Opinion
No. 32164
Decided June 7, 1950.
Motion pictures — Film censorship — Action to set aside and vacate order rejecting exhibition — Order not unreasonable or unlawful.
PETITION to vacate order.
This action, originating in the Supreme Court, was brought under authority of Section 154-47 h, General Code, by Hallmark Productions, Inc., a corporation engaged in the production, distribution and exhibition of motion picture films, against the Department of Education, Division of Film Censorship. The plaintiff is the owner of a motion picture film entitled "The Devil's Weed," which film was submitted to the defendant for examination and censorship before being publicly exhibited and displayed, as required by Section 154-47 et seq., General Code.
The defendant's order rejecting the film reads in part: "Said film is not of a moral, educational or amusing and harmless character and is therefore not passed or approved by the said department." The specific cause of rejection was stated as "on account of being harmful."
The prayer of the petition is that this court "shall set aside and vacate said order of defendant rejecting the exhibition of the motion picture film * * *."
Mr. W.E. Minshall, for plaintiff.
Mr. Herbert S. Duffy, attorney general, Mr. William C. Bryant and Miss Gladys E. Davis, for defendant.
The case presents to this court the single question whether the order of the defendant is unreasonable or unlawful. This court has viewed the film and is of the opinion that the order of the defendant rejecting it "on account of being harmful" is not unreasonable or unlawful. The prayer of the petition is denied.
Judgment for defendant.
WEYGANDT, C.J., MATTHIAS, HART, ZIMMERMAN, STEWART, TURNER and TAFT, JJ., concur.