BBFC Legislation

1. The Cinematograph Act (1909) gave local authorities the power to give or void licenses for the local cinemas.
2. In 1912, the British Board of Film Censors is created by a burgeoning film industry as a means of ensuring uniformity for film classification decisions.
3. The 'H' certificate was introduced - film has a horror theme and is unsuitable for children (1932).
4. In 1952, from changes to the Cinematograph Act, the 'X' certificate was introduced - no children under the age of 16 could watch these films.
5. The first famous trial using the Obscene Publications Act, D H Lawrence's 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' becomes available for the first time in 32 years.

The 1990s in terms of the BBFC

Key acts from the 90s are the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 and amendments to the Video Recordings Act. At this time, the BBFC had lots of extremely violent and drug-filled films to classify. The BBFC waited for the Bill to become an Act, before coming to decisions on Reservoir Dogs, True Romance, Bad Lieutenant, Dirty Weekend and Menace II Society. Because of new rules, there were more cuts than there would have been before.

Controversial film Kids (Larry Clark, 1995) was a film that was criticised for being 'child pornography' by reviewers. The BBFC looked into the proof of age for the actors. Some scenes were minorly cut based around the Protection of Children Act as they were deemed 'indecent'.

In 1997 the BBFC's President Lord Harewood, stepped down after 12 years in the job. His replacement, Andreas Whittam Smith, announced his intention to steer the BBFC towards a greater 'openness and accountability'. This included the publication of the BBFC's first set of classification guidelines in 1998, following a series of public 'roadshows' in which public views were canvassed and the launching of a BBFC website.