Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema

4.9
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Run time: 70 min
  • Premiere: 2007. May 23.

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.

Discover

Diane Lane

Narrator (voice)

Holly Madison

Model: Special Shoot

Betsy Moore

Silent Movie Theatre Actor

Paul Tucci

Silent Movie Theatre Actor

Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

Self (archive footage)

Theda Bara

Self (archive footage)

Clara Bow

Self (archive footage)

Louise Brooks

Self (archive footage)

Charlie Chaplin

Self (archive footage)

Joan Crawford

Self (archive footage)

Bebe Daniels

Self (archive footage)

Bette Davis

Self (archive footage)

Cecil B. DeMille

Self (archive footage)

Marlene Dietrich

Self (archive footage)

Douglas Fairbanks

Self (archive footage)

Greta Garbo

Self (archive footage)

John Gilbert

Self (archive footage)

Cary Grant

Self (archive footage)

D.W. Griffith

Self (archive footage)

Texas Guinan

Self (archive footage)

Ann Harding

Self (archive footage)

Jean Harlow

Self (archive footage)

Sessue Hayakawa

Self (archive footage)

William H. Hays

Self (archive footage)

William Randolph Hearst

Self (archive footage)

Leslie Howard

Self (archive footage)

Myrna Loy

Self (archive footage)

Mary Miles Minter

Self (archive footage)

Colleen Moore

Self (archive footage)

Owen Moore

Self (archive footage)

Pola Negri

Self (archive footage)

Mabel Normand

Self (archive footage)

Mary Pickford

Self (voice) (archive footage)

Edna Purviance

Self (archive footage)

Virginia Rappe

Self (archive footage)

Theodore Roosevelt

Self (archive footage)

Barbara Stanwyck

Self (archive footage)

Gloria Swanson

Self (voice) (archive footage)

Rudolph Valentino

Self (archive footage)

Fannie Ward

Self (archive footage)

Mae West

Self (archive footage)

Woodrow Wilson

Self (archive footage)

Art

Luana Osling

Graphic Designer

Camera

Todd Friedrichsen

Director of Photography

Bill Sheehy

Additional Photography

Costume & Make-Up

Haydee Serrano

Makeup & Hair

Kristen Kirst

Costume Supervisor

Directing

Elaina Archer

Director

Editing

Sarah Weiss

Assistant Editor

Production

Elaina Archer

Producer

Jason Burns

Co-Executive Producer

Richard Rosenzweig

Co-Executive Producer

Michael Yakaitis

Co-Producer

Marvin Paige

Associate Producer

Hugh Hefner

Executive Producer

John Sinner

Associate Producer

Barbara Lockridge

Associate Producer

Kathryn Rzasa

Supervising Producer

Sarah J. Baker

Associate Producer

Sound

Jeff Levy

Sound Engineer

Maria Newman

Original Music Composer

Jeff Levy

Production Sound Mixer

Todd Friedrichsen

Sound Mixer

Writing

Scott Eyman

Writer

Art

Luana Osling

Graphic Designer

Camera

Todd Friedrichsen

Director of Photography

Bill Sheehy

Additional Photography

Costume & Make-Up

Haydee Serrano

Makeup & Hair

Kristen Kirst

Costume Supervisor

Directing

Elaina Archer

Director

Editing

Sarah Weiss

Assistant Editor

Production

Elaina Archer

Producer

Jason Burns

Co-Executive Producer

Richard Rosenzweig

Co-Executive Producer

Michael Yakaitis

Co-Producer

Marvin Paige

Associate Producer

Hugh Hefner

Executive Producer

John Sinner

Associate Producer

Barbara Lockridge

Associate Producer

Kathryn Rzasa

Supervising Producer

Sarah J. Baker

Associate Producer

Sound

Jeff Levy

Sound Engineer

Maria Newman

Original Music Composer

Jeff Levy

Production Sound Mixer

Todd Friedrichsen

Sound Mixer

Writing

Scott Eyman

Writer