Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-04-06
Stage Censorship Discussed-By Frederic j. Haskin

| Straton had failed to produce a single fact.
| why doesn't he pick out conditions in So
ciety or in the, department store, or any 9TH
er place where men and women are thrown
together and tell some of the rottenness
that exists there?" he asked. "I shall take
pleasure in picking out some of the horrible
crimes perpetrated by ministers of the Cos
pei and make them public at the next debate
Many Criminal Churchmen
| "I will show that more murders have been
committed by members of the church than
by the acting profession, and that there are
more church people in prison than there are
stage people, and will back these statements
with facts and figures when I meet DR.
Straton again on the platform"
Mr.. Brady then concluded his address with
the suggestion that, if the church really be-
ieved so much iniquity to exist among stage
Islander them" Lets follow the example
of the Catholic Actors Guild and get a
Presbyterian and a Methodist and guilds of
other denominations and have a combined
Actors Religious Guild he proposed.
This suggestion so pleased DR.. Straton
that he promptly offered to come to Mr..
Brady's theater and conduct religious serv-
ices for the benefit of the profession. Such
services would not, however, he warned, in
terrupt his campaign for stage censorship be-
ing carried at Albany.
Meantime, other prominent preachers re-
PEELED by what they term DR.. Straton's 'sen-
Satlonalism, are frankly espousing the thea
ter's cause. One of these recently pointed
out, for instance, that the stage is splen-
did med1um-and one that is not ignored
for putting moral propaganda across" He
called attention to the fact that there were
at present two plays running in New York
1.-THE National Anthem and Brieux
Madame Pierre" containing propaganda
which savored more of the pulpit than of
the theater.
Another preacher invited Miss Lillian Gish
to address the congregation Of his church,
the other night and introduced her with the
following reassuring words:
Miss Gish Addresses Congregation
Il am proud to have Lillian Gfsh here in
my church tonight. know her and know
David Wark Griffith, her manager, and am
| glad that know them. am proud to count
William A. Brady among my friends 1 am
tired of hearing the theater and the moving
pictures continually abused. They do a great
deal of good and they should be encouraged
rather than vilifed OF course, some plays are
bad and should be blacklisted, but they are
in the minority. The movies put the saloon
out of business, so, instead of throwing stones
at thine let's commend the good things they
! do"
Miss Gish then stepped forward and testi-
| fed as to her religious training MANY peo-
pie nowadays seem to regard actors and act
| resses with suspicion she began. 81 don't
know exactly what to say to you to con-
| vince you that we are not strange people,
| just normal everyday men and women like
yourselves, but perhaps it will do if simply
! tell you about myself and my sister, Doro-
thy. Whatever success my sister and I have
had is due to our mother, who has always
been our friend and adviser
Our first public appearance on the stage
was when I was 5 years old and Dorothy
was 3, in an entertainment in church Sun
day school, by the way was and Dorothy
4 when we began our professional careers in
child parts. Mother continually watched over
us and ministered to us throughout our ca
reers. She looked after our religious train
Ing, and saw that we always had a Bible in
| our dressing room, and that we read it.
! Mother told us that God saw everything we
did and knew everything we thought We
have never forgotten her teaching"
sion that everything connected with the stage
| is vile, and that it's productions must there
fore be controlled. This conclusion may seem
tr1fle unreasonable to the discerning but
experience has shown that the legislators at
Albany are swayed by more potent means
than mere logic.