The Cinema

The Cinema: Its Present Position and Future Possibilities (1917) is a report and summary of evidence taken by the Cinema Commission instituted by the National Council of Public Morals in UK. The NCPM was “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” and the report includes several passages taken from interviews with children where commission members asked them questions about their cinema-going habits. This document is a thorough investigation into the cinema in 1910’s Britain and what its effects might be on the viewing public. The report was favourable towards the film industry, which was delighted to receive such vindication of its work, and recommended the implementation of a system of official censorship, superseding that of local authorities. This rare document is a reprint of the original artifact and is strongly recommend it to anyone interested in early British film or the social history of film (The Bioscope, 2007).