02-03-2015, 01:39 PM
http://www.focusfeatures.com/article/_em...rom_thurmo
October 23, 1979, ...New York Times reported that Strom Thurmond had played an integral role in getting Monty Python's Life of Brian pulled from its theatrical run after goings on in the town of Columbia, SC. The film, a comedy about a man called Brian who is mistaken for Jesus Christ, had drawn criticisms of blasphemy since its release stateside in August, when nuns had picketed movie theaters showing the movie by John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam et al. In Columbia, Rev. William Solomon, a Presbyterian minister from nearby Irmo, SC, felt the film "ridiculed Jesus and Christianity" (as the Times put it), and so put in a call to Thurmond's wife, Nancy. A subsequent call from Thurmond to the General Cinema Corporation resulted in the film being pulled from the state, however there was a major backlash when it became clear that Thurmond had not seen the film himself and that the "overwhelming sentiment against the showing of the movie in South Carolina" he had spoken of was in fact merely the opinion of Solomon, with the backing of Thurmond’s wife. Life of Brian did ultimately win out against religious outrage and pseudo-censorship, earning a muscular $20 million in 1979, making it the biggest British movie of the year at the U.S. box office.
October 23, 1979, ...New York Times reported that Strom Thurmond had played an integral role in getting Monty Python's Life of Brian pulled from its theatrical run after goings on in the town of Columbia, SC. The film, a comedy about a man called Brian who is mistaken for Jesus Christ, had drawn criticisms of blasphemy since its release stateside in August, when nuns had picketed movie theaters showing the movie by John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam et al. In Columbia, Rev. William Solomon, a Presbyterian minister from nearby Irmo, SC, felt the film "ridiculed Jesus and Christianity" (as the Times put it), and so put in a call to Thurmond's wife, Nancy. A subsequent call from Thurmond to the General Cinema Corporation resulted in the film being pulled from the state, however there was a major backlash when it became clear that Thurmond had not seen the film himself and that the "overwhelming sentiment against the showing of the movie in South Carolina" he had spoken of was in fact merely the opinion of Solomon, with the backing of Thurmond’s wife. Life of Brian did ultimately win out against religious outrage and pseudo-censorship, earning a muscular $20 million in 1979, making it the biggest British movie of the year at the U.S. box office.