American cinema can be divided into three eras of censorship, and William H. Hays played a part in all of them.
If Thomas Edison hadn't pursued a vicious monopoly on film patents from his home base in New Jersey, he might not have pushed aspiring filmmakers to the opposite end of the country, where long train rides sapped the power of his hired thugs and wildcat judges laughed his lawsuits out of court.
But many early silent films pulsed with the idea of fucking: sly innuendos, suggestive costumes, lusty character arcs, and more.
[
Collection
]
[
|
...
]