Joseph Breen | |
|---|---|
| Born | Joseph Ignatius Breen (1888-10-14)October 14, 1888 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | December 5, 1965(1965-12-05) (aged 77) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City |
| Education | Gesu Parish School Roman Catholic High School |
| Alma mater | Saint Joseph's College |
| Occupation(s) | Film censor, journalist |
| Years active | 1934–1955 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 6 |
Joseph Ignatius Breen (October 14, 1888 – December 5, 1965) was an American filmcensor with theMotion Picture Producers and Distributors of America who applied theHays Code to film production.[1]
Breen was the youngest of three sons born to Mary and Hugh A. Breen inPhiladelphia. His father had emigrated fromIreland and met his mother Mary in New Jersey. Breen was raised in a strictRoman Catholic home and attended Gesu Parish School until the eighth grade.[2] He then attendedBoys Catholic High School.[3] He attendedSaint Joseph's College but dropped out after two years, after which he worked as a newspaper reporter for fourteen years in Philadelphia,Washington, D.C., andChicago.[3] After working as a reporter, Breen worked for theUnited States Foreign Service for four years, serving inKingston,Jamaica, and inToronto, Canada.[1]
In 1926, he served as the publicity director for the28th International Eucharistic Congress in Chicago.[4]
Breen was a journalist and an "influential layperson" in the Catholic community.[5] Breen worked forWill H. Hays as a "troubleshooter" as early as 1931.[6]
In 1933, the Roman CatholicNational Legion of Decency was founded, and began to rate films independently, putting pressure on the industry. In 1933 and 1934 the Legion along with a number of Protestant and women's groups launched plans to boycott films that they deemed immoral.[7] TheMotion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) had, up until then, enforced the motion picture industry's own self-censorship standards, albeit not very seriously.[8] Hays, who had been in charge of enforcing this voluntary code since 1927, worried that the NLD's efforts could weaken his own power and that of his office, and hurt industry profits.[8]
Hays appointed the "tough Irish Catholic" Breen to head theProduction Code Administration (PCA), a newly created department of the MPPDA, created to administer theMotion Picture Production Code.[9] Unlike previous attempts at self-censorship, PCA decisions became binding — no film could be exhibited in an American theater without a stamp of approval from the PCA.[10] Any producer attempting to do so faced a fine of $25,000.[11]
After ten years of unsuccessful voluntary codes and expanding local censorship boards, the studio approved and agreed to enforce the codes, and the nationwide production code was enforced starting on July 1, 1934.[10]Liberty Magazine wrote in 1936 that Breen's appointment gave him "more influence in standardizing world thinking than Mussolini, Hitler, or Stalin."[12]
Breen wroteantisemitic letters in the early 1930s including phrases like "Ninety-five percent of these folks are Jews of an Eastern European lineage. They are, probably, the scum of the scum of the earth".[13] After 1934, he was "publicly and forthrightly anti-antisemitic."[14] He occasionally collaborated withGeorg Gyssling, the Nazi representative in Hollywood.[15]
William Dudley Pelley, founder of the antisemitic organization theSilver Legion of America, believed that Jews controlled the movie industry, which he thought to be the "most effective propaganda medium in America", during the 1930s. Hence he applauded the fact that Breen had assumed the power to censor Hollywood.[16] Breen, who also expressed antisemitic views,[17] was deeply worried that Jewish filmmakers would try to use Nazi mistreatment of Jews during the 1930s as a vehicle for propaganda.[18] He was concerned that Germans would be offended by harsh depiction of Nazis. He specifically warned Hollywood producers to avoid the topic altogether, saying that "[t]here is a strong pro-German and antisemitic feeling in this country ... and while those who are likely to approve of an anti-Hitler picture may think well of such an enterprise, they should keep in mind that millions of Americans might think otherwise."[19] Breen claimed that plans to make such pictures were being coordinated through theHollywood Anti-Nazi League, which he claimed was "conducted and financed almost entirely by Jews". Breen pressuredMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer to drop plans to filmSinclair Lewis's best-selling anti-fascist novel,It Can't Happen Here after insisting on 60 edits with more to follow.[18][15] He also asked MGM in 1938 to change the villain from Nazis in the adaptation of the anti-Nazi novelThree Comrades in order to "get away from the suggestion that we are dealing with Nazi violence or terrorism."[15]
Breen did not issue a statement against antisemitism until July 1939, which said, in part, "In my judgement there is nothing more important for us Catholics to do at the present moment than to use our energies in stemming the tide of racial bigotry and hostility."[20] This followed statements in late 1938 byPope Pius XI denouncing antisemitism, stating that "it is not possible for Christians to take part in antisemitism" as well as the newly formedCommittee of Catholics to Fight Anti-Semitism. The two authors of theHays Code,Martin J. Quigley and theRev. Daniel Lord, SJ, promoted the cause. Quigley asked Breen to help gather statements of support from Catholics in the Hollywood film industry.
Breen resigned from the PCA in April 1941, attributing his departure to "overwork and the need of a long rest."[21] He briefly put in a stint as the general manager ofRKO Pictures,[6] but returned to the PCA in 1942.[5]
By the mid-1950s, Breen's power over Hollywood was diminishing. For instance,Samuel Goldwyn publicly insisted that the production code be revised. Around the same time,Howard Hughes, owner of RKO, releasedThe French Line, featuring revealing images of actressJane Russell in a bathing suit, despite the fact that Breen had refused to approve the picture for release.[22]
In 1951, Breen's office refused to approveOtto Preminger's filmThe Moon Is Blue because of objections to the dialogue.[23]United Artists backed Preminger in his decision to release the movie without Breen's approval.[24]
In 1954, the same year he retired, in responding to these events in an interview with Aline Mosby, Breen claimed that "after the events of the past 10 months —The French Line,The Moon Is Blue and Goldwyn — the code is more entrenched than ever before. Those events brought tremendous support from groups all over the country."[22] Breen retired from the PCA and was replaced byGeoffrey Shurlock.[25] On his retirement, he was presented with an honoraryAcademy Award[1] for "his conscientious, open-minded and dignified management of the Motion Picture Production Code".[26]
In February 1914, Breen married Mary Dervin, with whom he had six children, three boys and three girls.[27] Their son Joseph Breen, Jr. was a writer and director.[28] One of their other children, Thomas, whose right leg was amputated due to a combat injury onGuam during World War II, was cast in a feature role inJean Renoir's 1950 filmThe River, playing a wounded war veteran. Renoir was not aware at the time that Thomas was Joseph Breen's son.[29]
After his retirement, Breen moved toPhoenix, Arizona, with his wife Mary. He suffered from poor health in his later years and eventually lost the use of his legs. He died at the age of 77 on December 5, 1965, at the Brentwood Convalescent Home in Los Angeles and was buried atHoly Cross Cemetery, Culver City.[30]
After Breen's death,Variety magazine wrote that Breen was "one of the most influential figures in American culture" and that "more than any single individual, he shaped the moral stature of the American motion picture."[5] The trade magazine went on to say that Breen enforced the PCA code "with a potent mix of missionary zeal and administrative tenacity."[5]
In the 2004 filmThe Aviator, Breen was portrayed byEdward Herrmann.
