Cinema in Context



How To Do

How many American feature films were banned by the board of censors?


The Netherlands Board of Film Censors (1928-1977) had to rate every single film before it was allowed to be screened publicly. The results of these ratings have been included in Cinema Context up to 1960. You can find the answer to the question in a single step.

Method

  • Open Cinema Context in a new window
  • Click on Films at the top of the page. You will enter the search page for the Films collection
  • Select Censorship rating from the pull-down menu behind the first search field. An Index button will appear to the right of the pull-down menu.
  • Click on Index and select the rating Banned
  • Select Country from the pull-down menu behind the second search field. Click on the button Index and select United States. The text 'usa' will appear in the field on the left.
  • Select both under 'Limit search query to'
  • Click on
  • Search results will list '1 to 10 of 89'. 89 films were found that match the search query.

Discussion

  • It was possible to file an appeal against a rating from the Netherlands Board of Film Censors and request a review. Films were frequently granted approval after such an appeal had been filed.
  • The next question relates directly to this issue: How many banned films were screened in 1930?

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