ABSTRACT
Considering the long colonial wars, the dangers of civil strife, the putsches, acts of terrorism, and attempts to murder high state officials, the extent to which freedom of opinion was maintained throughout nearly two decades of crisis is striking. From Vaillant to Fabre-Luce: the left-to-right reversal of the government's target was particularly obvious during the Algerian war. Curious that things should be so different in the cinema. Here, quite on the contrary, the attitude on moral questions is on the whole very generous, and the attitude towards politically inflammable issues very narrow, so that hardly one really pertinent and fundamental subject can be dealt with in the cinema. The threat to books and periodicals from the various laws concerning "morality" and "the protection of youth", is at present greater than that from partisan politics. In broadcasting and television, censorship again is only a small part of the great ensemble of instruments of influence and control by the government.
