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to The History of American Film: Primary Sources
Film
Censorship
During the 1920s, pressure to censor the movies grew. In
1922 alone, 22 state legislatures considered bills to impose
state and local censorship. Hollywood responded by establishing
a trade organization in 1922 known as the Motion Picture Producers
and Distribors of America, with Will H. Hays postmaster general
under President Warren Harding) as president. Hays's called
for "self-regulation" to forestall outside censorship,
and The Don'ts and Be Carefuls, adopted in 1927, and The Production
Code of 1930, represented important steps toward industry self-censorship.
Nevertheless, criticism of the industry mounted, and by 1932,
some 40 religious and educational groups had called for censorship.
Unlike Protestant religious groups, which were fragmented, the
Catholic church was unified in its demand that the industry
recognize its moral responsibilities to the public. The threat
of movie boycotts by the Catholic Legion of Decency led the
industry's trade association in 1934 to establish the Production
Code Administration Office, headed by Joseph Breen, to regulate
films.
The Sins of Hollywood, 1922
To
the Public:
The
sins of Hollywood are facts-Not Fiction!
The stories in this volume are true stories-the people are real
people-
Most of those involved in the events reported herein are today
occupying high places in motion pictures-popular idols-applauded,
lauded and showered with gold by millions of men, women and children-especially
the women and children!
To the boys and girls of this land these mock heroes and heroines
have been pictured and painted, for box office purposes, as the
living symbols of all the virtues-
An
avalanche of propaganda by screen and press has imbued them with
every ennobling trait.
Privately they have lived, and are still living, lives of wild
debauchery.
In more than one case licentiousness and incest have been the
only rungs in the ladders on which they have climbed to fame and
fortune!
Unfaithfully and cruelly indifferent to the worship of the youth
of the land, they have led or are leading such lives as may, any
day, precipitate yet another nation-wide scandal and again shatter
the ideals, the dreams, the castles, the faith of our boys and
girls!
It is for these reasons that the Sins of Hollywood are given to
the public-
That a great medium of national expression may be purified-taken
from the hands of those who have misused it-that the childish
faith of our boys and girls may again be made sacred!
Fully eighty percent of those engaged in motion pictures are high-grade
citizens-self-respecting and respected.
In foolish fear of injuring the industry, Hollywood has permitted
less than one per cent of its population to stain its name.
The facts reported in these stories have long been an open book
to the organized producers-No need to tell them-they knew!
They knew of the horde of creatures of easy morals who have hovered
about the industry and set the standard of price-decided what
good, clean women would have to pay-have to give-in order to
succeed-
They knew of the macqueraux-of the scum that constituted the
camp followers of their great stars. They knew of the wantonness
of their leading women-
They knew about the yachting parties-the wild orgies at road
houses and private homes-
They knew about Vernon and its wild life-Tia Juana and its mad,
drunken revels-
They
knew about the "kept" women-and the "kept"
men-
They knew about the prominent people among them who were living
in illicit relationship-
There was a time at one studio when every star, male and female,
was carrying on an open liaison-The producer could not help knowing
it.
Eight months before the crash that culminated in the [comedian
Fatty] Arbuckle cataclysm they knew the kind of parties Rosoce
was giving-and some of them were glad to participate in them-
They knew conditions-knew about the "hop" and the "dope"-but
they took the stand that it was "none of our business"-
Their business was piling up advance deposits from theater owners
and manipulating the motion picture stock market.
They frowned on all attempts to speak the truth-
Any publication that attempted to reveal the real conditions-to
cleanse the festering sores-was quickly pounced upon as an "enemy
of the industry"-A subsidized trade press helped in this
work!
Any attempt to bring about reform was called "hurting the
industry."
It was the lapses and laxities of the producer that precipitated
the censorship agitation-that led a nauseated nation, determined
the cleanse the Augean stables of the screen, into the dangerous
notion of censorship-almost fatally imperiling two sacred principles
of democracy-freedom of speech and freedom of the press!
They have made "box office" capital of everything-Nothing
has been to vile to exploit—
They created the male vamp-
Nothing was sacred-nothing was personal-if it had publicity
possibilities....
If the screen is to be "cleaned-up," the sores must
be cut open-the pus and corruption removed-This always hurts!
But it is the only known way!
"The
Sins of Hollywood: An Expose of Movie Vice" was
a book written by Ed Roberts, the former editor of Photoplay,
and published in May, 1922 by Hollywood Publishing Company. You
can find the text of the entire book here:
http://www.silent-movies.com/Taylorology/Taylor30.txt
Part of this book, along with many more important documents
from every period, is reprinted in The Movies in Our Midst, edited
by Gerald Mast (University of Chicago Press, 1982).
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"The
Don'ts and Be Carefuls”
Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, 1927
Resolved,
That those things which are included in the following list shall
not appear in pictures produced by the members of this Association,
irrespective of the manny in which they are treated.
1.
Pointed profanity-by either title or lip-this includes the
words "God," "Lord," "Jesus,"
Christ" (unless they be used reverently in connection with
proper religious ceremonies), "hell," "damn,"
"Gawd," and every other profane and vulgar expression
however it may be spelled;
2. Any licentious or suggestive nudity-in factor in silhouette;
and any lecherous or licentious notice thereof by other characters
in the picture;
3. The illegal traffic in drugs;
4. Any interference of sex perversion;
5. White slavery;
6. Miscegenation (sex relationships between the white and black
races);
7. Sex hygiene and venereal diseases;
8. Scenes of actual childbirth-in fact or in silhouette;
9. Children's sex organs;
10. Ridicule of the clergy;
11. Willful offense to any nation, race or creed;
And be it further resolved, That special care be exercised in
the manner in which the following subjects are treated, to the
end that vulgarity and suggestiveness be eliminated and that good
taste may be emphasized:
1.
The use of the flag;
2. International relations (avoiding picturizing in an unfavorable
light another country's religion, history, institutions, prominent
people, and citizenry);
3. Arson;
4. The use of firearms;
5. Theft, robbery, safe-cracking, and dynamiting of trains,
mines, building, etc. (having in mind the effect which a too-detailed
description of these may have upon the moron);
6. Brutality and possible gruesomeness;
7. Techniques of committing murder by whatever method;
8. Methods of smuggling;
9. Third-degree methods;
10. Actual hangings or electrocutions as legal punishment for
crime;
11. Sympathy for criminals;
12. Attitude toward public characters and institutions;
13. Sedition;
14. Apparent cruelty to children and animals;
15. Branding of people or animals;
16. The sale of women, or of a woman selling her virtue;
17. Rape or attempted rape;
18. First-night scenes;
19. Man and woman in bed together;
20. Deliberate seduction of girls;
21. The institution of marriage;
22. Surgical operations;
23. The use of drugs;
24. Titles or scenes having to do with law enforcement or law-enforcing
officers;
25. Excessive or lustful kissing, particularly when one character
or the other is a "heavy."
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THE
MOTION PICTURE PRODUCTION CODE OF 1930
The
Motion Picture Code, a system of industry self-regulation, would
be strictly enforced beginning in 1934, and would continue to
influence Hollywood films into the 1950s.
First
Section
GENERAL
PRINCIPLES
1.
Theatrical motion pictures, that is, pictures intended for the
theatre as distinct from pictures intended for churches, schools,
lecture halls, educational movements, social reform movements,
etc., are primarily to be regarded as Entertainment. Mankind has
always recognized the importance of entertainment and its value
in rebuilding the bodies and souls of human beings.
But it has always recognized that entertainment can be of a character
harmful to the human race, and, in consequence, has clearly distinguished
between:
Entertainment
which tends to improve the race, or, at least, to recreate and
rebuild human beings exhausted with the realities of life; and
Entertainment
which tends to degrade human beings, or to lower their standards
of life and living.
Hence
the moral importance of entertainment is something which has been
universally recognized. It enters intimately into the lives of
men and women and affects them closely; it occupies their minds
and affections during leisure hours, and ultimately touches the
whole of their lives. A man may be judged by his standard of entertainment
as easily as by the standard of his work.
So
correct entertainment raises the whole standard of a nation.
Wrong
entertainment lowers the whole living condition and moral ideals
of a race.
NOTE, for example, the healthy reactions to healthful moral
sports like baseball, golf; the unhealthy reactions to sports
like cockfighting, bullfighting, bearbaiting, etc. Note, too,
the effect on a nation of gladiatorial combats, the obscene
plays of Roman times, etc.
II.
Motion pictures are very important as Art.
Though a new art, possibly a combination art, it has the same
object as the other arts, the presentation of human thoughts,
emotions and experiences, in terms of an appeal to the soul thru
the senses.
Here, as in entertainment:
Art
enters intimately into the lives of human beings.
Art
can be morally good, lifting men to higher levels. This has
been done thru good music, great painting, authentic fiction,
poetry, drama.
Art
can be morally evil in its effects. This is the case clearly
enough with unclean art, indecent books, suggestive drama. The
effect on the lives of men and women is obvious.
NOTE: It has often been argued that art in itself is unmoral,
neither good nor bad. This is perhaps tme of the thing which is
music, painting, poetry, etc. But the thing is the product of
some person's mind, and that mind was either good or bad morally
when it produced the thing. And the thing has its effect upon
those who come into contact with it. In both these ways, as a
product and the cause of definite effects, it has a deep moral
significance and an unmistakable moral quality.
HENCE: The motion pictures which are the most popular of modern
arts for the masses, have their moral quality from the minds which
produce them and from their effects on the moral lives and reactions
of their audiences. This gives them a most important morality.
1)
They reproduce the morality of the men who use the pictures
as a medium for the expression of their ideas and ideals;
2)
They affect the moral standards of those who thru the screen
take in these ideas and ideals. In the case of the motion pictures,
this effect may be particularly emphasized because no art has
so quick and so widespread an appeal to the masses. It has become
in an incredibly short period, the art of the multitudes.
III.
The motion picture has special Moral obligations:
A) Most arts appeal to the mature. This art appeals at once to
every class-mature, immature, developed, undeveloped, law abiding,
criminal. Music has its grades for different classes; so has literature
and drama. This art of the motion picture, combining as it does
the two fundamental appeals of looking at a picture and listening
to a story, at once reaches every class of society.
B) Because of the mobility of a film and the ease of picture distribution,
and because of the possibility of duplicating positives in large
quantities, this art reaches places unpenetrated by other forms
of art.
C) Because of these two facts, it is difficult to produce films
intended for only certain classes of people. The exhibitor's theatres
are for the masses, for the cultivated and the rude, mature and
immature, self restrained and inflammatory, young and old, law
respecting and criminal. Films, unlike books and music, can with
difficulty be confined to certain selected groups.
D) The latitude given to film material cannot, in consequence,
be as wide as the latitude given to book material. In addition:
(a)
A book describes; a film vividly presents.
(b)
A book reaches the mind thru words merely; a film reaches the
eyes and ears thru the reproduction of actual events.
(c)
The reaction of a reader to a book depends largely on the keenless
of the reader; the reaction to a film depends on the vividness
of presentation.
E) This is also true when comparing the film with the newspapers.
Newspapers present by description, films by actual presentation.
Newspapers are after the fact and present things that have taken
place; the film gives the events in the process of enactment and
with apparent reality of life.
F)
Everything possible in a play is not possible in a film.
(a)
Because of the larger audience of the film, and its consequently
mixed character. Psychologically, the larger the audience, the
lower the moral mass resistance to suggestion.
(b)
Because thru light, enlargement of character presentation, scenic
emphasis, etc., the screen story is brought closer to the audience
than the play.
(c)
The enthusiasm for and interest in the film actors and actresses,
developed beyond anything of the sort in history, makes the
audience largely sympathetic toward the characters they portray
and the stories in which they figure. Hence they are more ready
to confuse the actor and character, and they are most receptive
of the emotions and ideals portrayed and presented by their
favorite stars.
G) Small communities, remote from sophistication and from the
hardening process which often takes place in the ethical and moral
standards of larger cities, are easily and readily reached by
any sort of film.
H)
The grandeur of mass meetings, large action, spectacular features,
etc., affects and arouses more intensely the emotional side of
the audience.
IN
GENERAL: The mobility, popularity, accessibility, emotional appeal,
vividness, straight-forward presentation of fact in the films
makes for intimate contact on a larger audience and greater emotional
appeal. Hence the larger moral responsibilities of the motion
pictures.
Second
Section
WORKING
PRINCIPLES
I.
No picture should lower the moral standards of those who see it.
This is done:
(a)
When evil is made to appear attractive, and good is made to
appear unattractive.
(b)
When the sympathy of the audience is thrown on the side of crime,
wrong-doing, evil, sin. The same thing is true of a film that
would throw sympathy against goodness, honor, innocence, purity,
honesty.
NOTE:
Sympathy with a person who sins, is not the same as sympathy with
the sin or crime of which he is guilty. We may feel sorry for
the plight of the murderer or even understand the circumstances
which led him to his crime; we may not feel sympathy with the
wrong which he has done.
The
presentation of evil is often essential for art, or fiction, or
drama. This in itself is not wrong, provided:
(a)
That evil is not presented alluringly. Even if later on the
evil is condemned or punished, it must not be allowed to appear
so attractive that the emotions are drawn to desire or approve
so strongly that later they forget the condemnation and remember
only the apparent joy of the sin.
(b)
That throughout the presentation, evil and good are not confused
and that evil is always recognized clearly as evil.
(c)
That in the end the audience feels that evil is wrong and good
is right.
II.
Law, natural or divine, must not be belittled, ridiculed, nor
must a sentiment be created against it.
A)
The presentation of crintes against the law, human or divine,
is often necessary for the carrying out of the plot. But the
presentation must not throw sympathy with the criminal as against
the law, nor with the crime as against those who punish it.
B)
The courts of the land should not be presented as unjust.
III.
As far as possible, life should not be misrepresented, at least
not in such a way as to place in the mind of youth false values
on life.
NOTE:
This subject is touched just in passing. The attention of the
producers is called, however, to the magnificent possibilities
of the screen for character development, the building of right
ideals, the inculcation in story-form of right principles. Tf
motion pictures consistently held up high types of character,
presented stories that would affect lives for the better, they
could become the greatest natural force for the improvement of
mankind.
PRINCIPLES
OF PLOT
In
accordance with the general principles laid down:
I)
No plot or theme should definitely side with evil and against
good.
2)
Comedies and farces should not make fun of good, innocence,
morality or justice.
3)
No plot should be constructed as to leave the question of right
or wrong in doubt or fogged.
4)
No plot should by its treatment throw the sympathy of the audience
with sin, crime, wrong-doing or evil.
5)
No plot should present evil alluringly.
Serious
Film Drama
I.
As stated in the general principles, sin and evil enter into the
story of human beings, and hence in themselves are dramatic material.
II.
In the use of this material, it must be distinguished between
sin which by its very nature repels and sin which by its very
nature attracts.
(a)
In the first class comes murder, most theft, most legal crimes,
lying, hypocrisy, cruelty, etc.
(b)
In the second class come sex sins, sins and crimes of apparent
heroism, such as banditry, daring thefts, leadership in evil,
organized crime, revenge, etc.
A)
The first class needs little care in handling, as sins and crimes
of this class naturally are unattractive. The audience instinctively
condemns and is repelled. Hence the one objective must be to avoid
the hardening of the audiences, especially of those who are young
and impressionable, to the thought and the fact of crime. People
can become accustomed even to murder, cruelty, brutality and repellent
crimes.
B)
The second class needs real care in handling, as the response
of human natures to their appeal is obvious. This is treated more
fully below.
III.
A careful distinction can be made between films intended for general
distribution and films intended for use in theatres restricted
to a limited audience. Themes and plots quite appropriate for
the latter would be altogether out of place and dangerous in the
former.
NOTE:
In general, the practice of using a general theatre and limiting
the patronage during the showing of a certain film to "adults
only" is not completely satisfactory and is only partially
effective. However, maturer minds may easily understand and accept
without harm subject matter in plots which does younger people
positive harm.
HENCE:
If there should be created a special type of theatre, catering
exclusively to an adult audience, for plays of this character
(plays with problem themes, difficult discussions and maturer
treatment) it would seem to afford an outlet, which does not now
exist, for pictures unsuitable for general distribution but permissible
for exhibitions to a restricted audience.
PLOT
MATERIAL
I)
The triangle that is, the love of a third party by one already
married, needs careful handling, if marriage, the sanctity of
the home, and sex morality are not to be imperiled.
2)
Adultery as a subject should be avoided:
(a) It is never a fit subject for comedy. Thru comedy of this
sort, ridicule is thrown on the essential relationships of home
and family and marriage, an illicit relationships are made to
seem permissible, and either delightful or daring.
(b)
Sometimes adultery must be counted on as material occuring in
serious drama.
In
this case:
(I) It should not appear to be justified;
(2)
It should not be used to weaken respect for marriage;
(3)
It should not be presented as attractive or alluring.
3)
Seduction and rape are difficult subjects and bad material from
the viewpoint of the general audience in the theatre.
(a)
They should never be introduced as subject matter unless absolutely
essential to the plot.
(b)
They should never be treated as comedy.
(c)
Where essential to the plot, they must not be more than suggested.
(d)
Even the struggles preceding rape should not be shown.
(e)
The methods by which seduction, essential to the plot, is attained
should not be explicit or represented in detail where there
is likelihood of arousing wrongful emotions on the part of the
audience.
4)
Scenes of passion are sometimes necessary for the plot. However:
(a)
They should appear only where necessary and not as an added
stimulus to the emotions of the audience.
(b)
When not essential to the plot they should not occur.
(c)
They must not be explicit in action nor vivid in method, e.g.
by handling of the body, by lustful and prolonged kissing, by
evidently lustful embraces, by positions which strongly arouse
passions.
(d)
In general, where essential to the plot, scenes of passion should
not be presented in such a way as to arouse or excite the passions
of the ordinary spectator.
5)
Sexual immorality is sometimes necessary for the plot. It is subject
to the following:
GENERAL
PRINCIPLES-regarding plots dealing with sex, passion, and incidents
relating to them: All legislators have recognized clearly that
there are in normal human beings emotions which react naturally
and spontaneously to the presentation of certain definite manifestations
of sex and passion.
(a)
The presentation of scenes, episodes, plots, etc., which are
deliberately meant to excite these manifestations on the part
of the audience is always wrong, is subversive to the interest
of society, and a peril to the human race.
(b)
Sex and passion exist and consequently must sometimes enter
into the stories which deal with human beings.
(I)
Pure love, the love of a man for a woman permitted by the law
of God and man, is the rightful subject of plots. The passion
arising from this love is not the subject for plots.
(2)
Impure love the love of man and woman forbidden by human and divine
law, must be presented in such a way that:
a)
It is clearly known by the audience to be wrong;
b)
Its presentation does not excite sexual reactions, mental or
physical, in an ordinary audience;
c)
It is not treated as matter for comedy.
HENCE:
Even within the limits of pure love certain facts have been universally
regarded by lawmakers as outside the limits of safe presentation.
These are the manifestations of passion and the sacred intimacies
of private life:
(I)
Either before marriage in the courtship of decent people;
(2)
Or after marriage, as is perfectly clear.
In the case of pure love, the difficulty is not so much about
what details are permitted for presentation. This is perfectly
clear in most cases. The difficulty concerns itself with the
tact, delicacy, and general regard for propriety manifested
in their presentation.
But
in the case of impure love the love which society has always regarded
as wrong and which has been banned by divine law, the following
are important:
(I)
It must not be the subject of comedy or farce or treated as
the material for laughter;
(2)
It must not be presented as attractive and beautiful;
(3)
It must not be presented in such a way as to arouse passion
or morbid curiosity on the part of the audience;
(4)
It must not be made to seem right and permissible;
(5)
In general, it must not be detailed in method or manner.
(6)
The presentation of murder is often necessary for the carrying
out of the plot. However:
(a)
Frequent presentation of murder tends to lessen regard for
the sacredness of life.
(b)
Brutal killings should not be presented in detail.
(c)
Killings for revenge should not be justified, i.e., the hero
should not take justice into his own hands in such a way as
to make his killing seem justified. This does not refer to
killings in self-defense.
(d) Dueling should not be presented as right or just.
(7)
Crimes against the law naturally occur in the course of film
stories.
However:
(a) Criminals should not be made heroes, even if they are
historical criminals.
(b)
Law and justice must not by the treatment they receive from
criminals be made to seem wrong or ridiculous.
(c)
Methods of committing crime, e.g., burglary, should not be
so explicit as to teach the audience how crime can be committed;
that is, the film should not serve as a possible school in
crime methods for those who seeing the methods might use them.
(d)
Crime need not always be punished as long as the audience
is made to know that it is wrong.
DETAILS
OF PLOT, EPISODE, AND TREATMENT
Vulgarity
Vulgarity
may be carefully distinguished from obscenity. Vulgarity is the
treatment of low, disgusting, unpleasant subjects which decent
society considers outlawed from normal conversation.
Vulgarity
in the motion pictures is limited in precisely the same way as
in decent groups of men and women by the dictates of good taste
and civilized usage, and by the effect of shock, scandal, and
harm on those coming in contact with this vulgarity.
(I)
Oaths should never be used as a comedy element. Where required
by the plot, the less offensive oaths may be permitted.
(2)
Vulgar expressions come under the same treatment as vulgarity
in general. Where women and children are to see the film, vulgar
expressions (and oaths) should be cut to the absolute essentials
required by the situation.
(3)
The name of Jesus Christ should never be used except in reverence.
Obscenity
Obscenity
is concerned with immorality, but has the additional connotation
of beillg common, vulgar and coarse.
(I)
Obscenity in fact , that is, in spoken word, gesture, episode,
plot, is against divine and human law, and hence altogether
outside the range of subject matter or treatment.
(2)
Obscenity should not be suggested by gesture, manner, etc.
(3)
An obscene reference, even if it is expected to be understandable
to only the more sophisticated part of the audience, should
not be introduced.
(4)
Obscene language is treated as all obscenity.
Costume
GENERAL
PRINCIPLES:
(I)
The effect of nudity or semi-nudity upon the normal man or woman,
and much more upon the young person, has been honestly recognized
by all lawmakers and moralists.
(2)
Hence the fact that the nude or semi-nude body may be beautiful
does not make its use in the films moral. For in addition to
its beauty, the effects of the nude or semi-nude body on the
normal individual must be taken into consideration.
(3)
Nudity or semi-nudity used simply to put a "punch"
into a picture comes under the head of immoral actions as treated
above. It is immoral in its effect upon the average audience.
(4)
Nudity or semi-nudity is sometimes apparently necessary for
the plot. Nudity is never permitted. Semi-nudity may be permitted
under conditions.
PARTICULAR
PRINCIPLES:
(I)
The more intimate parts of the human body are male and female
organs and the breasts of a woman.
(a)
They should never be uncovered.
(b)
They should not be covered with transparent ortranslucent
material.
(c)
They should not be clearly and umistakably outlined by the
garment.
(2)
The less intimate parts of the body the legs, arms, shoulders
and back, are less certain of causing reactiolls on the part
of the audience.
Hence:
(a) Exposure necessary for the plot or action is permitted.
(b)
Exposure for the sake of exposure or the "punch"
is wrong.
(c)
Scenes of undressing should be avoided. When necessary for
the plot, they should be kept within the limits of decency.
When not necessary for the plot, they are to be avoided, as
their effect on the ordinary spectator is harmful.
(d)
The manner or treatment of exposure should not be suggestive
or indecent.
(e)
The following is important in connection with dancing costumes:
I.
Dancing costumes cut to permit grace or freedom of movement,
provided they remain within the limits of decency indicated
are permissible.
2.
Dancing costumes cut to permit indecent actions or movements
or to make possible during the dance indecent exposure,
are wrong, especially when permitting:
a)
Movements of the breasts;
b)
Movements or sexual suggestions of the intimate parts
of the body;
c)
Suggestion of nudity.
Dancing
(I)
Dancing in general is recognized as an art and a beautiful form
of expressing human emotion.
(2)
Obscene dances are those:
(a)
Which suggest or represent sexual actions, whether performed
solo or with two or more;
(b)
Which are designed to excite an audience, to arouse passions,
or to cause physical excitement.
HENCE:
Dances of the type known as "Kooch," or "Can-Can,"
since they violate decency in these two ways, are wrong. Dances
with movements of the breasts, excessive body movement while the
feet remain stationary, the so-called "belly dances"-these
dances are immoral, obscene, and hence altogether wrong.
Locations
Certain
places are so closely and thoroughly associated with sexual life
or with sexual sin that their use must be carefully limited.
(I)
Brothels and houses of ill-fame no matter of what country, are
not proper locations for drama. They suggest to the average
person at once sex sin, or they excite an unwholesome and morbid
curiosity in the minds of youth.
IN GENERAL: They are dangerous and bad dramatic locations.
(2)
Bedrooms. In themselves they are perfectly innocent. Their suggestion
may be kept innocent. However, under certain situations they
are bad dramatic locations.
(a)
Their use in a comedy or farce (on the principle of the so
called bedroom farce) is wrong, because they suggest sex laxity
and obscenity.
(b)
In serious drama, their use should, where sex is suggested,
be confined to absolute essentials, in accordance with the
principles laid down above.
Religion
(I)
No film or episode in a film should be allowed to throw ridicule
on any religious faith honestly maintained.
(2)
Ministers of religion in their characters of ministers should
not be used in comedy, as villains, or as unpleasant persons.
NOTE:
The reason for this is not that there are not such ministers
of religion, but because the attitude toward them tends to be
an attitude toward religion in general. Religion is lowered
in the minds of the audience because it lowers their respect
for the ministers.
(3)
Ceremonies of any definite religion should be supervised by
someone thoroughly conversant with that religion.
PARTICULAR
APPLICATIONS
1.
Crimes against the law:
These shall never be presented in such a way as to throw sympathy
with the crime as against law and justice or to inspire others
with a desire for imitation:
The
treatment of crimes against the law must not:
a.
Teach methods of crime.
b.
Inspire potential criminals with a desire for imitation.
c.
Make criminals seem heroic and justified.
I.
MURDER
a.
The technique of murder must be presented in a way that will
not inspire imitation.
b.
Brutal killings are not to be presented in detail.
c.
Revenge in modern times shall not be justified. In lands and
ages of less developed civilization and moral principles,
revenge may sometimes be presented. This would be the case
especially in places where no law exists to cover the crime
because of which revenge is committed.
2.
METHODS OF CRIME shall not be explicitly presented.
a.
Theft robbery safecracking and dynamiting of trains, mines,
buildings,etc., should not be detailed in method.
b.
Arson must be subject to the same safeguards.
c.
The use of firearms should be restricted to essentials.
d.
Methods of smuggling slould not be presented.
3.
ILLEGAL DRUG TRAFFIC must never be presented.
Because
of its evil consequences, the drug traffic should never be presented
in any form. The existence of the trade should not be brought
to the attention of audiences.
4.
THE USE OF LIQUOR in American life, when not required by the plot
or for proper characterization, should not be shown.
The
use of liquor should never be excessively presented even in picturing
countries where its use is legal. In scenes from American life,
the necessities of plot and proper characterization alone justify
its use. And in this case, it should be shown with moderation.
II.
Sex
The
sanctity of the institution of marriage and the home shall be
upheld. Pictures shall not infer that low forms of sex relationship
are the accepted or common thing.
1.
ADULTERY, sometimes necessary plot material, must not
be explicitly treated, or justified, or presented attractively.
Out of regard for the sanctity of marriage and the home, the triangle
that is, the love of a third party for one already married, needs
careful handling. The treatment should not throw sympathy against
marriage as an institution.
2.
SCENES OF PASSION must be treated with an honest acknowledgment
of human nature and its normal reactions. Many scenes cannot be
presented without arousing dangerous emotions on the part of the
immature, the young or the criminal classes.
a.
They should not be introduced when not essential to the plot.
b.
Excessive and lustful kissing, lustful embraces, suggestive
postures and gestures, are not to be shown.
c.
In general, passion should be so treated that these scenes do
not stimulate the lower and baser element.
3.
SEDUCTION OR RAPE
a.
They should never be more than suggested, and only when essential
for the plot, and even then never shown by explicit method.
b.
They are never the proper subject for comedy.
4.
SEX PERVERSlON or any inference to it is forbidden.
5.
WHITE SLAVERY shall not be treated.
6.
MISCEGENATION (sex relationship between the white and
black races) is forbidden.
7.
SEX HYGIENE AND VENEREAL DISEASES are not subjects for
motion pictures.
8.
SCENES OF ACTUAL CHILDBIRTH, in fact or in silhouette,
are never to be presented.
9.
CHILDREN'S SEX ORGANS are never to be exposed.
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