Condemned by the Legion of Decency

Condemned by the Legion of Decency's icon

Created by bathkuyp.

Favorited 17 times, disliked 1 time, added to 19 watchlists.

This is a list of films condemned by the Legion of Decency, a United States Catholic organization, and its successor (from 1965), the National Catholic Office for Motion Pictures. The condemned (or C) rating was issued from the time of the Legion's formation in 1933 until 1978, when the C rating and the B rating were merged into the new O ("morally offensive") rating. In 1980, the NCOMP film office was shut down, along with the biweekly Review, which had published ratings on 16,251 feature films.

The Legion's ratings were applied to movies made in the United States (which were subject to the Production Code until 1967) as well as those imported from other countries. Beginning in 1968, the ratings were applied in addition to any rating assigned by the MPAA film rating system.

Legion-organized boycotts made a C rating harmful to a film's distribution and profitability. Accordingly, for the majority of years that the rating was applied, most condemned films were made outside of the United States, where their producers didn't have as much to fear from the condemnation. Of the 53 movies the Legion had placed on its condemned list by 1943, only Howard Hughes' The Outlaw came from a major US studio, and it had not been approved by the Production Code or distributed widely.

Despite rumors to the contrary, Elia Kazan's A Streetcar Named Desire and Billy Wilder's The Seven Year Itch did not receive C ratings. Rather, Kazan's film was cut by 4 minutes to avoid condemnation, while Wilder's film had to cut scenes from the original play to be approved by Legion of Decency. [wikipedia]

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  1. 81 -

    Psycho

    1960, in 39 top lists Check
  2. 118 -

    A Clockwork Orange

    1971, in 37 top lists Check
  3. 134 -

    Taxi Driver

    1976, in 34 top lists Check
  4. 95 -

    Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo

    1966 — a.k.a. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, in 28 top lists Check
  5. 78 -

    Some Like It Hot

    1959, in 35 top lists Check
  6. 125 -

    The Exorcist

    1973, in 27 top lists Check
  7. 87 -

    1963, in 35 top lists Check
  8. 101 -

    Rosemary's Baby

    1968, in 21 top lists Check
  9. 79 -

    À bout de souffle

    1960 — a.k.a. Breathless, in 29 top lists Check
  10. 136 -

    Dawn of the Dead

    1978, in 15 top lists Check
  11. 131 -

    Carrie

    1976, in 11 top lists Check
  12. 119 -

    The Last Picture Show

    1971, in 21 top lists Check
  13. 93 -

    Blow-Up

    1966, in 20 top lists Check
  14. 84 -

    Jules et Jim

    1962 — a.k.a. Jules and Jim, in 21 top lists Check
  15. 82 -

    Spartacus

    1960, in 19 top lists Check
  16. 128 -

    The Wicker Man

    1973, in 13 top lists Check
  17. 88 -

    Le mépris

    1963 — a.k.a. Contempt, in 17 top lists Check
  18. 85 -

    Viridiana

    1961, in 24 top lists Check
  19. 130 -

    The Rocky Horror Picture Show

    1975, in 13 top lists Check
  20. 72 -

    Du rififi chez les hommes

    1955 — a.k.a. Rififi, in 18 top lists Check
  21. 68 -

    Los olvidados

    1950 — a.k.a. The Young and the Damned, in 25 top lists Check
  22. 62 -

    Black Narcissus

    1947, in 15 top lists Check
  23. 140 -

    All That Jazz

    1979, in 19 top lists Check
  24. 135 -

    Grease

    1978, in 12 top lists Check
  25. 126 -

    Ultimo tango a Parigi

    1972 — a.k.a. Last Tango in Paris, in 19 top lists Check
  26. 99 -

    The Producers

    1967, in 14 top lists Check
  27. 132 -

    The Omen

    1976, in 6 top lists Check
  28. 133 -

    The Outlaw Josey Wales

    1976, in 11 top lists Check
  29. 120 -

    The Devils

    1971, in 12 top lists Check
  30. 124 -

    Pink Flamingos

    1972, in 13 top lists Check
  31. 143 -

    Dressed to Kill

    1980, in 7 top lists Check
  32. 43 -

    The Scarlet Empress

    1934, in 12 top lists Check
  33. 144 -

    Friday the 13th

    1980, in 3 top lists Check
  34. 90 -

    From Russia with Love

    1963, in 4 top lists Check
  35. 64 -

    Miracle on 34th Street

    1947, in 7 top lists Check
  36. 127 -

    High Plains Drifter

    1973, in 4 top lists Check
  37. 15 -

    Queen Christina

    1933, in 3 top lists Check
  38. 6 -

    Design for Living

    1933, in 6 top lists Check
  39. 92 -

    The Pawnbroker

    1964, in 5 top lists Check
  40. 75 -

    Baby Doll

    1956, in 6 top lists Check
  41. 17 -

    She Done Him Wrong

    1933, in 8 top lists Check
  42. 102 -

    The Odd Couple

    1968, in 3 top lists Check
  43. 67 -

    Riso amaro

    1949 — a.k.a. Bitter Rice, in 5 top lists Check
  44. 121 -

    Sunday Bloody Sunday

    1971, in 9 top lists Check
  45. 1 -

    Baby Face

    1933, in 4 top lists Check
  46. 7 -

    Ekstase

    1933 — a.k.a. Ecstasy, in 4 top lists Check
  47. 142 -

    American Gigolo

    1980, in 3 top lists Check
  48. 100 -

    Jag är nyfiken - en film i gult

    1967 — a.k.a. I Am Curious (Yellow), in 5 top lists Check
  49. 74 -

    Et Dieu... créa la femme

    1956 — a.k.a. ...And God Created Woman, in 5 top lists Check
  50. 76 -

    Love in the Afternoon

    1957, in 3 top lists Check
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Last updated on Feb 14, 2014;