Censorship in Films Trivia Quiz

Answer: Films are not protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution

With this decision the film industry saw the writing on the wall. If films, as an art form, were not protected by free speech provisions, then the government had the power to make standards. The industry felt the best way to thwart this was to have an internal film review.

But it was not until six years later in 1921 that the Motion Picture Commission was created. Its powers were limited to reviewing the scripts of planned films, not the completed films.

Answer: "Films of unusual artistic merit may be exempted."

Although sounding simple and straight-forward on the surface, implementation of the code was complex. Film-makers were often at a loss to understand what to do and what not to do. If a woman crossed her legs in a scene, it was ok, but if she crossed them slowly with an alluring look in her eye, it probably was not, or at least borderline. Here are some of the rules film-makers were required to follow:

"No nudity and suggestive dances.
Religion must be respected.
Only alcohol and drug use in context.
Criminals must be punished.
No depictions of venereal disease, childbirth, prostitution, miscegenation, homosexuality; no swear words. In addition there must respect for family life and country."

Answer: He was stern and mostly unrelenting in enforcing the Code.

By all accounts, Breen lived up to the Code. Here is an example. In the 1933 film "Baby Face" there was a scene in which Barbara Stanwyck asked advice of an old man about going to the city. Here is the orginal dialogue:

"A woman, young, beautiful like you, can get anything she wants in the world. Because you have power over men. But you must use men, not let them use you. You must be a master, not a slave. Look here - Nietzsche says, "All life, no matter how we idealize it, is nothing more nor less than exploitation." That's what I'm telling you. Exploit yourself. Go to some big city where you will find opportunities! Use men! Be strong! Defiant! Use men to get the things you want!"

Breen had it changed to:

"A woman, young, beautiful like you, can get anything she wants in the world. But there is a right way and a wrong way. Remember, the price of the wrong way is too great. Go to some big city where you will find opportunities! Don't let people mislead you. You must be a master, not a slave. Be clean, be strong, defiant, and you will be a success."

Thus, the subtleties of the Code.

Answer: Errol Flynn caught with two underage girls, Betty Hansen and Peggy Satterlee, who accused him of statutory rape.

The Flynn incident occurred in 1942. But the impact of these scandals was that people became upset at the morals of those who made pictures. So, who would send their son or daughter to a Fatty Arbuckle movie? Thus, the spontaneous boycotting of Hollywood stars was in effect a delimiting censorship.

Answer: Pre-code genre

The Code was introduced in 1930, but it wasn't until 1934 that its provisions were enforced. Films made during this time portrayed criminals as heroes, and women as loose and often promiscuous. There was also the occasional gay character, miscegenation, illegal drug use, infidelity, abortion, violence, as well as women in their undergarments.

Hays and Breen zeroed in on those. So these films stood alone at a special time. Truly adult films were hard to come by over the next 30 years.

Answer: The Kiss

"The Kiss" (1896) was considered offensive. As the title suggests, it contained a kiss that lasted nearly a minute.

"Birth of a Nation" (1915) was banned in many northern cities as it seemed to idolize the southerners who lost the American Civil War. Also, the film was steeped in racism; even black characters were played by whites in black face. The film became a recruiting weapon for the Ku Klux Klan.

"Night Riders" (1917), one of the first westerns, drew anger for its portrayal of violence.

"Know Your Husband" (1921) dealt with venereal disease.

"Dorlita in the Passion Dance" (1884) also had issues, but was not released commercially as it was an exploitation film shown at side-shows or carnival tents.

Answer: Howard Hughes

Hughes claimed both producer and director credit but facts indicate that Howard Hawks did most of the directing but was uncredited. The film was released twice for very short times but was withdrawn under pressure from the Hays Office. Hughes welcomed the banning of his film as it built a stream-roller of publicity. Hughes, capitalizing on his engineering skills, designed a 'push-up' bra for Russell to wear, but she claimed never to have used it and that Hughes didn't notice.

Answer: It took a too lighthearted look at sex and seduction.

Today, a modest sitcom on television is racier than this film. The Breen Office reputedly did not like the words 'virgin', 'mistress', and 'pregnant' in the script, although these words were used in the Broadway production. Preminger and Herbert disagreed with its decision and finished the film without further changes. This weakened the Breen Office's powers.

Answer: First film with an 'X' rating to win Best Picture.

Upon initial release, "Midnight Cowboy" received a 'Restricted' (R) rating. After some discussion the producers were told to accept an 'X' rating. An 'X' rating generally meant that the film would be relegated to art houses or porno theaters and it was a death notice for films produced for general distribution.

There was special concern about the homosexual themes and its effect on youth. However, the voters of the Academy felt the 'X' was too harsh a rating and sent this message. Later the 'X' was restored to an 'R', which it retains today.

The definition of 'R' was revised to include such films as "Midnight Cowboy".

Answer: The censored clips were spliced together and shown.

The youth returned to his village upon the death of the projectionist and found that Cinema Paradiso theater was scheduled to be torn down to make room for a parking lot. He found that the projectionist had spliced together all the scenes the priest deleted and created a montage of kissing and sexual innuendo scenes.