Juvenile Crime—And The Movies

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 72, 17 December 1938, Page 9 (Supplement)

Juvenile Crime —And The Movies

'THE blame for the increase in juvenile X crime should not be laid at the doors of our cinemas (says the “Screen Pictorial”). The danger of unsuitable films being seen by children is usually an indirect one. Few boys, having seen a gangster pielure, wish to go out and hold up their parents, or anyone else, nt the point of a gun. It is the acceptance of false standards of life which such funis encourage, an acceptance which, among adults Is inexcusable, but among children is a natural reaction. In Britain the law, as a general rule, forbids children to act for the screen until they are over 14 years of age. For this reason the studios have been unaffected by the epidemic of young hopefuls which is sweeping Hollywood today. Encouraged by the demand for child actors, and dazzled by the salaries to be won, hundreds of ]>arents are besieging American executives with their offspring. . . . , These children, many with rouged lips and dyed hair, fill the casting offices of Hollywood every day. Precocious of manner and specially coached to please directors, they are becoming a serious problem, not only to the studios, but to child welfare bureaux.

Children and animals have long been known in the profession as the best scene-stealers. 1 So great is the popularity of the child stars today that for a time at least they have stolen the screen itself.