Banned in Kansas

Motion Picture Censorship, 1915-1966

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by Gerald R. Butters Jr.

Type: Stories
Subject: Countries > United States
Keywords: US State, censorship
Publishing date: 2016
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
1st publishing: 2007
Language: English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 368 pages
6 x 9 ¼ inches (15.5 x 23.5 cm)

ISBN

978-0-8262-2110-0

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Book Presentation:
If you caught a movie in Kansas through much of the past century, you’re likely to have seen a different version than did the rest of America. Theda Bara’s depictions of wicked sexuality were off-limits, and a film such as the 1932 Scarface showed far too much violence for decent folk—a threat to Protestant culture and to the morals of the general population.
In 1915, Kansas became one of only a handful of states to establish its own film censorship board. The Kansas board controlled screen content in the state for more than fifty years, yet little is known about its activities. This first book-length study of state film censorship examines the unique political, social, and economic factors that led to its implementation in Kansas, examining why censorship legislation was enacted, what the attitudes of Kansans were toward censorship, and why it lasted for half a century.
Cinema historian Gerald Butters places the Kansas Board of Review’s attempts to control screen content in the context of nationwide censorship efforts during the early part of the twentieth century. He tells how factors such as Progressivism, concern over child rearing, and a supportive press contributed to censorship, and he traces the board’s history from the problems posed by the emergence of “talkies” through changing sexual mores in the 1920s to challenges to its power in the 1950s.
In addition to revealing the fine points of film content deemed too sensitive for screening, Butters describes the daily operations of the board, illustrating the difficulties it encountered as it wrestled not only with constantly shifting definitions of morality but also with the vagaries of the political and legal systems. Stills from motion pictures illustrate the type of screen content the board attempted to censor.
As Kansas faced the march of modernity, even state politicians began to criticize film censorship, and Butters tells how by the 1960s the board was fighting to remain relevant as film companies increasingly challenged its attempts to control screen content. Banned in Kansas weaves a fascinating tale of the enforcement of public morality, making it a definitive study for cinema scholars and an entertaining read for film buffs.

About the Author:
Gerald R. Butters, Jr., is a Professor of History at Aurora University. His research and publications examine the intersection of race and gender in American popular culture. His books include From Sweetback to Super Fly: Race and Film Audiences in Chicago’s Loop and Black Manhood on the Silent Screen. A Fulbright scholar, Butters has lectured internationally, including an address to the European Commission in Luxembourg in 2009.

Press Reviews:
"I believe that Banned in Kansas will (and should) become a classic in the field of the social history of the motion picture in America. This book makes a very significant contribution and fills a very large void in our understanding of the forces behind the issue of social control of this important medium in the twentieth century."—Garth Jowett, author of Film: The Democratic Art

See the publisher website: University of Missouri Press

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