Children and Films
Children in the Cinema. By Richard Ford. (Allen and Unwin. 7s. 6d.)
THE chief merit of this book lies in the importance of its subject. Over four million children go to cinemas in Great Britain once a week, and in only 700 out of the country's 4,700 cinemas is any attempt made to cater for their tastes. The field is obviously open for cranks, but, fortunately, Mr. Ford is not one. He is firmly opposed to the view, so often stated from the bench, that adult films corrupt children, and arc largely responsible for juvenile crime. To support him he quotes authorities ranging from Sir Samuel Hoare to the Dutch psychologist, Dr. Van Staveren. He admits that children enjoy gangster and other vigorous or bloodthirsty films, but their motives for enjoyment are psychologically natural and even desirable. Their first demand is for action, and their second for the final victory of right over wrong. Children will always hiss the villain and cheer the hero. As far as adult " romances " are concerned the children are simply bored. At a children's performance a kiss seldom passes without hoots of indignation and derision. To quote Mr. Ford : " . . in the opinion of the children osculation is the thief of time." The problem is to present a weekly programme of films which children will enjoy. It has naturally proved disastrous to use the ordinary cinema as a means of inculcating culture or useful information. A hard-saved threepence is unlikely to be thrown away for the privilege of an extra two and a half hours of the schoolroom.
At the moment some 700 cinemas in Great Britain are pro- vidmg a regular Sunday matinee for children. Admission is at half the adult rate, and special films are provided when the ordinary film of the week is unsuitable. Mr. Ford provides some interesting information on children's preferences.
" Westerns " are still by far the most popular. Next in order come "Non-Western Adventures "—a wide category which includes exploration, motor- or horse-racing, and naval adventure. Animal films, 'comedies, child-star films and historicals follow in order of popularity. Of the stars the cow-boy hero Buck Jones is well ahead of all the others. Other favourites include Shirley Temple—surprisingly, for " sweetness " is surely an adult weakness—Freddy Bartholo- mew, Will Hay, Joe E. Brown, Tarzan, and Laurel and Hardy.
Children in the Cinema is not concerned with utopian theories for the future. It accepts the fact that the film industry is a profit-making concern devoid of benevolent intentions. Ideally we should like to see special children's cinemas in every town, and the production of a regular supply of special children's films.
At the moment any scheme of this sort would be wildly uneconomical. For some time to come children will have to put up with a rather meagre picking from the ordinary adult films ; even " Westerns " are intended for adults, and many of them can only be partially understood by children. At the same time Mr. Ford has whetted our appetite for a more fundamental work on this subject by dealing at some
length with the psychological effect on children of different kinds of films. This is the most interesting material in the book, and though one is bound to respect Mr. Ford's self- imposed limitations, it is impossible not to regret the lack of any coherent theory on which to build hopes for future practice, however necessarily remote. " Westerns " and adven- ture are usually badly acted, badly photographed and badly produced. Do children recognise any distinction between a really good—and suitable—film like Captains Courageous and their ordinary weekly menu of sentimental swashbuckling? It would be interesting to know. Mr. Ford has such a healthy anxiety to avoid giving children the films they ought to like that he sometimes seems to err in the direction of equating entertainment value with inferior production. Good films are
by definition entertaining. •
The book has other faults. It is repetitive ; often identical paragraphs reappear at intervals of about a hundred pages. Again four out of two hundred and twenty pages seems too generous an allowance for a list of the objects given by children's cinema clubs to various charities.
The idea of forming some sort of club round a children's matinee is obviously an excellent one, and Mr. Ford sensibly devotes much of his attention to it. A children's committee meeting weekly, and discussing future programmes with the manager, is reminiscent of the best we have heard about the U.S.S.R. But need these clubs be turned into miniature Wolf Cub organisations? Is it really true that " . . a greeting such as 'Hi Di Hi' can be most useful "—or a code?
Nevertheless, Mr. Ford has provided a sane introduction to a vital subject. A more detailed study would be welcome.
PHILIP TOYNBEE.
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