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18
You Can't Do That'!
Drastic action was taken against "The Callahans and the Murphys," by various Irish organizations.
lenge to disbelief in a Supreme Being, depicting a change in the character of the heroine, under the influence of tragedy and adversity, brought about through her attacks on the faiths of others.
So involved have the demands of various organizations, countries and peoples become, that the producers are often at their wits' ends regarding what they can make safely. One director told me, not long ago, that very soon, every place, person, or thing in a picture would have to be "anonymous." Another mentioned facetiously that the best thing the movies could do to get around the villain complex, would, be to set up and dedicate an island, out in the Pacific, to the propagation of the necessary "bad men" for the screen.
A great many pitfalls have been covered by rules laid down among the producers themselves, as to what may or may not be filmed. There are eleven rules covering "what shall not be shown on the screen." These naturally include scenes of a licentious or suggestive nature, profanity— either by title or lip — and a willful offense to any nation, race, or creed. Special care has to be used with twenty-six other subjects, including the use of the flag, various crimes like theft, arson, smuggling, brandings— whether of animals or people — though to be sure, the former is not strictly a crime.
Hangings and electrocutions also have to
be carefully treated, and those scenes which show law enforcement, or law enforcement officers, in action. The word "booze" cannot be generally used in subtitles. In "The Noose" one title, "I'm off the booze trail," was reduced to "I'm off the trail." An interesting rule reads as follows : "Excessive kissing is forbidden, particularly when one character or the other is a 'heavy.' " Only heroes and heroines can therefore give an enthusiastic demonstration of their affection. Which, perhaps, is what is logically expected.
"Chicago," to my mind, was a curious instance of how a picture can go all wrong morally, seemingly through having had to obey certain censorship restrictions, or more probably through a desire to cater to what is deemed the popular fancy.
In this film, you may remember, the husband stole money to save his wife from prison. The excuse was
, : given that it was
In order to appease the Mexicans, the locale of "The Dove" was changed Jrom "below the Rio Grande," to mythical "Costa Roja. "
tainted money, which he took from the attorney who was defending her, and who charged an enormous fee. I suppose many people in law suits feel, when they get the lawyer's bill, that such a proceeding was justified. Still, theft, no matter what its form, is not considered, according to strict principle, to be justified. It hardly was in "Chicago," especially when the husband, instead of returning the surplus cash, after he had paid for the trial, dumped it into the Continued on page 106