The first foreign film to be banned by the American government
The evolution of cinema can often be linked to the development of censorship laws since these two domains have historically influenced each other. That’s definitely the case with American cinema, especially after the implementation of the infamous Hays Code, which had a huge impact on the cinematic production process.
Prior to that, the filmmakers of the silent era had a lot more creative freedom, which helped pioneering directors like Lois Weber conduct bold experiments even though those films did spark moral outrage. However, the widespread popularity of the “immoral” pre-Code gangster flicks like Scarface urged conservative American policymakers to take action.
Make no mistake, films had been banned and censored before the implementation of the Hays Code. Notably, D.W. Griffith’s racist diatribe about the Ku Klux Klan – The Birth of a Nation – was banned in multiple American cities. While that might be understandable, important works such as Margaret Sanger’s 1917 documentary Birth Control (about family planning) were also banned due to “indecency”.
According to the records that have survived, the first foreign film that faced pushback from the American government was the seminal 1922 masterpiece Häxan. A highly influential silent horror film from Europe directed by Danish filmmaker Benjamin Christensen, Häxan explored the historical significance of witchcraft and hypothesised that neurological disorders and mass hysteria might have caused witch hunts.
Given the United States’ history of patriarchal oppression through such witch hunts (especially in places like Salem), it’s no surprise that it was banned until 1929. However, the first foreign film the US Customs Service blocked was a 1933 Czech erotic drama called Ecstasy, directed by Gustav Machatý.
The film tells the story of a young woman who gets married to a much older man because of his wealth but eventually abandons her loveless marriage when she finds a younger lover. It featured scenes considered “controversial” at the time, including nude segments with Hedy Lamarr and a female orgasm experienced by Lamarr’s character.
Although Samuel Cummins tried to import the film, the US Customs banned it and burnt the print because it was deemed “obscene and immoral”. Cummins did not give up and brought another cut into the country a year later, but some regions banned the film. In later years, Lamarr claimed that the director had tricked her and her husband spent around $4.55 million (when adjusting for inflation) by trying to buy every copy of the film, but he obviously failed.
