Abstract

Pictures without Theaters

The use of the non-theatrical film in England, the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere is the most important happening in the film world in the 1930s. It has come about without any considerable help from the theatrical film industry but has had strong support from governments. In the development of the non-theatrical film one point of great significance should be noted that this development has been determined not by educational, social, or other cultural needs but by the need of governments and public utilities to give an account of their stewardship or to secure the cooperation of the public in their plans. A government's use of educational films is not propaganda in the ordinary sense. Certainly one cannot impose on a government the duty of planning the national effort without giving it the means of informing the people what it is doing and of obtaining their support.