Hollywood Censored: Morality Codes, Catholics, and the Movies / Edition 1

by Gregory D. Black

Overview

In response to a series of sex scandals that rocked the movie industry in the early 1920s, the Production Code Administration and the Catholic Legion of Decency implemented a code stipulating that movies stress proper behavior, respect for government, and "Christian values." Based on an extensive survey of original studio records, censorship files, and the Catholic Legion of Decency archives (whose contents are published here for the first time), Hollywood Censored examines how hundreds of films were expurgated to promote a conservative political agenda during the 1930s. By taking an innovative view of how movies were made, and the conditions that made them, Hollywood Censored brings together such chapters as "Movies and Modern Literature," "Beer, Blood and Politics," and "Film Politics and Industry Policy" to form a rare look at America's most famous industry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521565929
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	01/26/1996
Series:	Cambridge Studies in the History of Mass Communication
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	1,149,019
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.91(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. Restricting entertainment: the movies censored; 2. The Hays office and a moral code for the movies; 3. Sex, sex and more sex; 4. Movies and modern literature; 5. Beer, blood and politics; 6. Legions march on Hollywood; 7. Sex with a dash of moral compensation; 8. Film politics and industry policy; 9. Conclusion; Appendices; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Several books about that phase of movie censorship dealing with the Motion Picture Production Code and the Catholic Legion of Decency have been published recently. Hollywood Censored can be counted among the better ones because it is extensively researched and maintains a nice balance between the serious, the ironic and the amusing aspects. Also, it publishes a lot of previous buried material from the Legion archives." George Turner, American Cinematographer

"His mastery of the voluminious primary sources ensures a thorough description with no significant gaps." James M. Skinner, American Historical Review

From the Publisher