Hollywood's Censor: Joseph I. Breen and the Production Code AdministrationFrom 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. |
Contents
1 | |
7 | |
2 BLUENOSES AGAINST THE SCREEN | 31 |
3 HOLLYWOOD SHOT TO PIECES | 49 |
4 THE BREEN OFFICE | 77 |
5 DECODING CLASSICAL HOLLYWOOD CINEMA | 97 |
6 CONFESSIONAL | 121 |
7 INTERMISSION AT RKO | 132 |
10 OUR SEMITIC BRETHREN | 199 |
11 SOCIAL PROBLEMS EXISTENTIAL DILEMMASAND OUTSIZE ANATOMIES | 225 |
12 INVASION OF THE ART FILMS | 264 |
13 AMENDING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS | 292 |
Joseph I Breen and the Auteur Theory | 337 |
THE PRODUCTION CODE | 351 |
NOTES | 365 |
409 | |