Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema (2007)

4.3/10 70 min Documentary

Overview

Before the G, PG and R ratings system there was the Production Code, and before that there was, well, nothing. This eye-opening documentary examines the rampant sexuality of early Hollywood through movie clips and reminiscences by stars of the era. Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Marlene Dietrich and others relate tales of the artistic freedom that led to the draconian Production Code, which governed content from 1934 to 1968. Diane Lane narrates.

Cast

Diane Lane

Narrator (voice)

Jeanine Basinger

Self

Leatrice Joy Gilbert

Self

A.C. Lyles

Self

Maria Riva

Self

Budd Schulberg

Self

Mark Viera

Self

Marc Wanamaker

Self

William Wellman Jr.

Self

Michael Westmore

Self

Holly Madison

Model: Special Shoot

Roscoe Arbuckle

Self (archive footage)

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