Banned Films
A select list of films that were banned for one reason or another, primarily in the UK & USA. I've excluded any films that were never intended to be mainstream/theatrical releases, as well as those I have no interest in seeing.
Starting with Freaks in 1932. Listed in chronological order of production.
No film of note has been banned in the UK or US since the mid-90s and Natural Born Killers. Several made in earlier decades were banned after this time (see notes), and almost all subsequent bans have been temporary pending cuts (see Human Centipede 2).
See Also:
Film censorship in the United Kingdom
Film censorship in the United States
Starting with Freaks in 1932. Listed in chronological order of production.
No film of note has been banned in the UK or US since the mid-90s and Natural Born Killers. Several made in earlier decades were banned after this time (see notes), and almost all subsequent bans have been temporary pending cuts (see Human Centipede 2).
See Also:
Film censorship in the United Kingdom
Film censorship in the United States
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- DirectorTod BrowningStarsWallace FordLeila HyamsOlga BaclanovaA circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.UK
Banned for disturbing content". Not approved until 1963. - DirectorErle C. KentonStarsCharles LaughtonBela LugosiRichard ArlenA mad doctor conducts ghastly genetic experiments on a remote island in the South Seas, much to the fear and disgust of the shipwrecked sailor who finds himself trapped there.UK
Refused a certificate for concerns over animal abuse under the Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act 1937. Passed in 1958. - DirectorFrank BorzageStarsClark GableJoan CrawfordIan HunterConvicts escaping from Devil's Island come under the influence of a strange Christ-like figure (Ian Hunter).USA
Banned by the Detroit Police Department due to the film's culture being "obscene and indecent". - DirectorGeorge CukorStarsGreta GarboMelvyn DouglasConstance BennettAfter a ski instructor catches her husband flirting with an old flame, she decides to pose as her (fictitious) twin sister in an attempt to keep him faithful.USA
Banned in New York City for scenes of adultery. - DirectorAllan DwanStarsDennis O'KeefeHelen WalkerJune HavocIn order to inherit $7,000,000, an ex-soldier must spend $1,000,000 in two months' time.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsEdward G. RobinsonJoan BennettDan DuryeaA man in mid-life crisis befriends a young woman, though her fiancé persuades her to con him out of the fortune they mistakenly assume he possesses.
- DirectorVittorio De SicaStarsLamberto MaggioraniEnzo StaiolaLianella CarellIn post-war Italy, a working-class man's bicycle is stolen, endangering his efforts to find work. He and his son set out to find it.
- DirectorGordon DouglasStarsJames CagneyBarbara PaytonHelena CarterStarting with a violent prison break, clever, ruthless Ralph Cotter corrupts everyone around him.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsWilliam HoldenDavid NivenMaggie McNamaraTwo aging playboys are both after the same attractive young woman, but she fends them off by claiming that she plans to remain a virgin until her wedding night. Both men determine to find a way around her objections.
- DirectorLaslo BenedekStarsMarlon BrandoMary MurphyRobert KeithTwo rival motorcycle gangs terrorize a small town after one of their leaders is thrown in jail.UK
Censors felt the film encouraged criminal activity and antisocial behavior. Unavailable until 1967. - DirectorEdward D. Wood Jr.StarsEdward D. Wood Jr.Bela LugosiLyle TalbotA psychiatrist tells the stories of a transvestite (Glen or Glenda) and a pseudohermaphrodite (Alan or Anne).
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsFrank SinatraKim NovakEleanor ParkerA junkie must face his true self to kick his drug addiction.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsKarl MaldenCarroll BakerEli WallachAn immature, naive teenage bride holds her anxious husband at bay while flirting with an amorous Sicilian farmer.
- DirectorRuss MeyerStarsBill TeasAnn PetersEnrico BanducciA door to door salesman of dentist's appliances encounters beautiful well-endowed nude women everywhere he goes.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsDirk BogardeSylvia SymsDennis PriceA closeted lawyer risks his career to bring a blackmailer to justice.
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsPeter BreckConstance TowersGene EvansBent on winning a Pulitzer Prize, a journalist commits himself to a mental institution to solve a strange and unclear murder.
- DirectorKing DonovanStarsJayne MansfieldTommy NoonanMarie McDonaldAfter a drunken spree on a cruise ship, two women discover that they're pregnant, and set out to find who the fathers are.
- DirectorKaneto ShindôStarsNobuko OtowaJitsuko YoshimuraKei SatôTwo women kill samurai and sell their belongings for a living. While one of them is having an affair with their neighbor, the other woman meets a mysterious samurai wearing a bizarre mask.
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsConstance TowersAnthony EisleyMichael DanteA former prostitute relocates to a buttoned-down suburb, determined to fit in with mainstream society. But perverse secrets simmer beneath the wholesome surface.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsShirley MacLainePeter UstinovRichard CrennaA former Notre Dame football star crash lands over a mythical Arabian country while on spy mission to the USSR. He is then forced by the football-obsessed king of that country to coach their football team .
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsBrigitte BardotJeanne MoreauGeorge HamiltonSomewhere in Central America in 1907: Maria II is the daughter of an Irish terrorist. After her father's death, she meets Maria I, a singer in a circus. She decides to stay with the circus, and on her debut as a singer, she unintentionally invents the strip-tease and makes the circus famous. Then they accidentally meet a socialist revolutionary and find themselves leading a revolution against the dictator, the capitalists and the Church.
- DirectorSergio CorbucciStarsFranco NeroJosé CanalejasJosé BódaloA coffin-dragging gunslinger and a prostitute become embroiled in a bitter feud between a Klan of Southern racists and a band of Mexican Revolutionaries.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsPeter FondaNancy SinatraBruce DernThe "Angels", a San Pedro motorcycle gang, party their way through the Coachella Valley while searching for a bike stolen from them by Mexicans, clashing with police along the way.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsPeter FondaSusan StrasbergBruce DernA disillusioned TV-commercial director is guided by his friend through an LSD trip, during which he evaluates his identity and his relationships with women.
- DirectorVilgot SjömanStarsLena NymanVilgot SjömanBörje AhlstedtTold in a quasi-documentary style, this companion piece to I Am Curious (Blue) (1968) deals with topics such as class society, non-violent resistance, sex, relationships, and tourism to Francoist Spain.