The Trend of the Film The warning issued by the
British Board of Film Censors regarding the character of many of the films submitted to it must be considered in the light of two pertinent facts. The Board represents not some possibly pedantic and narrow-minded Government Department, but the trade itself, which wisely and properly established its own censorship' years ago. The present chairman of the Board, moreover, having been in office long enough to 'pass in review many thousands of films, is qualified to decide on the basis of that experience not merely what the prevalent character of the films at the moment is but whether they are on the whole improving or dete- riorating. The Board's verdict is definite. In one respect, an increasing tendency to emphasize the erotic side of life, often in its more suggestive manifestations, the film is definitely deteriorating. It is easy to dismiss that judgement as savouring of Victorian prudery, but the present film censor is open to no such reproach. The appeal of the cinema to youth being what it is, and the teaching of psychology on the power of impressions so clear, the Board of Censors is only discharging its duty in warning the film industry that it proposes to cut objectionable films drastically where need arises.
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