r/movies • u/Beginning_Gur7652 • 56m ago

Recommendation The 1951 film Native Son, based on Richard Wright's novel and starring the author, was shot in Argentina to escape Hollywood's McCarthy-era segregation. It was banned in the U.S. for 70 years

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMB-UC4a6SQ

Native Son (also known in Spanish-speaking countries as Sangre negra) is a 1951 drama and film noir movie directed by French filmmaker Pierre Chenal. It holds great historical and cultural value, notable for being filmed mainly in Argentina in the English language because American studios at the time refused to produce it due to its strong themes regarding racism.

The film faced severe censorship in the United States. About 30 minutes of footage were cut (800 meters of celluloid), removing scenes of violence, racial tension, and interracial sexuality. It was banned entirely in several U.S. states.

After spending decades mutilated and semi-lost, the U.S. Library of Congress and entities like the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) managed to reconstruct and restore a complete, uncut copy using Argentine and Puerto Rican reels. This full version finally premiered in theaters and festivals starting in 2016.

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u/aecarol1 36m ago

This movie wasn't "banned" for 70 years. No studio would get behind it, but literally nobody cared if someone paid to have it made. There might not have been many places that would have shown it in the '50s, but by the mid '60s there would have been of plenty of theaters willing to show it.

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u/NicolasCopernico 32m ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Son_(1951_film)#Release_and_later_restoration#Release_and_later_restoration)

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u/aecarol1 17m ago

The NYT article clearly indicates the banning was the 1949 version (released in 1951). It certainly was not "banned" for 70 years. By the mid '60s almost all of those laws were rule unconstitutional. New York officially ended its state-mandated system of banning and censoring movies in September of 1965. You might be able to say "banned in some places for 15 years".

A French director, Pierre Chenal, shot the 1949 film in Chicago and Buenos Aires, with Richard Wright, then 40 years old, playing Bigger Thomas. ...

The Chenal movie, criticized as amateurish and melodramatic, was cut by about half an hour by the New York Board of Censors and was banned in several states.

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u/cv5cv6 46m ago

Banned until 2021? Sure Jan.

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u/greenpill98 27m ago

Just ignore the 1986 and 2019 remakes, please.