Hollywood's Censor : Joseph I. Breen and the Production Code Administration.
Title:
Hollywood's Censor : Joseph I. Breen and the Production Code Administration.
Author:
Doherty, Thomas.
ISBN:
9780231512848
Personal Author:
Physical Description:
1 online resource (372 pages)
Contents:
Cover -- Half title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Opening Credits -- Prologue: Hollywood, 1954 -- 1. The Victorian Irishman -- Catholicity in Philadelphia -- The XXVIII International Eucharistic Congress (Fox-Catholic Church) -- 2. Bluenoses Against the Screen -- Banned in Chicago -- Holy Writ: The Production Code, 1930 -- 3. Hollywood Shot to Pieces -- Pre-Breen Hollywood -- Legions at the Barricades -- Signed and Sealed: The Production Code Administration, 1934 -- Will Hays the Second, the Hitler of Hollywood, the Mussolini of American Films, the Dictator of Movie Morals, etc. -- 4. The Breen Office -- Office Work -- God's Work -- 5. Decoding Classical Hollywood Cinema -- The Breen Office Shuffle -- The Advisory Function -- 6. Confessional -- 7. Intermission at RKO -- The PCA in Limbo -- The Censor as Mogul -- 8. At War with the Breen Office -- Shattering the Myth of Mere Entertainment -- "Señor Presidente" -- 9. In His Sacerdotalism -- The Catholic Prohibition Movement -- Two-Fisted Priests and Beatific Nuns -- 10. "Our Semitic Brethren" -- Irreligious Animosity -- Hollywood's Restricted Covenants -- 11. Social Problems, Existential Dilemmas, and Outsize Anatomies -- The Genre with All the Answers -- The Genre without a Name -- Shoot-out over The Outlaw (1941-1949) -- 12. Invasion of the Art Films -- The Swank Appeal of the Art House -- The Rebuke from Italian Neorealism -- Ingrid Bergman: From St. Joan to Jezebel -- 13. Amending the Ten Commandments -- The Revolt of the Elites -- The Revolt of the Independents -- 14. Not the Breen Office -- Cracking the Code -- "Pious Platitudes Take It on Chin" -- 15. Final Cut: Joseph I. Breen and the Auteur Theory -- Appendix: The Production Code -- Notes -- Film Index -- Index.
Abstract:
From 1934 to 1954 Joseph I. Breen, a media-savvy Victorian Irishman, reigned over the Production Code Administration, the Hollywood office tasked with censoring the American screen. Though little known outside the ranks of the studio system, this former journalist and public relations agent was one of the most powerful men in the motion picture industry. As enforcer of the puritanical Production Code, Breen dictated "final cut" over more movies than anyone in the history of American cinema. His editorial decisions profoundly influenced the images and values projected by Hollywood during the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War. Cultural historian Thomas Doherty tells the absorbing story of Breen's ascent to power and the widespread effects of his reign. Breen vetted story lines, blue-penciled dialogue, and excised footage (a process that came to be known as "Breening") to fit the demands of his strict moral framework. Empowered by industry insiders and millions of like-minded Catholics who supported his missionary zeal, Breen strove to protect innocent souls from the temptations beckoning from the motion picture screen. There were few elements of cinematic production beyond Breen's reach& mdash;he oversaw the editing of A-list feature films, low-budget B movies, short subjects, previews of coming attractions, and even cartoons. Populated by a colorful cast of characters, including Catholic priests, Jewish moguls, visionary auteurs, hardnosed journalists, and bluenose agitators, Doherty's insightful, behind-the-scenes portrait brings a tumultuous era& mdash;and an individual both feared and admired& mdash;to vivid life.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
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Electronic Access:
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