Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-29

4 has denounced the cinema as a
demoralizing influence. We
are being told constantly that countless
millions Of children, and adults with
childish minds. are being corrupted,
polluted and condemned TO the Prone
flicker and sQuawk on the screen.
During the latest general conference
of the Methodist Church the movies
came in for an unusual amount of seri-
Gus lambaSting. They were classed with
such evils as companionate marriage as
enemies Of the home" Bishop e. D.
Mouzon described the motion picture
theater as "the greatest menace to
morals and religion the church has had
to face in many years" He added:
"Methodism will be false to herself and
to the future should she fail to say to
her membership that undiscriminating
perilous not. only to Christian charac-
ter but to common decency."
Not many blocks from the hall In
Dallas, Tex, in which Bishop Mouzon
uttered this warning, crowds, including
many Methodists, were surging into q
Aim parlor to see a production entitled
"Lovin' the Ladies'" Perhaps Bishop
Mouzon noticed the electric sign on his
way to the hall.
The question Of how much df at alb
the cinema influences its patrons
morals is one that has been debated
volun1inously, and will continue to be
debated so long as there is any one left
to view with alarm. doubt that it will
ever be settled.
For 1t can be argued with devastating
logic on either side. One can say, truth
fully, that the liquor guzzlings, the
manifold crimes OF violence and Of bad
taste on the screen can't fail TO put
improper thoughts into the heads of
impresSionable spectators.
One can say, on the other hand. and
with equal truth, that the ultimate
paradise represented In almost every
photoplay ever produced Is respectable
ity. The heroine may have been
wild. unbridled, reprehenSible madcap
throughout six reels, and the hero may
have been one of those licentious club
men. But with the final fadeout comes
the beautiful, pure light of reform
holy matrimony, fat, rudy children;
the water wagon.
Such is the happy ending demand
ed by the hlm-loving public and de-
Virtue Is rewarded. Vice is punished
Happiness is achieved in that form of
existence which was given the official
Endorsement of her late majesty, Queen
Victoria.
~
ONE of the most popular and profit
able films ever produced was THE
Miracle Man." (And. by the way, why
not revive it now in talking picture
form?)
The Miracle Man" represented q
that ever were taught. It exerted the
same fervent appeal to the heart and
to the conscience that Is made by the
Salvation Army orator who says, "Five
years ago I was in the gutter drunk
ard-a bum-like you, and you, and
you'll"
At the start Of 1.-THE Miracle Man"
we saw Thomas Meighan as q thor
oughly INSCRIPTIONS. cynical crook.
Betty Compson was his hard-boiled
sweetie. Lon CLANCY was q loathsome
accomplice. The three of them decided
to exploit q blind old faith-healer who
was gaining something Of q reputation
in the rural districts. They figured
they could advertise him. draw crowds
to watch him practice his miraculous
cures, pass the hat and clean up q
great deal Of money. When the racket
was played out, or when exposure be-
came imminent. they would skip easily
with the funds.
1t all worked beautifully for a while,
until one after another of the des-
picable trio fell under the old mans
spell and saw, through his blind eyes,
the glorious vision Of true faith. At
the end they were three Of the most
amazingly virtuouS churchgoers ever
imagined.
Now there were plenty Of scenes in
"The Miracle Man" to which exception
might have been taken by righteous
people. There were views of drinking
and plotting in back rooms Of saloons,
episodes that involved violations Of the
Constitution and most Of the Ten Com
mandments.
Any one of these scenes, or all, might
have been cut out by q censor board
on the grounds of obScenity, indecency
or tending to incite to crime or vio-