Laura Wittern-Keller, The Miracle Case: Film Censorship and the Supreme Court (University of Kansas Press, 2008)
b'Did you ever wonder how we got from a moment in which almost everything on film could be censored (the Progressive Era) to the moment in which nothing on film could be censored (today)? From the Nickelodeon to Deep Throat? The answer is provided by Laura Wittern-Keller and Raymond J. Haberski in their wonderful new book The Miracle Case: Film Censorship and the Supreme Court (University of Kansas Press, 2008). You\\u2019ve probably never heard of \\u201cThe Miracle\\u201d or the case it launched in 1949. It\\u2019s a short film by Roberto Rossellini about a deranged women who, having slept with a man she believes is St. Joseph, gives birth to a child in a deserted mountain church. Fellini has a bit part (as \\u201cJoseph\\u201d). Critics generally liked it; Catholics in New York generally didn\\u2019t. The Church mounted a campaign against the film and the authorities relented: \\u201cThe Miracle\\u201d was banned on the grounds that it was \\u201csacrilegious.\\u201d In 1949, those were fine grounds. Not for long. The film\\u2019s distributor\\u2013the feisty Joseph Burstyn\\u2013fought for the right to exhibit it all the way to the Supreme Court in 1952. And he won. Between 1952 and 1965, the states got out of the film-censorship business and we entered a new era of free-speech absolutism when it comes to film. One wonders if that\\u2019s a good thing.\\n\\nPlease become a fan of \\u201cNew Books in History\\u201d on Facebook if you haven\\u2019t already.\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law'