When movies burst onto the cultural scene at the turn of the twentieth century, they created what sociologists call a "moral panic." Unrestrained by the usual community filters like clergy and family, movies seemed to moral guardians like legitimized voyeurism. Such license to produce shocking images demanded some sort of control, they said. And so, almost as soon as they arrived, movies were controlled, first by city leaders, then by state governments, and finally by the moviemakers themselves.
And just as soon as censors went to work on movies, distributors began to challenge their authority. The only way to do that was through the courts. They started in state and local courts, advancing to the US Supreme Court in 1915 and seven times after 1952. Here is their story:
And just as soon as censors went to work on movies, distributors began to challenge their authority. The only way to do that was through the courts. They started in state and local courts, advancing to the US Supreme Court in 1915 and seven times after 1952. Here is their story:
Freedom of the Screen tells the story of the state and local censors as well as the independent distributors who fought back against governmental film censorship, expanding the freedoms of the First Amendment.
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The Miracle Case, co-authored with cultural historian Ray Haberski, details the story of one of the most intrepid of these distributors, Joseph Burstyn, as he took on the film censors of New York State, the Archdiocese of New York, and the Supreme Court of the United States in his search for film freedom.
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To learn more:
Click on the navigation menu above to learn more about the movie censors--both the governmental censors and Hollywood's own controllers--and the distributors who challenged them. To begin, click on The State Censors and the Movies or the button below.
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The New York State appellate courtroom where most of the film censorship challenges originated. This courtroom, shown here in the 1950s, was restored in 2007. It is now the Albany County Courthouse.
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