List of films banned in the United States

This is a list of films that are or have been at one time or another banned in the United States.

List

Release
date		 Date
banned		 Film Reason
1894 Dorlita in the Passion Dance Banned in New Jersey after use in peepshows. Russell Kick quotes the work Censorship as saying it "was probably the first [film] to be banned in the United States."[1]
1906 Reenactment of the Massacre at Wounded Knee The movie by Buffalo Bill was banned due to a sympathetic portrayal of the Native Americans in the film.[1]
1915 1915 The Birth of a Nation Banned in several American cities for its racist content and portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan, including Chicago, Las Vegas, Denver, Pittsburgh and St. Louis, and the states of Ohio, Kansas, and West Virginia,[2] as well as "dozens" of other jurisdictions.[1] Unbanned in 1916 outside of Kansas.[3]
1917 1917 Birth Control Produced by and starring Margaret Sanger; banned, with the New York Court of Appeals holding that a film on family planning work may be censored "in the interest of morality, decency, and public safety and welfare".[1][4]
1922 1922 Häxan Banned due to the use of torture and nudity.
1932 1932 Scarface Banned in five states and five other cities due to "glorification of crime"[1]
1933 1934 Convention City Due to its racy content, Convention City was banned after the Motion Picture Production Code was enacted in 1934.
1941 1941 Two-Faced Woman This film's theme (adultery) caused it to be banned in New York City, among other places.[1]
1945 1945 Scarlet Street Banned in New York City, according to Jan Morris' book Manhattan '45.
1949 1949 Lost Boundaries Banned in Atlanta and Memphis; liable to "create dissension and strife between members of the white and colored races, and would be likely to cause disorders, disturbances, and clashes between the races"[5]
1953 1953 The Moon Is Blue Banned in Jersey City, New Jersey as "indecent and obscene."[6]
1954 1956 The Vanishing Prairie The Walt Disney documentary was banned in New York because it showed a buffalo giving birth. The ban was lifted after a complaint by the American Civil Liberties Union.
1961 1961 Victim Banned in many American cities due to language.[7]
1963 1963 Promises! Promises! Banned in Cleveland and several other cities due to explicit nude scenes, though later the Cleveland court decided the nude scenes in the film were not lewd after all.
1965 1966 - 1968 Viva Maria! Banned in Dallas for sexual and anti-Catholic content, prior to the United States Supreme Court striking down the ban and limiting the ability of municipalities to ban films for adults in Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. City of Dallas.
1967 1968 - 1991 Titicut Follies Barred from distribution to the general public by court order because the film was considered a violation of the privacy of the prison inmates it filmed.[1]
1967 1969 I Am Curious (Yellow) Banned as pornography. After three court cases, it was unbanned when the anti-obscenity laws concerning films was overturned.[1]
1974, 1984 1974, 1984 The Thorn Closed days after opening in NYC for misleading marketing exploiting the fame of one of its co-stars. It was blocked from opening on re-release in 1980. The film was briefly distributed on home video under a new title before the same co-star threatened legal action.[8][9]
1979 1979 Monty Python's Life of Brian Banned in several towns for showing controversial themes about Christianity.[1]
1988 1988 The Last Temptation of Christ Banned in Savannah, Georgia when city leaders sent a petition to Universal Studios requesting a ban. However, opened in Savannah on September 23, 1988, six weeks after national and worldwide debut.
1979 1997 The Tin Drum Briefly banned in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, when a district court judge deemed the film child pornography. The shot in question depicted a child embracing a naked woman. The verdict was overturned on appeal.[10]
2001 2002 - 2007 The Profit A film that borrows elements of the life of L. Ron Hubbard, it was prevented from release when the Church of Scientology claimed the film could taint the jury pool in the wrongful death trial of former member Lisa McPherson. While the injunction has since been lifted a few years after the suit was settled and the film is no longer banned per se, a legal dispute with investor Robert S. Minton continues to hold up the release. The Disinformation Book Of Lists and The Times have characterized The Profit as a "banned film" in the United States.[1][11]
2008 2008 Hillary: The Movie A political documentary about presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, it was prevented by the Federal Election Commission from being aired on video-on-demand on cable TV shortly before the 2008 Democratic primaries as an "electioneering communication" mentioning a candidate within 30 days of a primary, an apparent violation of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (aka "McCain-Feingold.") The ban and much of the BCRA was then overturned by the Supreme Court in the case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
2009 2010 The Yes Men Fix the World Briefly blocked from releasing due to a pending lawsuit by the United States Chamber of Commerce against the Yes Men.[12]

In 1990 numerous films, including Pink Flamingos fell victim to a broad obscenity sting in Central Florida resulting in de facto bans within Orange County for most, if not all, of the films involved.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Kick, Russ (2004). The Disinformation Book Of Lists. The Disinformation Company. List 68: "16 Movies Banned in the U.S.", Pages 236–238. ISBN 0-9729529-4-2.
  2. ↑ "The Birth of a Nation (1915)". Filmsite.org. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
  3. ↑ "Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media » The Birth of a Nation and Black Protest". Chnm.gmu.edu. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
  4. ↑ Message Photo-Play v. George H. Bell, 179 A.D. 13 (1917).
  5. ↑ Hobbs, Allyson (2014). A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in American Life. Harvard University Press. pp. 254–8.
  6. ↑ "JERSEY JUDGE SEES 'THE MOON IS BLUE'; Superior Court Jurist Says He Will Give Decision Today on Film Seized as 'Indecent'". The New York Times. October 16, 1953. p. 33.
  7. ↑ ">> arts >> European Film". glbtq. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
  8. ↑ Mair, George (1995). Bette: An Intimate Biography of Bette Midler. Secaucus, NJ: Birch Lane Press/Carol Publishing Group. pp. 96–98.
  9. ↑ "Movie Review - The Divine Mr. J at Festival Theater". movies.nytimes.com. 1974-05-25. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
  10. ↑ Zimmerman, Janet (June 30, 1997). "Video sparks free-speech debate in Oklahoma". USA Today.
  11. ↑ Purves, Libby (2007-10-26). "The Blasphemy Collection". The Times. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
  12. ↑ The Yes Men Fix the World (DVD). 2009-10-23. Event occurs at 1 min.
  13. ↑ No Pink Flamingos Here!