LIST 68

16 Movies Banned in the U.S.

1

Dolorita in the Passion Dance (1894)

Showing that film censorship is almost as old as film itself, this titillating little number was excommunicated from New Jersey after being shown in peepshows on the Atlantic City Boardwalk. The three-volume reference work Censorship says the film “was probably the first to be banned in the United States.”

2

Reenactment of the Massacre at Wounded Knee (1906)

William Cody, better known as “Buffalo Bill,” had been reenacting Wild West life—with a ten-gallon hatful of poetic license—in his traveling shows. When he decided to film a staging of the 1890 massacre of Native Americans at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, he enlisted the help of the US government. According to Censorship, the feds weren't too happy with the result, which displayed some sympathy for the slaughtered Indians, so they shelved the footage, permanently.

3

The Birth of a Nation (1915)

“The most banned film in American history,” according to The Encyclopedia of Censorship. D.W. Griffith's racist, pro-KKK look at the Civil War and Reconstruction was outlawed in Ohio, Colorado, Boston, Pittsburgh, and dozens of other jurisdictions.

4

Birth Control (1917)

This lightly fictionalized film about eugenicist Margaret Sanger's quest to tell poor women about contraception in the face of suppression was banned by New York's film censor. It was written by and starred Sanger, who later founded the organizations that would become Planned Parenthood.

5

Scarface (1932)

The original, non-Pacino version of Al Capone's life—directed by Howard Hawks and produced by Howard Hughes—was banned in five states, including New York, and five cities, including Seattle and Chicago, owing to its violence and/or supposed glorification of crime.

6

Two-faced Woman (1941)

Greta Garbo's swan song was banned in New York City and elsewhere because of its theme of adultery.

7

Let There Be Light (1946)

Legendary director John Huston (The African Queen, The Maltese Falcon, etc.) made documentaries for the Army during the WWII era. The final one, Let There Be Light, focused on shell-shocked soldiers being treated at a Long Island Hospital. The Army confiscated the film and refused to release it, citing violation of the doughboys' privacy, although Huston was convinced it was pulled for PR reasons. It was finally screened in 1981.

8

The Vanishing Prairie (1956)

Censorship describes this idiotic incident succinctly: “Walt Disney's The Vanishing Prairie, an Academy Award-winning documentary, was banned in New York because it showed a buffalo giving birth; an American Civil Liberties Union complaint led to a reversal of the ban.”

9

Titicut Follies (1967)

Director Frederick Wiseman was granted legal access to the State Prison for the Criminally Insane in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, for a month in 1966. He and his crew filmed scenes of mind-bruising degradation and sadness. Almost predictably, state officials went apeshit when they saw the final cut of Titicut Follies, and a Superior Court judge blocked the film's release.

The authorities charged that the documentary violated the inmates' privacy. Perhaps it did, but it's telling that they were suddenly so concerned about the privacy rights of the prisoners, while still uninterested in their human rights, which were obviously in a state of constant violation, as captured on film. The Massachusetts Supreme Court partially overturned the ruling, allowing the film to be screened only for doctors, sociologists, judges, and others who would have a professional interest in the subject. The Supreme Court refused to hear Wiseman's appeal of this unprecedented restriction, and there the matter stood until 1991, when a Massachusetts Superior Court judge dropped all restraints. Two years later, the documentary was aired a single time on public television. It has never been broadcast again, nor has it been released on video.

10

I Am Curious—Yellow (1967)

This Swedish hippie/art movie with explicit sex scenes was refused entry into the US by Customs. An appeals court slapped down the import ban, but then fifteen states barred it from their theaters.

11

Blue Movie (1969)

Also called Fuck, Andy Warhol's movie was banned as obscene by a New York criminal court, a ruling that was upheld on appeal.

12

Deep Throat (1972)

One of the first hardcore porno features, and still the most famous, Deep Throat was outlawed in 23 states, and the feds convicted a bunch of people, including starring penis Harry Reems, involved with its distribution. All convictions were later overturned.

13

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987)

This unauthorized biopic is a double whammy. Todd Haynes used Barbie dolls as the “actors” with the Carpenters' recordings as the soundtrack. The only question was whether Richard Carpenter or Mattel would be the one to permanently block this film's release. It was Carpenter.

14

The Making of “Monsters” (1990)

John Greyson's short feature about gay-bashing includes an unauthorized, reworked version of “Mack the Knife,” a gigantic hit for Bobby Darin and Louis Armstrong. The estate of the song's writer, Kurt Weill, had the movie pulled from circulation.

15

The Profit (2001)

Peter N. Alexander's movie follows the rise of a paranoid cult leader and his organization, obviously based on L. Ron Hubbard and the Church of Scientology. According to Alexander, Scientologists interfered with this movie at every step of the way. Lawyers and spokespeople for the Church professed that the movie bore absolutely no resemblance to Scientology, then turned around and sued the filmmakers after it had been showing for a few weeks. The Church claims that the only reason the movie was made was to taint the jury pool in a trial over the shadowy death of Lisa McPherson, a member of the Church. A Pinellas County Florida Judge apparently agreed and blocked the film from further release. The litigation continues…..

16

Ernest and Bertram (2002)

Described by The Advocate as “a retelling, in eight minutes, of Lillian Hellman's classic play of unrequited gay love, The Children's Hour, using the Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie,” Peter Spears' short film showed at several film festivals (including Sundance), but soon the Sesame Workshop made sure it would never flicker on a screen again. Another film by Spears, the 37-minute Scream, Teen, Scream, also met death by intellectual property law, this time over the song “Love Rollercoaster.”