ABSTRACT
Much of the audience that used to go to the theatres for entertainment was lost to a new medium, cinema. Early cinema film was highly combustible and therefore constituted a fire hazard. The Cinematograph Act 1909 was passed to combat this danger by providing for the licensing of cinemas by local authorities. Local authorities began using this licensing power to regulate the type of film being shown in the cinema. Thus in 1912 the industry set up a self-censoring body, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) which still operates today. An ‘18’ rating given by the Board to a film effectively means that in the opinion of the Board the film would survive a prosecution under the obscene publications legislation. But whatever the view of the BBFC, your local authority may still refuse to grant a licence to show a film in your area under the Cinemas Act 1985, which together with the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 is used to regulate sex cinemas and other sex establishments. Examples of films given an ‘18’ rating by the BBFC but banned by some local authorities include A Clockwork Orange, The Life of Brian and The Last Temptation of Christ.
