In The Opinion of the Censor is a new documentary telling the story of the Censorship of Films Act 1923 and how one canny term in that statute has allowed consecutive holders of the role of Film Censor to reflect the prevailing values of Irish society over the last 100 years.
This fascinating story is told by a former Film Censor, John Kelleher, who introduces the documentary ahead of its Irish TV premiere - watch In The Opinion of the Censor now, via RTÉ Player.
'Pernicious literature is a poison which corrupts the heart and undermines virtue, but its dreadful havoc is outdistanced by the pernicious effects of the filthy picture screen'
- Fr. Paul, O.C.M, Dublin Vigilance Committee, 1915
In 1923, the founding fathers of the newly independent Irish state certainly shared Fr. Paul’s concerns and they moved swiftly to address the dangers they felt cinema presented. The Censorship of Films Act 1923 was one of the earliest statutes to be enacted by the legislature – just a week after the first Finance Bill!
Films could be cut or banned if, ‘in the opinion of the Censor’, they were ‘indecent, obscene, blasphemous’ or ‘subversive of public morality’. The phrase was astutely drafted: it meant whoever held the statutorily independent post at any given time thereafter was empowered to call the shots.
Over the next fifty or sixty years, the various censors, who often acted as moral guardians of the nation, did just that.
James Montgomery, the first Film Censor, declared: ‘I take the Ten Commandments as my code’. He banned 1,700 films, any one of which would be certified G or PG today.
His successor, Richard Hayes, banned and cut films just as freely. In the case of Casablanca (my favourite movie), his cuts ensured that as far as Irish cinemagoers were concerned, Rick and Ilsa never actually did have that romance in Paris (because she was a married woman).
Down through the decades since 1923, more than 60,000 films have been certified by IFCO. Of these, some 11,000 were cut and 2,500 have been banned.
Hayes even changed movie titles he deemed objectionable. He renamed I Want a Divorce as The Tragedy of Divorce, while Misbehaving Husbands was released as Henry Goes Haywire.
Martin Brennan removed a key scene from On the Waterfront (another favourite), a film which won eight Oscars, where Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) has a drink in a bar with Father Barry (Karl Malden). Why? Because it was unacceptable for Irish cinema goers to see a priest having a drink in a bar.
In 1958, Liam O’Hora made eight cuts to King Creole, which seriously interfered with that film’s narrative and plot points. He cut one scene where he objected to ‘the antics of Elvis Presley … with his most suggestive abdominal dancing'.
Ten years later, when Christopher Macken banned The Graduate, his decision was overturned by the Appeals Board. The film was released with eleven cuts, which left audiences in Ireland completely unaware that Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) was seduced by Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft).
Down through the decades since 1923, more than 60,000 films have been certified by IFCO. Of these, some 11,000 were cut and 2,500 have been banned.
When I was appointed in 2003, I shared the view of my predecessor, Sheamus Smith, that a film is a director’s work, and he or she is the only one really entitled to cut it.
Today, the age of cutting and banning is long gone. IFCO is a very different place. Transparency, not secrecy. Classification, not censorship. Age-related consumer guidance for parents. Guide dog, not guard dog.
And I hope our documentary demonstrates how, for more than a century, the history of film censorship has mirrored the social and cultural evolution of Ireland itself.
In the Opinion of the Censor: RTÉ1, Mon 27th July @ 9.35pm - catch up via RTÉ Player
