History of censorship - 1930

All Quiet On The Western Front

The film All Quiet On The Western Front was initially rejected as anti-war propaganda by both the Censor and the Appeal Board.

The distributors organised a private screening attended by some 250 people, many of them MPs. Eighteen MPs went as a deputation to the Minister of Internal Affairs in support of the film, and the Crown Law Office was asked what could be done. They said the film could be resubmitted to the censor if it were 'so altered as to constitute a new film'. The film was resubmitted with a few cuts, rejected again, but passed by the appeal board with one excision.

Christoffel, P. (1989) Censored: A Short History of Censorship in New Zealand, p16.

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