‘Banned in Memphis’ returns once-censored films to screen – The Commercial Appeal

H.B. Warner is "The King of Kings," Jesus Christ, in the 1927 Cecil B. DeMille film, which screens Wednesday at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.(Photo: The Criterion Collection)

In 1947,Lloyd T. Binford, chairman of the Memphis Board of Censors, sent a letter toDavid O. Selznick with his opinion of the Hollywood producer's latest would-beblockbuster, the Technicolor "Duel in the Sun," starring Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones.

''This production contains all the impurities of the foulest human dross," Binford wrote."It is sadism at its deepest level. It is the fleshpots of Pharaoh, modernized and filled to overflowing. It is a barbaric symphony of passion and hatred, spilling from a blood-tinted screen. It is mental and physical putrefaction. It is a story of jungle savagery which might have amused the people of Sodom and Gomorrah in the final moments of the destruction of those ancient, evil cities.''

Sounds like a must-see, right? But Binford's letter was notan endorsement. The censor banned the film from Memphis.

An appointee of Memphis mayor E.H. "Boss" Crump, Lloyd Tilghman Binford was himself the notorious "Boss" of Memphis' movie screensfrom the tail end of the silent era (1928) to the dawn of the space race (1955).

While most Memphis political figures from that time are little remembered even in their hometown, Binford who died at 89, a year after his retirement from the censor board continues to be a figure of fascination for those interested in the history of free speech, the arts,race Binford banned films that gave "too much prominence to Negroes" and movie culturein Memphis.

The censor'spurple prose contributes to the fascination: Binford's free use of over-the-top anti-superlativeswas, in some cases, a godsend to publicists.

For example, in 1954, Binfordbanned RKO's "Son of Sinbad" on the basis of "one of the vilest dances I ever saw," performed by guest celebrity stripper Lili St. Cyr (who, of course, did not get nude in the movie).

"The dance lasted about 10 minutes, and it was more of a licentious wriggle than a dance," wroteBinford, displaying a sharp memory and a keen eye for detail. "The dancer was almost naked, wearing only a G-string and a filmy sort of apron ..." Is it any wonderMemphians crossed the river in droves tocatch such films in West Memphis?

The Memphis Board of Censors did not approve of the positive depiction of "Negroes" found in Vincente Minnelli's "Cabin in the Sky" (1943).(Photo: MGM)

In recognition of Binford's impact on a city that continues to have a complicated relationship with art, race and culture, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art launches a monthly series of screenings April 12 devoted to movies that felt the censor's wrath. Each film will be introduced by a speaker (or speakers), who also will lead a public post-movie discussion.

"The project gives us the opportunity to screen some really remarkable classic films through the prism of local history, using scholars, historians, writers and filmmakers to introduce each film,"said Andria Lisle, associate curator of film and public engagement at the Brooks.

The series begins Wednesday, April 12, with "The King of Kings," Cecil B. DeMille's 1927 epic dramatization of "the Greatest Story Ever Told" the ministry, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ (played by H.B. Warner). A Baptist deacon, Binford reportedly chastised the film for being "a perversion of the true life of Christ," and it must be admitted he had a point: The film introduces Mary Magdalene as a sexy and wealthy courtesan "Harness my zebras!" she declares whose love affair with the handsome Judas is broken when Judas joins the apostles. (Incidentally, the movie's "cast of thousands" includes two very different Rand women: Sally Rand, the notorious peek-a-boo "fan dancer," and Ayn Rand, future Objectivist philosopher and "Atlas Shrugged" author.)

Inflexibleand eccentric, Binford didn't only ban moviesfor reasons of politics, race, violence, sex and religion. Some of his motivations were extremely personal, not to mention highly subjective.

Having been aboard a train robbed at gunpoint while he was a teenage railway clerk, Binford objected to movies depicting train robbers in generaland Jesse James in particular. Healso banned films based on his judgment of the off-screen moralityof the filmmakers.

Binford objected to Charlie Chaplin films because the "London guttersnipe" was "a perverter of home life and childhood ... and a reputed endorser of the Communist party."

Movies that viewers today might deride for containing racial stereotypes were too progressive for Binford. In 1947, the censor explainedwhy he rejected"Curley," producer Hal Roach's attempt to re-create the success of his mixed-race Our Gang/Little Rascals comedies. "The South does not permit Negroes in white schools nor recognize social equality between the races, even in children.

The arbitrariness of Binford'srulings made Memphis a laughingstock or a source of pride, depending on one's point of view. In 1950, Collier's Magazine reported: "Memphis has attracted nationwide attention for movie and stage censorship so severe and so unpredictable that pictures shown without a ripple elsewhere have been barred there."

Lisle said the Binford film series gives her "particular delight" because the museum "stands for everything that Binford was against," especially when he used his censor's role "to espouseclose-minded beliefs about 'Southern womanhood'and white supremacy."

There was a lot of gunplay and a lot of Jane Russell in "The Outlaw."(Photo: United Artists)

All movies are at 7 p.m.

Admission to each film is $9, or $5 for students or museum members. Visit brooksmuseum.org.

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'Banned in Memphis' returns once-censored films to screen - The Commercial Appeal