Vittorio De Sica's "The Bicycle Thief"
- Artist/Author/Producer: Vittorio De Sica, Italian director
- Confronting Bodies: Production Code Administration
- Dates of action: 1948
- Location: Hollywood, Hays Office
- Description of the Art Work
- "Set in the poverty and bleakness of post-war Rome 'The Bicycle Thief'
tells a simple but elegant story about a man's desperate search for his
stolen bicycle. The picture traces the frantic efforts of Antonio and his
10-year-old son, Bruno, to locate the thief and recover the precious
bicycle."
- Description of incident
- In spite of the praise and awards "The Bicycle Thief" was receiving from
around the globe, Hollywood's Production Code Administration (PCA) was
able to find two scenes that it demanded be removed before it would issue
its Seal of approval.
"The first was a brief, slightly poignant episode in the midst of
the frantic daylong search for the stolen bicycle. Antonio's son pauses
beside a Roman wall, apparently to relieve himself. His back is to the
camera and before he can begin, his father compels him to abandon the
call of nature and continue the chase. The second problem, more important
to the plot, involved Antonio's pursuit of the thief into a 'house of
tolerance.' The run went through the bordello. Showed nothing even
remotely sensual. The women were clothed, unattractive and occupied only
with their Sunday morning meal."
Although neither scene technically violated the official Production
Code, Joseph Breen, the PCA's Director, personally opposed the scenes and
demanded they be removed before he would issue the film the PCA Seal.
Because most cinemas were still owned by the major studios, this Seal was
imperative for a films distribution.
"The company presidents made the Production Code Seal the passport
that the movies needed to enter the largest and most profitable theaters
in America. They fined those who distributed or exhibited a picture
without the Seal."
- Results of incident
- Banking on the films reputation and critics support Burstyn, the film's
distributor, began a press campaign to have the Motion Picture
Association overrule Breen's decision. The Association supported Breen's
decision and demanded that the scenes be removed. Burstyn refused the to
make the cuts, and he was forced to release the film without the Seal.
"The decision sparked intense criticism of the Production Code
Administration. In a two-column New York Times story, "The Unkindest
Cut," Bosley Crowther termed the outcome of the appeal 'the sort of
resistance to liberalization or change that widely and perilously
oppresses the whole industry today... ' In a series of press releases, he
accused Breen of applying petty standards that the vast majority of
Americans had long sense rejected... "
As the support of the PCA began to be challenged by Bursytn and the
like "The Bicycle Thief" decision marked the beginning of the end of the
PCA's rigid hold on film distribution.
Source:American Film, L. Leff and J. Simmons, December 1989