wartime uses of the film

WARTIME USES OF THE FILMAuthor(s): Oliver BellSource: Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Vol. 88, No. 4558 (APRIL 5th, 1940), pp. 467-481Published by: Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and CommerceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41359571 .

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April 5, 1940 the journal of the royal society of arts 407

can see what all the cinemas ought to achieve if they adopted a united national policy. Again, the cinemas can perform unusual tasks in entertaining and educating evacuees. My own cinemas dealt with over 20,000 evacuees last Christmas week. I am also anxious to encourage the attendance at cinemas of officers and men on duty in remote balloon and listening groups, who seldom get any entertainment whatsoever.

I would not have you imagine that the war has showered only benefits on cinemas. Apart from the disastrous losses that we incurred when the cinemas were closed, we are faced with increasing and almost insoluble problems. For instance, half the operatives in cinemas are likely to be called up for service before the end of this year. But these difficulties can and will, I am sure, be overcome.

Mr. Bell is in a unique position to expound the subject on which I have touched. As the Director of the British Film Institute, he is removed from the commercial world to some extent, and the commercial world is sometimes an embarrassment rather than a help when one wants to adopt a policy in the national interest. Mr. Bell is in close touch with all Government Departments and his pronouncements in famous places, such as the League of Nations and the British Association, have earned him an enviable reputation.

The following paper was then read :

WARTIME USES OF THE FILM.

By Oliver Bell, M.A., Director of the British Film Institute.

Exactly 44 years ago to-day in the Polytechnic Theatre the French brothers Lumière gave the first public performance of cinematograph films. For a few seconds on the screen appeared a jerky, flickering, ill-lighted but recognisable series of moving photographs of workers leaving their employment. From this small beginning has grown the vast cinema industry of to-day. Week by week and year by year the numbers who go to the pictures increase. No longer is it a sign of a depraved taste for which apology has to be made, to be seen coming from a picture theatre. Nowadays it is more important to be able to talk intelligently about the latest films than about the latest plays.

Before we try : to make use of the great powers latent in . this modem form of mass entertainment some consideration should be given to the more important of its special characteristics. The most relevant to our immediate point of view this afternoon, it seems to me, is that more than any other art form or medium of expression it produces an emotional rather than a rational effect. This is probably due to the conditions under which it is displayed. A warm, darkened hall, comfortable, indeed, luxurious seats and surround- ings, a brightly lit screen to focus the eyes upon and a sufficient volume of sound to enable one to hear every murmur without effort, all tend to dull the critical faculties.



468 THE jOÜRNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS APRIL 5, Ì94O

Secondly, the impressions received by the ears are very much secondary to the impressions received by the eyes. As witness of that fact just look round any audience and see how many people can chatter to their com- panions though fixedly watching the screen. Optical impressions are always very vivid and certainly lasting. Retentivity experiments have only been carried out on children, but there is no reason to suppose that the impressions are any the less strong with adults, and certainly it is my experience that people can carry in their minds details of films for many years without forgetting them. One of our better known Sunday paper critics in fact never seems to have forgotten one film that she has seen since the war, but that is most likely a veiy exceptional case of retentivity, and cannot be reckoned as normal.

Thirdly, I would say that all films are educational in the sense that often quite unconsciously they add to our store of factual knowledge. Through the films I am now more than ever a citizen of the world. I am at home in the Red Square ; I have learned something of the behaviour of Germans, Czechs, Austrians, Italians and Frenchmen. I am acquainted with the interior of prisons in many parts of the world ; I know a good deal about the American methods of administering justice and electioneering ; I am very much at home, thanks to the Judge Hardy series, in a normal American family ; I know how life is led in slums, in suburban villas, in Long Island, on the ranch, in Hollywood and in great English country homes where our aristocracy drink whisky all day. Some of the impressions I have acquired I have proved to be true ; some I have proved to be very far from true. But sceptical though I may be about the rest, concerning the truth of which I have no proof, until I can check their accuracy I shall continue to use them in any mental pictures which I may hereafter evoke, , since they are the only material on those subjects I have stored away in my memory, and, right or wrong, will not efface themselves.

This educational aspect of all films, we shall see later on, is of importance in considering the projection of Britain abroad.

Last of these characteristics of the film to which I would call your attention is the fact that, unlike a play, whose production costs are usually of the same order of magnitude as the running costs, the prime cost of film is the production of the master negative. Thereafter the production of extra copies is negligible in comparison. In order to recoup the cost, every film must be made to tickle the palate not of a small eclectic group of precious highbrows but of the myriad John Citizens of the world, and only in so far as it succeeds in that can it be financially profitable through the box offices. No matter what the type of film with which one is dealing, news-reel, short or feature, its method of treatment must be that which appeals to the bulk of the electorate. Your canvas must be painted in broad, sweeping lines without too much fussy detail. Just as in politics the most complicated problems of finance and economics have to be alarmingly simplified at election times, so




in the films the story which you have to tell has to be reduced to minimum terms !

The problem we are considering this afternoon may now be stated as the exploitation, within the limits of entertainment, of the propaganda values inherent in every type of film. There are, too, three different types of audience to be considered. First of all, there are the members of the Home Front, whether civilians or in the armed forces. Secondly, there are the members of the belligerent nations, especially the members of the British Commonwealth and the inhabitants of the Crown Colonies. Thirdly, there are the inhabitants of the neutral countries whose sympathies, if any, are merely an anxiety to be on the winning side, but till then to offend neither.

Let us consider the Home Front first. It seems to me that films can be used to inform the public about the course of events, to educate it on Government policy, to provide its members with a means of escape from the cares of the day and, lastly, to maintain their morale in face of adversities.

Take first the news reels. These are a most important - and probably the most important - type of film. Twice a week they can and do provide cinema-goers with a brief pictorial survey of the world, supplementing the news and augmenting the still pictures which appear on the picture pages of the papers. I will not say that all the reels are of equal value. Some, more imaginative than others, by building up stories, interpret them. Each week, however, these reels could provide a constant and vivid reminder of our war effort and what are meant by such phrases as Convoy System, Contraband Control, Somewhere in France, Depth Charges, or the statement that our Supply System is equal to any demands that may be made on it. The reels could perhaps be less parochial and give more space to the Empire than they do in fact. Here, the trouble seems to lie in the fact that the source of most of their overseas material is the U.S.A. We, in this country, are so to speak only one extension of a switchboard, the nerve centre of which is to be found in America. In very general terms the world's news is filtered through the sieve of an American mind before it goes on its way to the rest of the world, and British material goes through the same process before it arrives there.

By and large, however, so far as they are allowed, the news reels are

doing their work well in presenting in immediate terms their own war effort to the people of Britain.

The Cinemagazine , the most important example of which is The March of Time , is nearly allied to the news reels but performs a slightly different function. The Cinemagazine is a very short film dealing in detail with a particular news

topic, and building up its background: it has a place in any scheme for

promoting morale and conveying information. The trailer, which as you all know, is a short film, lasting a minute or a minute and a half, may be thought of as an adjunct of the poster. Its normal function is to attract you to go and see next week's feature by emphasizing moments of dramatic intensity in that



470 THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS APRIL 5, I94O

short space of time. It could also be used as a portion of a considered campaign to put over a Government message, such as "Dig for Victory/'

" Save For Victory/'

" Don't Gossip/' and the rest. In other words, this particular type of film is the only one it is possible to use for direct propaganda. Firstly, because the audience expects the trailer to be direct advertisement and, secondly, because nobody can object too strongly to such a brief subjection to Government orders. Lastly, it is not too much to hope that the exhibitor who, after all, is the controlling factor, would not be averse from its inclusion since it would not drive away business nor would its inclusion upset the delicate balance and timing of his programmes. It must, however, be borne in mind that the trailer has only a very limited scope. It can never be anything more than a headline. It can never put across more than, one very simple message, suggesting, for example, some precaution against Black-out Accidents. It is so brief that the impression caused by it must be used in conjunction with every other means of- publicity. On the other hand, something more complicated like the " Save or Spend

" controversy cannot be presented to the

public save through a more reasoned statement of the pros and cons of both sides of the question. It can be dealt with by special articles, by leaders, by leaflets, by a screen interview or by short films, but not by poster or trailer which have time to get home one side of a question only.

After the trailer, we turn to the short film which runs between 10 and 30 minutes. This is the most popular means of sponsored progaganda and is a noteworthy development of the last few years. Film exhibitors have very properly persistently refused to allow their screens to be used for promoting the sales of pills, powders or perfumes. Hence, until the perfection of the 16 mm. machine and the non-inflammable film capable of being operated and shown with safety in public halls there was no opening for advertisers to use this immensely powerful selling medium, much as they had longed to.

All of us are interested to see and hear something of which we have heard but know very little. To this desire is due the success of the travelogue, the simplest and cheapest form of film to shoot. Now if you have some public utility commodity to sell in general terms, such as gas, oil, electricity or public services, the idea can be put forward in such an attractive manner that the exhibitor will be prepared to take it for his theatre and the public will be prepared to see it without murmuring that it is being subjected to propaganda and did not pay to be preached at. There has, therefore, during the last ten years, grown up a school of British documentary film makers, starting with John Grierson's films for the Empire Marketing Board, which creates high-quality short films for theatrical distribution. Though realist in manner of treatment, each of them quietly conveys as well some general message. It is for this reason that Government Departments have chosen the short as the vehicle of their screen publicity, since it is possible to pack a great deal into 2,000 feet ; it is fairly cheap ; and, through the theatres, it reaches a wide public.




The Ministry of Agriculture, for example, has made a series of films on the National Mark which probably most of you have seen. The purpose of each film which, for the layman, is in most cases an interesting peep behind the scenes, is to make him look for the National Mark on the produce that he buys.

The Service Departments have made use of the same vehicle for their public relations purposes.. The Foreign Office, through the British Council, is making use of the short to try and put Britain across on the world's screens. The Ministry of Information is in the process of making a large number of such films for home security purposes. In fact, I would go so far as to say that there are few problems, even the most abstract, which cannot at least be discussed pictorially. Even such a difficult subject as " Save or Spend,'

' to which I have already made reference, can be resolved by the dialogue treatment of the new Point of View Series into the pros and cons of the situation. In essence, however, the short film remains a film of fact, stating a case in pictorial form and leaving the audience to draw its own conclusions from the facts presented, aided discreetly, of course, by the commentary. As this is a type of film of which I have had a great deal of experience, it is naturally the one on which I am most prone, so to speak, to put my shirt. But personal predilections apart, I am convinced that in war-time, as in peace-time, the short film is important, for it can be turned out at all prices to suit all tastes. It can be made in a week, or can, for a highly finished product, take as much as a year.

Lastly, we come to the feature film. The feature is the money-making magnet which draws people to the cinema. Loth as I am to say it, the box-office power of the short is small. It is for that reason that it commands such low financial returns as to make it necessary for anything costing more than ¿250 a reel to find a sponsor prepared for his own reasons to pay the difference between its cost and its takings.

The feature is too expensive an undertaking for it to be sponsored save in very exceptional instances, and even if it were it is very doubtful if it could get theatrical distribution. Its appeal is almost entirely to the emotions. I was told by the booking agent for one of the large circuits that he chose his films on their appeal to certain fundamental human emotions. The sort of thing that goes down well anywhere is a film based on the theme of

unrequited love, or love for children, self-sacrifice, mother-love, or love in

adversity. All of us are poseurs at heart and we love to identify ourselves with the hero or heroine. The really popular star, therefore, must be a

glorified projection of the ordinary man or woman so that they can laugh or

cry in sympathy. The feature must also in its plot reflect the prevailing taste of the day.

What then is the function of the feature film in a well-thought-out scheme of things ? I have stressed that it is an entertaining emotional vehicle, and



472 THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS APRIL 5, 1940

its job must be a psychological one. From the Home Front point of view, therefore, its value as entertainment can be utilised to maintain morale. This may take the form of the provision of a story so gripping that, as in a thrilling novel, momentarily the world of make-believe becomes real and you achieve escape from the unpleasantness of the everyday. The same result can be achieved by the super-spectacle or the comedy or any other type of of film provided that it is sufficiently well done. The value of escape to the individual of a country that is at war is very high. J would ask you to cast your minds back to the early days of September when the cinemas were shut. Those of you who were listening to the rumblings inside the body politic will also remember how soon (now that most of us have lost the art of amusing ourselves) it became necessary to provide distraction and to get the cinemas open again. I think the industry will tell you that, apart from the mere physical obstacles of transport and black-out travelling, the desire of the public for cinema entertainment remains as high as ever. We can write down, therefore, as one of the pre-eminent jobs of the feature film in war-time, that of Escape.

Looking at a brightly-lit screen in a darkened room has, as I have emphasised already, a certain hypnotic effect dulling the critical faculties. Cinema audiences are generally in a receptive frame of mind for that reason. Whilst they are in this pleasant state it is quite easy to give them a dose of ' 'morale' ' tonic.

The story of the film can be used to create a desired state of mind. That is one very strong reason why in all thè dictatorship countries one finds that all forms of film making are a function of Government and one that is kept in very close relation to the dictator himself. All of you remember the early Russian silent films. They caused a stir technically and got a wide circulation on account of the new impetus they gave to the art of picture making., They also caused a stir politically in which some people saw the justification of their political creed and others were inflamed almost to the point of murdering any who dared mention such stuff. With their English reactions we are not so much at the moment concerned. The fact to be remembered is that they were made for internal consumption and for the education of the Russian nation. A few years ago the Italian Government produced La Squadrone Bianca and some others to hearten their people at the time of the Abyssinian war. I am told that the Reichsfilmkammer has gone even further along the road and now inserts into every feature film which is made a piece of direct propaganda.

More interesting is a study of recent tendencies in films in America, since all of these we can see in this country. Talkies, if you remember, came in just after the great slump started. Once the novelty wore off and Hollywood got down to making films with plots again, the " gangster

" cycle

started and was overlapped by the " racket " cycle which continued until




about 'I933. There was no positive suggestion to be found among them. They reflected the very real mood of despair which was affecting the American people. By 1933 the Roosevelt administration had reinspired confidence and the output shifted temporarily to musicals of the Gold Digger and the Broadway Melodies series and to the Mae Wests. Within a short time, however, straight films came back into fashion again and reflected a growing social consciousness sometimes disguised under the whimsical and even slapstick, but all showing an appreciation of the individual as an individual. In 1937 the juvenile crime and prison reform film cycles threw the spotlight on the bad points of the American system and roused public opinion to quite a considerable extent and followed up with the Crime Does Npt Pay vogue. In the growing social consciousness of America, the film played a large part and justifies the claims made for its cumulative effect on public opinion.

Early last year Hollywood decided that it could plunge into international as well as domestic polities and the first of the anti-Nazi films made their appearance with Confessions of a Nazi Spy , and I should not be surprised to find that much of the pro-Allied section of the Gallup Poll was due to their finally tipping the scale against Nazi doctrines. Now on the eve of the Presidential elections, I think I discern a cunning hand somewhere. The Capra film, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, shows to the American people that in a free democracy no representative of the people can be gagged and that even a junior Senator can hold the floor indefinitely against great odds to expose graft. Babes in Arms and Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President similarly convey a point of view about the American political system.

Whether I am right in guessing that these films are being made consciously or whether it is just an accident scarcely matters ; their relation to the subject in hand is obvious. Film makers should be able to learn from the appropriate quarter that such and such an impression should be left by any film which

they have in mind, and there is no doubt that it would be done. Whether such a move would be politically wise is not for me to say, but it is one method of extracting a use for film in war time. For instance, it might be deemed desirable to encourage the production of films whose object would be - while providing high-class entertainment - to increase the determination of the people of this country to sustain with fortitude any hardships that the

exigencies of the times may demand. This spirit might be inculcated and

developed by means of a series of films dealing with the exploits of great Englishmen of the past who achieved their aims in the face of difficulties, obstacles and hardships. Again, the Government might wish to call attention to the unity of the Empire and India, and to that end encourage production of a series of films with plots set against Imperial backgrounds ; or to our relations with subject races through encouragement of films demonstrating the success and qualities of British Colonial administration. Such themes as




the almost revolutionary social and industrial developments of recent years might be developed, as an offset to German allegations, by wireless and otherwise, that our people should in their own interests prefer the German system.

These seem to be to be the realisable possibilities in respect of the Home Front with the various types of film which exist. The assumption has been that they would be made in Britain by British firms and that owing to the general patriotism of the trade, the exhibiting side of which is wholly British, there would be no great obstacles to be overcome in respect of commercial distribution, provided that the special war-time uses of British films were kept strictly complementary to the acknowledged task of the cinema theatre to entertain for private profit. It is because I think so highly of the importance of theatrical distribution that I shall content myself with only a passing reference to another but important use of the film in war time and that is for instruction. The film is being used fairly extensively in schools for teaching purposes, but its use for general instructional purposes to the adult community as a whole could be widely extended. There is no reason why only evacuated children should be introduced to their new environment and the do's and don'ts of the countryside by film. Just as recruits are taught the elements of trenching, flight, knot-making or gymnastics by film, so the film could be used for instructing both the A.R.P. personnel and the members of the general public in the elements of civil defence, first aid and the rest. Direct instructional films can also be used for instructing specialised groups, such as the new allotment holders, in how to trench, spray, disbud or perform any other gardening operation ; for instructing housewives how to get the best value out of their food, using the Women's Institutes or Townswomen's Guilds or any of the other groups who hold regular meetings as the channel. Films are also an adjunct of any speaker 011 behalf of Government campaigns wherever the meeting is held. In short, the non-commercial uses by which films can be put to National Service have only been recognised by a few, and a scheme for their development is now long overdue. Numerically the importance of non-theatrical exhibition will never touch that of the theatrical, but the audiences are more important, in that they have not paid to be amused but have come together in quest of instruction.

One final domestic use for film in war time is as a record of events. I would store not only the actual Crown copyright official pictures of the war such as are now going to the Imperial War Museum but also news reels, shorts and features which convey by their cutting and their commentaries the emotion of the day. Some of these through the kindness of the film companies who give copies, are being preserved by the National Film Library but the majority, especially the shorts, will soon be irretrievably lost.

When we leave consideration of the application of film to the problems of us who live in this country and turn to the outside world we are faced with a different matter. British films have no special quota outside this country




which compels the screens of the world to give up so much time to them. If anything, with the growth of nationalism and each country trying to build up its own industry, the competition for what screen time remains is growing even greater. Compared with America, the overseas (even English speaking) distribution of our films is negligible and when shown at all are almost always distributed by one of the great American renters and not as a result of British commercial enterprise. From this it follows that there is no guarantee that any film made in this country, even if made especially for export, will in point of fact be distributed. On the assumption, however, that distribution can be obtained, the projection of Britain, which is in fact the overseas function of the film, falls into two categories, firstly the projection of Britain to our allies, the French, the other members of the British Commonwealth and the other parts of the Empire and, secondly, presenting ourselves to neutral countries whose attitude at the best is one of general benevolence and at the worst one of suspicious dislike.

With regard to the first group - our Allies - the news reel item is of tremendous importance. Week by week the news camera must be given the chance to take really striking pictures such as will stand up to comparison with material from any other source in the world including Germany. Finland is gaining the sympathy of the audiences of the world by the excellence of the war news it passes and the gratitude of the trade by the facilities her Service chiefs are giving to pressmen and cameramen. Compared with the insipid material which we allow to be taken, there is small wonder that Britain does not figure largely on the Dominion news screens. The average Britisher hates showing off and blatancy in any form - even in making headline news for the news reels - is repugnant to him but he must learn to show a more lively imagination if we are to get seen even by our sympathisers, who would sooner see something of us than nothing at all. If only 10% or one minute of each reel were good pro-British stuff there would be no cause to grumble!

In the theatres of our Allies there is also space for shorts. This is especially true of the British Commonwealth and a reciprocal arrangement might be possible. This inter-Imperial function of the short is one of giving information to create and maintain interest in the Commonwealth. The British contribution to this common pool of

" interest shorts," could be a series of films giving a candid picture of ourselves, not trying to gloss over our shortcomings, nor to minimise our achievements, especially in the field of social services, structural engineering and agricultural research, all of which are subjects of common interest to olir friends in Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.

Side by side with these shorts intended for theatrical distribution, goes another group more especially intended for use in the Crown Colonies. In several parts of the Empire good use is being made of the mobile' cinema for health and other instruction to native races. A possibility for film to-day is further to intemret the white man and the white man's ideas and whv the white




man is at war. All the evidence goes to show that the film is a powerful force, maybe because of its novelty, and does impress its message on the audience. The possibility of counteracting clever word of mouth enemy propaganda by this means deserves greater study than it has as yet received.

Last in this brief survey of the use of the film for our inter-Imperial relationships comes the feature. Its value, let us recall, is first and foremost entertainment and of that sight must never be lost. Unless it performs that job efficiently any other virtues that it may have are dissipated. If it manages to entertain there are then one or two extra values that may be extracted from it. If the story is sympathetic and is set against a British background, the audience learns to get a liking for that setting ; then there is the cultural value of the ordinary standards of behaviour in the film and of establishing an understanding of the idiom of the English language which is now less understood than American. Films like Owd Bob , South Riding or more recently The Stars Look Down have already created or will create a sympathy towards us and our ways unattainable by any other medium, for they are living portraits of ourselves as we are.

Last of all, we come to the use of the film as a means of the projection of Britain in neutral countries. Essentially the business of the film is to create sympathy and active goodwill for the success of British arms. The first line of attack continues to be the news reel. Sooner or later, maybe, even three months or more after the events it shows have happened, it penetrates into the remotest corners of the world where it is to all intents and purposes the spectators' only source of foreign intelligence. Those items of news which find their way into the reels have naturally been selected out of a mass of possibles. To be absolutely certain of a place the only certain Open Sesame is vivid pictorial quality. The German Westerplatte material went round the world on its vividness alone ; so now is the Graf Spee scuttling. The former, however, was taken by German official photographers with the full co-operation of the German High Command. Its effect of mighty strength remains when the memory of the acid commentary has passed. The latter was taken in the ordinary way of business without any special privileges but it will create a lasting impression of the power of Britain all the same.

On the other hand, I am convinced that almost as vivid material could be obtained if more official effort were put into giving facilities to cameramen. Neither serving officers nor individual members of the Civil Service are nincompoops. Each of them is, however, set under authority and has to obey orders. Orders to help the camera folk must come from on top and then with due co-ordination between the many people concerned, something useful ought regularly to be forthcoming.

It is, however, just as important to think what not to show. I under- stand that the intention of one of the early B.E.F. news reels showing




British soldiers laughing and joking with French women and children has been completely misunderstood on the Continent and has even confirmed the belief that the British are ready to fight to the last French soldier whilst they take their ease and dalliance with the poilus

' wives and families in the rear. I emphasise these points to indicate that imagination must be tempered with discretion and knowledge of foreign habits of mind, whose reactions to a situation are often so different from our own.

The same difficulty confronts those who are trying to make short films for projecting Britain abroad. It is so easy to do more harm than good owing to a lack of appreciation of the force of certain national phobias. For instance, a certain Protestant country saw a film of English cathedrals, innocuous and lovely, but was confirmed in its belief that the Church of England was a branch of the Roman Catholic faith since in the picture the congregation knelt to pray which, as they all knew, only Roman Catholics did! Or a picture showing the evolution of man illustrated by pictures from the London Zoo's monkeys and apes caused a ferment in some places of fundamentalist persuasion, where it was shown and proved that the English were worse than atheists : they were Darwinians!

The functions of short films are manifold. They can be used as direct counters to enemy assertions that we are a barbarous and cultureless nation by showing that we are not. They can be used for prestige pure and simple, and show that we are in fact as strong as we say we are and, therefore, that there is no question which side is going to win. The short can also be used to stimulate interest in us and our country by showing the countryside and the towns in which we live, ourselves, our habits, the ways in which we amuse ourselves, work or play, the industries we have created and so forth. The film can show the way in which we manage our domestic affairs and try by democratic means to settle our problems of traffic congestion, of agriculture, or social services, of education or of unemployment. The ethical problem that has to be solved by the makers of such films is how much dramatic licence may be taken in idealising the matter in hand without making the document untruthful.

What has already been said about the feature film in connection with its ability to create in audiences sympathy, and through sympathy goodwill, applies with even added force to foreign countries. Pictures like Mr. Chips or the portraits of the two English travellers in The Lady Vanishes are tremendously helpful, for they are first and foremost good entertainment and also show the English character in a favourable light. Too often the

Englishman of the film world is a dreadful dude who can neither expect nor receive any sympathy.

We must always remember how critical the foreign audience is. Far greater care ought to be exercised than at present to ensure that only good pictures of Britain find their way to foreign screens. When I think of some




pictures which purport to show Britons supporting the White Man's burden - usually in India - I shudder. They give verisimilitude to the accusations of our enemies that we govern by force and for our own interests. Unfortunately, the filming of British history and of stories laid in British possessions seems to be an American perquisite and over their portrayals of ourselves and the distribution of the final product we have, alas! no control.

I may seem to be unduly sensitive, but I think I am right. I believe in the tremendous power of the film, its semi-hypnotic power of suggestion, the lasting impression that it gives to the brain. It is all very well to pooh-pooh the ill effects, but when there is no means of checking the accuracy of the impressions gained real harm is done. By the educated man with his background of knowledge the false values are easily corrected, but to the others the film is The Truth - how should they know otherwise? If in our own country a history master can complain that the effect of one English historical film was to undo a term's work, what about its effect overseas where there is no knowledge to start with at all?

In the consideration we have been giving this afternoon to the use of the film in war-time' we have covered much ground. We have been, I fear, largely theoretical, and I do not propose during these concluding observations to depart from theory and be led into a discussion of what, after all, are matters of the day to day policy of at least one Government Department. I should, however, like to draw your attention to the fact that it is fatally easy to be like me, an armchair exponent of what could be done, and quite another to put the suggestions I have made into effect even if they are admirable and above criticism. The cinema industry is a vast and complex organisation in which astronomical sums of money are involved. In America investments in the motion picture industry amount to some £400 million, or two-thirds of the world's total. Around the industry itself have sprung up many others which range from the manufacture of film stock, organ building, and air-purifying to chewing gum removing. Even in Great Britain, where it is always reckoned that the industiy is in a state of perpetual bankruptcy, one company last year managed to pay 20%, and the chairman drew the meeting's attention to the fact that the combined assets represented a total of nearly £18 millions and there was an undistributed profit balance amounting to approximately ¿4,000,000 as against a share capital of a similar amount. Even if it were desirable, an industry of this magnitude cannot be coerced.

How British screen time is to be increased, I repeat, is a province of Government and not of a lecturer to the Royal Society of Arts. The Germans have increased the display of their films over a period of years by deliberately buying up theatres in neutral countries, by deliberately setting up renting organisations and in deliberately using the film as an export for securing foreign currency. They have also looked on their films as ambassadors of trade and culture, and have been lavish in their distribution




of free copies of genuine teaching films to technical institutions and others. They have relied on their entertainment films, not only for rentals, but also to create an atmosphere of goodwill towards things German, the harvest of which their commercial travellers could reap subsequently. Whether or no we should follow in their footsteps, or whether, trusting in the self-evident rightness of our cause, we should rely upon extensive and whole-hearted co-operation from all branches of the industry, British or American, can only be decided by H.M. Government. It, in its turn, will have to assess in terms of the tax-payer's pocket the relative importance of films to the whole war effort at home and abroad, and then the relative importance of the roles to be

played by the news reel, the short and the feature. The film, I conclude, is a psychological instrument specially suitable for the promotion of mass emotional movements and as such in a war of nerves in which propaganda is

playing such a tremendous part, it should be put beside the Press and the radio as an instrument of Government policy.

DISCUSSION

Sir Kenneth Clark, K.C.B. (Director of Film Division, Ministry of Information): Mr. Bell has described exactly the kind of programme and policy that we are trying to carry out.

I particularly welcomed the emphasis which Mr. Bell laid on two points : first, that the film is a popular means of entertainment and that this must be continually borne in mind in any attempts to influence opinion through the film and, secondly, that the influencing of opinion through the film is an exceedingly delicate and difficult matter, in which one may aim at one thing and strike another. Mr. Bell gave one or two instances of this, a'nd I should like to give you one or two more, to show the kind of difficulty that arises in this country much more than on the Continent. In Germany and some other countries on the Continent one can tell people what they are to think and they think it, but in this country, if one tells people what to think and they know they are being told what to think, mental resistance of a most formidable nature is set up. I had a very interesting example of that recently, when we set about making three short films to show people the danger of gossiping. I based them on the series Crime Does Not Pay , to which Mr. Bell referred to in his paper. I said to the exhibitors whom I consulted : "If you take Crime Does Not Pay films and find they do well, why cannot you take these shorts which are as dramatic and as interesting and on the same lines ?" to which they replied:

" If the Crime Does Not Pay film began not with a G.-man talking to the public and saying

' This is what happened," but with a man from Scotland Yard, the public would shut their eyes and would not look at the film for another minute."

To take another example mentioned by Mr. Bell, the film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington ; as Mr. Capra is a liberal-minded, not to say radical-minded man, this was intended, I take it, as a demonstration of the benefits oí democracy. But my own impression of it was just the reverse. If I were Herr Hitler I should keep that film showing in every cinema theatre in Germany. Other people may feel that the film proves the superiority of the




democratic system, but to me it proved that the democratic system could fall into the hands of a combine which would be absolutely relentless and ruthless and that democracy was powerless in the grip of the big commercial interests.

That is an example of the extreme circumspection with which any of us who are trying to influence the public mind must use this all-powerful medium of the films. We must also have some idea of the results we are getting ; at present we are working very much in the dark. We may put on a film like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and think that the effect it has on us is the effect that it has on the mass of the people. We must remember, however, that 80 per cent, of the people in this country left school before they were 14 years of age, and we do not know what they are thinking when they see a film. One of the things that impressed me very much in Mr. Bell's paper was his consciousness of the very great difficulty of using this vital weapon when it is so hard to check results.

Mr. Bell gave rather a sad picture of the state of the news reel. I do not think it is quite as bad as that and I honestly think that it is improving. A little more than one minute per reel is devoted to the national interest, and 1 think that if you follow the news reels you will find that more and more space is devoted to things which make our hearts beat faster and make us believe more ardently in the national cause. For instance, there is the arrival of the Australian troops in Egypt, and next Thursday you will see the return of the men from the Altmark. Such films are made possible only through the co-operation of the Services. I can honestly say that the Services are now helping us very much more, and, with their help, I think you will find that a great many more things of national interest will be put on to the news reels. It must be realised, however, that people who have paid their money to be entertained reach very rapidly a point when, if they see one more gun being fired or one more shaving of steel from a gun being made in an ammunition factory, they say:

" No, I have had enough ; I won't look at any more." We have to keep our finger on the people's pulse and know when that point is being reached.

The industry has made a great point of the difficulty of obtaining the full co-operation of the Services. You may feel, as I very often feel, that, while there is no actual fighting going on, the projection of our effort on the films is one of the chief weapons we can use and we ought to use it more whole- heartedly. Let me put the Service point of view - as an advocate of the devil, because I am always trying to get the Services to change their point of view! If the Navy is asked to put battleships out to sea and fire guns, so that a magnificent naval film may be made, they say that every shell that is fired shortens the life of a gun and that if they comply with the request they will diminish their efficiency. Can you wonder that the Services are a little reluctant to give the kind of facility that we all want? We may feel it to be of overwhelming importance now, but in a week or a month or six months hence we shall not think it as important as the winning of a great naval victory.

I repeat how completely in sympathy I am with everything that Mr. Bell has said, and I ask you to believe that at the Ministry of Information we are trying to put into practice all that he has propounded. We are, as I think most of you know, producing a very large number of short films- more than fifty. They are being made for us on commission. We do not say which they are, because we want to them to be distributed abroad, and if they were printed with the mark of the Ministry of Information the continental




distributor would be rather loth to take them, because it would look like propaganda. They are intended for every sort of market. Some are intended for use in this country and some for use on the Continent ; some are being specially made for France and some silent films are being made for the African natives. We are also keeping in touch with the great producing companies in the film industry and are receiving the most admirable and magnificent co-operation from them. They are really anxious to make the kind of film that we want, and which Mr. Bell in his admirable paper has told you that we need.

The Chairman: The question of short films, which are very important from all points of view, is very largely linked up with the question of policy in the cinemas, not only in this country but throughout the world, i.e., the policy of what is known as the two-feature film programme. As long as the two-feature film programme is maintained, the difficulty of showing an adequate number of short films, whether for propaganda purposes or otherwise, is very much increased. It may be that, because of the war and because of the shrinkage in the output of films generally, the problem of the double- feature film programme will automatically solve itself, but, until it does, the short film will not have as good an opportunity of finding a place in the cinemas as it otherwise would.

In moving a vote of thanks to Mr. Bell for his paper, I should like to express my personal thanks to him for the very fine survey that he has given us this afternoon.

The motion was carried with acclamation, and the meeting then terminated.

INDIA AND BURMA SECTION

Friday, February 23RD, 1940.

Sir Edward Maclagan, K.C.S.I., K.C.I.E., in the Chair.

The Chairman, in introducing Mr. Yusuf Ali, the author of the paper, said : Mr. Yusuf Ali is going to speak to us this afternoon on the subject of adult education in India, and he will tell us what has been done by the State for such education and what there still remains for the State to do. So far as I am aware, the idea of the State having anything to do with adult education is a comparatively new one ; at any rate, some twenty years ago, when I had something to do with education in India, the subject was never seriously considered. I think that we of the older generation, when we talk about adult education, are rather inclined to call up in our minds memories of cases like those described by Dr. Smiles in Self-Help and other similar books, where men who had been working all day in a factory or a mine spent half the night reading the Encyclopaedia Britannica with the aid of a candle. Perhaps others of us are inclined to remember the case of Mr. Boffin in Our Mutual Friend , who used to sit in his chair smoking his pipe while his friend with the wooden leg read to him selections from the Decline and Falling off of the Russian Empire , including the annals of the Emperor Commodius. But that kind of thing has now gone by the board, and Mr. Yusuf Ali will bring us up to date to-day in the matter of adult education.



wartime uses of the film

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