Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-01-30
Screen Crimes
By Frederic J. Haslrfa

Washington, d. c., Jan. 3O.--Oentlc.
man R.fies aud Highway Pete are doom
cd. They were driven from the stag
when the movies largely took the plsce
Of the onc-night stand companies and
their repertoires Of mcIodfamA. The
high cost Of paper has resulted in tho rapid
decline OF their careers in paper -bnck
literature. And now comes Oklahoma
with n crusade 70 attack the criminal
hero and villain A. they appear on tho
SCREEN in "thriIlers.'
Oklahoma's complaint Ia that some
times bnnk-robbcrs, outlaws, and other
criminals, after serving sentence, receive
extravagant offers from moving picture
| producers, md are soon engaged in tho
profitable and conrnial occupation of
committing crime before the camera.
| When such characters become hcrocs
| OF romance, and II is widely advertised
that they display their methods in the
latest play, Oklahoma gets hot around
the collar. Oklahoma happens to be the
| aggressive State, becnrisc its quota of
| criminals called to be movie stars has
been unusually large. The result to the
State has been a good deal Of publicity
as the criminal stars professional field
of action, and this is unpleasant TO the
worthy citizens who regard Oklahoma
| as ono Of the most progressive apd civiliz-
ed States in the Union.
II is impossible to define in law all the
types Of character which nation shall
not set on pedestal, but Oklahoma law
yers emphasize the point that the Grim
inals demonstrate their crimes before the
camera, and thereby provide bad OK
amplos Professional details OF crime nre
often registered by closeup scenes, as
they arc features Of the productions that
star ex-convicts. This expoeition OF
criminal tricks, the OkIahoman State
Bar Association declares, has serious
effect on the youthful patrons of moving
pictures, and even on older persons.
WILL TRY TO rrop IT.
To put stop to il, the association has
had Senator iiore and Representative
Harreld of Oklahoma introduce bills
into Congress. The bills, which are
similar in both houses, prohibit the
transportation from one State TO another
OF moving picture films showing or
stimulating criminals IN the act OF COM
mitting crime.
This would apparently mcsn bnnish-
ment from the pictures Of Jesse James and
his host Of fellow brigands, burglars, and
bighwaymen, for who can imagine q
picture dominated by thug, even thug.
with wavy hsir and dirnpIe. in which
no crime played q prominent part2 The
gentleman burglar who picks locks and
jimnies his way into the heart OF the
heroine at the same time has had many
bullets from defenders of art and morals,
but this bill would deal him body blow
He could juggle with cash boxes and stab
his enemies only viii the camera removed
10 n distance so great that nobody IN
the audience would be able to tell exactly
what happened. In that case, Of course
he might as well do the dirty work off
screen, and the next scene would have TO
show the policeman telling the maid about
the terrible tragedy with appropriate
captions, but no pictures Of the crime
scenes.
A deleted version Of thus sort would
undoubtedly lack both punch and con-
viction. The director with a fondness |
for crime would have to start over and /
make his hero or villain, whichever |
happens TO be the bold desperate, a /
young man with only slight tendencies |
to crime which would lead him TO steal /
a love letter out of an unlocked dresser /
drawer. This feat he might accomplish /
without revealing any of the secrets Of /
the trade. Even this might be barred
because, if it were the story Of q real
crime being filmed, il would break the
law
The proposed law is primarily intended
TO attack the ex-convict or criminal who
poses as hero. 1t forbids the transporta-
tion Of films showing such persons as
they commit crime, or escape from the /
scene, and also it forbids the filming of the
rial As the bill is worded. the prohibi-
ion Is taken 10 include pictures which
ollow the story of real crime, whether
he part of the criminal Is taken by the
original offender or by stock actor.
This excludes use Of all famous crimes, +
ind their trials, such as have been popu-
arly filmed in the past few years, often
With the original principles in the screen
oles.
The bin, we understand, would not
'revent the filming of Shakespeare.
is continually being almost
'arred from modern life by some reform
r other, but at the last minute a cautious