SIR,—The comments by Mr. Ben Artz on the censoring of
Spare the Rod were interesting but irrelevant. I agree with him, and am in no need of his instruction on the point that 'some of the world's finest films have been made on a shoe-string budget.' I am glad to know of his own success in making low-budget films and, though I cannot recall seeing any of them, I have no doubt that they were noble ventures. What he did riot take the trouble to find out, however, was that the original budget for Spare the Rod was as low as the producer could make it; there was no question of build- ing 'expensive sets in an equally expensive film. studio' because most of the action was to be shot in a real school; while the professional actors, 'elegant noses' or not, would have numbered only ten out of a cast of 300.
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