Indecency

In 1937 a roly-poly, rubicund Anglican vicar named R. Anderson Jardine felt an urgent spiritual call. In defiance of the Archbishop of Canterbury he married the Duke of Windsor and Mrs. Wallis Warfield. Later he turned up in Hollywood, earned a living by marrying romantic couples who wanted to be wed by the man who had married the Duke and Wally.

Six months ago Rev. R. Anderson Jardine had another call. This time it was up to him to save the U. S. from salacious magazines and other vile literature. He started to write a book -- Wake Up Amer ica to Indecency. A friend thought it was just the thing for a movie. Four anonymous backers put up $100,000 for the production. A script was prepared, and the title stripped down to plain Indecency.

Indecency's plot is rather simple, though obviously not everybody would have thought of it. Villain is a publisher of filthy literature. Hero is Crusader Britton (Rev. R. Anderson Jardine). The publisher is in love with 1) a good girl; 2) a bad girl. The bad girl has a child by the publisher just as he is about to marry the good girl at a swanky church wedding.

Down the church aisle strides Crusader Britton, dragging the bad girl. She tells all. The good girl realizes what a viper the publisher is. The bad girl marries him anyhow -- to give her child a name. The fade-out shows Crusader Britton pushing away a montage of salacious magazines.

Such a movie, thought Preacher Jardine, required a new type of heroine to play the good girl -- a Miss Spiritual America. Said he: "First there was the It Girl, then the Glamor Girl, then the Oomph Girl, and now the Spiritual Girl." Preacher Jardine set out to find the spiritual girl.

Soon he was finding spirituality in Phoenix, El Paso, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami. Nothing like it had been seen since the search for Scarlett O'Hara. Miss Spirituals "must have a spiritual look," must be between 18 and 22, must not smoke or drink, must go to church regularly. In addition, they must have a certain zip. Says Preacher Jardine: "I want to de-oomph the Oomph Girl."

Last fortnight de-oomphing had got as far as Washington, D. C. For two days the vicar looked over dozens of spiritual girls. At last he picked Ellen Burton, 19, big-eyed and brunette, to be Miss Spiritual Washington. True, the winner came from Alexandria, Va., eight miles across the Potomac. But she had spirituality.

Said the vicar's cameraman: "There is sorrow in her countenance. It lends her a spiritual look."

Each of the municipal Miss Spirituals is promised a part in Indecency. One among them will be chosen Miss Spiritual America, and she will be the picture's star. Last week it was still too early to guess which Miss Spiritual would be the heroine of Indecency, but there were indications that Preacher Jardine favored Miss Spiritual Miami. Said one commentator after looking at her photograph: "Quite a babe!"

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