Volume I: Narrative History

Chapter 2 (1909 Into the Film Industry): Censorship

Censorship was a major issue in the film industry in 1910. The clergy, newspapers, Note and civic leaders created numerous committees and regulations to control what could and could not be exhibited. Sex was an obvious target, and any film which depicted more than a momentary kiss was apt to be rejected, as were nudity and certain forms of violence. Manufacturers could not tell what might or might not offend one censorship group or another, for there were no national rules, and what might be permitted on the screen or a poster in Denver might be forbidden in Detroit or Boston. Note

In an advertisement in The Moving Picture World Note Edwin Thanhouser stated that American patrons preferred American-made films to foreign imports, and that theatre owners preferred "censorship pictures," films which had been pre-censored, to avoid "a rank uncensored outrage, going under the name of a film, [which] might slip into a show and frighten his patrons away. Can you blame the exhibitor for not wanting to take chances? He can never repair the damage film-outrage can do him.... The exhibitor takes no chances with a Thanhouser film. It is shown to the Board of Censorship for approval reel by reel, and reel by reel it is approved...."

Of course, this was no guarantee that the city fathers or the police departments of Los Angeles, Kansas City, New Haven, or Philadelphia would not censor it further.