A Short View

"There is a very regrettable tendency, upon the part of some producers, to stage plays in which nudity, obscenity and profanity are paraded. This has invited much criticism. . . .

"Of course, we should be broadminded; and priggery ought to have no place in our attitude toward the stage. We are not, however, called upon to countenance the grossest vulgarity and almost absolute nakedness."

So wrote Mayor Hylan of New York City to his Commissioner of Licenses in regard to unnamed plays. But it was soon learned that one play was What Price Glory? (reviewed in TIME, Sept. 15), a war play; and the objections to the play were contained in a naval intelligence report signed by two navy officers. Extracts from the report:

"It clearly shows that subordinates do not have any respect for superior officers--in every instance, from the Top Sergeant to the Captain and from the Captain to the Brigadier General, this statement is pronounced throughout the show.

"The general public is permitted to believe that the personnel and officers of the U. S. M. C. are subject at all times to debauchery and seducements.

"One scene shows three marines in full service uniform. The opening words are: 'The is some hell of a war'--to which they all agree. One marine delights in talking about how he conquered women all over the world and states that he could take any woman away from his superior officer, adding that he is the sheik of his company. The three marines revel in talking about their actions with women and remark sarcastically regarding the Marine Corps posters which are shown throughout this country.

"All through the show, profanity is very much in evidence. The words 'hell, Jesus, damn,' etc. are used continually. One marine bellows oaths freely; and, upon the entrance of his top sergeant, there is a scene that clearly portrays to the audience that the old service marines are men who think nothing of drink and conquering women. . . .

"A Brigadier General in full uniform of the United States Army enters. The only part missing on the regular uniform is the insignia on the collar. The General issues order to his Chief of Staff, who bellows the orders to another, and so on down the line--showing lack of coordination of system and bringing the United States Army into ridicule.

"The Brigadier General mentions posters from the intelligence division, whereupon Captain Flagg states: 'What the hell are these damned Bible scholars doing now?' "

Lest these objections should seem trivial, Admiral Plunkett, Commandant of the 3rd Naval District, was reported to have said that the play would prevent enlistments; and that, after seeing it, "no mother would allow her son to enter the army or marine life."

The authors of the play are Maxwell Anderson and Laurence Stallings of the staff of The New York World. Stallings--who served in the Marines during the War, lost a leg and won a captaincy and a Croix de Guerre--was reported to have smiled broadly at the report.

It was proposed to stop the play by means of the provision of the Revised U. S. Statutes which permits the wearing of the uniforms of the U. S. service on the stage only if no discredit is brought upon the Service.

Jeremy Collier, Bishop of the English Church in the early 18th Century-- he who helped to purge the vicious stage of the Restoration by his famous Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage--would turn completely over in his grave if he could read the comment of The Churchman (organ of the P. E. Church) on the present incident:

"The play is vulgar and profane; but war is vulgar and profane. It is the vulgarity and profanity that goes inevitably with the organized murder which is war. We are not in favor of increasing the use of profanity on the stage; but, if a playwright is to draw a picture of army life, how else is he to accomplish his end?

"Will any one argue that war is not a corrupter of youth? Its damage to the souls of men is greater than its material damage. And, since war is what it is, the sooner mothers know the truth the sooner war will be abolished."