Hollywood Censored
Morality Codes, Catholics, and the Movies

Examines how films were censored and edited to promote a conservative political agenda during the 1930s, Hollywood's golden age.

Gregory D. Black (Author)

9780521565929, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 26 January 1996

352 pages, 15 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.3 cm, 0.586 kg

'Well-written account of film censorship.' Heythrop Journal

After a series of sex scandals rocked the film industry in 1922, movie moguls hired Will Hays to clear the image of movies. Hays tried a variety of ways to regulate movies before adopting what became known as the production code. Written in 1930 by a St Louis priest, the code stipulated that movies stress proper behaviour, respect for government, and 'Christian values'. The Catholic Church reinforced these efforts by launching its Legion of Decency in 1934. Intended to force Hays and Hollywood to censor films, the Legion of Decency engineered the appointment of Joseph Breen as head of the Production Code Administration. For the next three decades, Breen, Hays, and the Catholic Legion of Decency virtually controlled the content of all Hollywood films.

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.

Subject Areas: Films, cinema [APF]