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THE TRAIL OF THE TENDERLOIN.Under the above caption the Success Magazine has begun a series of articles exposing a class of entertainments that have sprung up in the theatres, vaudeville houses and moving picture shows. Emanating from the show houses in New York City the writer foresees how from 4‘The Great White Way” it leads straight into every town that has a theatre or vaudeville house. Among other things the writercB4says:“What does this mean? It means that a trivial, pleasure-loving, somewhat hectic class of men and women, who make up so large a part of the theatrical audiences on Broadway, New York, are imposing their tastes, their standards, their vulgarity, upon the theatregoers of America.“It means more than this. It means that today, as a result of the dominance of New York taste over the American stage, the tyrannical dominance of a group of New York theatrical managers over the the- ^ atres of the entire country, an unprecedented wave of licentiousness n( in theatrical entertainment has arisen and is moving slimily out from pi the Tenderloin, into the real United States. Vaudeville is already *n'ja undated. Musical comedy has in the past two or three years sunk in|C( many cases to the level of back-alley Parisian indecency, the dramatic rlt; stage itself has felt the influence and let down the gates to farces of the rankest suggestiveness. j h“It is time to call a halt. |a“Every time a licentious play prospers while a worthy drama is ne-j glected next door, the path is made much the harder for the writer of worthy drama ; dramatic art is forced down one step toward the mire.; * Every time you purchase a ticket to a Ziegfeld show you are helping1 in the work of debasement.“Perhaps you are a little skeptical. Perhaps you are even a trifle |c annoyed by the vehemence of all this—this tal kof ‘poison’ and ‘in-;tldecency’ and lurking danger. You don’t go to such shows. Your ^pleasant suburb seems quite as pleasant as ever, quite as moral. t“No, my dear sir or madam, you don’t go to such shows. But are f; you sure your son doesn’t? And be very sure that if your son wouldjc not do such a thing, other people’s sons may not be so well restrained. Is it not ‘poison’ to the adolescent mind when helf-naked women make! suggestive gestures, in the glare of the footlights, directly in his face? s Is It not ‘poison’ when he listens to gross dialogue and indecent songs t spoken and sung that they may be laughed at, when he hears one thou- * sand men and women around him laughing at this indecency, thus \ cry v justly seeming to him to give it their sanction and approval? Is it not 1 ‘poison’ when scores and scores of children who, poor things, are taken. ^ weekly to ‘refined’ vaudeville because our stage provides no more suit- p able entertainment, for them, are permitted to see naked women on th sta(re are thus taught, that modesty is not, after all, a virtue. Is 0 this not preparing them in a few years for the more ready acceptance f in the ‘legitimate’ theatre of the doctrine, already prevalent there, t that chastity is not a virtue, either? Is it not ‘poison’ when nightlv v thousands of men and women gather in this or that theatre solely for the purpose (secret or avowed) of finding pleasure in appeals to their lowest instincts? The Trail of the Tenderloin could be most quickly * obliterated bv opening up competition through the country, giving bet- ^ ter plays a better chance. But until that opportunity for competition r arrives, the work has got to be done solely by the public. The country T has got to make the Tenderloin managers understand that it doesn twant their vulgarity.”Be it said to the credit of the local theatre managers that the playsi and pictures presented have been scrupulously free from taint a fact.ito be appreciated. » 'The theatre, as an institution, is one of great influence, either foih good or evil As a factor in education, it might and should be a most important one. It would seem that it is up to the better class of peo- i( pie to demand that it be kept from the taint of immorality._ ,
Newspaper Details
Wenatchee Daily World
Wenatchee, Washington, US
Tue, Apr 06, 1909
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 27 Oct 2024
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