In September 1915, Frederick Arthur Sparling, proprietor of the Bohemian Picture Theatre, Dublin, prosecuted William Larkin on a charge of offensive and riotous behaviour for protesting in the auditorium during a screening of A Modern Magdalen (US: Life Photo Film, 1915). The protest was part of an ongoing campaign by the Catholic church-based vigilance committees – led by the Dublin Vigilance Committee (DVC) – against certain kinds of imported popular culture, initially targeting newspapers, magazines and books and moving on by 1915 to theatrical shows and films. Larkin played a leading role in the confrontational elements of the campaign, gaining notoriety among theatre and cinema owners as he successfully drew press attention to the DVC’s activities.