Don’t know about you, but whenever some group seeks to censor, ban or just plain gripe about a movie, that only makes me want to see it more, even if my interest beforehand was nil. After all, this is America, isn’t it? Land of the free, right?
Film historian Stephen Tropiano chronicles virtually every right-wing and left-wing hissy fit in motion-picture history in the informative OBSCENE, INDECENT, IMMORAL, AND OFFENSIVE: 100+ YEARS OF CENSORED, BANNED, AND CONTROVERSIAL FILMS. I am thoroughly embarrassed that his introduction deals with the 1997 ruckus over THE TIN DRUM, because it happened right here in my town of Oklahoma City, yet that instance best encapsulates the book’s entire subject.
Hard to believe people can still get so worked up over movies in this enlightened day and age, but it’s equally hard to believe how overly sensitive we were in cinema’s infancy, when virtually everything — even the suggestion of, even portrayal offscreen — was a big no-no. Tropiano’s first chapter covers this early history. Even the brouhaha over Jane Russell’s big (but clothed) bosoms in THE OUTLAW seems entirely unmerited by today’s standards.
Then it’s on to chapters organized by category of offense: profanity, violence, sex and sacrilege. Each is comprised of brief essays — as short as a paragraph, as long as several pages — devoted to a particular title’s surrounding dispute. While all are informative and well-researched, your enjoyment will increase with your interest in one vice or another. The occasional list is welcome, including “Twelve Memorable Sexually Charged Moments” to the forbidden words established by the 1939 amendment to the Motion Picture Production Code (“fanny,” “hold your hat,” “nerts” — all verboten).
Despite nearly 100 pages of appendices and notes in the back, this book isn’t to be associated with a dry, academic tome. Anyone will a serious jones for film history — especially of the tawdry and torrid variety — will find it fascinating, even if you’re already familiar with the cases it covers. —Rod Lott
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I almost bought this the other day, but didn’t because I assumed it was going to be dryly academic. I’ll have to give it another look.