Juvenile delinquency (1955)

224 JUVENILE DELINQUENCY liowever, are but a small fi-action of the millions of young people who should have this inspiring experience. With this in mind, Columbia Pictures made a series of pictures called the Washington Parade with separate subjects on the Capitol, the White House, the Treasury, the Library of Congress, the FBI, the social-security program, and others. These were made with the close collaboration and advice of the Government departments, and the pictures were distributed in theaters throughout the country. Each subject reached many uiillions of people. Following theatrical distribution, they were then made available to tne schools of the United States, with no profit to the company, and are still being seen and enjoyed by the many who don't have the opportunity to visit Washing- ton in person. (h) Epics of American history. —For a number of years. Paramount Pictures has dramatized expansion movements which Jiave made the United States the great Nation it is. The list is too large to detail here in its entirety, but included are such motion pictures as The Plainsman, Union Pacific, Maid of Salem, Wells Fargo, and High, Wide and Handsome, which is the story of the discovery and development of oil. (c) This Is America series. —RKO Radio Pictures has produced and distrib- uted a series which interprets various pliases of American life and thinking. The series is called This Is America. In this way, the movements and mores of America have been interpreted not only to our own people, but in showing the rest of the world some of the things that make America great. (d) The Warner Patriotic series. —Another project is the series of 12 patriotic short subjects produced by Warner Bros, as a tribute by its president, Mr. Harry M. Warner, to what he called "the only country in the world where I could have realized my acbievements." These short subjects, widely known both because of their theatrical and non- theatrical use, dramatize the contributions of our Founding Fathers and clarify the l)asic principles of freedom on which our Republic was founded and through which it has developed. Some of the titles of these short subjects are The Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights, Give Me Liberty, The Romance of Louisiana, Man Without a Country, The Monroe Doctrine. Currently, these pictures form basic curriculum materials in thousands of American history classes in the high schools of the United States. Biographies of great men (a) The Passing Parade series. —Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has produced a Passing Parade series which gives recognition through biographical dramatiza- tion of more than 30 outstanding heroes of peace. About half of these are Americans. (&) Dramatized biographies. —Twentieth Century-Fox has produced drama- tized biographies of some of America's great men—Alexander Graham Bell, Brigham Young, Woodrow AVilson, Rev. Peter Marshall, to name only a few. International understanding — The world and its peoples Universal Pictures has financed the sending of five camera crews into all parts of the world to film motion picture studies of how people live. These 36 films will contribute to better world understanding, and we in America will know our world neighbors better because of them. This summary of some of the activities of our member companies and the association in the public service field reflects, I think, the basic policy that has guided our industry for many years. We are conscious always of our responsibility as producers and distributors of a medium which has, perhaps, greater worldwide appeal than any other thing made in America. And in producing and marketing our pictures we are conscious, too. of the likes and dislikes of the more than 2.50 million people who each week all over the world are our customers. The American motion picture industry, the only free, unsubsidized motion picture industry in the world, would shrivel away if it did not keep up with the changing times, if it did not produce what the overwhelming majority of the people want and like. This brings into sharp focus the constantly changing human behavior pattern, the plain simple fact that customs, social views, and ideas have undergone substantial shifts in 20 years. These are facts which we in our industry must deal with in our day-to-day operations. What I am talking about is the moral