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

★ 4.3 1h 10m IMDb
Documentary
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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.

Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema

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Cast

Diane Lane
Diane Lane as Narrator (voice) Age 61 · New York City, New York, USA Diane Colleen Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress and producer. Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at age 14 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film A Little Romance....
Jeanine Basinger
Jeanine Basinger as Self Age 90 · Ravenden, Arkansas American film historian who was the Corwin-Fuller professor of film studies at Wesleyan University and the founder and curator of the university's cinematic archives..
Leatrice Joy Gilbert
Leatrice Joy Gilbert as Self Age 132 · New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
A.C. Lyles
A.C. Lyles as Self Died 2013 · Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Maria Riva
Maria Riva as Self Died 2025 · Berlin, Germany Maria Elisabeth Riva (née Sieber; born December 13, 1924) is a German-born American actress. She worked on television at CBS in the 1950s, becoming one of the first stars of early kinescope-era televi...
Budd Schulberg
Budd Schulberg as Self Died 2009 · New York City, New York, USA Budd Schulberg was born on March 27, 1914 in New York City, New York, USA as Seymour Wilson Schulberg. He was a writer and producer, known for La ley del silencio(1954), Un rostro en la multitud (1957...
Director Elaina Archer
Cast Diane Lane, Chris Basinger, Jeanine Basinger, Cari Beauchamp, Leatrice Joy Gilbert, A.C. Lyles, Bob Mitchell, Barry Paris, Maria Riva, Michael Schlesinger

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