Which ‘70s movie was pulled from theaters at the director's request?
One of the classic moves in the film industry is to censor yourself before someone can censor you.
Take the Hays Code. As pressure was building on the motion picture industry to be less unsavory, multiple states were drafting legislation to restrict the content of movies. Hell, the Supreme Court had decided unanimously in 1915 that free speech didn’t apply to film.
So Will Hays, the president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, decided to pull a fast one and come up with a set of standards that would keep legislators at bay while rehabilitating the image of Hollywood. The studios agreed that it was better, and largely adhered to the code from 1934 through 1968, when filmmakers decided to put whatever nasty things they wanted to in movies. Either that, or it basically morphed into a ratings system alongside changing social attitudes.
Of course, it’s one thing for regulators and industry leaders to self-censor, but a bit different when a director asks for his own film to be censored. One 1970s movie, now considered a classic, was even removed from theaters altogether at the request of the director. Which movie was it?
