Freedom of the screen : legal challenges to state film censorship, 1915-1981 / Laura Wittern-Keller.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wittern-Keller, Laura, 1951-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Motion pictures--Censorship--United States--History.

Motion pictures.

Motion pictures--Law and legislation--United States.

Motion picture industry--Law and legislation--United States.

Motion picture industry.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (369 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Lexington, Ky. : University Press of Kentucky, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Between 1907 and 1980, many state and local governments empowered motion picture censor boards with the legal authority to keep any movie they considered obscene, indecent, or harmful from being shown. Although the mainstream American film industry accepted the form of censorship known as ""prior restraint,"" the independent distributors and exhibitors challenged the government censors in court. In Freedom of the Screen, Laura Wittern-Keller tells the story of those who fought prior restraint on movies. By drawing attention to this inequity -- film was the only medium so constricted by the

Contents:

Front cover; Copyright; Contents; Preface and Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. The Origins of Governmental Film Censorship, 1907-1923; 2. The Courts Provide No Relief, 1909-1927; 3. Hollywood and the Legion of Decency, 1922-1934; 4. Early Challenges to State Censors, 1927-1940; 5. The First Amendment Resurfaces, 1946-1950; 6. The Strange Case of The Miracle, 1950-1952; 7. La Ronde, 1951-1954; 8. The Tide Turns against the Censors, 1953-1957; 9. The Seventh Case in Seven Years, 1957-1959; 10. The Curtain Coming Down, 1957-1964; 11. Fight for Freedom of the Screen, 1962-1965

12. Denouement, 1965-1981Conclusion; Notes; Selected Bibliography; Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 331-341) and index.

ISBN:

9786613233189

9780813138404

081313840X

9780813134901

0813134900

9781283233187

1283233185

9780813172644

0813172640

OCLC:

190963965