Case Studies
The purpose of the case studies is to find uncensored versions of films that were either "approved with eliminations" or "rejected" by the Board. Then watch the film while reading the censors' comments, and it will be as if one was experiencing the censorship in real time, able to imagine what the film would look like once the censorship was complete. This section contains one silent film, Shanghaied (1915), that was "approved with eliminations" and two rejected films from the final few years of the Board: The Outlaw (1943) and M (1951).
Shanghaied is a Charlie Chaplin comedy film about a ship owner who wants to scuttle his ship for insurance money, however he is unaware that his daughter and her romantic interest (Charlie Chaplin) are on the ship (IMDB). The silent film was "approved with eliminations" in the October 1915 Bulletin. An uncensored version of the film is available at archive.org, and it can be viewed while reading the censors' requested eliminations. This allows the researcher the ability to watch the film as the Board of Censors did over a hundred years ago, attempting to understand their process and decisions.
The Outlaw is a western by Howard Hughes, focused mainly upon the romance of Rio (played by Jane Russell). The film was known for its sensational and sexualized portrayal of Russell, seen clearly in the poster which shows much of Russell's legs, shoulders, and chest (IMDB). The film was originally approved with eliminations in 1941, 1942, and 1946, but that approval was revoked and the film was rejected at the end of 1946. Like several high profile movies rejected in the final years of the Board, The Outlaw was eventually approved in 1954 when the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision on M (Films Rejected Summary, 1955, Miscellaneous).
M is a remake of the 1931 German crime film of the same name. The film is about a mysterious murderer killing small children while being hunted by the police and the mob (IMDB). The film was rejected by the Board in 1951, but that decision was reversed in 1954 in the Supreme Court's decision in Superior Films v. Ohio.
Each one of these case studies represents a different major topic of film censorship. Shanghaied, which was approved with eliminations, was censored primarily for violence. An examination of the censored scenes shows that most of them involved hitting characters with a mallet. The Outlaw was rejected for its sexual content, both explicit sensual images and implied sexual relations through scenes and dialogue. Lastly, M was rejected for its portrayal of crime and the fear of incitement to crime. These three case studies provide concrete examples to go with the major topics determined by the analysis of the bulletins. Taken as a whole they show that films in the "approved with eliminations" category may not have been censored as stringently as one would first thing, and in order for films to actually be "rejected" there had to be a significant amount of content for censorship, generally so much so that to eliminate it all from the film would result in no film remaining. Since a film had to have an immense amount of content for censorship, it helps to understand why the number of rejected films was so low every year, as seen in the chart in the Overview section.
Additionally, a complete list of all the screenshots are available on the Sources page.