ABSTRACT
The final case study chapter explores how the depiction of crime or criminals led to the failure of a number of projects within the Production Code Administration (PCA) records. The focus is on the cultural conditions of production and the forces that prevented these acts of crimes being portrayed on screen. Analysis of archival records shows how crime was acceptable on screen, but only insomuch as it did not damage the reputation of established institutions (the Department of Justice, as in the example of The Cecil Wright Story), governments, or entire nations. These organisations would coalesce to ensure a project remained forever unmade if it prevented negative public relations. The chapter provides an in-depth exploration of unmade Mexican-set westerns (Here Comes Pancho Villa, Pancho Villa, Gun Glory, and the Santa Fe Uprising) and how, for three decades, such projects proved difficult to produce due to the stereotypical representation of Mexico and Mexicans as inherently violent and criminal. The chapter also investigates proposed biopics of true-life criminals and how such projects as The Cecil Wright Story failed due to conflicts between the purveyors of justice and film producers over what constituted the truth and what made a good story.
