Ep. 142 Alfred Hitchcock and Hollywood’s Production Code

Hollywood’s Motion Picture Production Code, popularly referred to
as the Hays Code, loomed over films in every stage of movie
production from 1934 to 1968. Scripts were reviewed and altered.
Actors and filmmakers were forced to redo entire scenes. Editors
were asked to cut dialogue and scenes from films. Music was
changed. Ultimately, directors had to be cognizant of the censors
at all times.


In this episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, we
interview three prominent guests to track the history of film
censorship and the eventual demise of the Hays Code.


John Billheimer, author of “Hitchcock and the Censors (Screen
Classics),” explains Alfred Hitchcock’s unique methods for
dealing with controversial subject matter.


Laura Wittern-Keller is a professor in the History department at
the University at Albany and author of several books on film
censorship, including “Freedom of the Screen: Legal Challenges to
State Film Censorship, 1915-1981” and “The Miracle Case: Film
Censorship and the Supreme Court.”


Bob Corn-Revere, partner at Davis Wright Tremaine, is a frequent
guest on the show. His forthcoming book “The Mind of the Censor
and the Eye of the Beholder: The First Amendment and the Censor’s
Dilemma,” is due out in October.


Show notes:


Transcript

Mutual Film Corp. v. Industrial Comm’n of Ohio

Joseph Burstyn v. Wilson

United States v. Paramount Pictures

Hitchcock and the Censors (Screen Classics) by John
Billheimer

Freedom of the Screen: Legal Challenges to State Film
Censorship, 1915-1981 by Laura Wittern-Keller

The Miracle Case: Film Censorship and the Supreme Court by
Laura Wittern-Keller

The Mind of the Censor and the Eye of the Beholder: The First
Amendment and the Censor’s Dilemma by Bob Corn-Revere

Hollywood's Censor: Joseph I. Breen and the Production Code
Administration by Thomas Doherty