[Frameworks] Production Code

[Tom Whiteside]

I believe that Baltimore had one of the last municipal censorship boards in the US;  please note that Baltimore also nurtured John Waters.  Thanks, Baltimore!

Tom Whiteside         Durham Cinematheque

From: frameworks-bounces at jonasmekasfilms.com [mailto:frameworks-bounces at jonasmekasfilms.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Kleinhans
Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2012 9:50 PM
To: Experimental Film Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Production Code

I agree with the main line of Jonathan Walley's argument, but I would also note that the Production Code had a de facto influence rather than a de jure influence.  There were many local film censorship boards, and it set a rough standard for them.  For example, NYC had its own board that reviewed films before theatrical release.  For this reason, Amos Vogel's Cinema 16 was a membership organization (a club, so to speak) which allowed it to operate without passing any censorship review.  However, any theatrical screenings that were open to the public did face possible police problems.  (The same public thing applied to live performance and thus covered burlesque, stand up comics, etc.)  Jonas Mekas ran into problems several times with screening certain films since he operated  in late night screenings at regular commercial venues.

Eventually (mostly in the 1960s and 1970s) assorted court cases modified the situation, and the local censorship boards were seen as an anachronism.  In Chicago, for example the local board was made up of the widows of police who had lost their lives in service: basically, Irish Catholic white women.

But, it's worth remembering that whatever the law and policies in place, actual enforcement is in the hands of police (who often operate in the most literal frame of mind) and prosecutors (who can pick and choose which "vice" situations and events they will pursue).  Thus notoriously conservative Boston did have a small restricted "Combat Zone," and NYC's 42nd St. gradually evolved (or devolved) from a family entertainment zone into a rather more sleazy one.

But to return to the initial question: (I haven't seen any early Markopouos for decades ) is any of it available anywhere?  Is any of it "pornographic" in any sense?  Does it even show any sex other than lonely longing?  He withdrew all his films and left for elsewhere, and even got Sitney to remove the chapter on him from the basic book on US experimental film history.  To the extent is work wasn't shown it seems that was largely self-willed.  Could be wrong, though...

Chuck Kleinhans





On Oct 28, 2012, at 6:13 PM, Jonathan Walley wrote:


Eleni,

I'd be interested to hear other peoples' perspective on this, but the
Production Code had little, if anything, to do with censorship
problems encountered by experimental filmmakers like Anger or
Markopoulos. The Code was developed by the film industry (i.e.
Hollywood), and, to the best of my knowledge, only affected the
production (and distribution) of industry films - that is, films made
by the Hollywood studios. It was a mechanism the industry developed to
"self regulate," precisely so their films WOULDN'T be censored by
outside law enforcement or other government authorities. The Code thus
had no bearing on filmmakers working outside the industry, which would
certainly include Anger and Markopoulos.

This isn't to say that such filmmakers faced no censorship - they
faced it from legal authorities and "morality" and "decency" groups -
just that they didn't face it from within the industry, since they
were not a part of that industry and thus were not bound by its
internal strictures. The "rules" of the Code had no legal power, as
they were voluntarily imposed from within the industry BY the industry
itself. They were essentially "company policy," not state or federal
law. And a film released with the Production Code Administration's
seal of approval could still be censored by local government
authorities if those authorities believed the film contravened state
or local laws governing film content.

I read the relevant passages of Russo's book, and while he does
mention the Code while also discussing the films of Anger and other
experimental filmmakers, he seems only to be drawing a - rather vague
- parallel. If I read him right he never actually claims that the
Production Code had any direct impact on experimental films. And if he
DOES say that somewhere, it's not accurate. Any censorship of
experimental films came from the government, not the industry, and
thus not the Code.

I realize this doesn't answer your question about Markopoulos being
censored, but I hope it helps a little.

Best,
Jonathan

Jonathan Walley
Associate Professor of Cinema
Denison University
walleyj at denison.edu<mailto:walleyj at denison.edu>

On Sun, Oct 28, 2012 at 7:48 PM, Eleni Philippou
<eleni_philippou at hotmail.com<mailto:eleni_philippou at hotmail.com>> wrote:

Hello everyone,


I am reading Vito Russo's book The Celluloid Closet about the Production
Code in order to control homosexual references in the movies in America
during the '40s and '50s. As an example, he mentions Kenneth Anger's work
and how difficult was for Anger to release Fireworks and Scorpio Rising
because of this Production Code. Does anyone know if Gregory Markopoulos
faced the same problem with the censorship?
Thank you very much for your help.


Best,


Eleni Filippou

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Chuck Kleinhans
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