The Cinema (eBook)

Its Present Position and Future Possibilities

National Council Of Public Morals Cinema Commission Inquiry (Autor)

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2016
694 Seiten
Books on Demand (Verlag)
978-2-322-09681-7 (ISBN)

Infos

RÉSUMÉ : "The Cinema: Its Present Position and Future Possibilities" est une exploration fascinante de l'évolution du cinéma au début du XXe siècle, rédigée par la Cinema Commission Inquiry sous l'égide du National Council of Public Morals. Cet ouvrage examine de manière approfondie le rôle du cinéma dans la société, ses impacts culturels et moraux, ainsi que ses perspectives d'avenir. À une époque où le cinéma était encore une industrie naissante, ce livre analyse les préoccupations morales et sociales associées à ce nouveau média, tout en soulignant son potentiel éducatif et artistique. Le texte aborde également les défis réglementaires auxquels l'industrie cinématographique était confrontée, ainsi que les opportunités offertes par les avancées technologiques de l'époque. En intégrant des témoignages et des études de cas, l'ouvrage offre une vision nuancée de la manière dont le cinéma pouvait influencer les comportements sociaux et les valeurs culturelles. Les auteurs plaident pour une régulation prudente et une reconnaissance du cinéma en tant que forme d'art légitime, capable d'éduquer et d'enrichir le public. "The Cinema" reste un document historique essentiel pour comprendre les débuts du cinéma et les débats qui ont façonné son développement. L'AUTEUR : La Cinema Commission Inquiry, sous l'égide du National Council of Public Morals, est un collectif d'experts formé au début du XXe siècle pour examiner l'impact du cinéma sur la société. Ce groupe était composé de penseurs influents, de sociologues, d'éducateurs et de représentants religieux, tous préoccupés par les effets moraux et sociaux du cinéma, un média alors en pleine expansion. Le National Council of Public Morals, fondé au Royaume-Uni, avait pour mission de promouvoir des normes morales élevées dans la société, en particulier face aux nouvelles technologies et formes de divertissement. Bien que les membres individuels de la commission ne soient pas largement connus aujourd'hui, leur travail collectif a laissé une empreinte durable sur la manière dont le cinéma est perçu et régulé. Leur rapport, "The Cinema: Its Present Position and Future Possibilities", est une analyse pionnière qui a contribué à façonner les politiques publiques concernant le cinéma et a aidé à établir le cinéma comme un outil potentiellement éducatif et culturel. L'ouvrage reflète les préoccupations de son époque tout en offrant une perspective visionnaire sur le rôle du cinéma dans la société moderne.

The National Council of Public Morals (NCPM) was established in UK in 1904 under the headship of Sir James Marchant with the aim to constructing an alliance linking purity advocates, eugenicists and doctors. From 1904 to 1914, NPCM absorbed many of existing purity organizations in UK. The NPCM Cinema Commission Inquiry was led by the Lord Bishop of Birmingham, and comprised assorted religious; educational and political figures; representatives from the film trade; the British Board of Film Censors; and the Incorporated Society of Authors, Playwrights and Composers among others. NPCM published in 1911 the 'Manifesto on Public Morals' and in 1917 ' The Cinema: Its Present Position and Future Possibilities ', a report and summary of evidence including several passages taken from interviews with children where commission members asked them questions about their cinema-going habits.

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Pages

INTRODUCTION-

History of the Commission

It is necessary to a right understanding of the objects of the Commission that we should briefly explain why it was initiated by the National Council of Public Morals. The Council had published in June 1916 the report of the National Birth-Rate Commission giving the results of its three years' inquiry into the causes and effects of the declining birth-rate, and had presented it to the Government. The Rt. Hon. W. H. Long, M.P., President of the Local Government Board, in receiving the Commission said—

*' My first duty, and a very great privilege it is, is, on behalf of the Government and on behalf—^may I for a moment voice something much wider and much larger than the Government ?—on behalf of society in the country, to thank your Commission for the splendid work which you have done. The last speaker referred to the financial cost of this work. I venture to say, although I do not for a moment doubt that the burden in this respect was a heavy one, that the good which you have done by your inquiries and by your report cannot by any possibility be measured in terms of money.

" I am confident that, if you have done nothing else, and I think you have done a great deal more, you have stirred the minds and the hearts of men in so profound a way that even the most careless, the most indifferent, cannot be deaf to your entreaties or regardless of your suggestions." ^

Many leading articles and reviews appeared in the Press of the United Kingdom and America on this Report, from which two extracts may be given.

Church Times : "A Royal Commission was demanded. An even more characteristically English method, however, has been preferred. The National Council of Public Morals, one of those unofficial organisations which are the pride of English endeavour, undertook the work; the offer was welcomed by the Government, officials of which were instructed unofficially to lend all possible

New Statesman (Dr. Sidney Webb): " The National Council of Public Morals has done a great public service. The Commission has produced the most candid, the most outspoken, and the most

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impartial statement that this country has yet had as to the extent, the nature, and the ethical character of the voluntary regulation of the marriage state which now prevails over the greater part of the civilised world."

The Council, as that Commission more fully disclosed, is a composite body of religious, scientific and. educational leaders, and its objects are felicitously expressed in the words of H.M. King George V which form its motto—

' '"" The'Fouhdatibtis, of National Glory are set in the homes t/ J of .the 'people. . They^^will only remain unshaken while the. •'''-^^rhiiy life of^ ©ih* Vace "and nation is strong, simple and pure."

Amongst the various branches of the Council's work it has for some years been deeply concerned with the influence of the cinematograph, especially upon young people, with the possibilities of its development and with its adaptation to national educational purposes. The Bishop of Birmingham, the President of the Council, took a leading part, together with the Rev. F. B. Meyer, D.D., the Chairman of its Executive in the first Cinematograph Congress at the Olympia in 1913.

It is well that we should again recall the principles, as set out in its reports, upon which the Council conducts its operations. We have striven in and out of season to remove the emphasis from rescue to prevention and from prevention to construction. We have sought, not to come out into the streets and with clamouring to strike the evil on the head, for the effect of this policy has been, whilst appearing to clear the evil away in one place, to drive it to take deeper root underground and to spring up again with tenfold more vigour elsewhere. We have rather set ourselves to undermine the evil, to get at the deeper causes in character, low ideals, ignorance, and false prudery. And in so doing we have expressly desired to win the sympathy of the men and women who are writing our books, are catering for public amusement, edit or own our newspapers, and have under their control the vast machinery for instantly and effectively reaching millions of people. We have seen the folly of making enemies of those who control these great and potent agencies by indiscriminate denunciation, by standing upon a lofty pedestal and playing the superior part, censoring, denouncing, imprisoning. The law must be enforced and constantly pressed up to the level of public opinion, and we have all along taken our share in doing that work. But our deepest concern has been to help all those whose enterprises are calculated, when run on a low level, to foster the merely animal nature, especially of the young, to raise the whole tone and character of their industries, as well as to get rid of the obviously indecent thing, which is by no means the greatest danger we have to fear.

Acting on these principles, we resolved to lose no opportunity of dealing fully with the cinematograph. Our previous work had prepared the way of approach. Although known to be stern

enemies of the evils we all deplore, we have happily been known to be as earnestly desirous of encouraging the better thing, and dealing fairly and honestly with all men. Our record, especially our Commission on the Birth-Rate, and our principles brought the leaders of the cinematograph trade to seek our help. Here is a great invention with as yet unrealised possibilities for the healthy amusement and education of the people, which is influencing the lives of the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of every city, town, and remote hamlet in the United Kingdom : why should we stand aside, or merely denounce and alienate the men who run it, and only call upon the police to censor it ?

Much more than this was required of us. We were invited to meet representatives of the whole trade, and to discuss frankly the best means of getting rid of whatever evil elements existed, and of meeting the demands of the best public opinion for a higher-class programme, for more suitable exhibitions for children, for the suppression of certain evils which had thrown themselves on the cinema halls as they had on other places, and which the war had accentuated, and also for the establishment of a censorship which would give legitimate freedom for the proper development of the cinematograph whilst rigorously cutting out undesirable films. We met the trade, and fully and openly discussed these proposals. We carefully studied the whole subject and situation, discussing them with Government and educational authorities, and we met many times to confer upon them. We saw that we all ought to know much more about the character, extent, and the influences of the cinematograph. There was clearly a strong case for thorough and impartial inquiry. This the leaders of the trade saw and heartily welcomed as the best means of obtaining the results we all desire. But the Council resolved not to propose the matter themselves, but to wait until the various sections of the trade should themselves ask us to establish such an inquiry. And in due course we received the following letter—

"199 Piccadilly, London, W.

" November 24, 1916.

"At a meeting yesterday of the Cinematograph Trade Council, representing the Cinematograph Exhibitors' Association of Great Britain and Ireland, Ltd., the Incorporated Association of Kinematograph Manufacturers, Ltd., and the Kinematograph Renters' Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Ltd.,

" It was Resolved :

"That the National Council of Public Morals be requested to institute an independent inquiry into the physical, social, moral, and educational influence of the cinema, with special reference to young people.

''{Signed) A. E. Newbould."

On receiving this the Council met, and resolved to accept the invitation, subject to certain conditions, one being that our

inquiry should not be used in any way whatever to interfere with the proposals^ for a Home Office censorship, and that it was perfectly distinct from that question. That condition was accepted by the trade, and has been loyally observed. We also made it known at the Home Office when we mentioned the matter of the proposed inquiry, together with the draft terms of reference and suggested names of the Commissioners, and invited them to appoint a representative. This was done some time before the matter was finally decided and before any notice had appeared in the Press. When it was also mentioned to the Home Secretary, Mr. Herbert Samuel, M.P., at a private interview on Friday, October 27, 1916, he expressed his pleasure that the inquiry was to be undertaken. At subsequent meetings our Council decided upon the persons who should form the Commission, upon the exact terms of reference, and arranged all its details. We did not invite any member of the trade to our Council meetings. Our action was taken independently of them, and the Commission was appointed solely by the Council, and its report has been presented to and is here published by the Council. The Council undertook the whole financial responsibility, and has not asked for nor received any financial help from the trade.

Members of the Commission

The following are the Members of the Commission appointed to undertake the Inquiry. It should be noticed that we included three members of the trade, nominated, at our request, by the Trade Council.

The Lord Bishop of Birmingham (President).

Rev. Principal Alfred E. Garvie, M.A., D.D. (Vice-President).

Lt.-General Sir R. S. S. Baden-Powell, K.C.V.O., K.C.B., LL.D.

Sir W. F. Barrett, F.R.S.

Rev. Carey Bonner...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 19.8.2016
• Reihe/Serie: sociology of the cinema
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Film / TV
• Themenwelt: Medizin / Pharmazie ► Pharmazie
• Schlagworte: cinéma et société • Early Cinema • early cinema audience survey • Education • évolution du cinéma • history of audience studies • impact social du cinéma • potentiel éducatif du cinéma • régulation cinématographique • Young Audiences
• ISBN-10: 2-322-09681-4 / 2322096814
• ISBN-13: 978-2-322-09681-7 / 9782322096817