List of films condemned by the Legion of Decency
This is a list of films condemned by the Legion of Decency, a United States Catholic organization, and its successor (from 1965), the National Catholic Office for Motion Pictures. The condemned (or C) rating was issued from the time of the Legion's formation in 1933 until 1978, when the C rating and the B rating were merged into the new O ("morally offensive") rating. In 1980, the NCOMP film office was shut down, along with the biweekly Review, which had published ratings on 16,251 feature films. Many of the ratings have since been lowered (generally to A-III).
The Legion's ratings were applied to movies made in the United States (which were subject to the Production Code until 1967) as well as those imported from other countries. Beginning in 1968, the ratings were applied in addition to any rating assigned by the MPAA film rating system.
Legion-organized boycotts made a C rating harmful to a film's distribution and profitability. Accordingly, for the majority of years that the rating was applied, most condemned films were made outside of the United States, where their producers didn't have as much to fear from the condemnation. Of the 53 movies the Legion had placed on its condemned list by 1943, only Howard Hughes' The Outlaw came from a major US studio, and it had not been approved by the Production Code or distributed widely.
Despite rumor to the contrary, Elia Kazan's 1951 A Streetcar Named Desire did not receive a C rating. However, it was cut by 4 minutes to avoid condemnation.
This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.[edit] By Year
[edit] 1933
- Blood Money
- Design for Living
- Extase -- One of the first foreign films to be condemned.
- Grandeur and Decadence -- One of the first foreign films to be condemned.
- Queen Christina
[edit] 1934
- Finishing School
- The Life of Vergie Winters
- Madame DuBarry
- Men in White
- One More River
- Riptide
- The Scarlet Empress
[edit] 1937
[edit] 1940
- Strange Cargo -- Initially condemned, the studio released a cut version.
- This Thing Called Love
[edit] 1941
- No Greater Sin -- Not approved by the Production Code.
- Two-Faced Woman
- Volpone
[edit] 1942
[edit] 1943
[edit] 1945
[edit] 1947
- Black Narcissus
- Forever Amber
- Miracle on 34th Street -- Because of the sympathetic treatment of divorced mother.
[edit] 1948
[edit] 1950
- Bitter Rice (initial American release[1])
[edit] 1951
[edit] 1953
- The Moon is Blue -- The first studio-produced film to deliberately bypass Production Code approval. Also the first condemned studio film to turn a profit.
[edit] 1954
[edit] 1955
- Rififi -- Initially condemned, was re-released with changes for B rating.
- I Am a Camera
[edit] 1956
- And God Created Woman
- Baby Doll -- The first film to be approved by the Production Code but condemned by the Legion of Decency.
- The Seven Year Itch -- Had to cut scenes from the original play to be approved by Legion of Decency.
[edit] 1957
- Love in the Afternoon -- Initially condemned, the studio changed the ending.
[edit] 1959
[edit] 1960
[edit] 1961
[edit] 1962
[edit] 1963
[edit] 1964
[edit] 1965
[edit] 1966
[edit] 1967
[edit] 1968
[edit] 1969
[edit] 1971
[edit] 1973
[edit] 1975
[edit] 1976
[edit] 1978
[edit] 1979
[edit] 1980
[edit] References
- ^ Gregory D. Black The Catholic Crusade Against the Movies, 1940-1975, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, p.90-91
- ^ United States Conference of Catholic Bishops - Grease
- "A Scrupulous Monitor Closes Shop" (Time Magazine, 1980)
- Archived reviews by the Legion of Decency's successor, the USCCB Office for Film and Broadcasting (note that ratings have been revised; the ratings for some condemned films -- e.g. Black Narcissus -- have been revised, and are now rated "O")
