University of Virginia Library

More Than University

Town Consumes 'X' Films

—Ed.

By Fred Heblich
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

The real question about
censorship is "whether the
community has the right to
determine what others should see."

After taking into account the
success that "X" and "R" rated
films have had, the question should
be probably rephrased to ask "does
a minority segment of the
community have the right to
determine what others want to
see?"

The men who run the two local
theaters in Charlottesville that show
the greatest number of "R" and
"X" rated films, Robert Stroh of
the Cinema and Crockett Webb of
the Paramount, obviously do not
believe that the minority does have
that right. Because of this they have
been the targets of much criticism
from townspeople and "community
leaders."

One of the main arguments of
townspeople who don't believe that
"X" movies should be shown, is
that the main audience of "X"
movies is the University
community, and without the
University presence, there would be
no "X" movies in town.

Mr. Webb, who also believes that
"the people determine what movies
are being made," says that
experience has shown him that the
townspeople consume more "X"
movies than the University
community.

"When I came here in August (as
manager of the Paramount) I was
sure that the University made the
local theaters, but that just isn't
true," said Mr. Webb. For evidence
he noted that his theater ran
"Topaz" during Christmas when
the University was on vacation and
cleared $6,000 worth of business.
Also, "Fanny Hill" ran its first
week during semester break, and he
did $5,000 of business.

On the other hand, when the
Paramount ran "Sweet Charity" the
theater only did $2,500; half of
what "Fanny Hill" did in one week,
with a totally local audience.

Mr. Stroh, who is the president
of WELK Enterprises which owns
the Cinema, said that the presence
of the University would play a part
in determining community
standards, though, if it became
necessary.

Both Messrs. Stroh and Webb
deny ever having censored or cut
parts of the films shown in their
theaters. Many people have claimed
that films are censored before being
shown in Charlottesville, and
consequently a version of a film in
Charlottesville would differ from
one shown in, perhaps, New York.

"Only once did I ever cut
anything from a film, and that was
before 1965 when I managed the
Paramount," said Mr. Stroh. The
film concerned was "Two Women,"
for which Sophia Loren won an
Oscar. In that film, which has since
been shown on television, there was
a scene in which Miss Loren bared
her breasts. During a showing of
this film in the Paramount at this
particular scene, a man walked to
the back of the theater and
shouted, "Let's see 'em again,
baby!".

"With that action, I decided that
Charlottesville wasn't allowed to
see naked breasts, so I cut the
scene," explained Mr. Stroh. "But I
have never cut anything else since I
have been at the Cinema."

Mr. Webb is 23 years old, the
youngest manager in a chain of over
200 movie theaters, and has been
the manager of the Paramount since
August. He also stated, "I have
never cut a film."

Mr. Webb personally reviews all
films before they are shown at the
Paramount, if they are rated "R" or
"X." So far he hasn't used the
scissors, but there may be a reason
for this.

Most of the films shown in the
Paramount have the seal of
approval of the state of Maryland.
Maryland has been fighting over
censorship laws for some time (for
example, "I Am Curious Yellow" is
illegal in Maryland) and they pass
new ones just as quickly as the
Supreme Court strikes them down.
Mr. Webb admits that some films
may have been cut when they come
in from Maryland, or he is advised
that parts be cut.

But he offers another
explanation for films looking as
though they were cut. "For
example, 'Fanny Hill' looked like it
had been cut, but it wasn't. The
film came from a poor film
company, and the editing and
cutting they did was poor," he said.

There is no legal way that
exhibitors can be forced to cut
films, but there are other ways. For
example, in Philadelphia when "I
Am Curious (Yellow)" opened
about a year ago, Mayor James A.
Tate publicly denounced the
crowds of people who stood in
block long lines waiting to get in as
"degenerates." But it didn't work.

In Charlottesville, nothing quite
as dramatic has happened, bu both
Mr. Stroh and Mr. Webb have
received critical letters, and have
been publicly criticized in social
situations for showing "X" rated
movies in their theaters. This hasn't
worked with either.

"When I get letters, the only
thing I can ask is "Did you see the
rating?" said Mr. Webb. "People
don't pay any attention to the
ratings, and then they get outraged
by what they see," he added. The
most common complaints he said
were about nudity and foul
language.

Mr. Stroh, said he was
"personally sick" of hearing
feedback from people complaining
about "X" movies. He said that the
feedback "bothered" him, but it is
not going to affect him.

"My policy is: The Cinema
Theater will show the best movies
available to it," he stated. And he is
the "final judge of what's on the
screen." Mr. Webb agreed that this
was his policy at the Paramount
also.

In an advertisement for a movie
called "More" at the Cinema in the
Daily Progress, Mr. Stroh advertised
it "for people who don't believe X
movies should be shown, come see
this one."

"I personally endorsed it,
because it is nothing more than this
year's 'Never On Sunday,' " he
said. "And I find that the people
who complain the loudest about X
films are those who never see
them."

To try "to keep peace" in the
community Mr. Webb has been
running "G" rated movies on
Saturday afternoons. "I sent out
letters to all teachers and
community leaders informing them
that I would be running G movies
on Saturday and only charging fifty
cents admission," he said. He does
about $40 worth of business with,
this enterprise, while and "X"
movie might do over $500 a day.

There has been a great clamor
that the film industry doesn't make
any great epic, or "clean." or
"legitimate" films these days. But
the films in this category that have
produced recently ("Star," "Sweet
Charity," etc.) have failed at the
box office. The success of "X" and
"R" rated movies has been
phenomenal. The film-viewing
public makes its decision at the box
office, and its decision is clear.

Censorship is designed to keep
the population from seeing what it
wants. If the legal powers of
censorship remain the same, there
will probably be even more "X"
and "R" rated movies, unless public
tastes change.

The movie industry has come a
long way since the days when a
shocked audience heard Clark
Gable say "Frankly, my dear, I
don't give a damn." So has the
audience, or at least most of it.