National Legion of Decency

The National Legion of Decency was an organization dedicated to identifying, and combatting, objectionable content in American motion pictures. Founded in April of 1934, for the first quarter-century or so of its existence, the legion wielded great power in the American motion picture industry.

Though established by Roman Catholic bishops, it originally included many Protestant and even some Jewish clerics as well; however, these latter gradually dropped out, and by the 1960s the organization had become an exclusively Catholic concern. Eventually, the entity was subsumed into the United States Catholic Conference, which later changed its name to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

See also:

• Catholic Legion of Decency

External links

• The National Legion of Decency Collection at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.