Cinema: New Code

The earthier facts of life, as most U.S. moviegoers know, often whisper but seldom thunder from the silver screen. U.S. movie makers are bound by ground rules: the industry's own self-censorship code, first drafted in 1929. Last week the movie industry announced the code's first major overhaul in a quarter-century. Items: ¶J Sex. "Open-mouth kissing" has been banned. Childbirth may now be "treated within the careful limits of good taste." Abortion may be "suggested," but must be seriously "condemned." Seduction, rape, adultery and fornication "shall not be explicitly treated, nor . . . justified." Prostitutes and their managers are now restricted...

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