Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-01-30

fare doomed. They were driven
from the stage when the movies
largely took the places Of the one
night stand companies and their
repertoires Of melodrama- The
high cost OF paper has resulted In
the rapid decline Of their careers
in paper-back literature. And now
comes Oklahoma with a crusade to
attack the criminal hero and VIII
lain as they appear on the screen
In rthrillers."
OkIah6ma's complaint is that
sometimes bank-robhers, outlaws,
and other criminals, after serving
sentence, receive extravagant Of
fets from moving picture produc-
ers, and are soon engaged in the
profitable and congenial occupation
of committing crime before the
camera.
When such characters become
heroes of romance, and it is widely
advertised that they display their
methods in the latest play, Okla
homa gets hot around the collar.
Oklahoma happens to be the ag-
gressive state, because its quota OF
criminals called to be movie stars
has been unusually large. There
suit to the state has been good
deal of publicity as the criminal
stars professional field of action,
and this is unpleasant to the
worthy citizens who regard Okla
homa as one of the most progress
sive and civilized states in the un-
ion.
1t is impossible to define in law
all the types of character which a
nation shall not set on a pedestal,
but Oklahoma lawyers emphasize
the point that the criminals demon
strate their crimes before the
camera, and thereby provide bad
examples. Professional details of
crime are often registered by close
up scenes, as they are features of
the production that star ex-convicts.
This, exposition of criminal tricks,
the Oklahoman State Bar associa-
ton declares, has a serious effect
on the youthful patrons of the
moving pictures, and even on older
persons.
! To put a stop to it, the associa-
ton has had Senator Gore and
Representative Harreld of Okla
homa introduce bills into congress.
The bills, which are similar in both
houses, prohibit the transportation
from one state to another of NOV
ing picture films showing or stimu-
lating criminals in the act of COM
hitting crime.
This would apparently mean
Punishment from the pictures of
Jesse James and his host of fellow
brigands, burglars, and highway
men, for who can imagine a pic
ture dominated by thug, even a
thug with wavy hair and a dimple
in which no crime played a promin-
ent part? The gentleman burglar
who picks locks and jimmies his
way into the heart of the heroine at
the same time has had many buff
fets from defenders of art and
morals, but this bill would deal
him a body blow. He could juggle
with cash boxes and stab his enc
mics only with the camera remov-
ed to distance so great that no.
body in the audience would be
able to tell exactly what happened
In that case, of course, he might
as we'll 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 nc
pictures of the crime scenes.
A delayed version of this sort
would undoubtedly lack both punch
and conviction. The director with
a fondness for crime would have to
start over and make his hero OF
william, whichever happens to be
the bold desperate, a young man
with only slight tendencies tc
crime which would lead him te
steal a love letter out of an I'm.
locked dresser drawer. This feat
be might accomplish without re.
veaiing any of the secrets of the
trade. Even this might be barred
because, if it were the story of a
real crime being filmed, it would
break the law.
| The proposed law is primarily
intended to- attack ex-convict O,
criminal who poses as hero. II
forbids the transportation of films
showing such persons as they com.
nit crime, or escape from .the
scene, and also it forbids the film.
ing OF the trial. AS the bill is
worded, the prohibition is taken to
include pictures which follow the