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Trust me I can point to lots of movies from the 30s and 40s and 50s that are plenty morally averse! How about Psycho :-) Rememeber some of the outrage about that film at the time?

But not everything has to be OK for kids. I wouldn't want young children to see the films I mentioned either. I don't think The Godfather presents the life is cheap view btw. Especially the second one which is about moral decay and its consequences. The problem these days is that people have been so smothered with the foul MTV style advertising for bad movies, bad music and so forth that they've lost the urge to look for the good stuff.

"Trust me I can point to lots of movies from the 30s and 40s and 50s that are plenty morally adverse!"

Exellect point. Two films that come to mind, "Double Indemity," (1945), and "Touch Of Evil" (1958) are not exactly films I would sit down and watch with my children (if I had children, that is). There are also some of the 'Pre-Code' films (films produced before 1934, when the Hays' Office really started cracking down on indecency in films). The original talking version of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1931), featured a scene of actress Miriam Hopkins doing a semi-striptease that was later cut when the film was re-issued seven years later. A rather riveting film, but definitely not one for the kiddies or even the faint of heart. Rent the DVD if you get a chance and you'll see what I mean.

But one of the things that sets those two excellent films apart from many of the productions of the 1990s and beyond is that they were films aimed at adults without resorting to the needless sex, violence, and foul language. Also, because of the strict enforcement of the old production code, the antagonists in those films got it in the end. As I mentioned on an earlier post, there are some notable exceptions out there. And you are right that everything doesn't have to be for kids, but it can be done with some taste.

Regards, T.

"Psycho" hardly compares to "Taxi Driver." I made a misstatement. What I should have said was that today's movies make the oldies look rather meek by comparison. Yes, even "Psycho." I shouldn't have said there weren't questionable movies. There were. "Lolita" comes to mind. Obviously I am a movie fan. My name reveals that. But bottom line is Hollywood has really lost touch with middle America in a way that far outdistances the questionable films of the far past. And that's not a fact. It's my opinion.