In response to a series of sex scandals that rocked the movie industry in the early 1920s, the Production Code Administration and the Catholic Legion of Decency implemented a code stipulating that movies stress proper behavior, respect for government, and Christian values. Based on an extensive survey of original studio records, censorship files, and the Catholic Legion of Decency archives (whose contents are published here for the first time), Hollywood...
In old Hollywood, gossip was hard currency, and there were two doyennes who dealt in the coin of the realm: one a frustrated former actress, and the other a queen of yellow journalism who spent decades working for William Randolph Hurst. Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons served as the moral arbiters to the stars. Their hold over Hollywood, alongside the famous Hays code, controlled the lives of stars of the silver screen in unexpected ways.