New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-24
Movies and Crime
Belief That Juvenile Delinqueo,s
Originates in Theatres Unfound.d "

Sir: The idea that much juvenile d.I,,.
quency is tracesble TO the movies 4, vid..
held The National Board Of Review O, Va.
ton Pictures investigates all account, eo,..
ing to its knowledge OF criminal action, =.
the part Of Juveniles credited to the initiate.
Of scenes in motion pictures. The result, -
our Investigations indicate that the burd.,,,,
Of motion pictures with the responsibility ~.
delinquency is as reasonable as il wopIl q
10 place the onus on a circus perfo,,.
A recent case illustrates this fact
A Case in Point
Two or three weeks ago the city pres, -,
lished story Of Brooklyn boy. Morris c.
who nearly hanged himself while I, 80
stated, he was initiating scene in The MAJ
Morris, twelve years Of age, according - a.
accounts, in company with other boys. wa,
enacting film scene on the roof Of ,s,.
ment house. He volunteered to be III. "tr,;.
tor" gallcws was erected on the roo, 80,
so placed that the guilty person should b,,.
over the edge. It may be added tha, /. v,,
stated in one account that the house ~.
three stories high. and that the victim -.
likely to fall sixty feet. Not MANY ana.
ment houses in New York City furnish ,n..
spacious rooms as this would indicate
The facts as reported by our nves,i,,,..
were as follows: Morris said there wers :.
boys on III. roof except himself. and TIA, \.
was playing with a rope. He placed tho ,o.s
around his neck as he said he had seen /, S,,.
in the picture, so that il would rot fall IA -.
back yard. In doing this the other s,a 80
the rope caught around the chimney y.
tripped and knew nothing more until h. -
gained consciousness in the hospital r..
boys reported 70 be with him were ;r,..
viewed and said they were elsewhere. o,..,
them, however, who was on the fire esc.,.
Of the next house, saw the acciden, ,,d
screamed. Their statements were corrob,.
rated According TO his teacher, Norri, !,
backward"
1t is to be noted from this report tina. n.
boy did not see any one actually hanged !, /,
motion picture. He simply saw rope plar.d
around a mans neck. Nothing further "a.
shown. As q matter Of fact. it is doubtful %
any motion picture company would at,emn.
to show a film Of a man in the act Of being
hanged. II certainly would be eliminated By
the National Board of Review.
Results of an Investigation
Our investigations tend to show that man,
of the cases in which the films are blamed
are those Of youngsters who either already
have a record Of delinquency or are mentsllv
defective. Generally, also, when the account,
ere sifted. the evidence being secured from
persons familiar with the facts. II is
found that the youngsters did not claim
- bntr
motion pictures, or had not seen in a
motion picture theatre the incident supposed
to have been initiated. A social worker who
conducted city-wide investigation Of the
recreatons of children in New York City las.
year, which included ore hundred stories
taken from newspapers dealing with crimes
said 70 have been suggested to boys By mo.
zion pictures, found that there was no foan.
dation for the statements in the cases o.
cighty-nine. OF the remaining eleven, only
one boy could fairly be said TO have received
the actual suggestion for his crime from pic.-
ures which he saw at a motion picture eXhibi.
ton.
1t nigh. as we'll be held that circus., are.
blame for the broken arms and legs o. small
boys. and the league baseball games are re-
sponsible for the cracked heads and bruised
fingers of youthful baseball enthusiasts The
motion picture has been much maligned By
those who credit it with being the chief nc
tive for juvenile delinquency. The Nations.
Board of Review seeks TO eliminate from nc
ton pictures anything which, II initiated,
would be a basis for crime.
In closing may say something regarding
recent assertion made AZ a convention o.
representatives OF one of the largest re-
ligious denominations OF the country. 10 the
effect that upward of so per cent Of those at
tending motion picture theatres are young
people, and that these pictures are causing
great amount of crime? This sweeping state
ment is self-evidently not based on accurate
knowledge. recent survey az recreaton'
made in the District Of Columbia by the Chil'
dren's Bureau Of the United States Depart
ment of Labor showed by actual count tna'
in scyenty-three motion picture theatres less
than one-ffth OF those present we're uhde'
eighteen years OF age. This tends 10 cor
roborate other data Of the same character
Crime IS a long standing evil The inciuns
impulse in the case Of the young IS very ire
auenty declared TO be thc prevailing 'ci'n'
of recreation. Once IL was fiction. Now IL ~
the movies. Doubtless a. one time ral.rosa',
shortening the journey TO wicked eities ssa
perdition, we're considered by many 70 "
abettors OF crime II. F. SIlEHWOop'
Assistant Secretary, the National bos'' ~
Review OF Motion Pictures.