Forbidden Films: Censorship Histories of 125 Motion Pictures (Facts on File Library of World Literature)

Since the earliest days of the film industry, mainstream films have been banned for their sexual, religious, social, and political content. Forbidden Films traces the efforts to censor 125 films, ranging from the silent Birth of a Nation to Schlindler's List. This fascinating reference examines the continued efforts to regulate the industry, providing a summary of each banned film-including production details, censorship history, and suggestions for further reading.

Coverage includes:
* Early efforts to regulate the movie industry, such as the Hays Code in 1922 and the Motion Picture Production Code in 1930
* The emergence of the Catholic League of Decency, which wielded extensive power for nearly forty years
* The reasoning behind different types of film censorship-including racism and anti-Semitism, sexual "indecency," and the fear of Communism
* Classic and contemporary films that have faced censorship, for sexual content (Last Tango in Paris, A Streetcar Named Desire), social content (Basic Instinct, Of Human Bondage), political content (Anna and the King, Revenge at Daybreak), religious content (La Dolce Vita, The Last Temptation of Christ), and violence content (Natural Born Killers, Scarface)
* Appendixes profiling the directors of the banned films, films classified according to the reason for their censorship or ban, and a listing of 125 additional challenged, censored, and banned films.