Description
Book SynopsisFrom 1934 to 1954 Joseph I Breen, a media-savvy Victorian Irishman, reigned over the Production Code Administration, the Hollywood office tasked with censoring the American screen. This title tells the story of Breen's ascent to power and the widespread effects of his reign.
Trade ReviewDoherty writes with such wit and verve, bringing the past to life... a very entertaining read. Publishers Weekly Compelling, colorful, insightful, and nearly encyclopedic in detail, this book seems destined to become the definitive scholarly biography of Breen. Highly recommended. Library Journal [An] entertaining and rigorous biography of Breen. -- Ada Calhoun New York Times Book Review A fascinating read for anyone interested in American film history. -- Carol O'Sullivan Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [An] authoritative, entertaining, unexpectedly unnerving biography. -- Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times [A] brilliant and absorbing new book. -- Gerald Peary The Phoenix Hollywood's Censor is a stinging portrait of a cultural strongman who made it his business to baby his fellow citizens. -- Dennis Drabelle Washington Post Written with controlled exuberance, and much wit. -- Scott Eyman Palm Beach Post A pleasure to read. -- Rob Hardy Commercial Dispatch An exemplary biography... Highly recommended. CHOICE
Table of ContentsOpening Credits Prologue: Hollywood, 1954 1. The Victorian Irishman 2. Bluenoses Against the Screen 3. Hollywood Shot to Pieces 4. The Breen Office 5. Decoding Classical Hollywood Cinema 6. Confessional 7. Intermission at RKO 8. At War with the Breen Office 9. In His Sacerdotalism 10. "Our Semitic Brethren" 11. Social Problems, Existential Dilemmas, and Outsized Anatomies 12. Invasion of the Art Films 13. Amending the Ten Commandments 14. Not the Breen Office 15. Final Cut: Joseph I. Breen and the Auteur Theory Appendix: The Production Code Notes Film Index Index
