Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture

When the Motion Picture Association of America’s Production Code began to be enforced, it greatly limited the depiction of sex, violence, and controversial social issues by the major Hollywood studios. Recognizing an opportunity, a number of cinematic renegades filled the void (and then some) by producing films intended for independent theaters that strongly hinted at taboo subject matter, often under the guise of educational and moral uplift. See some of the most notorious examples of the genre in this series—all screened in new restorations.

• See the complete B-Movie Mania: A Low-Budget Summer lineup