Hollywood Censored

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

Based on an extensive survey of original studio records, censorship files, and Catholic Legion of Decency archives here published for the first time, Hollywood Censored examines how hundreds of films were censored to promote a conservative political agenda during the 1930s, the golden era of studio production.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.