The Cross and the Cinema: The Legion of Decency and the National Catholic Office for Motion Pictures, 1933-1970

by James M. Skinner

Overview

Skinner reveals how the Roman Catholic Church, through its agency, the National Legion of Decency, dominated the American film censorship scene in tandem with the Production Code Administration. In its heyday in the 1930s and 40s, the Legion claimed a membership of over eleven million Americans—about one moviegoer in twelve—and brought movie moguls such as David O. Selznick and Howard Hughes to their knees in determined campaigns to bar what it deemed unsuitable entertainment. Some of the most controversial titles in the annals of movie censorship, including The Outlaw, Duel in the Sun, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and The Pawnbroker, are featured as targets of clerical wrath in this study which covers four decades of film history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275941932
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/28/1993
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

JAMES M. SKINNER, Professor of History and Film at Brandon University in Manitoba for twenty-six years, has contributed several articles on film censorship to jourbanals in Canada and the U.S.A. He was exposed to the control of film content in his position as vice-chairman of the Manitoba Film Classification Board. Dr. Skinner was also director of the Brandon Film Festival for twenty-two years. He is the author of France and Panama: The Unknown Years, 1894-1908. He is presently sessional lecturer in History and Film at the University of Victoria, British Columbia.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
American Film Censorship to 1933
The Social Setting for Control
The Formation of the Legion of Decency
Early Days
Heyday and Hegemony
Cracks in the System
Goodbye Legion, Welcome NCOMP
Decline
Conclusion
Appendixes
Select Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Skinner (history and film, U. of Vancouver, BC) reveals how the Roman Catholic Church, through its agency, the National Legion of Decency and in tandem with the Production Code Administration, played a pivotal role in dictating the content of American motion pictures for nearly three decades. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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