Jacobellis v. Ohio

Banned Films: Movies, Censors and the First Amendment, lists 122 films which, for "political, religious, moral, [or] sexual reasons," were the focus of censorship cases between 1908 and 1981. In The Encyclopedia of Censorship, published eight years later, only five more films were listed, suggesting that the bulk of these legal actions took place earlier in the history of film rather than later.

The first case noted by the authors involved the films Night Riders and The James Boys in Missouri, both banned in Chicago in 1908. Though both films depicted "the American historical experience," according to their promoters, the authorities found in them evidence of immorality.

A sampling of some other banned films include: The Birth of a Nation (1915), whose racist themes would "invite race hatred and race riots"; Tomorrow's Children (1937), a film that depicts sterilization and corrupt public officials; Victory in the West (1941), a German newsreel celebrating Nazi victories in France and the Low Countries; Curley (1949), a Little Rascals-style Hal Roach film banned in Memphis because it showed white children and black children in school together; and The Man with the Golden Arm (1956), which portrayed drug addiction.