Posted on 12/10/2008 9:16:38 AM PST by NYer
The Legion of Decency was formed in 1934 to combat immoral movies. People took a pledge, in church, against bad movies. They pledged not only never to go to any morally objectionable movie, but never even to go to any movie theater that had ever shown a morally objectionable film!
This was very effective in discouraging Hollywood from making movies which would earn the disapproval of the Legion of Decency. And the Legion of Decency's ratings were very strict, much more strict than the modern Catholic Bishops' movie rating system (which has been sadly ineffective in influencing the making of movies).
Catholics used to be united, strong and strict, and then they were a powerful force to be reckoned with by the movie industry!
Around the end of the 1950's, things began to change. The emphasis was taken off condemning bad movies, and a deliberate effort was made to make The Legion of Decency more `positive'. The pledge gradually faded out of use, until it was finally completely forgotten.
By 1975, the Legion of Decency had ceased to exist. It was replaced by the Bishops' new Catholic rating system. That ended the Church's influence on the movie industry. Movie standards continue to drop.
In researching the history of the Legion of Decency, this disturbing bit of information came up:
I called the library at St. Charles' Seminary for information about the Legion of Decency. Whomever I spoke to had heard of it, but knew nothing about the pledge. He looked it up in the New Catholic Encyclopedia, and told me what it had to say about the Legion of Decency.
In 1957, Pope Pius XII issued an encyclical called Miranda prorsus. The Encyclopedia claimed that the encyclical called for the Legion of Decency to be more positive, to put its emphasis on promoting good movies rather than condemning bad movies, and have more respect for people's consciences. In response to that encyclical (so claims this Encyclopedia) the Legion of Decency changed, very gradually (with no definite date). Eventually, it went completely out of existence, to be replaced by the rating system we now have.
I asked the person on the phone if he knew where I could get a copy of that encyclical, so I could read it myself. He said he thought it was most likely out of print.
But I found one, and read it.
There is nothing in the encyclical that could lead anyone to think he was calling for the Legion of Decency to change what they were doing! It not only vigorously condemns bad movies, but also immoral TV shows and radio programs. It would form a good defense for exactly what the Legion of Decency was doing, if it were considered honestly.
I doubt the author of that article in the Encyclopedia expected anyone to actually read that out-of-print encyclical to see if what he wrote was true.
People do tend to claim that Pope Pius XII said things which he in fact never said.
For many a year the U. S. churches have deplored what they call the brazen indecency of U. S. cinema. Their annual conferences have passed resolutions. Their clergy have lobbied for censorship bills. Their journals have crusaded. But for all their zeal the churches have accomplished very little. Last week, led by members of the Roman Catholic Church, they were embarked on a new crusade, brandishing a new weaponthe boycott. That they were in earnest impressed even hardboiled Variety, which for once put aside its racy style to tell about the "Legion of Decency" in a straightforward article headlined: "CATHOLICS WOULD ENLIST ALL FAITHSNeed for Prompt Action to Avert Drastic Penalties Upon Picture Industry Urged in EastReal Danger"
Organized under the leadership of Most Rev. John Timothy McNicholas, Archbishop of Cincinnati, the Legion of Decency binds pledge-signers to "remain away from all motion pictures except those which do not offend decency and Christian morality." The Legion of Decency charges no dues, hence differs from Mrs. August Belmont's Motion Picture Research Council with which it is in full sympathy. Aiming at enlisting at least half the U. S. Catholic population of 20,000,000 as well as all Protestants and Jews who care to sign, the Legion last week claimed 2,000,000 members. In Saratoga Springs, N. Y., Bishop Gibbons of Albany urged a Knights of Columbus convention to join. In Louisville, the League of Catholic Parent-Teacher Associations favored it. The Living Church (Episcopal) printed the pledge for its readers to sign. The Detroit Council of Churches (250,000 Protestants) has urged ministers to promote it. Besides Catholic action in such cities as Mobile, Rochester, Little Rock. St. Louis, Omaha, New Orleans and Spokane, interdenominational action has been taken in Denver, Galveston and San Francisco.
The Legion of Decency provides no official guide to good and bad films. But individual priests and bishops may blacklist as they please. Fortnight ago in thousands of Catholic churches, schools and colleges appeared a poster written by Rev. Daniel Aloysius Lord, Jesuit editor of The Queen's Work in St. Louis. A seasoned crusader, Father Lord was only lately revealed as the author of the famed Code which Presbyterian Will Hays and his producers adopted in 1930. The poster:
These Pictures Violate Code
"The Trumpet Blowsproduced by Paramount. . . . The absolutely unwholesome and unattractive George Raft is the 'hero,' loose in his relationship with women and a thorough no-account. . . . It is unfit for any decent person to see or approve. . . . Protest to Paramount Studios, Hollywood, California. Protest to George Raft, same address.
"Finishing SchoolProduced by RKO Radio. . . . An attempted seduction and an accomplished seduction. . . . Protest. . . . Protest. . . . "GlamourProduced by Universal. . . . A stale and ancient plot. . . . Protest. . . . Protest. . . .
"RiptideProduced by MGM Unfortunately typical of the pictures that have been built around Norma Shearer, the much publicized wife of Irving Thalberg who picks her plays and her roles. It seems typical of Hollywood morality that a husband as production manager should constantly cast his charming wife in the role of a loose and immoral woman. . . . We advise strong guard over all pictures which feature Norma Shearer. .. . Protest. . . . Protest. . . .
"George White's ScandalsProduced by Fox. It seems difficult for George White to produce any type of entertainment he does not soil. . . . Protest. . . . Protest. . . ."
List of films condemned by the Legion of Decency
The Pledge of the Legion of Decency
+ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. I condemn all indecent and immoral motion pictures, and those which glorify crime or criminals. I promise to do all that I can to strengthen public opinion against the production of indecent and immoral films, and to unite with all who protest against them. I acknowledge my obligation to form a right conscience about pictures that are dangerous to my moral life. I pledge myself to remain away from them. I promise, further, to stay away altogether from places of amusement which show them as a matter of policy.
* Beginning in 1938, the U.S. bishops requested that the Pledge of the Legion of Decency be taken by the faithful each year on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8.
My father would NEVER let me see a movie until he checked with the Legion of Decency.....and even at 61 I don’t like dirty movies. Thanks dad.
Very interesting. Of course today historical revisionism is in full swing and I never fail to hear this organizations’ work called “censorship”.
Ditto.
Wow. Thank you for this. I am a serious lover of American film. I have always believed that the decency code is the best thing that ever happened to film writing. Films after 1948 are coarse and dull to the ear and heart.
Wow. Thank you for this. I am a serious lover of American film. I have always believed that the decency code is the best thing that ever happened to film writing. Films after 1948 are coarse and dull to the ear and heart.
Better days when Parents CARED what their kids saw and did.
How about films made before 1934?
After more than three years of unholy and unwholesome screen fare, Catholics formed an organization to beat back the plague. Its official name was the National Legion of Decencymorally upright Protestants and Jews might enlist as wellbut the group was known as the Legion of Decency or, more ominously, simply the Legion.A notion that had percolated in Catholic circles for years, the Legion took formal shape in October to November 1933, after Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, speaking at the National Conference of Catholic Charities in New York on the authority of Pope Pius XI, denounced the incalculable influence for evil exerted by the motion picture screen. Catholics are called by God, the Pope, the bishops, and the priests to a united front and vigorous campaign for the purification of the cinema, which has become a deadly menace to morals, said the bishop. Within a matter of weeks, the Legion of Decency congealed into the most feared of all the private protest groups bedeviling Hollywood.
**By 1975, the Legion of Decency had ceased to exist. It was replaced by the Bishops’ new Catholic rating system. That ended the Church’s influence on the movie industry. Movie standards continue to drop. **
I wonder if there is anything we can do to bring back this excellent rating of films????
Perhaps this is the answer — Pray on December 8th:
*** Beginning in 1938, the U.S. bishops requested that the Pledge of the Legion of Decency be taken by the faithful each year on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8.**
Everyone sees different times for the debasement of films. To me it was 1968. Before that time almost all movies were open to all, a few like BABY DOLL, POOR WHITE TRASH, or WALK ON THE WILD SIDE were the exceptions.
Then Bobby Kennedy got shot and the US went berserk. The media placed blame everywhere. TV, comic books, movies, the Vietnam war, gun ownership.
TV immediately dumbed down. Good adult oriented shows became kiddie shows. Comic books were modified for kids for a while, the 1968 Gun control act became law, but the MOVIE INDUSTRY took a different road, they became “self censoring”. G,M,R,X. Then G, GP,M,R,X. Then G,PG,R, NC.
HOT D@*N! The decency codes were gone! Produce ant type sleaze you can!
As a result, I haven't been to a movie in several years ad I have not rented a movie in so long I can't remember when.
Now the debasement of TV is taking place. I remember seeing two R rated movies in 1969. Not long back, when shown on TV uncut they were rated down to PG.
If a person came into my house cursing around your family would you allow it? Yet people allow such movies in their homes for viewing by all.
Nor I ... nothing worthwhile to see. Ditto for television. Other than EWTN, TCM and an occasional program here or there, television has also entered the dead zone. It's as if everyone's imagination suddenly went blank.
Do you recall when Hollywood would produce a biblical epic each year around Easter? Those were the days!
When I was a kid (late 40s through enlistment), my mother checked the back page of The Michigan Catholic for the Legion of Decency ratings. “A” was OK, “B” was iffy and “C” were absolute no-nos.
“I haven’t been to a movie in several years ad I have not rented a movie in so long I can’t remember when.
Nor I ... nothing worthwhile to see.”
How do you know?
Very informative.
It is part of Focus on the Family. They do a great of analyzing and informing about movies including spiritual content, sexual content, violence profanity.... They give enough information so you can determine if you want waste money and time on the movie or if it is something you would like to see. There some good movies out there and this forum can be a big help.
OK we got it; The Catholic Church hates Clint Eastwood,
“How about films made before 1934?”
The Legion of Decency’s influence on Congress got the Hayes Code passed. Catholic Culture in America at that time was strong and powerful and united. You see a clear cut and dramatic change in movies after 1934. People think everything was wholesome and pure in “the good old days”. Not so!
Look at some of the early silent films, nudity, heavy sexual innuendo, etc. Every watch 1927 Greta Garbo film “The World, the Flesh and the Devil”? Pretty steamy. Of course society at that time did not accept the vulgar and foul language we have now, or the profanity, and so you don’t see much of it in movies either, but it was not non-existent by any means.
In a sense, the Hayes Code helped give rise to “screwball comedies” because now male-female expressions of passion had to be more coy. You see many cute jokes and physical comedy that gently hint at something, which adults would see as lightly humorous and children not even comprehend. I wish I could remember the movie where Cary Grant does a very quick imitation of a “gay” (using that word, but in such a way it’s not blatant, but you do get the double entendre).
Clark Gable’s famous line to Vivien Leigh at the end of Gone with the Wind, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” almost was cut from the movie. The censors wanted it changed to “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a darn” due to the Legion of Decency standards. However, the director forcefully argued that the impact was just not the same and the overall themes in the movie (love, lust, violence, war, death, redemption) were such that the audience would not be offended at this last line.
Here is an organization that rates movies, seemingly with some real standards, you can look up any movie.
http://www.dove.org/default.asp
There is also a company, www.faithandfamilyflix.com, that works like Netflix but only rents movies that you can feel comfortable showing your children.
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