THE ETHICS OF TALKIES.
In setting themselves the problem of devising the ethical
code for the talkies the twenty largest motion picture pro- ducers and distributors in the United States have faced a large and complicated task. The problem of - finding a common ethical denominator even within the boundaries of a single country where customs and beliefs are more or less established and homogeneous is difficult enough, as censors everywhere know. American motion picture concerns have to bear in mind the wishes of a world audience of 250,000,000 weekly, with religious, racial, and social beliefs and customs, infinitely various and frequently flatly contradictory. It would be too much to expect that any code of ethics which could possibly be devised could satisfy all alike, and doubtless the code which has been elaborated for the talkies will find critics enough. Nevertheless, the effort to make the talkies mirror " the better Standards of life" rather than the worse is commendable, and the detailed provisions which' 'the code embodies, to prevent the commercial exploitation of " crime, brutality, and vice," have the merit of being practi- cable. The code itself is 'the outgrowth of adverse criticism which has proceeded on both moral and artistic grounds. In formulating it the motion- picture industry has been guided by the advice of dramatists, educators, psychologists, Church leaders and representatives of civic bodies.
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