Sodom and Gomorrah : the story of Hollywood (1935)

52 SODOM AND GOMORRAH sensual louts. With regard to the sex angle, it is amusing to reflect upon a situation wherein France, long regarded by the world as the incarnation of licentiousness, declared it necessary to establish a censorship of American films to protect the morals of the French nation. Whether or not French morals could be harmed by anything, is, of course, a debatable subject, but there is some significance in the fact that a people known to be free from prudish notions has deemed it advisable to protect its youth from the effects of immoral American films. The recent movement against sex films in the United States has prompted in many minds the question why Hollywood producers insist on making so many objectionable films. The answer is too involved to be explained in a paragraph or two. It is necessary to get a broad background of the situation in the film capital and the attitudes of those responsible for the type of cinema entertainment produced in order to fully understand the reasons. The producers have several stock excuses which they apply to every accusation. The principal one consists of the argument that only objectionable films pay. Conversely, of course. they claim that clean pictures are not moneymakers. One producer declared that "good" pictures always sustain huge losses. This statement was made soon after the release of "Little Women" a terrific box-office success. Conse