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.
Examines how films were censored and edited to promote a conservative political agenda during the 1930s, Hollywood's golden age.Reviews'Well-written account of film censorship.' Heythrop Journal
Book InformationISBN 9780521565929
Author Gregory D. BlackFormat Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint Cambridge University PressPublisher Cambridge University Press
Series Cambridge Studies in the History of Mass CommunicationWeight(grams) 586g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 23mm