

32 Thi s is a it -h ould be ; and ye t thi s qu a lit y pre 'ents th e film s far simply to forget, need n ot be judged by th e norm a l canon ' of fr om being id ea l for ex porta ti on. THE FOU R DAYS OF art, even th ough its arti sti c va lu e is impli cit in its p ower to NA PLES, for exampl e, h a r eceived unqu a lified raves fr om persuade.\" eve n th e m ost exige nt Ita li an criti cs. It has received the Sil ve r Li on as th e year' be t film , and was Ita ly\" choice for this In 'Europeo,' writer G iu eppe M arotta (THE GOLD OF yea r's Academ y Awa rd. T o be ure, th e film is an hone t and TAPLES ) , in answer to 'D er S tern's' as' eni on th at \" th e peo pl e ex trem ely reali sti c revocation of th e N ea p olitan uprising of loved th e Germ an ,\" asks: \" And th e bannin g, th e requi 'iti ons, Se ptember 27 -30, 1943. But movie have been made about th e d eportati on , th e fir es - were th ese welcome ki e and caresses? Ital y, in rea lity, i from top to bottom a giganti c rar bigger and m ore dram ati c events than thi s. In the whole 'piritu a l sca r. Th e two yea rs of violence and humili a ti on th a t th e N azis infli cted upon everyo ne who was und er th eir thumb, pa ttern of th e las t wa r, th e four g lori ous days of N a ple m ay still bl eed in m any, too m any con cience .\" 'eem sm a ll ind eed to us. But to th e Ita li an , th e upri sing repre ents one of th e few m oments of glory a ll otted to th em The film does not seem ea rth- haking to th e Ameri can in W orld \"V ar II . And th ey h ave viewed th e film fr om an viewer p erh aps because th e dir ector has been scrupul ou Iy emoti ona l rath er th an from an in te ll ectu a l point of view. In honest and ha not exaggera ted for drama tic effect. The wh ole Ita ly, a udi ences burst into appla use at mom ents of individu al incid ent wa sm a ll.in size, and th a t is th e way Loy h as pre- Nea po lita n heroism . And th e predomin antl y Itali an audi ence a t th e New York premi ere at th e Beekm an Theatre reacted sented it. Som e of th e ac ts were trul y heroic; oth ers were in th e sam e way. I sensed that Am eri can pectators, however, prompted prim arily by the Neapolitan love of the melodra- were consid erably less m oved : to th em , t he film was sim ply ma ti c; and thi. is h ow th ey are pre ented . The film 's major a rou ing, lightl y m elodra m ati c war stor y. And New Yo rk asse ts are th e rem ark abl y authentic recreati on of th e N aples criti cs were al a generall y Ie s enthu ias tic th an th eir Ita li an of 19+3, th e skillful bl ending of humor with dra ma, th e coll eagues. auth enti c Neapolitan di a lect on th e ound track - ri ch, musi- Co rrespond ents fr om Germ an pu b li cati ons who saw th e fi lm cal vul ga r, and conveying vo lum es even to th ose who don' t at advance show ings in R ome we re shocked and infuri ated , und er tand a wo rd of it and th e sup erb perform ances by and arti cles a ttackin O' it appeared th e following wee k in leadin g actors who are for th e m ost part m embers of Edu ard o di Germ an p eri odi cals. Th e weekl y m agazin e 'D er Stern' stated Filippo's Nea politan repertory co mpany - R egina Bi anchi, that th e whole film was a vicious di storti on of th e truth, and Pupell a M aggio, Aida G iuffre', Ugo d 'Ales io - a ll of whom th at \"The F our D ays upri ing was th e work of d elinquents, agreed to r enoun ce a ll scr een credit in ord er to convey better prostitutes, thi eves and looter ; th e peo pl e loved th e German .\" th e sen 'e of the anonymous and chora l ch aracter of th e story. \" T od ay Ita ly i our a lly\" continue 'D er S tern' \" th ere are cia e econom ic and po liti ca l bond between our two na ti on . UN ESCO FES Ti VA L AND SEioli l NA R : FIUv[S ON A RT 1\\1[illi ons of Ge rm an to uri sts pend money eve ry yea r in th eir country. I s it n ot th en in co mprehensibl e th a t Ita li an journ a l- A Festival and S eminal' a ll Fillll s on A rt will be held at the Nationa l Call eTY in O tt awa on Ma y 23, 24 and 25 nex t )'eaT, ists a nd directors continu e to rake ove r th e pa t, using it a a under the sjlO 7I sonhijJ 01 Th e Canadia n N ational Comm issio n lor U nesco (U nited Nations E d ucational, Sc ientific and Cul- to uch tone for th e pre ent and future?\" tu ral O rganization) . Th e Festival will pro vide a showcase for th e lalest and best cxam ples of fi lms on art fr om all paTts of In rea lity, there is nothing overtl y anti-Ge rm an in th e film . th e world, while interna tionally kn own ex perts will lead the It is, if anything, anti- wa r. Th e Germ ans are not p ortrayed as S em£nar discussions. Th ese will include John R ead, cele- feroc ious bea ts; ra ther th ey are not portrayed at a ll. No single brate d B.B.C. p rod ucer, and J ean-Ma rie D ra t, F rench radio Germ an Charac ter is dwelt upon as a hum an being. The Ge r- and television produ cer, as well as Vi ncent T ovell, C .B.C., m an. are repre ented as a facele s, n on-hum an m ass. They T om Daly, an d oth er National Film Board produce rs. represent not Germ any, bu t th e enemy wa r. Thi s i · not to say, however, th at th e Ita li ans fee l fri endl y towa rds th e G erm ans. T opics to be discussed at the S eminar will include the principles an d m eth ods of pro ductio n, ac qu isit io n, distribu- F ar fr om it. A lth oug h THE FOU R D AYS OF N APLES wa. tio n and programming of fil ms on art, including the new not intend ed a an anti-Ge rm an film , the r etorts of Ita li an possibilities off ered by television. writers to 'the Germ an acc usa ti ons leave little doubt as to th eir feeling. Th e di tingui hed film criti c, Fabi o Carpi , in Th e National Film B oard, the N ational C alleTY, the Cana- an a rticl e in ' L' E tiropa L etteraria,' writes : \" P erh aps what dian B roadcasting Corporation, the Canadian Film In stitute, has most offend ed th e Germ an 'comrad es' (racists by tempera - the R oyal Architectural Institute of Canada and the N ational m ent and ci a i ts by voca ti on ) is the remind er th at th e great Callery Associatio n of Ottawa are co-operating with The arm y of th e R eich was defeated by a m ass of raga muffins, Ca nadian National Commissio n for Un esco in holding this vagabonds, and street urchin. I t i thi th at they cann ot Festival an d S eminar on Films on Art. A n organizing com - pard on , th a t th ey would prefer to forget. . . . And h ere li es m ittee of the U nesco Festival and S em inar has been form ed th e uniqu eness and fa. cin ati on of this film : th ese impecca bl e to in clud e representatives from th ese different bodies, under uniform s, th e. e offi er a p erf ectl y di infected fr om any hum an the chairm anship of C. H amilt on Sout ham, head of th e Infor- sentim ent, these unb ea tabl e tanks, thi prodi gious wa r machine mation Divisio n of th e D epartm ent of E x ternal Affairs, Ottawa. IVhi ch ha n ever fail ed in its grim design - here it is, put to Ai ght by di ord er, spontaneity, and popul ar feelings. It' is For fu rth er informat'i07l , w rite Mrs. D oro thy Ma cpherson, th e revenge of th e pari ahs. a pl es has vindi cated W a rsaw, and Directo r, Un esco Festival and S eminar: Films on A rt, c/ o in th e wide eyes of th e little Capuozzo boy we find th e innocent National Film B oard of Canada, 150 K en t Street, Ott awa 4, and di illusioned expression of Ann e Frank . T o speak of a rti sti c O ntario. m erit, at this point, seems to me uperflu ous. A work whi ch arouses such trong feeling, whi ch tirs up such healthful con- troversy, IVhi ch compels u to rem ember when it is ea ier

33 THE SAN SEBASTIAN FESTIVAL IN SPAIN by Jose Luis Torres There are, without doubt, too many film festivals in the We think that the San Sebastian Festival has truly come world today (over one hundred) . We long to see festivals of age ! as they formerly were. But the organisation of the cinema is no longer what it was fifteen years ago; today we hear of What accounts f or the fact that a film festiva l in Spain crises in the cinema, whereas fifteen years ago only its suc- can make progress when there are, in Europe, other festivals cesses were spoken of. supported by major cinematographic interests in countries havi ng powerful film industries? A happy medium is needed, because an excessive number of festivals could prejudice the cinema, yet to curtail their There are two possible explanations. Firstly, as the cinema numbers drastically could result in their not benefitting has been established as a business, the San Sebastian Festival either themselves or the cinema. It is increasingly important provides the producers w ho send their film s to the compe- to multiply contacts between the creators of film. By break- tition w ith a direct and immediate opportunity for business ing away from exclusive channels, the commerce in films . . . becau se it should not be forgotten that Spain is one yields itself more and more to greater competition. This of the European countries with the largest number of situation is both advantageous and detrimental. cinemas. Second ly, the cordia l organisation, so character- istic ally Spanish, also brings its adva ntages. We know how And what, amidst all this maelstrom, can a festiva l such to be hospitable in Spain. as that at San Sebastian achieve? The fact is, that despite h avin g had t o overcome diffi- A cinematographic organisation that has been in existence culties th at the organisers of other festivals are not even for ten years has attained its majority. Last yea r the San aware of, the San Sebastian Festival has established itself by Sebastian Festival celebrated its tenth anniversary, and las t progressin g at its own speed . In its eleventh edition, the year the following prizes were given in San Sebastian, from Festival w ill take place from June 7 to June 16 this year. w hich you will be able to form your ow n opinion. At the moment, we know that the following countries will send short or long film s: France, Great Britain , the United Concha de Oro: ARTURO'S ISLAND, by Damiano States, Germany, Japan, Italy, Denmark, Iraq, Hun gary, Damiani Bulgaria, Poland, the Argentine, Mexico, Czechoslovakia, Canada and Spain, the last with its so-called \" n ew-wave,\" Concha de Plata: LA DENONCIAnON, by J acques from which we can expect many surprises. Daniel-Valcroze Fifteen feature film s wi ll be presented at San Sebastian Latin-American Film Prize: PUEBLITO, by Indio that have not been shown outside their countries of origi n. Fernandez As in our earlier festivals, there will be an informative- commercial section, open to producers w ho wish to present Fipresci Prize : THE MIRACLE WORKER, by Arthur their film s before Spanish or Latin-American distributors. Penn There will also be a section of the competition dedicated to Best Female Performan ce: Anne Bancroft in THE MIR- Latin-American films , a retrospective for films on bull- ACLE WORKER fightin g and a children's film section. Besides all this, the Council of Europe Prize and the Newsreel Prize w ill be B('s t Male Performan ce: Peter Sellers in WALTZ OF :lwarded this year at San Sebastian. THE TOREADORS Bn t Direction : Bolognini , for SENELITA

34 The Image of Hawaii in American Features, The Films of George Tahara, Films III The Annual Cherry Blossom Festival, Majors on Location and Domestic Production. FILM NEWS FROM THE FIFTIETH STATE by Tats Yoshimaya ( Mr. l ' oshimaya has manage d theatres in Ha waii for more than twenty years and is presently handling publicity for R oyal Th eatres, Ltd., of H onolulu. H e has had extensive experience in all phases of th eatre exhibition . During World War II, he work ed with WAR Bond State Presentations at th e Int ernational Th eatre, Honolulu . A form er film columnist f or two bi-lingual dailies ( English/Japanese) at Hilo, MT. T oshimaya writes for a local weekly television guide, \"A loha TV N ews,\" and a club newspaper, Puk a Puka. H e occasionally wOTks in publicity for night clubs and fairs , manages touring companies, and arranges the personal app earances of visiting celebrities. Mr. Toshimaya con fesses to being old enough to rem em ber th e B ens hi - narrators who stood onstage dUTin g the screening of Japanese silent films, telling th e slory, sp eaking th e dialogue, and pro- viding sound eff ects. ) Hawa ii , gateway to th e mainland United States from the Hawaii via T oho distributi on, is only recentl y bei ng nationally Far East, exhibits great quantities of m otion pictures fr om released by Seneca-International. Kaneto Shindo's THE J apan. These film s, widely di stributed on everyo ne of the ISLAND, the non-di alogue film , currently receiving criti cal islan ds th at make up the fiftieth state, attract sizable and lucra- acclaim , prizes and honors in the United Sta tes and abroad, tive audi ences from the polyglot population. The large J a pa- was shown in H awaii over a yea r ago. It was exhibited in high nese population in Hawaii and th e casual intermingling of th e school auditoriums and hall s by an independent island pro- va rious racial groups - sociall y, economically and academi- moter, not because the H awaiian film distributors were un- ca ll y - are prim e reasons for the success of these film s. aWOl re of its money-m aking possibilities, but because it was Increasing a rti stic interest, too, is in evidence as students referred to unwisely by the uninform ed as a \"silent pi cture\"! from the University of H awa ii , the East-West Center, and th e foreign film devotees fl ock to the J a panese cinem a. Akira Kurosawa's film classic RASHOMAN, in its initi al run in J apanese th eatres in Hawaii , was a di sastrous failure. J apa nese pi ctures shown in H awaii are sub-titl ed in English. No English sub-titl es acco mpani ed the origin al rel ease. After This is necessa ry for both the non-Japanese patrons and for world-wide recognition at Venice and subsequ ent nati onal th e average yo un g H awa ii an of J a panese extraction, whose release through RKO, the pi cture was re-booked in H awai i kn owledge of th e language is inadequa te. Students of con- (this time with English sub-titl es ) and scored a great success. versa ti onal J a panese find much help in these films as th ey make excell ent subj ects for stud y. Strangely, with such an abundance of J apanese films in the H awaiian market, K on I chikawa's FIRES ON THE PLAINS For the scheduling of a pproximately two hundred and fift y was never shown. Six or seven years have passed since its J a panese feature films annuall y to sati sfy the varied tastes of origin al release, and seekers of better films have fervent hopes such an ethni c aggregati on, four J a panese theatres in H onolulu that it will eventually be brought to H awaii. Another K on import pictures from virtually all of the m ajor companies I chikawa prize-winner, HARP OF BURMA, finall y made its in J apan. And scores of theatres throughout the isl ands offer way to H awai i a coupl e of yea rs after winning pl audits in subsequ en t programming. Europe. J apa n's uniqu e marketing proced ure and contract agreement Three new films from J apa n are p:Hti cipating in H onolulu 's with H awa ii an di stributors .limit the extension of these pro- Cherry Blossom Festival. For th e first tim e, a \" film festi val\" grams a ft er the H awa iian run to the heavi ly J apanese-popu- is being consolid ated with the annu al event. Th e festiviti es la ted areas of th e mainl and W est Coast. Very few pictures- opened with a week's run of K eisuk e Kin oshita's BALLAD and on ly through the enterprise of an ind epend ent film dis- OF A WORKING MAN, a Shochiku production. Kin oshita tributor - penetrate the mid-,,yest and Eastern sections of the: is noted for his scripting and directing of BALLAD OF U ni ted States. NARAYAMA, CARMEN COMES HOME, and TWENTY- FOUR EYES. H e is consid ered one of J a pan's top directors. Occasionally, American distributors like Brandon, H arrison and oth er ind ependents buy American release rights of J apanese The other two films are SHINSEN GUMI SHIMATSU pi ctures fo r nation-wide showi ng. YOJIMBO, Akira Kuro- KI, a D aiei film revolving around a band of notori ous sa murai, sawa's sa mura i story starring T oshiro Mifun e, which ran in and the T oho entry, ALONG THE RIVER, a comedy

35 roman ce. The Ch erry Bl osso m Festival in clud es an elaborate ers, many of th em well-kn own face of th e J apanese rcen, qu een pageant, lantern parade, fir eworks, and cultural ex- in cluding top co medi an , lovely leading ac tre es, harac ter hibits. A high point is th e a ll-girl revu e direct fr om J apan' a tor and actres e and yo ung rom anti c tar . M any of the e ta rs are ka maain a ( not newco mer ) to H awai i, having pre-- Kokusai thea tre. viou Iy perform ed in other film on loca tion, made personnl a ppea rances in th ea tre, or visited like oth er touri t . In additi on to attending \" festiva ls\" of film s from T oho, Toei and oth er Japane. e compani es, H awa ii an ca n ee th e Ac ordin g to spokes men of th e loca l film wo rk er's uni on, th e Queen th ea tre's \" Spring Fe tival of Film ,\" whi ch opened with ontinu ou acti vity and large- ca le loca ti on group fro m both DAVID AND LISA. And the Univer ity of H awa ii has ta rted ide of th e P ac ifi c - H o ll ywood and J apa n, the fr eq uen t it annua l princr seri es of films. T om Genelli , progra m director television produ cti on of tro pi cal adven ture eri e , and the for campus s reenings ha announ ced a Saturd ay eri e and a compani es fr om th e U .S., J ap an, a nd even E urope that b ring Wedn e d ay \" Institute of Am eri can Studi e \" seri e . The \"Vedn e. - in uni ts for docum enta ri es, inform a ti ona l film and comm er- d ay showings include THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSON S, cials, have made it prac ti cabl e a nd profit able to m a inta in local THE FOUNTAINHEAD, EXECUTIVE SUITE, SALT OF produ cti on equipm ent and facili.ti es a ll yea r round . THE EARTH, ALL THE KI G'S MEN, GU NS OF THE TREES, ON THE BOWERY and PULL MY DAISY. The Th e pr.inciple techni cal and pro du cti on crew - including series include film di cus ion. G enelli ha pl an for umm er ca meramen, produ cti on m anage rs, electri cians, gri p , prop men, hooting on the i land of M olokai. H e report' th at th e Dra ma wa rdrobe units, green men, make-up and ound men - are departm ent of the University may add a film class to .its cur- a uom ented by suffi cient loca l labor. W eath er permitting, mo. t ri culum and th at students of th e Eas t-W e t C enter may start locati on work progres e to full sati sfacti on and onschedul e. experim ental filming oon. With H awa ii ' new ly form ed Screen Extra Guild, managed by loca l agent Ed Carlson and Earl McC lintock, hundreds of Further evid ence of H awa ii 's respon e to good film is seen island people have found intermittent wo rk in film s. Th e bu i- in the succes of revi va ls. A eri es of cl as ics from the MGM ne s of makin g movi e in H awai i i. fl ouri shing and is a trt'- library, call ed the \"World Heritage Pi ctures,\" proved to be .0 mend ou. boo. t to th e sta te's econom y. . uccessful at th e Pal ace Th eatre that arrangem ents were com- pleted to continu e with a ea on of \" Golden Operettas.\" Th e IMAGES OF HAW All eight m a terpi eces included such titles as DAVID COPPER- FIELD, A TALE OF TWO CITIES, and PRIDE AND Like a handful of oth er state - T exas and Fl orid a and PREJUDICE. The film ed operettas in clud e THE GIRL OF perh a p one or two oth ers - H awaii has acquired a certain THE GOLDEN WEST, NAUGHTY MARIETTA and THE false image in film . The famili ar stra in s of \" Aloha O e,\" muti- MERRY WIDOW. lated into a cacaphony of ph ony tun e ; th e graceful island hul a, vul ga ri sed into an awkwa rd polynes ian ve rsion of th e Holl ywood di covered m any yea rs ago that H awa ii's idea l hoochy-cooch y; th e gras - hacked na ti ve mea red with movie clim ate and brea th-takin g natural settin s were most suitabl e make-up ; th e stock shots from th e tudi o libra ry spli ced into for locati oning. And the influx of H oll ywood compani es hoot- every pi cture with an H awa ii an theme ... the e and a ll th e ing key scenes and background increased yea r a ft er year. oth er poi-pounding, pea r-carrying H awa ii an stereotype from J apanese film makers also found here a paradise for pi cture H oll ywood are always good-n aturedl y laughed off th e screen making. The Da iei Compan y film ed part of SENTIMENTAL by th e H awa ii an a udi ences. Th e more d emonstra ti ve film goers JOURNEY in W aikiki and oth er areas of O ahu about four actu all y let out a typi cal H awa ii a n hor e-I augh , eq ui va lent years ago. Th e Sh ochiku Company, d ealing with J a pane e to th e braying of the \" K ona nightinga le\" ( th e j ac kas. es found immigrant to Hawaii , film ed SANGA ARI alm o t in its around th e K ona area of H awa ii ) . entirety in H awa ii. Direc tor Zenzo Matsuya ma is now remem- bered is the i land a the first J apanese movie mak er to have If recent produ cti ons fr om H oll ywood are indi cati ve, this u ed literally thousands of H awaii 's peopl e in the film cas t. old H awa ii an im age seems to be strummin cr into ob li vion. If not full y ackn owledged as yet, by th e more severe criti c, a t Currentl y, one of Japan' largest film compani es, T oho, is least th e general publi c has shown a pprova l of th e new film s- on locati on in Hawaii. Th eir trenchant filmin g techniqu e and a bo u t - H aw a ii. nimble produ ction meth ods are being keenl y observed by other movi e makers fr om Holl ywood and J a pan. T oho is T aking a fr esh look at th e possibiliti es of enri ching th eir shooting four feature : THREE GENTS in HAWAII, and produ cti ons with a more beli evabl e concepti on of H awaii an ALOHA, THREE GENTS, both directed by Shu e M at uba- life H oll ywood i now adh erin g more closely to th e H awa ii an yashi ; HONOLULU, TOKYO, HONG ONG, directed by scene and embrac in o' th e uniqu e characteri sti c. of th e multi- Va uki Chiba; and A YOUNG GUY IN HAWAII , directed racial popul ati on . by Jun Fukuda , with cenes to be hot on th e University of Hawa ii campus. R ecentl y th ere has been wid espread loca tioning on virtu all y every sceni c sight fr om th e \" big island \" of H awa ii on one end Each production, in color and wid e- creen, i scheduled for down to the \"ga rd en isle\" of K a ua i on th e other. Th e scene- seven days of shooting; each has it own technical crews, tealer of any film about H awa ii , indubitably, i th e colorful augmented by loca l labor. Japanese meth od demonstra te tropi ca l etting. DIAMOND HEAD, directed b y G uy Green agility, adroitn ess, and careful pre-produ ction pl anning. Sh oo t- from a book by P eter Gilm an, form erl y of th e ' H onolulu Sta r ing is quick, utilising exi ting natural sets, ra pidly fashi oned Bull etin ', pa rt ake of th e old H oll ywood attitud e toward props, and portabl e ana morphi c-len ed cameras. On e of the Hawaii ; it was not favorabl y received b y the H awa ii an , and interesting points about watching th e Japanese film makers wa not too ubtl y toned by the local press. R AMPAGE, fr om in action is their exclusive use of na ture's own sunlight and Warn er Brothers, a nd J ohn F ord's DONOV AN'S REEF, reflectors. No heavy, cumber om e spotlights are toted around both with long shooting chedul e in H awa ii , are ye t to bt' in this speedy filmin g. r elease d . The film s use some thirt y-odd prin cipals a nd featured pl ay-

36 H al W allis, Norman T aurog and Elvis Presley are the cur- rung time of fifty-eight minutes, the film stars rotund R obert rent favo rite film folks in hul a-land, for their GIRLS, GIRLS, \"Lucky\" Luck, popul ar disc-j ockey and star of KHVH-TV's GIRLS. H ow could they have missed, with one of the m ost \"Lucky's Luau,\" a weekl y variety show, and has a featured exquisite \" tourist pitch\" films ever m ade in H awaii ? In a cast of about one hundred twenty players, including some of no-story, no-problem, song-studded, hula-hipped dream pic- the sta te's well-kn own personalities in politics, busi ness, sports, tu re, the color cameras captured the ha ppy H awaiian mood, radi o-television and journalism. The m ayor of H onolulu, Nea l the ingratiating sound and captivating sights as never before. Blaisdell, and the ex-gove rnor's wife, Nancy Quinn, shared But despite t he excellent harbor and tuna -fishing sequences, equal billing with th e rest of the cast. genuine H awaii ana was totally absent. UNL UCKY LUCK is a series of sight-gags linked to Lucky'S GOR FOR BROKE, an MGM story of the highly-decorated disastrous efforts to find employm ent. The film finds him 442 nd R egim ental Combat T eam of W orld War II, though mugging his way in sund ry local establishm ents as janitor, not fi lm ed in H awaii , was an outstanding m ovie for islanders. truck-driver, hair-dresser, yard boy, baggage boy and chorus Several m embers of the ori ginal combat unit from H awaii girl. T he slapstick is old-hat but has a refreshing quality, with took co-starrin g roles wi th Van J ohnson. These H awa iian deft fouches of th e silent comedy era. Coincid entally, the N iseis (Americans of J apanese ancestry- recreated their roles compani on attraction a t the Qu een was R obert Youngson's in the gallant, sometim es humorous saga, fi lled with slices of compil ation of sil ent film comedy, THE GOLDEN AGE O F \" islan d life,\" and much of the com edy reli ef stemmed from COMEDY. R obert Luck had done consid erable movie work the soldiers' constant use of the H awaiian \" pidgin-E nglish.\" before he undertook the titl e ro le for U NLUCKY LUCK T ru e incidents of the fighti ng in Italy were integrated into and was seen in H ELL'S H ALF ACR E, BLUE H AWAII the film . and other film s. \"Go for broke\" in H awaii jargon roughl y translates as H AW AIIA N FILM MAK ER: GEO RGE TAHARA \" don't give a damn,\" \"anything goes\" or \"full speed ahead .\" T his picture, along with BLUE H AWAII, H AWAII CALLS, The versatile skills of H awaii an film makers and the breadth BIRD O F PAR ADISE, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, of opportunity here are perhaps best demonstrated in the BI G JIM M cLAI N and HELL'S H ALF ACRE are the m ost career of George T ahara, whose work matured in a curious popular film s about H awaii among filmgoers here. parallel to the growth and world-wide acce ptance of 16mm film . T ahara, an H awaii an born J apanese film maker, at the In 1952, J ohn Auer filmed HELL'S HALF ACRE entirely age of twelve scripted, p roduced, directed, film ed, edited and in the tenem ent area of downtown H onolulu. With the full scored his first motion picture. T oday, acknowledged as one co-opera ti on of the H onolulu Police D epartment, almost every of H awaii's foremost film m akers, he has a \"call-board\" all ey, street corner, tenement, and the inhabitants of the dilapi- packed with current and futur e production activities. T ahara's dated section was caught by the cameras. H onolulu's police dedicated interest in m ovi e m aking began at the age of six, chief, then as now, was D an Liu, and he was played by K eye concurrent with his love for composing music. This amagam Luke. M embers of \" H onolulu's fin est\" becam e actors alongside of talent was to continue, as T ahara is a complete film maker, W endell Corey, J esse White, Elsa Lanchester, Philip Ahn and bringing into play his desire fo r total creativi ty. Leonard Strong. Thi s writer followed the produ ction uni t and managed to work in a thirty-second scene, w hich is still intact These were th e years that saw film s in J6mm confined to in the television release. travel subj ects onl y, without commercial prospects. The futu re of sma ll-gauge filming was just a speck on th e hori zon. The In BI G JIM M cLAIN, D an Liu was assigned the role of global wa r th at started in 194 1 created the first significant D an Liu. J ohn W ayne and J am es Arness pursued communists move forward. With technical improvements and the ever- in the action thriller, film ed largely on O ahu Island. increasing use of 16mm , the uninhibited uses of the smaller gauge film became apparent. N ew camera developm ents ra ised Back in the 30's, none other than Cecil B. D eMille and a the status of 16mm from an a mateur to almost a professiona l crew of technicians and actors traveled to H awa ii to film all sta tus. The war-ri ch private industri es came into the picture, major scenes of FO U R FRIGHTENED PEOPLE. It was an lured by the improvements. unforgettable event for the m any local people who worked in pi ctu res for the first time, helped in building the \" jungles of George T ahara, a t this time sti ll without fin ancial resources, M alaya,\" and hobnobbed wi th Claudette Colbert, H erbert was moving on, too. H e was now with the W ar Finance Com- M arshall , William Ga rgan, M ary Boland and Leo Carrillo. mittee to produce film s for War Bond sales, and his knowl edge of the particular situations in H awaii was of great aid . T ahara Television producers, too, are aware of the m any advantages was filming specia l sequences for the H awaiian area because the that H awaii offers. One of the busiest men in television is ma inland-produ ced pitch for the sale of W ar Bonds was ineffec- T om M a tsu moto, ve teran cinematographer for newsreels, docu- ti ve and inappli cabl e for H awaiian use. mentaries, and background m aterial. Other television special- ists have worked on island sequences for \"H ennessey,\" \" Follow T a hara later headed the Arm y M oti on Picture Division of t he Sun ,\" and \"Adventures in Paradise.\" Th e pilot for a CBS the Pacific Area, Fort Shafter, and created many inform ati onal, documentary, \"APO 932,\" was shot in H awaii . Bud Thuener docum entary and training film s. H e also tutored 16mm film and Art Carter work on various netwo rk television assignments making to service personnel, influencing the futur e careers of in the islands calling for camera reporting. m en who were to ac tiva te 16mm films. For this service, T ahara received a special citation from Washington. Aside from the use of H awaiian locations by outsid e com- panies, som e productions originate here. Writer-producer- At this tim e, too, the M itchell 16 came out, techni cally di rector-cameraman M artin Rhodes, one-time H ollywood citi- proved on a par with 35 mm , with sound comparabl e to th e zen, recentl y fini shed UNLUCKY L U CK, and it was given wid er strip. Still there was no market, no distribution for th e a \"world's sm allest premi ere\" a t the Queen Theatre, one of J6mm movie makers, who we re forced into the limited areas H onolulu 's art-houses. Filmed in bl ack and white, the J6mm prod ucti on was blown up for theatrical release. With a run-

7 of thc indu ·trial a nd in tru tional film s. H ollywood was SPORT THRILLS OF HAWAIl beginning to use 35 111m blown up from 16mm, but the use CORONATION OF OLD HAWAII ca u ed only a ripple of excitem ent. 16mm finally \" broke the barri er\" with the arrival of audio-visual in the American school An authentic re-enactm ent of the coronation of an Hawaiiall sy tcm s, libraries, hospital , institutions, V eterans' Administra- chief and the special hul as danced for thi s occasion. Mu ic i tion, business and other organi ations. a ncicnt Hawaii an and consi ts of nose flutes, drum, bamboo, and voices. His creative talents developing parallel to the sophistication HAWAIIAN FEATHERWORKS of J 6mm cinematography in general, Tahara at length became full y e tabli shed in the Hawaii an film scene. He has made over Th e littl e-known craft of H awaii an featherwo rk : its p lace a hundred films on the legends of Hawaii, feature film s about in the culture of H awaii, and historic shots of one of th e las t the South Pacific, and educational, informational, instructional , roya l H awaii an fun erals. commercial and training film s. H e has been cited several tim es GLAMOUR FISH OF HAWAII for his work, awarded prizes in man y categories, and honored ERUPTIONS OF MAUNA LOA for his zealous instruction of new-comers in the 16mm realm. Many of Tahara' films have been invited to shmvcases for the A violent volcano in action, river of m olten lava urging best 16mm films in the United Sta tes: CHILDREN OF down the mountainsi de burning out villages ; a raging pit of SAMOA, CHINESE BRUSH PAINTING, SECRET VAL- cxpl oding steam and fire caught in aweso me grandeur. LEY, and others. FLOWERS OF HAWAII Tahara initiated the K alani High School Creative Work- Stop-camera photograph y rcveals each m ovem ent of fl ower shop Proj ect in Honolulu, not only to instruct the students in the process of blooming. and faculty members in movie making, but to enable them to THE RIFT OF FIRE think crea tivel y. NO END TO RUNNING, a Workshop film , wa widely shown in the state's chools an d on educational One of the most remarkabl e docum ents of the birth of a televi ion throughout the nation. Tahara intends to work with volcano shows the opening of a rift in a cane field and the other schools in Hawaii on imilar proj ects. ultimate spouting of hot lava hundreds of feet into the air. THE RAINBOW MAIDEN SOME F ILMS BY GEORGE TAHARA : An old Hawaiian legend. All th e film described below are in color with soulld ; thc THE SECRET VALLEY fir t is twenty minutes, all others are eleven. THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS Another legend of Ancient H awai i. MENEHUNE OF PALI PASS A documentary film on the five major islands of the H awa iian chain, combining scenic a ttractions with people at A menehune is an Hawaiian elf; a drama tized lcgcn d. work and play; a picture of ancient and modern H awaii, and KIONI'S POI POUNDER a vivid pictorial of the various multi-racial festivals seen only in H awaii. The big surf at Makaha, the colorful fruits and Two charming Hawaiian boys star in tlus legend of old flowers of Hawaii, wild mountain-pig hunting, the volcanic Hawaii; Taro field s, grass hut , preparatio n of poi, and eruptions with dazzling geysers of molten lava, and historical Hawaiian gam es are shown in this film . landmarks of all the five major islands are included. SUMMER AT WAIHOLE HAWAIIAN HOLIDAY Rural life in modern H awaii, fi lm ed in thc lush Waihole A tourist's-eye view of Honolulu. The cosmopolitan peopfe valley on Oahu. of the islands show tourists that there is much more to Hawaii than Waikiki beach and hula dancers. Old Hawaii is re-enacted THE ETERNAL BLOSSOM for the vi itors in colorful pageants displaying the national The story of a boy's unselfish love for his grandfa ther, costumes of the various races of Hawaii. SURFING IN HAWAII which resu lts in a miracle, was filmed in an isola ted area in Hawaii and uses natives of that section. Techniques of surfing, tandem and trick surfing, experts on THE RUNAWAYS th e crests of gigantic combers, a dog that demonstrates the canine art of surfing. Many unusual shots were taken from the In an area blighted by post-war recession, two teen-aged surfboards, with cameras strapped. H awa ii an boys leave home, and the tragic consequences are RIDING THE BIG SURF traced. This film is suited to stimul ate discussions on h ome life, crime prevention, and group work. Spectacular riding, with the boards skimming the largest and most dangerous waves in H awaii. During the winter CHILDREN OF SAMOA months, the surfs build up to a tremendous height of twenty- Samoan boys and girl at play and work, th e festivitie in five feet. UNDERWATER HAWAII a typical village, tapa and ma t making, kava ceremony and bonito fishing. Informative and thrilling under-sea experience as the camera LIFE IN SAMOA explores caves, Moray eels, sharks, coral trees, and schools of colorful fish are observed. Filmed on T a'u I sland, America Samoa, where Samoan HUNTING IN HAWAIl culture has been preserved. An excellent orientation on village life of the Polynesians, the picture shows m ass siva dancing, The deer, goats, pigs and sheep introduced to Hawaii during a royal wedding, copra making, children's games, tapa making, the past one hundred fifty years ; their existence in the remote and hut thatching. mountainous regions, and the need of controlled hunting to TAHITI CALLS keep the animals from ravaging forest areas. Scenic spots, rural life, market activity of Papeete, Moorea I sland. J APANESE DOLL MAKING Inspired by Ki yonaga's prints, thi film shows the step by step process in the making of classical J apanese costum e dolls. JAPANESE PRINT MAKING Toshi Yoshida, outstanding artist of contemporary J apan, demonstrates the creation of a wood block print. A brief

38 hi storical comm entary on J apanese prints and it influ ence on WE LO VE LOVE-LETTERS Western painting i provided. DANCES OF OKINAWA FROM LOVING READERS . . . Yoshin ae and Yo hino M ajinkin a, Foremo t dancers of \" M y complim ents to yo u on the quality of yo ur journal. I O kin awa, p erform three dance. picked u p a copy in N ew Y ork and was most impressed by CHINESE LANDSCAPE PAINTING it.\"-H enry Breitrose, I nstru ctor in Film, Stanford University, S tan for d, California. An actu al painting is co mpl eted before the camera, as T seng Yu-Ho demonstrates basic trokes of C hinese landscape \" Did l eer thank you for sending m e th e summ er issue? painting. I have had lim e to read it fr om cover to co ver. I fell in lo ve FRESCO PAINTING WITH JEAN CHARLOT with that Mr. Jose - he is delightful. And I was so impressed, that I was DEpressed, by the glitt erin g report on the Karlo vy A pi oneer in the M exican renai ance of the 1920'S, J ean Va ry Festival. S tewaTt Wilenski's article naturally was a C harlot demonstrates tep by tep fresco pai.nting. pleasure to m e.\"-Fran ces Flahert y, Brattleboro, V ermont. IDOL OF VENGEANCE \" A great im jJrovem ent in th e m agad ne.\"-George Freedl ey, A legend of old H awaii. Curator, Th eatre Collection, Th e N ew Y ork Public LibTary. MAGIC GIFT OF RONGO \" Wh at an excell ent m aga~in e )Iour FILM COMMENT is.\" Another H awaii an legend. - Bruce Baillie, CanJlo n Cinema, Berk eley, Califomia. ADVENTURES IN BLACK CORAL \" Last issue of FILM COMMENT awfull Jl good.\"-Al Mil- Expl oring th e depths of the ocean for the black coral th at grom, U nive rsity Fil m So ciety, Minneapolis, Minnesota. is fashi oned into uniqu e jewelry. A Statement from the Vice-Chairman of the Motion Picture Censor Board of Maryland. MOVIES WITHOUT A BLUSH (Mrs. L ouis E. Shec fer, Vice -Chairman of the M otion Picture C en sor Board of Maryland, delivered an address on A pril 3 to the W oman's Club of Jessup, Mary land, entitled \"Are Crime and Violenc e Films Fit Entertainment for Young People?\" The lun cheon m eeting w as held at the home of M·rs. Harr y T. Cottman, 215 W est La,n v ale Street. The menu served on the occasion is 1mk no'wn to Film C omment. Mr s. Shec ter excerjJfed the following passage from her address and Film Comment prints it as received.) \\~hat would be heartwarming today would be a renais- production are bringing deep concern to teachers, medical sance in the motion picture fie ld to what was the favorite men and parents. entertainment for many years - the famil y picture. The key factor in examining the business of motion picture That means the parents and the youngsters could attend production is a sympathetic appreciation and understanding the movies together or individually without any moments of the interests and problems of children. of shock or embarrassment or ev en a blush . If the current drive to play up themes that can be The famil y film could be a slice-of-life backed up by developed with obscenity and tastelessness does not end, gaiety and fun and tender momen ts. Young people and there will be a serious concerted effort by the American adults would enjoy plot structure and entertainment values public to study and adopt the British system of film that accent the exhilaration and excitement of normal classifica tion. living and wholesome human experiences. In Great Britain, the board of film censors places film Has there not been enough concentration on crime and entertainments in one of the following three categories: violence in the movies? The over-emphasis on sex, perver- sion, adultery, prostitution and similar themes has resulted 1. Suitable for General Exhibition. in unhealthy film fare for young adolescents. Impressionable teenagers are bound to be influenced by the current tendenc y 2. More suitable for exhibition to adult audiences. of motion picture producers to feature lurid, sensational and gutter-type stories. 3. More suitable for adults only. Because adolescents makp up a large segment of the Pictures in category 2 ma y not be shown to children movie-going public , the current fashions in motion picture under sixteen unless accompanied by their parents. However, films classified in category 3 are wholly adult in treatment and no child under sixteen will be admitted.

39 A Quiet Revolution 1ll Film Appreciation MUST MOVIES TALK TO TEACH? by Edith Laurie In a small office of a building that shrinks modestly What would \"a projector in every classroom\" mean? behind the more impressive edifices of Columbia University It would mean no more requisition slips and nuisance Teachers College, four dedicated non-professional film paper work; no more wasted time setting up the equipment; makers are quietly plotting a return of the silent film. no more breakages during the screenings. This feature of being able to show the child what he This dashing revolutionary movement has been modestly wants to know when he wants to know it, and to explain financed for the past two years by Columbia's Horace Mann- it in terms which are meaningful to HIM, might well be Lincoln Institute of School Experimentation. If this suggests the real psychological selling point in overcoming teacher that the project has a certain relevance to education, the hostility. clue is not a false one: the principal plotters are Louis However, there's apt to be one consequence of a break- Forsdale, Professor of English at Teachers College, and his through in 8mm silent films which, in the long run, out- three research assistants, Stuart Selby, Joan Rosengren, and weighs all the others: films will be STUDIED like textbooks; John Swayze. They are probably the most active film makers they'll be viewed and RE-VIEWED. in New York City, and definitely the least known. Until now movies have been made to see once. Who wouldn't feel like an idiot for saying: \"Oh, I don't want If all goes well, we should be hearing more about them to hear the Mozart 'Jupiter'; I've already heard it!\" . .. very soon. Yet this is precisely what most people would say about a film they had seen. The Forsdale team is concentrating on 8mm silent teach- Silent teaching films could change all this. A child who ing films designed for the new cartridge-loaded Technicolor goes to the back of the room during study period, pops projcc tors. a plastic cartridge into the projector, and watches it unreel two or three times, may consciously be interested only in Why SILENT movies when there is already an 8mm mastering the content. Inevitably, however, something else SOUND projector on the market. You call that a revolution? will happen. He will become aware of film as film. As this awareness grows, he will demand more and expect more, I do, and it's based on principles (psychological, educa- technically and aesthetically. Unknown to himself, he has tional, aesthetic) and price. taken a course in \"film appreciation.\" Perhaps the creative film maker's hope for a \"film art\" I'll mention the price first, because if that doesn't arouse may lie in something as simple as raising the level of expecta- immediate associations with the word \"cheap,\" the audience tions in our schools.... And why just OUR schools? Silent for \"principles\" is apt to be substantially smaller. movies speak an international language. They'll be in Danish schools, Turkish schools, Burmese schools. Prints will be The price right now of this compact, lightweight, almost made not in hundreds - a successful film today sells 500 unbreakable projector is $60. If the projector were purchased copies - but in thousands. in huge quantities, that price might even drop to $40. And maybe - who knows? - this intense scrutiny of Cartridge-enclosed prints, ready to feed into the machine, educational films from an aesthetic as well as a content could sell for under $8, or a little more than filmstrips. point of view, may lead the next generation to decide that most films talk too much anyhow. It could turn into a The projector can be push-button stopped at any frame; WORLD-WIDE REVOLUTION. otherwise it rolls merrily along, repeating itself until turned Turning back from universal implications and prophetic off. Any child of five can operate it. (NOTE: This is fantasies to the very specific operations of the Teachers absolutely true! I can't compete with a five-year-old when College group, let's examine what's being done THERE it comes to operating machines, but after one or two patient and NOW. corrections, I flipped in those cartridges with all the non- A quick look around the room, with its neatly cubicled chalance of a kindergartener.) Now, the reasonableness of the cost (less than most film- strip projectors, but able to do the same thing and more) suggests that eventually an 8mm silent film projector could be standard equipment in every classroom and that every class might have its own film library. This is clearly out of the question with 8mm sound projectors priced several times higher

-10 retreats converging on the few square feet of \"main office,\" In short, film makers needn't get nervo us abou t being suggests that space may be a problem. Rows of labeled replaced by teachers who are already nervous about being plastic cartridges set out on a table testify to the quantity replaced by machines . Q uaLty pictures - talki ng or silen t, and variety of experimentation. These are all roughs, shot 35 mm or 16mm or 8mm - will still be made by creative by members of the team. people whose first job is making fiLns . I am encouraged to take a random sampling. I learn how And if the revolu tion sllcceeds, don 't think- just DREAM to multiply, how to tie my shoelaces, how to form com- BIG - abollt how it wi ll affect the demand for more, mo re, pound words. A very creatively-made reel teac hes me how and still more films. to recognize letters of the alp habet in different shapes and types as they appear and disappear on the screen, tumble FELLIN! - 8 ~ about, jockey for position, and form lively patterns. Some films offer me a new experience : how it feels to be buried Federico Fellill i, Ital y's fam ed dir ector, who has parodied in the sand, or what fun it is to ride a ski tow, or how t he almost every fa cet of mo vie-making in his film s, tak es on an \\Va yes look as they break on the shore. One cartridge refers Alfred Hit chcock trademark in his \"8 ~:' which / oseJJh E. me to other £ lms at certain points. Its original technique L evin e's Embassy Pictures will premiere here this sum m e?\". is to inject brightly-colored frames at key moments urging Takin g a cue fr om Hitchcock's fl eeting personal appearances me to view reel X or Y if I want further information on in his films, Fellini cast his own hand, in a close-up, cracking inaterial just covered. a whip for star Mar cello Mastroianni, in an \"8 Y2\" sequence. Until now, only a handful of friends and colleagues (plus T erm ed by critics as probably his most controversial film, children of friends and colleagues) have been exposed to Fellini' s \"8Y2\" co -stars Claudia Cardinal e, Anouk Aimee and t he films, but within a month or two, the twelve most Sandra Milo with Mastroianni. Currently, \"8 Y2\" is outpacing polished efforts should be properly edi ted for larger-scale Fellini's \" La D olce Vila\" as Italy's most successful film. testing. If the plot succeeds (in impressing t he audience), 8mm silent teaching fiLm wi ll be ready for the rapid-growth NY FILM BULLETIN ... RECENT ARTI- stage of development. T his is t he stage at which the gov- CLES HAVE INCLUDED: THE WORLD OF ernment (as happened in the case of language laboratories) HOWARD HAWKS BY ANDREW SARRIS; or a commercial £ lm house or some well-intentioned agency, HITCHCOCK AND HIS PUBLIC; A LISTING recognises t he need for a massive infusion of capitol to put AND ANALYSIS OF CAHIERS DU CINEMA'S t he powerfu l new teaching development into nation-wide 10 BEST LISTS, 1955-60; THE ART OF \"take- off. \" STANLEY DONEN; AN INTERVIEW WITH ANTONIONI; THE ONLY COMPLETE FILM- Let's assume t hat this revolu tion comes to pass: a film OGRAPHY OF ANTONIONI PUBLISHED IN library in every classroom . Does it mean that tomorrow's ENGLISH; A COMPLETE ISSUE DEVOTED educa tors will become £Ln makers, or that tomorrow's fiLn TO LAST YEAR AT MARIEN BAD, INCLUD- makers will become educators? Probably a li t tle of both . I'm ING AN EXTENSIVE INTERVIEW WITH inclined to believe that a lot of movies will be made by ALAIN RESNAIS; A COMPLETE ISSUE DE- teachers and students as part of t heir school work. T he VOTED TO FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT, INCLUD- automated 8mm cameras, widely used by amateurs, prove ING TWO INTERVIEWS, BACKGROUND ON that anybody can take sharp pic t ures and hold a camera THE POLITIQUE DES AUTEURS, JULES fai rl y steadily. When students contribute their new tech- AND JIM, SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER . nical and aesthetic know -how, we m ay well turn into a ALSO: NYFB PUBLISHES REPRINTS IN nation of £ lm makers. TRANSLATION FROM CAHIERS DU CIN- EMA AND OTHER CONTINENTAL FILM Nevertheless, this means only that t he gap between ama- PUBLICATIONS. teur and professional wi ll NARROW. The gap won't close, any more than it has closed in t he legitimate theatre, SUBSCRIPTION: ONE YEAR (6 issues): although most children stud y dramatic literature and act $3.00 ... SAMPLE COPY: .75¢ ... INDEX in school plays. TO OVER 30 BACK ISSUES: .25¢ What I do believe is t hat the general p ublic will become NY FILM BULLETIN .. . CINEMA HOUSE more sophisticated about £lms, and that the educational . .. 3139 ARNOW PLACE ... NEW YORK £ lm maker will have a deeper knowledge of learning t heory. 61, NEW YORK He will be more \"education-oriented,\" as the educators say. W hen he needs help, he w ill call upon subject specialists or psychologists, but he himself will have a pretty good idea of where to find them.

41 Sparse Film Fare, Provincial Critics, Censorship Countered by N ew Art Film Outlets, and a Promisin g Film Festiva l. THl CHICAGO filM SClNl by Carol Bri ghtman (A Vassar g raduate, with a Masters in English from the University of Chicago, Miss Brightman t eaches English at the University of l-ndiana, Gary cam pus, and has been editing and writing for poefrJI l'eviews, news pa pel'S and film j01lrnals. She will cover the Midwest Film Festi val for \"Chicago Scene\".) The imported , classic or independent film in Chicago . .. It is a film so completely without conscience, heart or must contend with limited oudet, censorship and lac k of the necessary illusion of reality which m akes the difference intelligent criticism. When the most innovative foreign between cinema art and smut, that it left this reviewer film finally passes overland to Chicago (after legions of \"breathless\" with despair over the present state of fr eedom \"censors\" - official and unofficial, motivated by both morals of expression on the screen.\" For Lesner, the \" new wave\" and dollars - have beleaguered its progress ), its arrival is is just that \"wave that could engulf the film business in barely noted before it has passed away again, usually after its turpid, lime-crested water.\" (October 24, 1961) one week . Small wonder, when there isn ' t a newspaper critic in Chicago competent to welcome the imports (or timely Three of four major Chicago ne ws papers gave DAVID reruns) with a perceptive and provocative review. AND LISA their highest praise, ecstatic in the conviction that they had traveled well out on a limb to approve a When Chicago critics do occasionally risk mention of a picture which simply by nature of its unorthodox produc- foreign film (other than the fashionable BOCCACCIO, tion must be a work of great controversy. Chicago critics DIVORCE ITAllAN STYLE or DOLCE VITA), they are overwhelmingly indifferent to or dismayed by cinem atic cannot help but write as if with each word they were inventiveness. Miss Marsters complains (in an otherwise resisting a little longer the infiltration of moral and aesthetic all-favorable review of BALLAD OF A SOLDIER), \" there sabotage. Ann Marsters, critic for the 'American,' although are times when the vigorous camera becomes too self-con- aware that Bergman is \"an artist of towering stature\" (the scious in its artistic airs, intruding upon and slowing down most palatable of the \"off-beat\" film makers), she \"can the drama.\" (April 16, 1961) never forgive him for the unbelievable horror of a par- ticular scene in his latest work (the rape of VIRGIN The 'Tribune's' May Tinee expressed indignation at the SPRING) .... Because of the scene, I regret having seen \"aimless camera\" in Antonioni's ECLIPSE, \" I could find the picture; because of it, I can't advise anyone else to see no particular artistry in such photography, nor could I work it. ... They are down, now, to just about the last thin veil. up any particular interest in the childish actions of the And this too, probably will be whipped aside.\" (May 18, lovers,\" she observes, and concludes, \"I'm sure some other 1961 ) people had the same reaction, since when I saw it there were restless stirrings in the audience and a good many Concerning BREATHLESS, Sam Lesner of the 'Sun- loud yawns.\" (January 4, 1963) Lesner, on ECLIPSE: Times' had this to say: \"It is graphic, explicit and disgusting. Every time he gets hung up on the philosophy line he jerks

42 you back to the trading pit during a panic wave of selling.\" vs. U.S. and U.S. vs. ULYSSES. Each of them attempts to \"Antonioni appears to be giving his film fans notice to view a film WHOLLY (not just scene by scene) in order get off the world.\" Lesner then concludes, for Antonioni, to determine whether its overall intention is serious. And, \"neither love nor money are worthy pursuing.\" (December as Winnetka lawyer Thomas Mulroy (official spokesman 27, 1962) for the group) has said, they remain fully aware of the ethereal nature of all moral definition - it is because of In her review of ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS, May this that the appeals are almost always successful. Tinee advises \"definitely not for the young or sensitive.\" Doris Arden, another 'Sun-Times' reviewer, described Now that we have met with a censorship system more ROCCO as a \"powerful and ugly film ... it is definitely sympathetic to the serious efforts of the modern film maker, not for the young; it isn't even for the squeamish and is there any reason for it (or a like body of individuals) sensitive adults.\" to remain in its capacity as censor or to presume to act as a moral filter between artist and audience (by no liberal If the foreign film suffers in Chicago because its critics stretch of the imagination can the censor escape that func- are not equal to their task, and because it is rarely available tion) , when tha t responsibili ty should properly be pro- (only three theatres, the \"World,\" the \"Town\" and the portioned between the two? \"Cinema\" can be counted on to risk first runs), Chicago's woefully inadequate film fare is primarily due to the pre- In a brief article on Chicago censorship (,Phoenix,' vailing influence of \"Chicago censorship,\" the source of Winter, 1962) Abner Midva describes the interesting case our narrow realm of filmic experience. Chicago is still the of the movie DON JUAN, withheld by its distributor from only U.S. City that polices its motion pictures. Until two the censorship authorities on the grounds that they should years ago - when a new ordinance finally established an have no interest in the film apart from seeing that it satisfy Appeals Board relegating the decisive power of censorship the fire regulations relating to the transportation of motion to a more educated and experienced group - each of the pictures. The city refused to issue a license, and the dis- 1,500 movies reaching Chicago yearly had to be approved tributor brought suit in the federal court. Both the trial (and licensed) by five widows of \"deserving politicians,\" court and the court of appeals upheld the Chicago system - appointed by the Commissioner of Police. The ladies selected but only by a five to four decision. Its reason? That while have been serving in that capacity since 1932, without motion pictures were protected by the First Amendment, benefit of Civil Service examination. Their critical formula they were still a unique form of communication which seems to be simply to protect the weakest member of society permitted the city censorship authorities \"extra rights\" in from the inherent suggestibility of a media that does not, controlling them. in their hands, find protection under the free speech clauses of the first or fifth Amendments. Undoubtably, the Appeals Board has encouraged more distributors to try their luck in Chicago (in the last two In 1960, the U.S. District Court in Chicago upheld the years a local exhibitor has become part-time distributor), \" ladies\" ban on THE LOVERS, finding it \"implicit that while the international distributing companies have been motion picture censorship is possible.\" It was the dispute establishing, or expanding, their Chicago offices. But the over this decision that ultimately led to Mayor Daley's mere fact that the politicians' wives and the Appeals Board appointment of the now-famous Appeals Board. still exist ridiculously delays the arrival of too many films. A ludicrous example is the delay of the fi,lm CARMEN, The Board (composed of the editor of 'Poetry' magazine, which underwent twenty-two cuts at the hands of the a psychia trist, a lawyer, a female civic leader and a dis- board of widow-censors and still was not released hefore tinguished educator) has passed every motion picture pre- it appeared nationally on television in its uncut, original sented to them except for two low-budget Hollywood version. And although the Supreme Court of Illinois finally pictures: THE MORAL MR. KEYES and NOT TO- agreed to pass Rossellini's THE MIRACLE in 1952 (after NIGHT, HENRY, both of which were immediately dropped it had been banned in the city) on the basis of the New by their exhibitors (despite the fact that a decision is never York Supreme Court decision that \"sacrilege is not grounds final and may be reappealed any number of times). for censorship,\" it nevertheless adamantly rejected New York's conclusion that \"expression by means of motion 'Poetry' editor, Henry Rago, observes that the Board pictures is included within free speech and free press guar- exists primarily to provide a \"dialogue between the appeals antees of the first and fourth amendments, and is therefore board and the people who appeal.\" Such a \"dialogue\" is a free from prior restraint.\" \"Obsenity,\" the Illinois court far cry from the usual function of censorship which has ruled, was still grounds for state censorship. (Although in been to \"protect\" the audience from the unwholesome influ- Parmalee vs. U.S., 1940, the Supreme Court ruled that \"obsenity is not a technical term of the law and is not elJce of the film maker. In effect, the Board adheres rigor- sllsceptable of exact definition.\") ously to the constitutional provisions for freedom of expres- sion as they have been specifically established in both Roth

43 Current films such a LOVE AT TWENTY, VIVRE rating age ncies such as the Protestant Motion Picture Council SA VIE and UN COEUR GROS COMME CA may be and the Legion of Decency rate the movies as fo llows.\" withheld from Chicago audien ces for mo re than a year by the censorship ys tem . Meanwhile, the cu rious film goer will \"The bi g point was that they didn' t identify their have to be content with the occasional grade-B nuggets at so urces,\" Miss Keen says; \"Now that they do, I can't have the \"Clark\" (an aU-ni ght house that features an interesting mu ch objection.\" According to ca ndid reports fro m Dial-A- summer \" film festival\" of recent re-runs and classics), or Mo vie headqu arters, it is sat isfying a co nsiderable demand ; with the some twenty-odd film soc ieties that have cropped pastOr recommended it, suburban newspapers \"voluntar ily up lately - even in churches and garden clubs. It is certain advert ise\" it. that he wi ll rarely find m ore than one first-run foreign film how in g at one time - and even that might be dubbed . Dial-A -Mov ie's three cl ass ification s are di luted versions of the spirit - not the letter - of the Legion and the CHICAGO'S DIAL-A-MOVIE Cou ncil's r atings (Variety nam es t he 'Green Sheet' and 'Pare nts' Magazi ne' as addi tional sources, alt hou gh they are The order of a succession of lucrative telephone business no t men tioned in t he m es age); Chicago area films are ventures promoted by C hi cago businessman Robert Ward, di v ided into three categories : \"s ui table fo r famil y,\"\" uitable has been m ate rial : \" Dial-A -Stock,\" spiritual : \" Dial-A- for ad ults and teenagers,\" and \"v ie wing 0'£ these mov ies Sain t,\" and corporeal, as related to the tempta tions of the shou ld be res tri c ted to :1dults.\" T he third category incor- flesh: \" Di al-A-Movie.\" porates both the Legion's \" m orall y objection able in part for all\" ratin g and .its condem ned list (currentl y n umberin g Di al-A-Stock begi ns, \"This is Dial-A-Stock, a public fifty-nine) . Included are TWILIGHT OF THE GODS, service pre ented by Wayne Hummer & Co., a member of DAVID AND LISA, TERM OF TRIAL, YOJIMBO, the New York Stock Exchange; and now the latest stock SODOM AND GOMORRAH, LONG DAY'S JOURNEY market news.\" And af ter wards - \" How long has it been INTO N IGHT , SEVEN CAPITAL SINS, LOLITA, THE since you've reviewed your investment program? W. H. & CHAPMAN REPORT and DIVORCE - ITALIAN Co. will be pleased to analyse your portfolio and provide STYLE. (-the controversia l film fare to w hich C hi cago complete information and suggestion in keepin g w ith your is reduced) . The Legion condemns SEVEN CAPITAL SINS basic objectives.\" and lists SODOM AND GOMORRAH and THE CHAP- MAN REPORT as \" morall y obj ectionable in part for all \"; Ward's Dial-A-Saint venture, sponsored by the Fou r DAVID AND LISA , on the oth er hand, is rated by Lehmann Brothers Funeral Home, has offered timely devo- the Legion :1S \" morall y un o bj ec ti o n~ble for :1dul ts and tion al messages for six yea rs. \" Today we commemorate adolesce nts.\" the feast of St. Berthold ,\" the voice begi ns; \" He was a twelfth century priest of Paris. He was noted for his spirit THE ART FILM AS EDUCATOR of self-deni al. In this Lenten season, whi ch is approachin g it conclusion, we must stri ve to strengthen the spirit of \\V' hile C hicago censo·rs busily sca n t he film s for h:1rmful denial in our lives. Christ said, \"If any m an will come after co ntent and her more w:1ry c iti zens seek a com forting me, let him den y him self . . .\" Recently, Dial-A-Saint pre- authoritative word on fi lm suitabili ty from Dial-A-Movie, sented a self-made praye r ( beginning \"Give me clean hands, so me fift y trade union leaders have turn ed to th e art fi lm clean thoughts . ..\") which so impressed di alers that over as an ed uca tional tool. a thousand prin ted copies h ave since been solicited. Besides the Lehmann Brothers Fu nera l Home, Dial-A-Sa int enjoys In October 1962, Roosevelt Uni ve rsity in troduced a spe- the moral \"spon sorship \" of the Catholic Church. cial course desig ned \"to g ive a trade uni on education throu gh a discuss ion of trade union problems and to impart a know l- Dial-A-Mov ie, a telephone film classifi cation service, is ed ge of the relationship between labor and the law, eco- perhaps Ward's most in genious enterprise: his sponsor can nomi cs, sc ience, u rban renew:d and other institutions of co unt on the most captive of aud iences - one that either democracy .\" Ostensibl y a course in un ion leadership, it is gladly or fearfully relinquishes its r ight to decide for itself. in fact :1 concentrated stud y of social issues reflec ted in film. Eleanor Keen, film critic for the 'Sun-Times,' who on Feb- The program encompasses a cin emati c spectrum, from sll ch ru ary 10 confronted her readers w ith a most vehemen t film s as EDGE OF THE C ITY and ON THE W AT E R - attack on the \" instant morality\" provided by Prospect FR ONT - spec ifi cally in volved with labor issues, to other Federal Savings and Loan's \"anon ymou s\" film classifications, socially relevent on ly on t he most metaph ysical level, i.e., is now mollified. For Dial-A -Movie curre ntl y documents CLEO FR®M 5 TO 7, and THE ISLAND. its message (after a co mmercia l) by stHing, \"The lea din g The Roosevelt tudents (incl udin g one \" emergency\" sec- t ion of railroaders, :lnd anot her made up of airlin e stew -

44 ardesses, retail clerks, brewery workers, cap m akers, furni- THE PLAZA ture wo rkers, longshoremen, representatives from the Grain Millers Federation and the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers The \" Plaza,\" new art house originally constructed in Union) v iew weekly at the Clark Theatre, double features 1902 as a \"varie t y house\" and most recently used a Spanish selected by the coordinator of the program , Duane Beeler movie theatre, w ill now house the apocalyptic film venture ( himself a workin g railroader, on leave of absence) together of Messrs. Fine, Rossen and Burkhardt. On April 19th, the with Bruce Trinz, m anager of the Clark. theatre - w hich owner Fred Fine describes as \"a combina- tion of the New Yorker, the Bleecker and the old Charles In lddi tion to films studied prim arily for their treatment in intent\" - will open in Chic ago with THE LADY WITH of questions of union morality (I'M ALL RIGHT, JA CK THE DOG and KALI NIHTA, SOCRATES. and THE ANGRY SILENCE), there have been others, such as TWELVE ANGRY MEN, viewed as \"a case stud y\" The Pl aza w ill be the only theatre in Chicago with both on the problem of persuading uncommitted men to l single 3 5mm and 16mm proj ec tors. It is Fine's belief that a g rea t v iewpoi nt. Ad ditional films shown in the fall and w inter number of excellent films bound to interes t a selective for their expositions of unique social problems were DARK aud ience are not available in 3 5mm. Because he is spec ificall y AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS, COMPULSION, ROOM interes ted in the work of the independent film maker, Fine AT THE TOP, and POINT OF NO RETURN. The film plans to concentrate especially on those films (usually in version of Arnold Wesker's play THE KITCHEN and 16mm) that do not (yet) enjoy commercia! distribution . Jacques Tati's MON ONCLE were viewed as variations on He w ill show them as \"shorts\" along with the feature, or the sociology of industry. Types of political morali ty have in series of three and four - perhaps in midnight showings been considered wi th NO LOVE FOR JOHNNY, ALL conducted on a \"benefit basis.\" He w ill begin by showing THE KING'S MEN, and ADVISE AND CONSENT. the prizewinners from the Midwest Film Festival (and any other competition film s he thinks merit public screenin g). Six double features at the Clark are sti ll to come. Among Later he will draw heavi ly from the Film maker's Co- them CLEO, ONE SUMMER OF HAPPINESS, NAKED operative. NIGHT, THE WOULD-BE GENTLEMAN, WILD RIVER, THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE Paul Burkhardt, who has long been associated with film RUNNER and KILL OR CURE . Mr. Beeler explains that guilds and who is presently director of the Village Film althou gh man y of these do not t ake up specific problems Society in Wilmette, will select the films , although Fine and of labor or even concern themselves w ith social problems, John Rossen (who will man the box office) will offer \" the y do reveal new areas of culture and personality usually su gges tions. unavailable to the over-specialized labor leader. \" Mr. Beeler himself wri tes the notes for eac h feature so that the \"new \" I would like the Plaza to become a switchboard for lreas\" wi ll be made explicit. various film societies,\" Fine said, \"a sort of meeting place where they and an yone else who's interested can join forces. f ' After viewi ng their \" homework,\" the union members He anticipates reservin g Sunday mornings for film society discuss the films in the following classroom sess ion. The scree n i n gs. films are viewed as life situations - not aestheticall y but as chronicles, almost as \"symptoms,\" of social issues. Con- When as ked what she thought about the plans for the temporary (first run) imports and low-bud get independents Plaza, cri tic Eleanor Keen replied that she hadn' t thou ght are not used ; practically, because the Clark, which features much about it, but that \"Chicago's not ready for such an a change of movie every ni ght, cannot afford first-runs. art house . . .\" (Trinz does include a very few experimentals together with some out-of-the-way revivals, in his summer festivals.) Mr. WOMEN OF THE WORLD Beeler's conscientious prog ram has contributed to educ ation in recognizing the immediacy of film to socia l issues . Embassy Pic tu res Cor/Joration has acquired U.S. and Cana- dian distribution right to Gualt iero Jacopotti's \"Wom en of th e It is nice to speculate abo ut a golden future when union Wor ld\" Tecen tly -ope1led box office sensation of Rom e. It is members, havi ng nibbled at the fruits of serious film m akin g, described as an exciting adventure in th e way of love and decide to favor the independent film maker and the non- couTtshi/J of th e feminin e sex in both primitive and sophisticated commerc ial exhibitor with spec ial handlin g; but as Bee ler societies of the world. him self admits, it is an unlikely proposition. Unions, \" demo- cratically,\" make no distinctions between their clients; the Currently ill its premiere engagem ent ill fouT theatres in ow ner of the \" Michael Todd,\" a first r un theatre, as well R om e, \"Women of the World\" is breaking records th ere, as the owner of Old Town's soon-to-be \"Plaza\" (\"a place running more than 30% ahead of th e normal average bo x- in the sun for the experimental film\") each must hire t wo office tak e of th e four houses. projectionists w hen their admission exceeds ninety cents. It is scheduled for a lat e Jun e opening in New York .

45 O'NEiLL'S \" LOST PLAY\" ABOUT THE MOViES a succession of Mad ero j Villa jHu ertajZa jJOtajCarrnn ::.a rfVo- ltioll s ana counter-reuolutiOIlS was taking /)ia ce in A1exico, and Th e firsl I)lays written by Eug€1/ e O' N eill were quite different the A 111 eric an gouern111 ent two )/e ars lat er sent an ex ped itiOILary from I,he dramas of the sea with w hich he lat er made his for ce under General Pershing into M exico to kee p th e j) eace. initial im pact on th eatre- aoers ill the old wharf-theatre at il7 his play, O'Neill was kidding th e corrupt and m ercenary fr ouinceto wn. In 1914, w hen O'Neill wro te his second /)lay, reuolutionaries, but he was also ex posing H oll),wood cy nicism. \" Th e Mo uie lv/an,\" the twe nty-six year old ex -seaman was still six years away fr om his electrifyi ng d ebut on Broadway \" Th e Mo uie Man \" is hardl y major th eatr e, but it is of more witli \"Beyo nd Th e H orizon .\" than historical curiosity. Th e youn g playwright was here exp erim enting wit h a for111 , far cial comedy, that never pro ve d \" Th e Mo uie Man\" was per form ed during MaT ch of this co mfortable to him , although the play's wildly im!JTobable year ill a production by Fred Martin , at the Contem jJorary situ ation IJTesaged some of the bold expressionistic strokes he C ellt er, Greenwich Villag e. D irector was C harles Stilwill . Th e was to tr)/ again later. UnfoTtunately, the play's cTisis - the actioll lak es place during a ciuil war in northern M exico, impendin g ex ecution of th e M exican patriot - is resolved where an official of Earth Motion Pict ures has co ntracted wit h sentimell tally. This, 100, informs us of an O'Neill fwilt),. the Comman d er of the Constitutionalist Army for certain bat- tles, sieges, and atrocities, to be film ed according to specifica- \" Th e Mo vie Man\" probably has neve r bee n perform ed tio ns dra wn up in H ollywoo d. It is important to the cam era- befor e in N ew YOTk, alth ough it was written almost half a man, for example, that th e execution of a M exican patriot century ago. I t is amo ng the so-called \" Lost Plays\" of O 'N eill tak e place in full da ylight, not at dawn, because of the - four of one act, one of three - that were fm'gotten and cameraman's lighting problems. Wh en th e Commander be- unpublished until \"fe-discovered\" about 1947. Th e plays are comes peevish about this, he is reminded forc efully that H olly- now available in hard-cover by Citadel Press, of N ew York woo d has sup j)lie d the arms for th e campaign and that H olly- with an introduction by Lawrence G ellert, wh o w rites: \" This woo d's alleaian ce can easily be switched to th e side of the is O'N eill caught in a rare and playful mood. H e bant ers and enemy, who may be more accommodating to th e requirements ridicules th e foibl es of H oll ywoo d. Th e most remarkable thing of cinematography. During the period th at O'Neill was writing, abo'Ut it all is that O 'Neill cou ld anticipat e from th e shado wy embryonic fOl'm at this writing, 1914, the swollen monstrosity to come .\" DIRECTOR~S SHOWCASE From the 'world's most creative /ibn-makers LINDSAY ANDERSON SHIRLEY CLARKE FRITZ LANG ALAIN RESNAIS JACQUES BARATIER JEAN COCTEAU NORMAN MACLAREN RICHARDSON JEAN BENOIT-LEVY EDWARDO DE FILIPPO SIDNEY MEYERS HANS RICHTER JNGMAR BERGMAN THOROLD DICKINSON LEWIS MILESTONE LIONEL ROGOSIN JOHN BOULTING JULIEN DUVIVIER G. W. PABST ROBERTO ROSSELLINI RAY BOULTING SERGEI EINSENSTEIN MARCEL PAGNOL PAUL ROTHA ROBERT BRESSON FEDERICO FELLINI CAROL REED ARNE SUCKSDORFF FRANK CAPRA ROBERT FLAHERTY LOTTE REINIGER JOSEF VON STERNBERG ALBERTO CAVALCANTI JOHN FORD KAREL REISZ ORSON WELLES CHARLES CHAPLIN JOHN GRIERSON JEAN RENOIR BASIL WRIGHT RENE CLAIR JOHN HUBLEY TWO MEN AND A WARDROBE Also THE ITALIAN STRAW HAT NIGHT AND FOG SEAWAR.DS THE GREAT SHIPS LA MATERNELLE PICNIC ON THE GRASS THE KITCHEN A TIME OUT OF WAR DOM A MAN ESCAPED ANOTHER SKY SUNDAY • WRITE FOR FREE CATALOG • dept. V Contemporary films, inc. 1211 Polk Street, San Francisco 9, California 267 W . 25th Street, New York 1, N. Y. 614 Davis Street, Evanston, Illinois

46 INGMAR BERGMAN: A monograph by Peter Cowie INGMAR BERGMAN, a Moti on Monograph, b y Peter Cowie Published by 'Motion,' 23 Swmnerfi eld Road, Lough- ton , Essex, England. R eviewed by Harry Feldman, INGivIAR BERGMAN, a monograph b y Peter Cowie, th at in Bergman's early film s such as CRISIS ( 1941) and co ntains a brief sketch of the life of th e Swedish director PORT OF CALL (1948) and IT RAINS ON OUR LOVE and a discussion of his films in more or less chronological order, ranging from FRENZY ( 1942 circa), for which he ( 1946 ) \"one can detect in embryo another of Bergman's wrote the scena'rio, to THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY (1961 ) . Accordin g to its publisher, the monograph has underlying principles - that love is rooted in sex, but received high praise in England. The blurb on the inside that th ere can be sexual desire without love and vice versa.\" cover presents excerpts from the opinions of various British Mr. Cowie, it should be observed, states this in all serious- critics. H ere are a few of them: \"a work of love and scholarship\" - Penelope Gilliatt in 'The Observer;' \"a work ness. He does not seem to be aware of the humor of his of devotion b y a dedicated Bergman admirer\" - Peter Harcourt in 'Sight and Sound;' and \"as a definitive account remark. Yet I must note, with all due respect for the of Bergman's work to date it is extremely valuable . .. it Swedish director, that the idea that love is rooted in sex is the hard basis of fact that makes the monograph par- ticularly useful and its conclusions worthy of attention\" - is hardly original Wit11 Bergman. ~Iichael Hood in 'Broadsheet' (Cambridge). I quote these extracts as cited by the p ublisher because they seem to Absurdities, however, pile up on absurdities. Mr. Cowie express what Mr. Cowie hoped to achieve in writing this monograph . quotes Jacques Sicilier to the effect that \"the cinema of Bergman is an explicit cinema, where what must be said Mr. Cowie, to be sure, approaches Bergman almost with avve. Even when he criticizes the Master, he does so on is always said in the most direct way.\" But he does not bended knee, so to speak. H e regards him as an artist of commanding sta ture and overwhelming genius. This is explain wh at is meant b y an explicit cinema, nor does he app arent from the very terminology that he uses. Thus, he speaks of Bergman's \"middle period\" the way certain attempt to distinguish an explicit cinema from an implicit scholars speak of Shakespeare's \"middle period\" or Beeth- oven's \"middle period\" or - to descend a litle lower in cinema. th e scale - of H enry James' \"middle period.\" Now I must confess that I myself regard such an es timate of \"It doesn't matter whether it's Bergman's work as a trifle exaggerated, to say the least ; but if I quarrel with Mr. Cowie, I do not do so merely merely idle chatter because of a difference of opinion alone. As long as it's nonsense of a What puzzles me, however - and this is the essence transcendental kind.\" of m y quarrel not only with Mr. Cowie but with all those who adhere to the Bergm an cult and partake of his mystique - Gilbert and Sullivan - is the nature of Mr. Cowie's scholarship. Again and again he makes errors t11at are so glaring and obvious that Again, as we continue to read Mr. Cowie's monograph, he leaves me bewildered. Thus, in the very opening line of his monograph, Mr. Cowie declares: \"As Bardeche and we are surprised to learn that Bergman's film , A SHIP Brassillach wrote many years ago: 'It was Sweden which BOUND FOR INDIA ( 1947 ), \"was to a cmtain extent first made the world realize that t11ere really is an alt of the motion picture and that it is wOlthy of respect.''' H as inspired by the Carne-Duvivier school of French film MI\". Cowie, I wonder, ever heard of D . W. Griffith? Doesn't he know that it was America - not Sweden - that first makers. \" The trouble here, of course, is that there is no made the world realize that there really was an art of the film? D oesn't he know that Bardeche and Brassillach have such thing as the Carne-Duvivier school of film makers. long been discredited not only because of their innumer- Both Marcel Carne and Julien Duvivier happen to be able errors but also because of their backgrounds as Nazi collaborationists during World War II? How reliable, pray, Frenchmen, but aside from t11is, they have little in common can Mr. Cowie's es tim ate of Bergman be when he is capable as directors. of such blunder? On another occasion Mr. Cowie quotes Jean-Luc Godard I am likewise bewildered by Mr. Cowie's singular remark to the effect that SUMMER INTERLUDE (1950) , shown here as ILLICIT INTERLUDE, is \"the finest of all films. \" I am utterly at a loss to understand what is meant by this. Do Mr. Cowie and M. Godard seriously think that SUM- MER INTERLUDE is \"finer\" that all the works of Griffith , von Stroheim, Chaplin, Murnau, Pabst, Eisenstein, Pudov- kin, et al.? Again, we are told that t1le film, SAWDUST AND TINSEL (1953) , known here as NAKED NIGHT, is \"the most literally picaresque of Bergman's films, though the idea that self knowledge is gained by travel is prevalent in most of his works .\" H ere also I am simply at a loss to understand what is meant by this. The adjective, picaresque, according to m y dictionary, means: \"Pertaining to pica- roons or rogues; specificially applied to the Picaresque Novel, a form having a slight plot consisting of episodes loosely connected by a hero, a rogue; originated in Spain in the 17th century, popular in France and England in the 18th century, and still used occasionally.\" The term, picar- esque, has nothing to do with the idea that self knowledge

47 is gained by travel. SAWDUST AND TINSEL, whatever but unfortuna tely for Mr. Cowie's thesi , Sjos lrom crea ted, else we may say about it, is not, in short, a picaresque film while under the aegis of M-G-M , a film called THE WI ND , which is probably his masterpiece; and Stiller, althou gh he at all. h ad a difficult and frustra tin g time in Hollywood, sur- Mr. Cowie also informs us that the character of Albert passed himself, while working for Paramount, in the op enin g reel of HOTEL IMPElUAL, achieving an intensity and in this film is \"a brilliantly-realized figure, resembling such power and fluidity and rh ythm not to b e found in his earlier tormented heroes of German films as portrayed by Emil Swedish work. If Bergman could accomplish half as much Jannings in VAUDVILLE, THE LAST LAUGH and THE in Holl ywood, he should go . BLUE ANGEL. There is, I suppose, a resemblance b etween the characters portrayed by Jannings in VAUDVILLE and What all this adds up to is a pa ttern of error and dis- THE BLUE ANGEL and Albert in SAWDUST AND tortion , of absurdity and ignorance of th e historical back- TINSEL, as all these are circus films in which the pro- ground and developm ent of the film , which is characteristic tagonist abandons his position in life in order to go off not only of Mr. Cowie but of the whole Bergm an cult. with a voluptuous mistress; but in THE LAST LAUGH M y own opinion of Bergman is not relevant in this con- Jannings portrays a senile old man who loses his job as nection . Wh a t is important, however, is to recognize and doorman in a hotel because of his age. There is no resem- to grasp the fa ct that the Bergman cult h as arisen, tha t it blance between this old man and Albert whom Mr. Cowie is one of the minor a berrations of Oill time, and that it describes as \"the corpulent and lecherous owner of a has contributed nothing to an understanding of the film travelling circus.\" in general or of the work of Bergman in particular. Wh a t- ever else Bergman is, h e is not what the adherents of his I could go on citing example after example of sheer cult think he is. error or dowmight absurdity in Mr. Cowie's text as he discusses such films as THE SEVENTH SEAL ( 1956) , Cowie's monograph , in short, is far from a definitive study WILD STRAWBERRIES (1957), THE VIRGIN SPRING of Bergman ; but it may be taken as a definitive expression ( 1959) , and THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY (1961 ); of the Bergman mystiqu.e. As such it is not wholly without but I hesitate to do so because it seems almost too cruel. importance. Yet I cannot refrain from mentioning that in a discussion of SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT (1955) Mr. Cowie Rudolph Valentino: informs us that \"In Bergman's films , sexual incompatibility The Man Behind The Myth always means the erosion of a marriage.\" This is almost as profound as Bergman's principle that \"love is rooted by Robert Oberfirst in sex.\" The Citadel Press, New York: 1962 Nor should one overlook such a choice tid-bit as this : $6.00 \"'To make films is for me a natural necessity, a need similar to hunger and thirst. For certain people to express Fluently and entertainingly written, this biograph y de- themselves implies writing books, climbing mountains, velops the portrai t of a sensi ti ve and refined personaIi ty beating children, or dancing the samba. I express myself marred by a nearly tragic weakness for his ambitious second by making fihns.' Thus Bergman,\" declares Mr. Cowie, wife, N atacha Rambova (nee Winifred Shaunessy). The \"has described, with his usual lucidity, the creative impulse book is a frankly romantic rendering of a frankly romantic that has inspired him to produce twenty-five films in subject. C. H. seventeen years ...\" While I can understand what Bergman means when he states that he feels a need to make films FILM, 1962 that resembles the need to gratify hunger and thirst; but when he says that he expresses himself by making films Edited by Vittorio Spinazzola the way other people express themselves by beating chil- dren, such a statement is not at all easy to construe, and Feltrinelli Editore, Milano, 1962 I wonder why Mr. Cowie regards it as an example of Bergman's \"usual lucidity.\" Price: 500 lire ($.80) I am, I must confress, slightly flabbergasted by the refer- Reviewed by Robert Connolly ence to Bergman's \"usual lucidity.\" Whatever else may be said about him , Bergman's style is hardly distinguished Unlike their American counterparts, educated Italians by its clarity; his films are marked by obscurity, by ellipsis have taken films seriously for many years; in fac t, they and ambiguity, by a certain groping for expression. This realize that their country's most significant cultural prod- is the essence of whatever gifts he possesses. To regard ucts in recent years have been films. The current Italian him as lucid is to misunderstand him entirely. Bergman, upsurge in film quality and in material prosperity has resulted like the poet Blake, is capable of only an incomplete expres- in a steady flow of books on every aspect of film making. sion because he himself does not wholly understand his 'Film, 1962' is an attractively-printed paperback, the second own vision. Like the Knight in THE SEVENTH SEAL, in what is intended to be a ye:lrly series, and is quite similar he is lost. in format and approach to the short-lived Penguin 'Film' series edited by Roger Manvell in the early ' 50s. It contains Finally, I would like to note that Mr. Cowie informs us that Bergman is unwilling to leave Sweden because h e \"dislikes the idea of working in another country\" and be- cause he \"cannot ignore the decline of Sjostrom and Stiller after they had gone to Hollywood.\" It is true, of course, that many European directors have declined in Hollywood;