The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-08-17
Who Are the Forces
Behind the Legion
Of Decency' Drive?

WE SEE. then, that both the
W Church and the movies, as IN
stitutions of capitalist control, have
been utilized for the creation Of
mass support for the policies Of
American capitalism as expressed in
the N.RA. We see that this has
been done in open cooperation with
the Federal government. Further
more, we see that both the Church
and movie have been losing their
following in great tidal waves. It is
clear, therefore, that the war be-
tween Church and movie is not a
struggle for the control Of each
other; not a struggle to reorgranizs
the industry in any fundamental
way. The war" can be character
lied only as "skirmish," as a quar-
rel over how best to use the movies
to: u retrieve the following Of both
the movies and the Church; p to
achieve social stability; 81 and to
use both movies and church mora
effectively in support of the NRA
and American capitalism as whole.
The "skirmish" thus centers around
the questions What kind of dope,
what kind of ideas shall be fed to
the restless workers, farmers and
white-collsr workers who make up
the bulk Of the movie audience?"
What shall be done to insure the
production of these ideas?"
In the Name of Decency
As A part of the program Of the
n Interfaith Chuch Crusade sew
eral lists of good and bad films have
been published. More clearly than
any words or speeches by Church
leaders, these BLACK" and White"
lists reveal the real purpose of the
campaign for "decency." Lists is
sued for instance by the Detroit
Catholic Churches and by the Chi
cago Catholic Churches show a
striking discrepancy over what is not
decent. Over Is current films which
are considered indecent by the De-
troit fathers are considered decent
by the Chicago fathersl Twelve
other films considered sinful and
worthy Of boycott in Chicago are
considered good for the family in
Detroit
The Bishops of both Detroit and
Chicago, however, like the Catho-
lie Church Bishops the world over,
are in full agreement over what is
decent The exemplary films en-
dorsed by both districts Of the Cath
Ole Church happen to be precisely
the most reactionary, anti-labor,
anti Communist, snti-struggle, pro-
war films Of the current season. The
Merry Frinls, This Mad Age, Whom
the Gods Destroy, Cavalcade, No
Greater Glory are the decent films
heralded by the Churches and rec
commended for mass attendance by
the embattled workers, farmers and
intellectuals, who in every day life
are entering more and more into
struggle against hunger, war and
fascism. These are the films that
are to be the future model for
Hollywood
It Is significant that Mr.. Joseph
I. Breen Of the Hays Organization
(the producers self-censoring out
fit) is in complete agreement with
this kind Of decency. Is this kind
of decency not the decency pro-
gram Of the Catholic Church in
every day life2 Is it surprising that
only several weeks ago the Catho-
lie Film Committee in Austria, in
full charge Of Federal Film Censor
ship, endorsed IS. A. Mann Brand
''HitIer's Youth" and q batch of
new Hitler Goebbels cinema crea-
tions9 The venomous Hitler films,
like The Merry Finks and No
Greater Glory fit into the bourgeois
standard Of decency. The Austrian
Fathers put the Hitler films on the
White" list because they showed
fresh and youthful optimism and
sound moral optimism"
If hunger, war and fascism is the
price Of decency held by the Church
and movies in their role as medi-
ums Of mass control for the ruling
class, it is price the international
working class will not pay. 1t is
significant that not only are work
ers in every capitalist country break
ing away from the movies, but that
integrally bound up with the inter-
national movement against war and
fascism, these very decent" films
have been boycotted and fought
against in America, Austria, France
and South America.
ITO Be Continued