Sex in Cinema

Hollywood Seen as Sin City: Scandals Rock the Industry

In the early days of Hollywood shortly after the development of film-making as an industry, moralists objected to the amount of nudity, sexuality, criminality and violence portrayed in films. Censorship boards were set up in various states and controls began to be imposed, often on a voluntary basis, once moving pictures became widespread and available to mass viewing audiences (encouraged by the popularity of nickelodeons, first called "arcade peepshows"). However, the vast complexity of various local, state and national censorship laws added to the problem of enforcement, i.e. in some states an ankle couldn't be displayed, or pregnancy couldn't be mentioned.

To appease various groups worried about the powerful effects of movies on the mainstream and growing resentment of the 'get-rich' quick Hollywood mentality, the film industry made some efforts to self-censor its own production, worried that it might be shut down --- especially after two very publicized cases that made headlines:

The Arbuckle Case:

In this infamous September 1921 Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle scandal (for the rape and murder of young 27 year-old starlet Virginia Rappe in San Francisco's St. Francis Hotel), the popular silent comedian was eventually fully acquitted after three trials; the third jury stated: "Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. We feel that a great injustice has been done him."

Murder of William Desmond Taylor:

Further scandal erupted over the murder of film director William Desmond Taylor, Mabel Normand's lover-millionaire, in February 1922 - he was shot to death in his LA apartment after an evening with Mabel Normand; the murder was never solved, although it appeared that Charlotte Shelby was a major suspect -- the angry mother of actress Mary Miles Minter who was seeing Taylor; the situation was further complicated by rumors that Taylor was homosexual