Juvenile delinquency (1955)

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 223 There are, of course, other programs and projects in which our industry through the association has played an important part. More than liO years ago the Committee on Social Values in Motion Pictures came to the motion picture industry for help in the development of a series of character education subjects. The committee was headed by Dr. Howard M. Lo Sourd. then dean of Boston University, and included criminologists like Dr. Miriam Van Waters of Massachusetts, and Dr. Phyllis Blanchard of Phila- delphia. Our member companies were glad to help and a series of films was made by excerpting footage from feature films. Vv'e paid the coPt. The films were given free distribution to schools throughout the country, and were used to discuss behavior problems with elementary and high school groups. It was discovered that the students were willing to discuss frankly the conduct situa- tions which were thrown on the screen even though they might not have been willing to discuss similar situations present in their own lives. Subsequently, this series of films was transferred to a larger group known as the Commission of Human Relations of which Dr. Alice V. Keliher, now pro- fes.sor of education at New York University, was the directin.g head. The film series was expanded to 5.5 subjects, again with our aid and without cost. Thche pictures are still in distribution and use. Another worthwhile project was developed at the request of the National Council of Teachers of English. This group felt there would be decided ad- vantage in having student study guides made on about 100 motion pictures based on such classics of literature as David Copperfield, Treasure Island, Les Miserables, and others. The National Council of Teachers of English, through a specially appointed conimittee, authored the study guides, and each member conjpany which had produced the classic prepared research information and other data, and finaiiced the printing of the guides. _ Sfcese were then dis- trli iited to \tH\\\ high schools through the theaters. In 188G, the public libraries wanted materials which would stimulate the reading of books from u'hieh motion pictures had been made, and requested research display charts to be placed in public library lobbies. The first such exhibit, developed experimentally, was on Rvmieu and Juliet. This activity A\as carried on with the cooperation of the American Library Association, and at its peak more than 2,600 libraries were using these materials. Eight years ago, the Children's Film Library Committee requested the coopera- tion of the industry in selecting subjects for juvenile entertainment. These films would be used in special children's matinees on Saturday mornings in theaters throughout the country. Snme 53 pictures vrere selected, and the pro- ducing companies had sufficient numbers of prints laade so that they would be promptly and easily available to theaters wherever interested community groups sponsored the project. Nearly 5,000 theaters have participated in these weekly programs. Another cooperative project with the American Library Association is the motion picture industry's participation in their American heritage pro.gram. This is a program in which public libraries throughout the Nation show an ap- propriate patriotic or historical film as the basis for a film forum in which are discus.sed the basic elements of the American her'tage. One of the most valuable programs is the production by all of our member companies, without regard to their general box-office appeal, of films of sig- nificant constructive value to America's young people. I would like to list a few. Crime prevention — Crime Does Not Pay series Beginning more than 15 years ago, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced a series of diamatized incidents proving that crime doesn't pay. Some of these inci- dents relate to serious crimes like arson, armed robb>ery, and murder; some have to do with rar-keteering which milks the public, such as dishonest loan agencies, dishonest employment asrencies, and dishonest charity soliciations, and some deal with such civilian practices as smugicling. These pictures have had verv wide distribution in the theaters throughout the years. The crime prevention bureaus of several States have availed themselves of these pictures on ir.-mili'meter film for use in juvenile courts and elsewhere after the theatrical distribution has been completed. Citizenship and patriotism (a) The Washi>wton Pnrade nrries. —Those of us who live in Washington realize how many thousands of high school students come to Washington to see the Nation's Capital and the shrines which are associated with it. These,