Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema

70 mins
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.

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)

Todd Friedrichsen

Director of Photography

Maria Newman

Original Music Composer

Haydee Serrano

Makeup & Hair

Sarah J. Baker

Associate Producer

Jason Burns

Co-Executive Producer

Hugh Hefner

Executive Producer

Barbara Lockridge

Associate Producer

Marvin Paige

Associate Producer

Richard Rosenzweig

Co-Executive Producer

Kathryn Rzasa

Supervising Producer

John Sinner

Associate Producer

Michael Yakaitis

Co-Producer

Luana Osling

Graphic Designer

Jeff Levy

Sound Engineer

Jeff Levy

Production Sound Mixer

Sarah Weiss

Assistant Editor

Kristen Kirst

Costume Supervisor

Bill Sheehy

Additional Photography

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