Grieveson, Policing Cinema 1/8/04 4:01 PM Page i Policing Cinema Grieveson, Policing Cinema 1/8/04 4:01 PM Page ii The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous contribution to this book provided by the Ahmanson Foundation Humanities Fund of the University of California Associates. Grieveson, Policing Cinema 1/8/04 4:01 PM Page iii Policing Cinema Movies and Censorship in Early-Twentieth-Century America lee grieveson University of California Press berkeley los angeles london Grieveson, Policing Cinema 1/8/04 4:01 PM Page iv University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2004 by the Regents of the University of California For acknowledgments of permissions, please see page 331. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Grieveson, Lee, 1969–. Policing cinema : movies and censorship in early-twentieth- century America / Lee Grieveson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0–520–23965–2 (alk. paper).—isbn 0–520–23966–0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Motion pictures—Censorship—United States—History. I. Title. pn1995.62 .g75 2004 363.31'0973—dc22 2003016038 CIP Manufactured in the United States of America 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 10987654 321 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r 1997) (Permanence of Paper).8 Grieveson, Policing Cinema 1/8/04 4:01 PM Page v Vanessa’s book Grieveson, Policing Cinema 1/8/04 4:01 PM Page vi Grieveson, Policing Cinema 1/8/04 4:01 PM Page vii Contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 1. policing cinema 11 2. scandalous cinema, 1906–1907 37 3. reforming cinema, 1907–1909 78 4. film fights, 1910–1912 121 5. judging cinema, 1913–1914 151 Conclusion 193 Notes 217 Bibliography 317 Acknowledgments of Permissions 331 Index 333 Grieveson, Policing Cinema 1/8/04 4:01 PM Page viii Grieveson, Policing Cinema 1/8/04 4:01 PM Page ix Illustrations 1. “Young America and the Moving-Picture Show,” Puck (9 November 1910) 16 2. Stanford White, Evelyn Nesbit, Harry Thaw (1907) 41 3. Charles Dana Gibson, “The Eternal Question” (1903) 46 4. Composite photograph postcard, Evelyn Nesbit and Harry Thaw (1907) 48 5. Postcard, Evelyn Nesbit (1907) 49 6. Frame enlargement, The Unwritten Law (1907) 53 7. Frame enlargement, The Unwritten Law (1907) 53 8. Slide shown between films (c. 1908–14) 94 9. Slide shown between films (c. 1908–14) 95 10. Frame enlargement, What Drink Did (1909) 109 11. Frame enlargement, What Drink Did (1909) 109 12. Frame enlargement, What Drink Did (1909) 109 13. Frame enlargement, A Drunkard’s Reformation (1909) 112 14. Frame enlargement, A Drunkard’s Reformation (1909) 112 15. Frame enlargement, A Drunkard’s Reformation (1909) 112 16. Frame enlargement, A Drunkard’s Reformation (1909) 113 17. Frame enlargement, A Drunkard’s Reformation (1909) 113 18. Frame enlargement, A Drunkard’s Reformation (1909) 113 19. “Educational?” Jackson (Mississippi) Clarion-Ledger (21 July 1910) 123 ix Grieveson, Policing Cinema 1/8/04 4:01 PM Page x x/Illustrations 20. Poster advertising the Johnson-Jeffries fight (1910) 125 21. “Save the Children!” New York Tribune (9 July 1910) 127 22. “There’s a Reason,” Moving Picture World (20 August 1910) 128 23. Jack Johnson at the wheel (1910) 130 24. Frame enlargement, Traffic in Souls (1913) 155 25. Poster advertising Traffic in Souls (1913) 160 26. Publicity still, Traffic in Souls (1913) 163 27. Frame enlargement, The Inside of the White Slave Traffic (1913) 169 28. Frame enlargement, The Inside of the White Slave Traffic (1913) 170 29. Cartoon from D. W. Griffith’s pamphlet The Rise and Fall of Free Speech (1916) 196 30. Cartoon from D. W. Griffith’s pamphlet The Rise and Fall of Free Speech (1916) 197 Grieveson, Policing Cinema 1/8/04 4:01 PM Page xi Acknowledgments It is entirely likely that no part of what follows would have been written without the help of Peter Krämer,in whose class on silent cinema—too many years ago—this book first began to take shape. A good part of the pleasure I have derived from writing this book has come from my developing a dia- logue and friendship with Peter. His insightful readings and comments in- form pretty much every page—to the detriment of both our phone bills— and it is impossible to thank him enough for his help, enthusiasm, and support. He remained interested in this project and committed to it long af- ter it was reasonable to expect him to be so, and it’s entirely likely that as you read this, he is on the phone with me, expressing some further thoughts. Peter also embodies an ideal of scholarship that I aspire to. He is open-minded (well, in the main), enthusiastic, erudite, thoughtful, and willing to share ideas and insights. Lots of other people and institutions have helped with the research and writing of this book. Let me take them in some form of order. I am indebted to Steve Neale, who agreed to be my supervisor for the Ph.D. project on which this book is based. Later, Murray Smith took over as my supervisor, and his precise reading—and ever-vigilant red pen—urged me to be as pre- cise as I could. Long conversations with Murray in the bar at the Institute of Contemporary Arts made this a better book. I was fortunate enough to have two terrific examiners in Ian Christie and Roberta Pearson; their in- sightful comments, enthusiasm, and subsequent support were and have been extremely helpful. Eric Smoodin at the University of California Press took the project on, and his kindness, coupled with the inspiration of his schol- arship, helped keep me going.With characteristic insight Eric sent the man- uscript to Charles Musser and Shelley Stamp. No one could hope for bet- ter readers. In precise and detailed readings they questioned my assumptions xi Grieveson, Policing Cinema 1/8/04 4:01 PM Page xii xii / Acknowledgments and urged greater clarity,helping improve the manuscript greatly.I am grate- ful for their help and for the inspiration their work has given me. Mary Fran- cis took over the project as editor at the University of California Press, and in ushering it through the final stages of preparation she has been the very model of calmness and efficiency. My thanks for her help and support. I would like also to thank senior editor Rachel Berchten and Joe Abbott for his thorough and expert copy editing. Various parts of what follows have been presented at conferences and in- vited lectures, have been published, and have been read by friends and col- leagues, and I thank them for their questions, observations, and encourage- ment (in rough chronological order to the best I can remember): William Uricchio, Roberta Pearson, Howard Booth, Tom Gunning, Shelley Stamp, Annette Kuhn,Tim Armstrong,Thomas Austin, Richard Maltby,Sue Wise- man, Mike Hammond, Peter Stanfield, Duncan Petrie, Kristen Whissel, Melvyn Stokes, Mark Jancovich, Angelique Richardson, Colin MacCabe, David Mayer, Connie Balides, Esther Sonnet, Haidee Wasson, Adrienne McLean, Julie Lindstrom, Gaylyn Studlar, Mark Lynn Anderson, Kevin Brownlow, Charlie Keil, David Rodowick, Stephanie Green, and Mark Betz. A version of chapter 4, published as “Fighting Films: Race, Morality, and the Governing of Cinema, 1912–1915” in Cinema Journal 38, no. 1 (fall 1998), was awarded the Society for Cinema Studies Kovacs Essay Award. My thanks to the judges and the Society for Cinema Studies for their con- sideration. Merely reciting a list of names does scant justice to the help and support many people have provided. Truly, as a philosopher once observed, the frontiers of a book are never clear-cut: beyond the title, the first lines, and the last full stop, it is caught up in a system of references to other books, texts, sentences, and, I would add, people. I am grateful to have had such wonderful scholars and friends to draw on. I am indebted to a number of institutions for their support. The British Academy funded the Ph.D. project on which this book is based and also pro- vided a generous overseas research grant.The Arts and Humanities Research Board provided a Research Leave Award and two grants in the creative arts to enable me to complete this book. The research leave was kindly matched by the University of Exeter. A reduced teaching and administrative role in my first year at King’s College, University of London, helped me complete the manuscript. Other institutions have been extremely helpful also, in- cluding the New York Public Library (in particular the Rare Books and Man- uscripts Division); the Billy Rose Theatre Collection; the Museum of Mod- ern Art (special thanks to Charles Silver); the Library of Congress (thanks, in particular, to Madeline Matz and Rosemary Hanes); the British Film In- Grieveson, Policing Cinema 1/8/04 4:01 PM Page xiii Acknowledgments / xiii stitute; the British Library; the Schomberg Center for Research in Black Cul- ture, New York City; the Ohio Historical Center; the State Archives of Penn- sylvania; the State Library of Pennsylvania; the Chicago Public Library; the Ronald Westman Library at Northeastern University, Chicago; the Munic- ipal Archives, Department of Records and Information Services, City of New York; the Institute for Advanced Legal Study at the University of London; the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Margaret Herrick Li- brary, Los Angeles; and the Motion Picture Department, George Eastman House, Rochester, N.Y. I would like to thank and acknowledge the help of my family also, espe- cially Barbara and Campbell Grieveson, Kay Gregg, Mandy Grieveson, Paul Grieveson, Susan Hughes, and Moyra Martin.