Release date
|
Date(s) banned
|
Film
|
Reason
|
1915
|
1915-1916
|
The Birth of a Nation
|
Banned in several American cities for its racist content and portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan, including Chicago, Las Vegas, Denver, Pittsburgh and St. Louis, and the states of Ohio, Kansas, and West Virginia,[1] as well as "dozens" of other jurisdictions.[2] Unbanned in 1916 outside of Kansas.[3]
|
1917
|
1917
|
Birth Control
|
Produced by and starring Margaret Sanger; banned, with the New York Court of Appeals holding that a film on family planning work may be censored "in the interest of morality, decency, and public safety and welfare".[2][4]
|
1922
|
1922-1929
|
Häxan
|
Banned until 1929 due to the use of torture and nudity. Its themes of witchcraft and Satanism may also have had an effect.[5]
|
1930
|
1930
|
Party Girl
|
Though passed[by whom?] for theatrical screening, several cities banned the film due to its depiction of prostitution, namely Birmingham, Alabama.[6]
|
1932
|
1932
|
Scarface
|
Banned in five states and five other cities due to "glorification of crime."[2]
|
1933
|
1933–1937
|
Ecstasy
|
Banned in the US from 1933 to 1937 due to its erotic content.[7][8]
|
1933
|
1934
|
Convention City
|
Due to its racy content, Convention City was banned after the Motion Picture Production Code was enacted in 1934.
|
1941
|
1941
|
Two-Faced Woman
|
This film's theme (adultery) caused it to be banned in New York City, among other places.[2]
|
1943
|
1943-1976
|
Ossessione
|
Banned for 33 years because the plot was based on James M. Cain's novel The Postman Always Rings Twice to which MGM owned the rights. It took until 1976 before copyright issues were resolved.[2]
|
1945
|
1945
|
Brewster's Millions
|
Banned in Memphis, Tennessee, because Brewster's African-American servant was treated too well.[9][10]
|
1945
|
1945
|
Scarlet Street
|
On January 4, 1946, the New York State Censor Board banned Scarlet Street entirely, relying on the statute that gave it power to censor films that were "obscene, indecent, immoral, inhuman, sacrilegious" or whose exhibition "would tend to corrupt morals or incite to crime." As if in a chain reaction, one week later the Motion Picture Commission for the city of Milwaukee also banned the film as part of a new policy encouraged by police for "stricter regulation of undesirable films." On February 3 Christina Smith, the city censor of Atlanta, argued that because of "the sordid life it portrayed, the treatment of illicit love, the failure of the characters to receive orthodox punishment from the police, and because the picture would tend to weaken a respect for the law," Scarlet Street was "licentious, profane, obscure and contrary to the good order of the community." ... Universal was discouraged from challenging the constitutionality of the censors by the protests of the national religious groups that arose as the Atlanta case went to court.[11]
|
1949
|
1949
|
Lost Boundaries
|
Banned in Atlanta and Memphis; liable to "create dissension and strife between members of the white and colored races, and would be likely to cause disorders, disturbances, and clashes between the races"[12]
|
1950
|
1950
|
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
|
The film was banned in Ohio as "a sordid, sadistic presentation of brutality and an extreme presentation of crime with explicit steps in commission."[13]
|
1953
|
1953
|
The Moon Is Blue
|
Banned in Jersey City, New Jersey as "indecent and obscene."[14]
|
1954
|
1956
|
The Vanishing Prairie
|
The Walt Disney documentary was banned in New York because it showed a buffalo giving birth. The ban was lifted after a complaint by the American Civil Liberties Union.[15][16]
|
1957
|
1957
|
Portland Exposé
|
The film was banned regionally by local agencies in the Pacific Northwest, particularly in Portland, Oregon—its setting—due to its depiction of crimes inspired by those committed by crime boss Jim Elkins.[17][18]
|
1961
|
1961
|
Victim
|
Banned in many American cities due to language.[19]
|
1963
|
1964
|
Flaming Creatures
|
Banned in New York City because of sexual content.[20]
|
1963
|
1963
|
Promises! Promises!
|
Banned in Cleveland and several other cities due to explicit nude scenes, though later the Cleveland court decided the nude scenes in the film were not lewd after all.[21][22]
|
1965
|
1966—1968
|
Viva Maria!
|
Banned in Dallas for sexual and anti-Catholic content, prior to the United States Supreme Court striking down the ban and limiting the ability of municipalities to ban films for adults in Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. City of Dallas.[23]
|
1967
|
1968–1991
|
Titicut Follies
|
Barred from distribution in Massachusetts to the general public by court order because the film was considered a violation of the privacy of the prison inmates it filmed.[2]
|
1967
|
1969
|
I Am Curious (Yellow)
|
Banned as pornography. After three court cases, the ban was lifted when the anti-obscenity laws concerning films was overturned.[2][24]
|
1972
|
1972–1997
|
Pink Flamingos
|
Banned for 25 years because of explicit sexual content, animal cruelty, and depiction of its lead character, Divine, eating dog feces in the end.[25]
|
1974
|
1974–1999
|
Female Trouble
|
Banned for 25 years because of explicit sexual content and nudity.
|
1974, 1984
|
1974, 1984
|
The Thorn
|
Closed days after opening in New York City for misleading marketing exploiting the fame of one of its co-stars, Bette Midler. It was blocked from opening on re-release in 1980. The film was briefly distributed on home video under a new title before Midler threatened legal action.[26][27]
|
1979
|
1979
|
Monty Python's Life of Brian
|
Banned in several towns for showing controversial themes about Christianity.[2]
|
1982
|
1982
|
If You Love This Planet
|
Designated as "foreign political propaganda" by the Department of Justice and suppressed in the United States.[28][29] Despite this, it went on to win the 1982 Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject.[30]
|
1988
|
1988
|
The Last Temptation of Christ
|
Banned in Savannah, Georgia when city leaders sent a petition to Universal Pictures requesting a ban. However, it opened in Savannah on September 23, 1988, six weeks after national and worldwide debut.[31]
|
1979
|
1997
|
The Tin Drum
|
Briefly banned in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, when a district court judge deemed the film child pornography. The shot in question depicted a child embracing a naked woman. The verdict was overturned on appeal.[32]
|
2001
|
2002–2007
|
The Profit
|
A film that borrows elements of the life of L. Ron Hubbard, it was prevented from release when the Church of Scientology claimed the film could taint the jury pool in the wrongful death trial of former member Lisa McPherson. While the injunction has since been lifted a few years after the suit was settled and the film is no longer banned per se, a legal dispute with investor Robert S. Minton continues to hold up the release. The Disinformation Book of Lists and The Times have characterized The Profit as a "banned film" in the United States.[2][33]
|
2008
|
2008
|
Hillary: The Movie
|
A political documentary about presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, it was prevented by the Federal Election Commission from being aired on video-on-demand on cable TV shortly before the 2008 Democratic primaries as an "electioneering communication" mentioning a candidate within 30 days of a primary, an apparent violation of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (aka "McCain-Feingold"). The ban and much of the BCRA was then overturned by the Supreme Court in the case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.[34]
|
2009
|
2010
|
The Yes Men Fix the World
|
Briefly blocked from release due to a pending lawsuit by the United States Chamber of Commerce against the Yes Men.[35]
|