About Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
- Released on May 23, 2007
Before the G, PG and R ratings system there was the Production Code, and before that there was, well, nothing. This eye-opening documentary examines the rampant sexuality of early Hollywood through movie clips and reminiscences by stars of the era. Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Marlene Dietrich and others relate tales of the artistic freedom that led to the draconian Production Code, which governed content from 1934 to 1968. Diane Lane narrates.
Full Cast of Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Diane Lane plays Narrator (voice)
Chris Basinger plays Self
Jeanine Basinger plays Self
Cari Beauchamp plays Self
Leatrice Joy Gilbert plays Self
A.C. Lyles plays Self
Bob Mitchell plays Self
Barry Paris plays Self
Maria Riva plays Self
Michael Schlesinger plays Self
Budd Schulberg plays Self
Kevin Thomas plays Self
Mark Viera plays Self
Marc Wanamaker plays Self
William Wellman Jr. plays Self
Michael Westmore plays Self
Holly Madison plays Model: Special Shoot
Betsy Moore plays Silent Movie Theatre Actor
Paul Tucci plays Silent Movie Theatre Actor
Roscoe Arbuckle plays Self (archive footage)
Theda Bara plays Self (archive footage)
Clara Bow plays Self (archive footage)
Louise Brooks plays Self (archive footage)
Charlie Chaplin plays Self (archive footage)
Joan Crawford plays Self (archive footage)
Bebe Daniels plays Self (archive footage)
Bette Davis plays Self (archive footage)
Cecil B. DeMille plays Self (archive footage)
Marlene Dietrich plays Self (archive footage)
Douglas Fairbanks plays Self (archive footage)
Greta Garbo plays Self (archive footage)
John Gilbert plays Self (archive footage)
Cary Grant plays Self (archive footage)
D.W. Griffith plays Self (archive footage)
Texas Guinan plays Self (archive footage)
Ann Harding plays Self (archive footage)
Jean Harlow plays Self (archive footage)
Sessue Hayakawa plays Self (archive footage)
William H. Hays plays Self (archive footage)
William Randolph Hearst plays Self (archive footage)
Leslie Howard plays Self (archive footage)
Myrna Loy plays Self (archive footage)
Mary Miles Minter plays Self (archive footage)
Colleen Moore plays Self (archive footage)
Owen Moore plays Self (archive footage)
Pola Negri plays Self (archive footage)
Mabel Normand plays Self (archive footage)
Mary Pickford plays Self (voice) (archive footage)
Edna Purviance plays Self (archive footage)
Virginia Rappe plays Self (archive footage)
Theodore Roosevelt plays Self (archive footage)
Barbara Stanwyck plays Self (archive footage)
Gloria Swanson plays Self (voice) (archive footage)
Rudolph Valentino plays Self (archive footage)
Fannie Ward plays Self (archive footage)
Mae West plays Self (archive footage)
Woodrow Wilson plays Self (archive footage)
Crew of Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Production
Camera
Directing
Editing
Writing
Sound
Costume & Make-Up
Art
- Diane Lane
- Chris Basinger
- Jeanine Basinger
- Cari Beauchamp
- Leatrice Joy Gilbert
- A.C. Lyles
- Bob Mitchell
- Barry Paris
- Maria Riva
- Michael Schlesinger
- Budd Schulberg
- Kevin Thomas
- Mark Viera
- Marc Wanamaker
- William Wellman Jr.
- Michael Westmore
- Holly Madison
- Betsy Moore
- Paul Tucci
- Roscoe Arbuckle
- Theda Bara
- Clara Bow
- Louise Brooks
- Charlie Chaplin
- Joan Crawford
- Bebe Daniels
- Bette Davis
- Cecil B. DeMille
- Marlene Dietrich
- Douglas Fairbanks
- Greta Garbo
- John Gilbert
- Cary Grant
- D.W. Griffith
- Texas Guinan
- Ann Harding
- Jean Harlow
- Sessue Hayakawa
- William H. Hays
- William Randolph Hearst
- Leslie Howard
- Myrna Loy
- Mary Miles Minter
- Colleen Moore
- Owen Moore
- Pola Negri
- Mabel Normand
- Mary Pickford
- Edna Purviance
- Virginia Rappe
- Theodore Roosevelt
- Barbara Stanwyck
- Gloria Swanson
- Rudolph Valentino
- Fannie Ward
- Mae West
- Woodrow Wilson