§ 33. Sir WILFRID SUGDENasked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs whether he proposes, or has been requested, to make any communication to the Governments of the Dominions or other parts of the Empire regarding the exhibition of a film entitled "Dawn" in their respective territories?
§ Sir W. SUGDENHas my right hon. Friend taken into consideration the effect on the minds of our subjects overseas of the treatment of this film; secondly, has my right hon. Friend read the comments of a German publicist, who speaks with contempt of the action of the Government with respect to this heroine?
§ Mr. DAYCan the right hon. Gentleman say whether the German Government have made any request to the Dominions Department not to show this film?
§ Lieut.-Colonel JAMESWill not honour be satisfied and trouble be got over if instead of the film being called "Dawn" it were called "Day"?
66. Captain CROOKSHANKasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will now make a statement regarding the conversations held between himself and members of the Foreign Office and the staff of the German Embassy regarding the film "Dawn"?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir Austen Chamberlain)I have nothing material to add to my answer to the hon. Member for Central Southwark (Mr. Day) on the 16th of February. The facts are simple. A member of the German Embassy on the 26th of September drew the attention of a member of the Foreign Office to Press reports regarding the impending production of the film "Dawn" and was informed that His Majesty's Government had no power of political censorship over cinematograph productions. On the 18th of January, having seen Mr. Wilcox's account of the scene of the execution two days previously, I had my interview with the right hon. Gentleman the Member for the Scotland Division (Mr. T. P. O'Connor). On the 24th of January, the German Ambassador spoke to me on the subject, and I told him that my Department had quite correctly informed a member of his Embassy that His Majesty's Government had no power to prohibit the exhibition of any film, but that I felt so strongly on this subject that I had made a personal call upon the right hon. Member for the Scotland Division, who is Chairman of the Board of British Film Censors, and had read to him the account which I had received of the film from the technical adviser to His Majesty's Government on cinematography, and begged him to pay particular attention to the character of the film if it should be submitted to the Board of Censors.
Captain CROOKSHANKMay I ask my right hon. Friend whether either he or the member of the German Embassy or the German Ambassador or the technical adviser had seen the film?
§ Sir A. CHAMBERLAINI had not seen the film, and, for reasons which I expressed in my letter, I do not propose to see it in any circumstances, but I had a report from a member of my Department in the following words:
I had a conversation with Mr. Foxen Cooper"—15 he is the adviser of His Majesty's Government in these matters—this morning (that is, 30th November), and he tells me that Mr. Herbert Wilcox has given him a few details as to the line they have taken in constructing the film. The shooting scene was described to me as follows: 'One of the firing party definitely refuses to level his rifle at Nurse Cavell, and he is shot on the spot. The rest are lined up and, on the order to fire, each one raises his rifle so that he fires above Nurse Cavell's head. Nurse Cavell, however, falls down in a faint, and the officer then steps forward and despatches her.'I believe that account of the execution to be wholly apocryphal, and I hold it is an outrage on a noble woman's memory to turn into melodrama, for the purposes of commercial gain, so heroic a story.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYWhy did not these sentiments, with which a great many people, including myself, agree, actuate the right hon. Gentleman's Department while the film was actually being made, and thus avoid all this unfortunate controversy with the unpleasant results which we all deplore?
§ Sir A. CHAMBERLAINI do not know how much leisure the hon. and gallant Gentleman has to read whatever news may be available in the daily Press as to forthcoming films, but my time is fully occupied with other matters. I acted as soon as I became aware of Mr. Wilcox's own description of this scene.
Lieut.-Colonel Sir FREDERICK HALLIn the circumstances of the case, does not my right hon. Friend think it would be a great deal better if there could be someone in this House representing this important industry to whom questions could be put in order that there might not be a repetition of any of these unfortunate circumstances?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThat is not a question for the Foreign Secretary to answer.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYIn future could not someone from the right hon. Gentleman's Department watch the production of films in order to prevent similar films of an objectionable nature from many points of view being produced?
§ Sir A. CHAMBERLAINThe question of the censorship of films is a very large one, which does not rest primarily with me as Foreign Secretary. Any questions 16 on that matter should be addressed to my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary. I should be loath to take upon my Department or myself the responsibility for the general censorship of films.
§ Mr. DAYAs none of the responsible officials of the Foreign Office have seen Mr. Wilcox or this film, would it not have been better for a responsible official to have seen the production of the film before the action was taken?
§ Sir A. CHAMBERLAINNo. The hon. Member is incorrect in his statement of fact and, I think, wrong in the inference which he draws. A member of the Government service, Mr. Foxen Cooper, had seen Mr. Wilcox, and it was on what Mr. Wilcox said to him of the contents of the film that I acted.
§ Mr. HORE-BELISHACan the right hon. Gentleman give an assurance that, as a general principle, no political censorship of films will be established?
§ Sir A. CHAMBERLAINI am not dealing with a general censorship of films. I am speaking as an English gentleman about what I think is an outrage on humanity.
§ Mr. HORE-BELISHADoes not the right hon. Gentleman appreciate that a very important principle is involved, and that while a great many people agree with him in this particular instance, a political censorship of films is at stake?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThat is a question similar to one which has been postponed to-day for a reply from the Home Secretary.
Captain CROCKSHANKWould not the feeling which my right hon. Friend has so rightly expressed in regard to this film be equally applicable if expressed with regard to a great many other films, such, for example, as "The King of Kings"?
§ Mr. DAYIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that Mr. Herbert Wilcox stated definitely last Thursday that no responsible person from the Foreign Office or a Government Department had ever discussed this film with him?
§ Sir A. CHAMBERLAINI think the hon. Gentleman does not carry quite correctly in his mind Mr. Wilcox's statement.
§ Sir A. CHAMBERLAINThen I abide by the statement I have made.
§ 67. Sir W. SUGDENasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what are the incident, in the film "Dawn" which are objected to as injurious to the public interests on the ground of inaccuracy or exaggeration, or for any other reason; and whether the objection will be withdrawn on an undertaking by the owners of the film that these incidents, if they do exist, will be amended or cut out of the film?
§ Sir A. CHAMBERLAINMy objections were stated in my letter to Mr. Wilcox and have been re-stated in an admirable letter by my Noble Friend the Secretary of State for India, published in the "Daily Telegraph" of last Saturday.
§ 68. Sir W. SUGDENasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he had seen the film entitled "Dawn" before he made representations to the chairman of the Board of Film Censors or had any official seen the film on his behalf; and, if not, on what information his objection to the exhibition of the film was based?
§ Sir A. CHAMBERLAINThe answers to the first and second parts of the question are in the negative. My objection to the film was based on the account given of it by the producer to the technical adviser to His Majesty's Government on cinematography, confirmed as it was by the reports and pictures of certain scenes which appeared from time to time in the press.
§ Sir W. SUGDENHas my right hon. Friend seen the statement by German publicists criticising and treating with contempt the action of the Government in respect to one of our national heroines, Nurse Cavell, as detailed in this film?
§ Sir A. CHAMBERLAINNo, I have not, but nothing that anyone could say would change my attitude of reverence to the memory of Nurse Cavell.
§ Mr. DAYDid the representative who saw Mr. Wilcox inform him that he was seeing him on behalf of the Government, or just as an ordinary casual conversation?
§ Sir A. CHAMBERLAINI do not know.
§ Mr. LOOKERHas my right hon. Friend any reason to suppose that the account given him of what was exhibited in this film regarding the death of Nurse Cavell was incorrect in any way?
§ Sir A. CHAMBERLAINYes. It appeared to me inherently incredible, and I am informed that it was certainly incorrect.
§ Mr. HORE-BELISHAIs it clear that the action which the right hon. Gentleman has taken in this matter is a purely personal action, in which the responsibility of the Government is not involved?
§ Sir A. CHAMBERLAINYes. It is wholly on my own responsibility that I have acted, and if I had to do it again, I would act in the same way.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYIs it a, fact that the German Ambassador in Washington, the German Minister at Warsaw, and the German Minister in Paris, have all, at various times, protested against certain films of this nature, any why is there this sudden hullabaloo about this similar action in London?