Marion Davies was one of the most popular movie stars of the early 20th century. In 1931, Davies got into trouble with the IRS owing nearly 1 million dollars. Davies tax problems continued, but unlike Al Capone, she never went to jail. Public Domain
Early 20th Century America
In the early twentieth century, the average American had less than a 5th grade education. To many, memories of the Civil War were still very clear. That generation had grown up in an age of Victorian virtues and Protestant conservatism. There was also a moral vocabulary that emphasized restraint, modesty, and the sanctity of the home. Yet they suddenly found themselves thrust into an explosion of new innovations: electric lights, automobiles, airplanes, radios, telephones, and most disruptive of all, motion pictures.
Film censorship played a significant role in shaping the narratives and themes of the movies produced during this period.
Filmmakers
The potential of the film industry in the early 1900’s was limitless. Filmmakers became powerful because their products influenced society on many levels. Hollywood churned out full-length films that the public wanted. Surprisingly, the Victorians and Protestants did not flock to see wholesome and happy stories. Instead they wanted excitement, danger, romance, and, quite often, sex. They also consumed films that reflected racial attitudes of the era, including stories that promoted white supremacy, a troubling reality of early American cinema.
However, the influence of film censorship on these productions cannot be overlooked.
Filmmakers recognized that controversial subjects sold tickets. They produced films dealing with venereal disease, prostitution, and the trafficking of white women—topics that were sensational, frightening, and irresistible to urban audiences. When a major feature opened, as much as one‑third of a city’s population might see it within three days. The movies were not merely entertainment; they were a social event, a communal experience that shaped public conversation.
Dealt with Social Issues
The early films also dealt with social issues such as venereal disease and the sex trafficking of white women. These films were greeted with huge audiences, especially in the cities. When a major feature film opened, sometimes as much as one third of a city’s population would see the film within three days of its opening.
As film censorship became more prevalent, it also sparked debates about artistic freedom versus societal morality.
Film Censorship
Film censorship played a pivotal role in shaping the narratives presented in early 20th-century cinema, often dictating what was deemed acceptable for public viewing. Unlike any other form of entertainment, motion pictures were visual, emotional, and accessible to everyone, including those who couldn’t read. As films gained popularity, the question of film censorship became a pressing national concern. What stories should be allowed on screen? What themes were too dangerous? Who had the authority to decide? These questions defined the earliest decades of American cinema and helped establish the relationship between Hollywood and the American public.
These films were not subtle in their approach. They employed graphic imagery and sensational plotlines to warn audiences about disease, exploitation, and moral decline. However, the very warnings themselves became a source of contention. Critics argued that even when these films were intended as cautionary tales, they inadvertently glamorized the very dangers they sought to expose.
Unsupervised Children
The popularity of these films alarmed many civic and religious leaders. Daytime crowds were usually made up of unsupervised children of all ages. Despite its popularity with the public, small groups of concerned citizens, many church-related, began to hold meetings and question the morality and decency of the films. Fear mounted that the nation’s innocence was in serious peril of being corrupted by the likes of such “immoral and disgusting” films as Birth of a Baby, 1918; Damaged Goods, 1915; Is Any Girl Safe? , 1916; House of Bondage, 1914; and Know Thy Husband,1919. Thus began the struggle over censorship.
These concerns about film censorship reflected broader anxieties about the influence of cinema on young
Need for Censorship
Many felt censorship was necessary, but few could agree on a plan. Jane Addams, a Chicago activist for women’s and children’s rights, felt that films dealing with sexual diseases and the bondage of white women were a poor use for filmmakers. Films should be used to advocate hard work and good citizenship. In that way, they could help in the fight against poverty and injustice.
Jane Addams
Additionally, it was also a concern that these films might encourage sex trafficking. In her view, cinema could be a powerful tool in the fight against poverty and injustice—if only filmmakers would use it responsibly.
Others feared that sensational films might actually encourage the very crimes they portrayed. This idea that movies could inspire immoral behavior became a recurring theme in public debates. Reformers argued that without regulation, the film industry would continue to push boundaries in pursuit of profit, disregarding any social consequences.
Catholic Church
The courts viewed the film business as “junk entertainment” and judged it to be in the same category as a circus. The judiciary was influenced by religious groups, especially the Catholic Church. Catholic leaders argued that films had a unique ability to shape behavior and that the Church had a responsibility to guide the faithful away from harmful content
Supreme Court
In time, however, the judges began to distance themselves from the strict moral codes of the Victorian period. In 1915, the Supreme Court, in Mutual Film Corp. v. Industrial Commission of Ohio, held that the film industry was not entitled to First Amendment protection. The evolving landscape of film censorship called for new frameworks to evaluate the impact of films on public perception. This ruling opened the door for states and municipalities to impose their own censorship laws, creating a patchwork of regulations that filmmakers found increasingly difficult to navigate.
The Stars and the Public’s Fascination
As Hollywood grew, so did its stars. Figures like Marion Davies, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Rudolph Valentino became national icons. Their faces appeared in newspapers, magazines, and advertisements. Audiences followed their lives with intense curiosity, and studios quickly realized that stars were essential to selling films.
Yet the rise of stars also intensified concerns about morality. Scandals involving actors—real or rumored—were widely reported, and critics argued that Hollywood promoted a lifestyle incompatible with traditional American values. The public adored the stars, but reformers insisted that their influence made censorship even more urgent.
The Birth of the Production Code
By the 1920s, the film industry faced mounting pressure to regulate itself. Local censorship boards demanded cuts and alterations, often inconsistently. Cecil B. DeMille complained that thirty‑five states and municipalities had required changes to his film Carmen, yet “no two demanded the same changes.” The industry needed a unified standard.
In response, Hollywood created the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) in 1922, led by Will Hays, a Presbyterian elder and former Postmaster General. Under Hays, the industry developed what became known as the Production Code, or the Hays Code. Adopted in 1930 and strictly enforced beginning in 1934, the Code established detailed rules governing what could be shown on screen.
The Code prohibited nudity, excessive violence, profanity, and depictions of drug use. It restricted portrayals of crime, requiring that criminals never be shown as heroic or successful. It forbade the ridicule of religion, mandated that marriage be depicted as sacred, and insisted that films uphold the community’s moral standards. The Catholic Church played a major role in enforcing the Code through the Legion of Decency, which rated films and urged Catholics to avoid those deemed morally objectionable.
A New Era of Controlled Creativity
The Production Code reshaped Hollywood. Filmmakers learned to imply rather than show, to suggest rather than depict. Directors developed new techniques to convey adult themes within the boundaries of censorship. Some found the restrictions stifling; others discovered that limitations encouraged creativity. The Code remained in force for decades, shaping the Golden Age of Hollywood and influencing generations of filmmakers.
By the mid-twentieth century, film censorship had transformed from scattered local regulations into a national system that harmonized artistic aspirations with societal expectations. The ongoing debate about what could be displayed on screen mirrored deeper cultural tensions within American society—between tradition and modernity, morality and freedom, fear and fascination. The origins of film censorship were not solely rooted in the films themselves but also in the nation’s anxieties as it grappled with the power of a novel and transformative art form.
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