List of films condemned by the Legion of Decency
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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This is a list of films condemned by the Legion of Decency, a United States Catholic organization.
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.
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 which were 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 which 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.
By Year
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
- The Worst Woman in Paris
- Grease
1934
- Finishing School
- The Life of Vergie Winters
- Madame DuBarry
- Men in White
- One More River
- Riptide
- The Scarlet Empress
1937
1940
- Strange Cargo -- Initially condemned, the studio released a cut version.
- This Thing Called Love
1941
- No Greater Sin -- Not approved by the Production Code.
- Two-Faced Woman
- Volpone
1942
1943
1945
1947
1948
1951
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.
1954
1955
- Rififi -- Initially condemned, was re-released with changes for B rating.
- I Am A Camera
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.
1957
- Love in the Afternoon -- Initially condemned, the studio changed the ending.
1959
1960
1961
1962
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1971
1973
1975
1976
1978
1979
1980
