The Hidden Cinema: British Film Censorship in Action 1913-1972

How does film censorship work in Britain? Jim Robertson’s paperback edition of The Hidden Cinema argues that censorship has had a far greater influence on British film history than is often apparent, creating the hidden cinema of the title. Robertson charts the role of the British Board of Film Censors, established in 1913, and the histories of a variety of noteworthy films, including Battleship Potemkin and No Orchids for Miss Blandish , and revealing how censorship continues to exert a marked influence on many important films - like the controversial A Clockwork Orange - some of which have now vanished from British screens altogether. This edition includes a section on Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris , immediately engulfed in censorship wrangles on its release in 1972.