Who decided we needed one? Where did they meet? How was the selection of movies made? Who watched all the movies and decided on the rating? Who was on these committees? How did you get on THE committee? What year did all of this come about? What happened to end the Legion?

Good questions, Margo. (I corrected the spelling on your post -- you called it the Legend of Decency!) I think Big Al, as my father called Monsignor Carney, was the high mucky-muck of the Legion. I seriously doubt whether he personally saw a fraction of the films he didn't like.

Thank you, John.

I remember the "Advocate" movie ratings clearly. Has anyone ever seen "The Moon is Blue?" That was on there as "condemned" forever! I always wondered what one was supposed to do with films in the category "morally objectionable in part." Could you go and then determine that the objectionable part was coming up and close your eyes?

If I recall correctly, The Legion of Decency, with the good Monsignor as commander-in-chief, was composed of Rosary Society ladies who were responsible for checking out the local stationary stores for dirty magazines on display. Said stationary stores were then condemned from the pulpit on Sunday.

See this web page.......http://lphrc.org/rmk/Cath/legion.html

We had a communion breakfast at my church today as part of our centennial celebration. A guest speaker was Monsignor Bill Daly (who some of you might know from Seton Hall) and what do you think he happened to mention? RIGHT! The Legion of Decency.

Thanks Margo Downs for sparking my interest in this subject.