Bedford
Cinema History
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What the Council Thought:
The County Council and Bedford's Picture Palaces 1909-1970 -
Children in Cinemas
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From 1909
local authorities
became responsible in law for the licensing of picture playhouses, and in May of
that year Bedfordshire County Council delegated this responsibility to its 'Stage
Plays Licensing Committee'. The expanded remit necessitated a change of
title to 'The Stage Plays and Cinematograph Licensing Committee'.
Apart from where otherwise noted all the information here is drawn from the
Minutes of this Committee from 1909 to 1970 when it was dissolved*. See also
Venues and
The Sunday...Issue.
Children in Cinemas
Responsibility for children’s moral and physical welfare in places of entertainment fell to the Local Authorities in the Children Act 1908 and extended to include Cinematograph Exhibitions in the Cinematograph Act 1909. Consequently Bedfordshire County Council delegated this to their Stage Plays and Cinematograph Licensing Committee with effect from May 1909.
The British Board of Film Censors introduced the “A” (Adult) classification in 1913 but did not provide a lower age limit, advising only that these films were more suitable for adult audiences.
Although not strictly a regulation aimed specifically at the protection of children, in 1917 the Committee ruled that every part of the premises to which the public were admitted should be so lighted during the whole of the time it was open to the public as to make it possible to see over the whole area.
In 1926, the Committee ruled that unless children were in the company of a bona fide parent or adult guardian, only “U” films could be shown when children under, or appearing to be under, the age of 16 years were in the cinema. Committee members also asked the Education Committee to appoint School Attendance Officers to enter cinemas and ensure that the licensees were abiding by the regulations. Although there is no further suggestion that these inspectors were ever subsequently drawn from the Education Department, the role remained an integral part of the Licensing Team. The rules regarding accompanied and unaccompanied children were later re-stated by the Committee in 1935.
Once the County’s cinemas started showing films specifically for children, supervision became a hot topic and in 1930 licence holders were advised that there should be at least one adult to every 50 children at children’s performances.
Although The British Board of Film Censors introduced the advisory classification “H” (Horror) in 1932, Bedfordshire did not react formally until the Committee received the Home Office Circular of 6th March 1933 whereupon the members voted to revise conditions 4 – 8 to fall in line with the Home Office’s Model Conditions published in the circular. These new conditions required that easily legible notices be displayed prominently advising patrons that “H” films were unsuitable for children under 16 years of age, that the film’s certificate be projected clearly on screen before each performance, and that notices should remind cinemagoers that adults accompanying children must be bona fide parents or guardians. Finally, in 1939 the situation became so untenable that the Licensing Committee actually prohibited children from being present. In 1950 this ban was extended to cover the new “X” classification, which absorbed and extended the “H” rating, although the first of these films was not exhibited in Bedfordshire until 1951. In Bedford, the Empire was the first cinema to make an application to screen an X-rated film – Unwanted Women. Permission was granted on 29th January 1952 and it was shown during the week of 17th March 1952.
In 1951, however, an apprenticeship scheme for young projectionists was introduced nationally which led to the problem of trainees under 16 years being present in cinemas when both “A” and “X” films were being shown.The Committee responded by relaxing the ruling for these young people, subject to the written consent of their parent or guardian.
In December 1955, the regulations regarding children’s performances were ‘beefed up’ and required that supervisors must wear a white armlet not less than 4 inches in width bearing the words “Children’s Attendant”; that no unaccompanied children should be allowed in the front two rows of the balcony; that a number of seats should be available for specially interested persons who may wish to attend children’s exhibitions of films and that the programme must not exceed one and a half hours. As a general condition of the cinematograph licence all attendants were required to report instantly to the Manager any instance of child molestation.
Aware of the common practice of unaccompanied children asking strangers to claim to be their Guardian in order to get into “A” films, from 1st January 1956 the Committee revised the wording on its licences to reflect the impossibility of policing the original requirement that children attending “A” films be accompanied by a bona fide parent or adult guardian. The new wording required that a child be accompanied by and in the charge of his parent or some other person who appears to have attained the age of 16 years. However, children were still managing to gain admission to both “A” and “X” films and in late 1957 the Committee reminded Cinema managers that they could and would revoke their licences if the situation persisted. Nevertheless this needed re-stating in July 1963, so clearly the problem had not gone away.
*Powers passed to the Local Government Committee (re: censorship of films)
and to the Fire and Emergency Services Committee (re. the buildings) until local
government reorganisation in 1974.
© Fran Kemp 2013
Sources
- Minutes of the Bedfordshire County CouncilStage Plays and Cinematograph Licensing Committee 1909 – 1970 held at the Bedfordshire Archives andRecords Service (BARS), Ref. SPM 1-7.
- See also Venues and The Sunday...Issue.
Page last updated: 25th February 2014