8 Classic Films That Ran Afoul of Hollywood Censors
On March 31, 1930, Hollywood’s film studious adopted the Motion Picture Production Code, a series of regulations designed to ensure that mainstream movies upheld “correct standards of life” and moral decency. Also known as the “Hays Code,” these self-imposed restrictions banned everything from explicit language and excessive violence to “lustful kissing” and depictions of interracial romance. Many famous films were later censored during the Code’s three-decade reign, but a few filmmakers were bold enough to release their movies without the Production Code Administration’s much-coveted seal of approval. Eighty-five years after the beginning of Hollywood’s most famous era of self-censorship, learn the stories behind eight famous films that tested the limits of what was acceptable content for the silver screen.
