Condemned by the Legion of Decency

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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. 87 -

    1963, in 35 top lists Check
  2. 23 -

    All of Me

    1934, in 0 top lists Check
  3. 140 -

    All That Jazz

    1979, in 19 top lists Check
  4. 142 -

    American Gigolo

    1980, in 3 top lists Check
  5. 113 -

    The Anniversary

    1968, in 0 top lists Check
  6. 116 -

    The April Fools

    1969, in 0 top lists Check
  7. 75 -

    Baby Doll

    1956, in 6 top lists Check
  8. 1 -

    Baby Face

    1933, in 4 top lists Check
  9. 2 -

    The Barbarian

    1933 — a.k.a. A Night in Cairo, in 0 top lists Check
  10. 24 -

    Belle of the Nineties

    1934, in 0 top lists Check
  11. 25 -

    The Big Shakedown

    1934, in 0 top lists Check
  12. 122 -

    Billy Jack

    1971, in 2 top lists Check
  13. 62 -

    Black Narcissus

    1947, in 15 top lists Check
  14. 3 -

    Blondie Johnson

    1933, in 0 top lists Check
  15. 4 -

    Blood Money

    1933, in 0 top lists Check
  16. 93 -

    Blow-Up

    1966, in 20 top lists Check
  17. 115 -

    Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

    1969, in 3 top lists Check
  18. 86 -

    Boccaccio '70

    1962, in 1 top list Check
  19. 26 -

    Bolero

    1934, in 0 top lists Check
  20. 109 -

    The Boston Strangler

    1968, in 2 top lists Check
  21. 79 -

    À bout de souffle

    1960 — a.k.a. Breathless, in 29 top lists Check
  22. 95 -

    Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo

    1966 — a.k.a. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, in 28 top lists Check
  23. 123 -

    The Carey Treatment

    1972 — a.k.a. Emergency Ward, in 0 top lists Check
  24. 131 -

    Carrie

    1976, in 11 top lists Check
  25. 118 -

    A Clockwork Orange

    1971, in 37 top lists Check
  26. 83 -

    A Cold Wind in August

    1961, in 0 top lists Check
  27. 147 -

    The Competition

    1980, in 0 top lists Check
  28. 54 -

    Damaged Goods

    1937, in 0 top lists Check
  29. 136 -

    Dawn of the Dead

    1978, in 15 top lists Check
  30. 5 -

    Day of Reckoning

    1933, in 0 top lists Check
  31. 105 -

    Deadfall

    1968, in 0 top lists Check
  32. 6 -

    Design for Living

    1933, in 6 top lists Check
  33. 120 -

    The Devils

    1971, in 12 top lists Check
  34. 143 -

    Dressed to Kill

    1980, in 7 top lists Check
  35. 72 -

    Du rififi chez les hommes

    1955 — a.k.a. Rififi, in 18 top lists Check
  36. 7 -

    Ekstase

    1933 — a.k.a. Ecstasy, in 4 top lists Check
  37. 8 -

    The Emperor Jones

    1933, in 2 top lists Check
  38. 74 -

    Et Dieu... créa la femme

    1956 — a.k.a. ...And God Created Woman, in 5 top lists Check
  39. 125 -

    The Exorcist

    1973, in 27 top lists Check
  40. 27 -

    Fashions of 1934

    1934, in 0 top lists Check
  41. 28 -

    Finishing School

    1934, in 0 top lists Check
  42. 9 -

    Flying Down to Rio

    1933, in 2 top lists Check
  43. 63 -

    Forever Amber

    1947, in 0 top lists Check
  44. 29 -

    Four Frightened People

    1934, in 0 top lists Check
  45. 71 -

    The French Line

    1954, in 0 top lists Check
  46. 144 -

    Friday the 13th

    1980, in 3 top lists Check
  47. 90 -

    From Russia with Love

    1963, in 4 top lists Check
  48. 10 -

    La fusée

    1933 — a.k.a. Grandeur and Decadence, in 0 top lists Check
  49. 30 -

    Gambling Lady

    1934, in 0 top lists Check
  50. 31 -

    George White's Scandals

    1934, in 0 top lists Check
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Last updated on Feb 14, 2014;