The Hidden Cinema: British Film Censorship in Action 1913-1972

How does film censorship work in Britain? In this paperback edition, Jim Robertson looks at the work of the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) and discusses the structure of censorship and the histories of noteworthy censored feature films from the silent era to the early 1970s. Robertson examines how, since the Board was established in 1913, censorship has functioned at several levels; within the BBFC itself, in film companies, and through independent critics and would-be reformers. He looks at such films as the Soviet classicBattleship PotemkinandNo Orchids for Miss Blandish--a British attempt to emulate the American gangster genre which caused a furor upon its release in 1948.The Hidden Cinemaincludes a look at how censorship continues to exert a marked influence on more recent films--likeA ClockworkOrange, which has vanished from British screens altogether. This paperback edition also includes a section on Bernardo Bertolucci'sLastTango in Paris, which was immediately engulfed in censorship wrangles upon its release in 1972. ThroughoutThe Hidden CinemaRobertson argues that censorship has had a far greater influence on film history than is often immediately apparent.