HC Deb 15 November 1927 vol 210 cc892-903
Colonel WEDGWOOD

I beg to move to leave out the Clause.

This Clause says that no British film shall be counted more than once for the purposes of the provisions of this Bill. That is to say, that no British film can count for quota twice. If one renter buys a British film for one part of the country and another renter buys the same film for other clients, then only one of these renters can count the film for the quota. The exhibitor who buys from the renter can count it for the quota in both cases. Renter A buys Madeline from Armentieres and sells it for his first round; renter B also buys Madeline from Armentieres for his round; every house that buys that film from renter A or renter B can count that particular film for the British quota. The renter cannot count it until the exhibitor exhibits the film. The exhibitor counts it whether he buys it from A or B; he has to show 20 per cent, of British films. Both A and B have to buy 20 per cent, of British films for the quota, but the film, Madeline from Armentieres, will count in the quota of renter A, but not in the case of renter B. If exhibitors only exhibit 20 per cent, then obviously every film acquired by a renter for his quota has to be bought by him. Every film shown by an exhibitor for quota has to be bought from the renter. The renter, therefore, will have to stock a far larger number of British quota films than the exhibitors can consume. I hope I make myself clear; this is awfully difficult. The renter has to buy not only a quota of British films but other British films as well. They all count for quota to the exhibitors, but only some to the renters. The renter as well as the exhibitor has to show 20 per cent, of British films, and the result is that renters will not be able to sell all the quota films they have in stock. Obviously it means that renters will have to stock films which they cannot sell. But that is not all. Renters are required not merely to buy 20 per cent, of British films but to prove that they have sold them all. They have also to prove that they have been exhibited. It is no use for them to give them away with a pound of tea; they have to see that they are exhibited. What a horrible position for renters. The exhibitors cannot consume, and the renters are forced to deliver—it is like a problem in elementary arithmetic which cannot possibly be solved. But each side will do its best. Renters will try to get rid of their stock; exhibitors will try to exhibit them, and in the end both will become criminals tinder this Bill. That is the position as I see it if Clause 16 is left in. We were not allowed to discuss touchy points like this in Committee. They have to force people to show these films. I do not know how they are going to do it. A renter has to make two returns; first, what he intends doing and what he actually does—

Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTER

Not under this Clause.

Colonel WEDGWOOD

The difficulties of renters are coming in under this Clause. Then he has to make a second return, as to whether the quota was actually shown. All these difficulties arise. The poor old renter is going to have all this difficulty, and it is going to be enormously added to by this Clause, by which the right hon. Gentleman says that no British film shall count to more than one renter as a quota to British films. What are the arguments in favour of this Clause? What the exhibitors naturally like to see is the renter overstocked with everything, for the larger the stocks the larger the supply and, naturally, the lower the price. This Clause is in this Bill, I am certain, because the Cinematograph Exhibitors' Association asked for it. As for the renters, I presume that, faced with this difficulty, they have allowed the right hon. Gentleman to have his way. After all, if people are practically compelled to break the law, probably nobody will be punished for breaking the law; but the House of Commons which leaves a Clause like this in an Act of Parliament, making it practically impossible for a small body in the community to carry out the wishes of Parliament as indicated in the previous Clauses of the same Measure, deserves to be dissolved. The right hon. Gentleman is faced with the problem of making the gallon measure hold more than four quarts. He may be right in thinking that it can be done, but in Committee the position was made even more impossible than it was before. There is not only the long and short film variation, but the fact that the exhibitor, under Clause 26, can count for quota a number of films which the renter cannot count. That makes it more impossible than ever for the renter to see that 20 per cent, of his quota films are actually shown in picture palaces in this country.

Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTER

The right hon. and gallant Gentleman, so far from allowing this Clause to pass sub silentio in Committee, delivered himself of two columns upon it, as I have just ascertained by looking up the Official Report; and I replied to him with about my usual quota of 12½ per cent. The right hon. and gallant Gentleman announced to the House that this is the worst Clause in the Bill. He then proceeded—I think for the first time—to read it, and, having read it, he proceeded to explain it, showing, in doing so, that whether he had just read it for the first or the second time, he certainly did not understand it. There is nothing in the Clause which compels the renter to acquire two sorts of films. Every British film rented will, in fact, count in the renter's quota provided somebody else has not previously acquired it. The right hon. Gentleman's argument was much more specious than real. As everyone acquainted with this trade knows, the renter first acquires the film and then proceeds to rent it out and he is the person who does business with that film; therefore, it is reasonable to say that a British film is only to count once with respect to the renter's quota. Otherwise you would enable any set of foreign renters to use a single British film several times for quota purposes. Renter "A" would acquire it and count it for quota, even though he let it only to one person or perhaps not to anybody. He would pass it on to renter "B," who in turn would pass it on to renter "C," and so on, and you might have 50 renters claiming to satisfy the quota by the acquisition of one British film. That is the iniquity which Clause 16—regarded by the right hon. and gallant Gentleman as the most iniquitous Clause in this Bill—seeks to prevent. I leave the proposition to the House.

Colonel DAY

I listened intently to the ingenious explanation of the right hon. Gentleman the President of the Board of Trade. He explained to the House how a renter who acquires a film for one territory and uses it for quota—

Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTER

No, I did not deal with that case at all because it is dealt with in Clause 15 which we have just passed.

Colonel DAY

The right hon. Gentleman has tried to explain to the House that one renter cannot pass a film on to another renter and if, as he says, the point has been dealt with in the previous Clause that is all the more reason why Clause 16 should be eliminated. Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman will tell us what is going to happen in a case where none of the exhibitors will take the film from the renter. The renter is placed in the position of buying the film for quota purposes but of not being able to count on it for quota purposes, if he is not successful in inducing exhibitors in that territory to make contracts with him for the exhibition of the film. That is a difficulty which perhaps the right hon. Gentleman has not foreseen. If he has, I am sure his explanation to the House will be awaited with interest. There are many films which a renter will take up thinking that they will be successful just as a trader will buy certain goods with the idea of reselling them. The trader is not sure however that the middlemen will purchase the goods from him and the renter has no guarantee that the exhibitors are going to take a particular film from him or that it will be possible to count it for quota purposes.

Captain ARTHUR EVANS

I think the hon. Member who has just spoken is making a mountain out of a molehill. The exhibitor is bound under this Bill to purchase a certain percentage of British films and it is reasonable to suppose that, apart altogether from the films which are outside the quota, the renter has a reasonable prospect of disposing of the films which he rents for passing on to the exhibitor. If the renter is such a bad judge of films that he cannot dispose of his films in his own territory then he will soon go brankrupt, but I do not think there is any argument in the statement of the hon. Member for Central Southwark (Colonel Day).

Colonel WEDGWOOD

It is most interesting to hear the President of the Board of Trade defending this Clause by pointing out how ridiculous the Bill would be without it. I agree with him but that is no reply to my argument that the Bill is ridiculous with the Clause in it.

Mr. OLIVER STANLEY

On a point of Order. Has not the right hon. and gallant Gentleman already exceeded his quota?

Colonel WEDGWOOD

I believe I am entitled to reply.

Mr. DEPUTY-SPEAKER

The right hon. and gallant Gentleman has moved the Amendment now before the House and that is specifically provided for in the case of a Bill that has come from a Standing Committee.

Colonel WEDGWOOD

The right hon. Gentleman did not make the slightest attempt to point out the fallacy in the provisions of this Bill with Clause 16 in it. You cannot, as I have said, put a quart into a pint pot. It may be ridiculous to leave out Clause 16, but, if you retain it, you are still in the impossible position of forcing the renters not only to buy but to exhibit a quota of British films when the supply of British films which have to be shown is greater than the exhibitors will take. The position can only be met in one way and that is by the renters inducing the exhibitors in some way to show more than their 20 per cent, quota. They may induce them to do so by selling the films at a lower price, but I ask the House to observe that although this is supposed to be a Bill which insists on the exhibition of 20 per cent, of British films it is really far more than that. We do not know how much more it will be, but it will be more than 20 per cent, because 20 per cent, is the proportion that the renters will have to insist upon being shown and, as no British film can be counted twice for the renters quota, obviously more than 20 per cent, must be shown in order to meet the requirements of the Bill so far as the renters are concerned. The right hon. Gentleman said the difficulty had been met in Clause 15, but it is by no means met there. That Clause deals with specially selected cases where one renter habitually rents in one locality only. In that case he can count his British films for quota in that locality only. There are very few renters who confine their operations to one locality and that provision by no means touches the greater part of the country where different renters will acquire a popular film, but only one of them will acquire the quota rights with it. Presumably he will have to pay more on that account.

Mr. BECKETT

I am very glad that the President of the Board of Trade has told the House, quite frankly, that his quota of reply to our argument has been 12½ per cent., although I think that figure is a considerable over-estimate of the arguments with which we were favoured by the right hon. Gentleman in Committee and during this stage of the Bill's progress. We are indebted to the hon. and gallant Member for South Cardiff (Captain A. Evans) for his attempt to step in where his chief failed to act, but I suggest that the hon. and gallant Member's argument does not meet the case. It would meet the case if films as they were manufactured were taken by one renter and distributed to a stable clientele—the same renter always supplying the same exhibitors—and if the industry were in a fixed condition of that sort. But we are dealing here with one of the most liquid industries in the country.

Captain A. EVANS

Is it not true to say as was said only a moment ago that each renter deals with a particular territory?

Colonel DAY

Not always.

6.0 p.m.

Mr. BECKETT

I do not think that is by any means an invariable rule, but although the interpolation is not, I believe, correct, I will accept it for the purposes of argument. Even if it were true that a renter always dealt in a particular territory with a particular number of exhibitors, you would still have to face the fact that in the industry there is a very large number of renters who do not take a picture direct from the producers and pay a cheque down for it. What they do is to pencil a picture, very often before it is fully completed, or immediately after the trade show, and when they have pencilled the picture, they sound their clientele to see whether they are likely to have a market for it if they buy it. If their inquiries go to show that it will be a saleable picture, they place the order with the producer, and the picture, when it is bought in that way, becomes no doubt a part of their quota, but all the time during which they are pencilling and speculating they have the difficulty to contend with that they do not know if they will buy it or not, and so they cannot lay their plans ahead, for fear of not having a sufficient quota of British pictures.

A further difficulty is this, that a certain class of renter takes a picture and distributes it to what are known as No. 1 picture palaces, the bigger houses, which have the first general release, and which take what may be called the cream of the pictures—the big super-cinemas, which charge more for their seats than the ordinary houses; but he deals only with these No. 1 picture houses. There are, in addition, the No. 2 houses, which come a little below the generally accepted standard of a first-class super-house; and there are the No. 3 houses, and, finally, all the odd people in small villages and towns who have shops and converted barns and so on. If we leave Clause 16 in this Bill, as far as one particular picture is concerned, apart from a tightening-up and a lack of the necessary elasticity, the renter who takes the No. 1 pictures will be all right, but what will happen to the smaller men? They have to have this picture for sale; they have to supply their exhibitors with it, and yet they cannot, if Clause 16 remains in the Bill, count it with their quota, when Clause 16 distinctly says it shall not be counted for the purposes aforesaid by more than one renter. Another interesting point comes in where you have a picture going the rounds, a picture that is popular, and after it has become more or less stale to the public and has been to the No. 1 super-cinemas and down to the No. 12 country barns, it is withdrawn from exhibition. It is left for some little time, and then somebody says, just as publishers say when they think of bringing out a new edition of a book, or just as stage managers say who think of reviving a play: "That film made us a lot of money, it is a good classical piece, and with a little touching tip we can sell it." They touch up the film, and they cut it, and they may even shoot a few fresh scenes, or alter the plot of the story. Cases have been known where a film has been a failure with one kind of ending, where they have substituted the conventional, orange-blossom, happy ending and have got a successful film out of what has seemed to be a failure. This film is brought up to the public and given these touches, to bring

it up to date or to satisfy public opinion in some small way. What will happen to the renter who takes that film? Will it be counted to his quota? I can see sitting opposite several members of the legal profession, and I am quite certain that, if I were a renter, and I chose five members of the legal profession who were also Conservative Members of Parliament, and went to them and said: "Please tell me under this Bill how I stand," I would get at least three different opinions from those five lawyers; and if that be the case among lawyers, who at any rate are united or supposed to be united in their political opinions, what would be the case when you threw at a renter a Clause like this, in the most complicated Bill ever introduced for an industry to deal with, and gave him a compulsory quota under all sorts of pains and penalties?

Question put, "That the words proposed to be left out stand part of the Bill."

The House divided: Ayes, 258; Noes, 143.

Division No. 335.] AYES. [6.7 p.m.
Acland-Troyte, Lieut.-Colonel Burney, Lieut.-Com. Charles D. Everard, W. Lindsay
Agg-Gardner, Rt. Hon. Sir James T. Burton, Colonel H. W. Fairfax, Captain J. G.
Albery, Irving James Cadogan, Major Hon. Edward Falle, Sir Bertram G.
Alexander, E. E. (Leyton) Caine, Gordon Hall Fanshawe, Captain G. D.
Allan, J. Sandeman (L'pool, W. Derby) Campbell, E. T. Fermoy, Lord
Applin, Colonel R. V. K. Cayzer, Sir C. (Chester, City) Fielden, E. B.
Ashley, Lt.-Col. Rt. Hon. Wilfrid W. Cayzer, Maj. Sir Herbt. R. (Prtsmth. s.) Forestier-Walker, Sir L.
Astbury, Lieut.-Commander F. W. Cazalet, Captain Victor A. Foster, Sir Harry S.
Attor, Maj. Hn. John J. (Kent, Dover) Cecil, Rt. Hon. Sir Evelyn (Aston) Foxcroft, Captain C. T.
Atholl, Duchess of Chadwick, Sir Robert Burton Fraser, Captain Ian
Baldwin, Rt. Hon. Stanley Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. N. (Ladywood) Fremantle, Lieut.-Colonel Francis E.
Balfour, George (Hampstead) Chapman, Sir S. Ganzoni, Sir John
Bainiel, Lord Christie, J. A. Gates, Percy.
Banks, Reginald Mitchell Churchman, Sir Arthur C Gibbs, Col. Rt. Hon. George Abraham
Barclay-Harvey, C. M. Clayton, G. C. Gilmour, Lt.-Col. Rt. Hon. Sir John
Barnett, Major Sir Richard Cochrane, Commander Hon. A. D. Goff Sir Park
Barnston, Major Sir Harry Cockerill, Brig.-General sir George Gower, Sir Robert
Beamish, Rear-Admiral T. P. H. Cohen, Major J. Brunei Grace, John
Beckett, Sir Gervase (Leeds, N.) Cooper, A. Duff Grant, Sir J. A.
Bellairs, Commander Carlyon W. Cope, Major William Grattan-Doyle, Sir N.
Bennett, A. J. Couper, J. B. Greaves-Lord, Sir Walter
Bentinck, Lord Henry Cavendish- Courthope, Colonel Sir G. L. Greene, W. P. Crawford
Berry, Sir George Craig, Sir Ernest (Chester, Crewe) Grotrian, H. Brent
Bethel, A. Croft, Brigadier-General sir H. Guinness, Rt. Hon. Walter E.
Betterton, Henry B. Crooke, J. Smedley (Deritend) Gunston, Captain D. W.
Birchall, Major J. Dearman Crookshank, Col. C. de W. (Berwick) Hacking, Captain Douglas H.
Bird, E. R. (Yorks, W R., Skipton) Crookshank, Cpt. H. (Lindsey, Galnsbro) Hall, Capt. W. D'A. (Brecon & Rad.)
Bourne, Captain Robert Croft Cunliffe, Sir Herbert Hammersley, S. S.
Bowyer, Captain G. E. W Dalkeith, Earl of Hannon, Patrick Joseph Henry
Boyd-Carpenter, Major Sir A. B. Davidson, J.(Hertf'd, Hemel Hempst'd) Harland, A.
Braithwaite, Major A. N. Davies, Maj. Geo. F. (Somerset. Yeovil) Harrison, G. J. C.
Brassey, Sir Leonard Davies, Sir Thomas (Cirencester) Haslam, Henry C
Bridgeman, Rt. Hon. William Clive Davies, Dr. Vernon Hawke, John Anthony
Brings, J. Harold Davison, Sir W. H. (Kensington, S.) Headlam. Lieut.-Colonel C. M.
Briscoe, Richard George Dawson, Sir Philip Henderson, Lt.-Col. Sir V. L. (Bootle)
Brittain, Sir Harry Dean, Arthur Wellesley Heneage, Lieut.-Colonel Arthur P.
Brocklebank, C. E. R. Drewe, C. Henn, Sir Sydney H.
Broun-Lindsay, Major H. Eden, Captain Anthony Hennessy, Major Sir G. R. J.
Brown, Brig.-Gen. H.C (Berks, Newb'y) Edmondson, Major A. J. Hills, Major John Waller
Buchan, John Elliot, Major Walter E. Hilton, Cecil
Buckingham, Sir H. Erskine, Lord (Somerset, Weston-s-M.) Hoare, Lt.-Col. Rt. Hon. Sir S. J. G.
Bull, Rt. Hon. Sir William James Erskine, James Malcolm Monteith Hope, Capt. A. O. J. (Warw'k, Nun.)
Bullock, Captain M. Evans, Captain A. (Cardiff, South) Hope, Sir Harry (Forfar)
Hopkins, J. W. W. Morrison, H. (Wilts, Salisbury) Sprot, Sir Alexander
Hopkinson, Sir A. (Eng. Universities) Murchison, Sir Kenneth Stanley, Lieut.-Colonel Rt. Hon. G. F.
Howard-Bury, Colonel C. K. Nail, Colonel Sir Joseph Stanley, Lord (Fylde)
Hudson, Capt. A. U. M. (Hackney, N.) Neville, Sir Reginald J. Stanley, Hon. O. F. G. (Westm'eland)
Hudson, R.S. (Cumberl'nd, Whiteh'n) Newman, Sir R. H. S. D. L. (Exeter) Storry-Deans, R.
Hume, Sir G. H. Nicholson, O. (Westminster) Stott, Lieut.-Colonel W. H.
Hunter-Weston, Lt.-Gen. Sir Aylmer Nicholson, Col. Rt. Hn. W. G.(Ptrsf'ld.) Streatfeild, Captain S. R.
Huntingfield, Lord Nuttall, Ellis Stuart, Crichton-, Lord C.
Iliffe, Sir Edward M. O'Connor, T. J. (Bedford, Luton) Stuart, Hon. J. (Moray and Nairn)
Inskip, Sir Thomas Walker H. Oman, Sir Charles William C. Styles, Captain H. Waiter
Jackson, Sir H. (Wandsworth, Cen'l) Ormsby-Gore, Rt. Hon. William Sueter, Rear-Admiral Murray Fraser
James, Lieut.-Colonel Hon. Cuthbert Penny, Frederick George Templeton, W. P.
Jephcott, A. R. Perkins, Colonel E. K. Thorn, Lt.-Col. J. G. (Dumbarton)
Kennedy, A. R. (Preston) Perring, Sir William George Thompson, Luke (Sunderland)
Kidd, J. (Linlithgow) Pilcher, G. Thomson, F. C. (Aberdeen, South)
King, Commodore Henry Douglas Pilditch, Sir Philip Thomson, Rt. Hon. Sir W. Mitchell-
Kinloch-Cooke, Sir Clement Price, Major C. W. M. Tinne, J. A.
Knox, Sir Alfred Raine, Sir Walter Titchfield, Major the Marquess of
Lamb, J. Q. Ramsden, E. Tryon, Rt. Hon. George Clement
Lane Fox, Col. Rt. Hon. George R. Rawson, Sir Cooper Turton, Sir Edmund Russborough
Leigh, Sir John (Clapham) Reid, D. D. (County Down) Vaughan-Morgan, Col. K. P.
Lister, Cunliffe-, Rt. Hon, Sir Philip Remnant, Sir James Waddington, R.
Little, Or. E. Graham Rhys, Hon. C. A. U. Ward, Lt.-Col. A.L.(Kingston-on-Hull>
Loder, J. de V. Richardson, Sir P. W. (Sur'y, Ch'ts'y) Warner, Brigadier-General W. W.
Long, Major Eric Ropner, Major L. Warrender, Sir Victor
Lucas-Tooth, Sir Hugh Vere Ruggles-Brise, Lieut.-Colonel E. A. Waterhouse, Captain Charles
Luce, Maj.-Gen. Sir Richard Harman Russell, Alexander West (Tynemouth) Watson, Sir F. (Pudsey and Otley)
Lumley, L. R. Salmon, Major I. Watson, Rt. Hon. W. (Carlisle)
MacAndrew, Major Charles Glen Samuel, A. M. (Surrey, Farnham) Watts, Dr. T.
Macdonald, Capt. P. D. (I. of W.) Sandeman, N. Stewart Wells, S. R.
Macdonald, R. (Glasgow, Cathcart) Sandon, Lord White, Lieut.-Col. Sir G. Dalrymple
McDonnell, Colonel Hon. Angus Sassoon, Sir Philip Albert Gustave D. Williams, A. M. (Cornwall, Northern)
MacIntyre, Ian Savery, S. S. Wilson, R. R. (Stafford, Lichfield)
McLean, Major A. Scott, Rt. Hon. Sir Leslie Winby, Colonel L. P.
MacRobert, Alexander M. Shaw. R. G. (Yorks, W.R., Sowerby) Windsor-Cilve, Lieut.-Colonel George
Manningham-Buller, Sir Mervyn Sheffield, Sir Berkeley Withers, John James
Marriott, Sir J. A. R. Shepperson, E. W. Wolmer, Viscount
Meller, R. J. Simms, Dr. John M. (Co. Down) Womersley, W. J.
Milne, J. S. Wardlaw- Skelton, A. N. Wood, Sir Kingsley (Woolwich, W.)
Mitchell, S. (Lanark, Lanark) Smith, R. W. (Aberd'n & K'nc'dine.C.) Yerburgh, Major Robert D. T.
Mitchell. W. Foot (Saffron Walden) Smith-Carington, Neville W. Young, Rt. Hon. Sir Hilton (Norwich)
Monsell, Eyres, Com. Rt. Hon. B. M. Smithers, Waldron
Moore, Lieut.-Colonel T. C. R. (Ayr) Somerville, A. A. (Windsor) TELLERS FOR THE AYES.—
Moore, Sir Newton J. Spender-Clay, Colonel H. Captain Viscount Curzon and
Captain Margesson.
NOES.
Adamson, Rt. Hon. W. (Fife, West) England, Colonel A. Lee, F.
Adamson, W. M. (Staff., Cannock) Fenby, T. D. Lindley, F. W.
Alexander, A. V. (Sheffield, Hillsbro') Forrest, W. Lowth, T.
Amnion, Charles George Gardner, J. P. Lunn, William
Attlee, Clement Richard Gibbins, Joseph Mackinder, W.
Baker, J. (Wolverhampton, Bilston) Gillett, George M. Maclean, Nell (Glasgow, Govan)
Baker, Walter Gosling, Harry MacNeill-Weir, L.
Barker, G. (Monmouth, Abertillery) Graham, D. M. (Lanark, Hamilton) March, S.
Batey, Joseph Graham, Rt. Hon. Wm. (Edin., Cent.) Maxton, James
Beckett, John (Gateshead) Greenall, T. Montague, Frederick
Bondfield, Margaret Greenwood, A. (Nelson and Colne) Morrison, R. C. (Tottenham, N.)
Bowerman, Rt. Hon. Charles W. Grenfell, D. R. (Glamorgan) Murnin, H.
Broad, F. A. Griffiths, T. (Monmouth, Pontypool) Naylor, T. E.
Bromfield, William Groves, T. Oliver, George Harold
Bromley, J. Grundy, T. W. Owen, Major G.
Brown, Ernest (Leith) Hall, F. (York, W. R., Normanton) Palin, John Henry
Brown, James (Ayr and Bute) Hall, G. H. (Merthyr Tydvil) Paling, W.
Buchanan, G. Hamilton, Sir R. (Orkney & Shetland) Parkinson, John Allen (Wigen)
Buxton, Rt. Hon. Noel Hardie, George D. Pethick-Lawrence, F. W.
Cape, Thomas Harney, E. A. Ponsonby, Arthur
Charleton, H. C. Hartshorn. Rt. Hon. Vernon Potts, John S.
Clowes, S. Hayday, Arthur Ritson, J.
Cluse, W. S. Henderson, Rt. Hon. A. (Burnley) Roberts, Rt. Hon. F. O. (W. Bromwich)
Clynes, Rt. Hon. John R. Hirst, G. H. Robinson, W. C. (Yorks, W. R., Elland)
Compton, Joseph Hirst, W. (Bradford, South) Rose, Frank H.
Connolly, M. Hore-Beilsha, Leslie Scrymgeour, E.
Cove, W. G. Hudson, J. H. (Huddersfield) Shaw, Rt. Hon. Thomas (Preston)
Cowan, D. M. (Scottish Universities) Jenkins, W. (Glamorgan, Neath) Shepherd, Arthur Lewis
Dalton, Hugh John, William (Rhondda, West) Simon, Rt. Hon. Sir John
Davies, Ellis (Denbigh, Denbigh) Johnston, Thomas (Dundee) Sinclair, Major Sir A. (Caithness)
Davies, Evan (Ebbw Vale) Jones, Henry Haydn (Merioneth) Sitch, Charles H.
Day, Colonel Harry Kelly, W. T. Slesser, Sir Henry H.
Dennison, R. Kennedy, T. Smith, H. B. Lees (Keighley)
Duncan, C. Klikwood, D. Smith, Rennie (Penistone)
Dunnico, H. Lawrence, Susan Snell, Harry
Edwards, C. (Monmouth, Bedwellty) Lawson, John James Sncwden, Rt. Hon. Philip
Spoor, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Charles Varley, Frank B. Wilkinson, Ellen C.
Stamford, T. W. Viant, S. P. Williams, C. P. (Denbigh, Wrexham)
Stephen, Campbell Wailhead, Richard C. Williams, David (Swansea, East)
Stewart, J. (St. Rollox) Watson, W. M. (Dunfermline) Williams, Dr. J. H. (Lianelly)
Sullivan, J. Watts-Morgan, Lt.-Col. D. (Rhondda) Williams, T. (York, Don Valley)
Sutton, J. E. Webb, Rt. Hon. Sidney Wilson, C. H. (Sheffield, Attercliffe)
Thomas, Rt. Hon. James H. (Derby) Wedgwood, Rt. Hon. Josiah Wilson, R. J. (Jarrow)
Thomson, Trevelyan (Middlesbro. W.) Wellock, Wilfred Wright, W.
Thorne, G. R. (Wolverhampton, E.) Welsh, J. C. Young, Robert (Lancaster, Newton)
Thurtie, Ernest Westwood, J.
Tinker, John Joseph Wheatley, Rt. Hon. J. TELLERS FOR THE NOES.—
Townend, A. E. Whiteley, W. Mr. Hayes and Mr. B. Smith.
Trevelyan, Rt. Hon. C. P. Wiggins, William Martin
Captain DRUMMOND MACDONALD

I beg to move, in page 9, line 13, at the end, to insert the words Provided that, if a renter in any year acquires any old British films and also acquires old foreign films, he shall be entitled to count the old British films for the purposes of the renter's quota— (a) if the only films acquired by him during the year are old films; or (b) if he has acquired films other than old films during the year and the requirements of this Part of this Act as to renter's quota would have been satisfied as respects those other films had they been the only films acquired by him during the year. For the purposes of this proviso the expression 'old' in relation to a film, means acquired by a renter not less than one year after the close of the year in which it was acquired by another renter. The object of this Amendment is to allow British films to rank for quota against second-hand foreign films. As the House knows, the cinema plays an important part in the rural life of the people, and the small renters who keep the cinemas in the villages exist by renting second-hand films. As this Clause now stands, they will be obliged to obtain 20 per cent, of new British films against 80 per cent, of foreign films, and the object of my Amendment is to allow second-hand British films to rank for quota against the second-hand foreign films. I do urge upon the right hon. Gentleman to accept this Amendment in the interests of these small renters who would be forced out of business and would be unable to obtain the 20 per cent, of British films.

Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTER

I think my hon. and gallant Friend has found a flaw in the Bill which has escaped the alert eye of the hon. Member for Central Southwark (Colonel Day), and I accept the Amendment.

Amendment agreed to.