Ephraim London, 78, a Lawyer Who Fought Censorship, Is Dead
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Ephraim London, a lawyer who specialized in constitutional law and who won landmark cases involving the censorship of films, died on Tuesday at his home in Manhattan at the age of 78. The cause of death was complications from diabetes, his family said. Ephraim London, a lawyer who specialized in constitutional law and who won landmark cases involving the censorship of films, died on Tuesday at his home in Manhattan at the age of 78. The cause of death was complications from diabetes, his family said. During a long career Mr. London argued nine cases before the United States Supreme Court and won all of them. The two that aroused the greatest public interest involved films that were banned in New York - ”The Miracle” in 1950 and ”Lady Chatterley’s Lover” in 1956. ”The Miracle,” which was directed by Roberto Rossellini and starred Anna Magnani, told the story of an Italian peasant girl who believed she had immaculately conceived a child by St. Joseph. It was denounced as sacrilegious by Roman Catholic authorities in the United States and its license for exhibition in New York was revoked by the State Board of Regents. Invoked First Amendment The film’s distributor, Joseph Burstyn, took the case to the Supreme Court, where Mr. London successfully argued that the First Amendment’s protection of speech and the press extended to films as well. The decision to reinstate ”The Miracle” was unanimous. In the case involving ”Lady Chatterley’s Lover,” the film version of the D.H. Lawrence novel concerning a high-born English woman’s amorous relations with the caretaker of her husband’s estate, Mr. London appeared on behalf of Kingsley-International, the distributor. The Supreme Court struck down an important part of New York State’s 36-year-old film censorship system. All nine justices agreed that the ban on ”Lady Chattereley’s Lover” was improper, and a majority of five ruled that it was unconstitutional for New York to prohibit showing a film deemed obscene simply because it depicted conduct that was considered immoral. Among other films whose bans were overturned by the Supreme Court after Mr. London argued appeals were ”The Lovers,” from France, in 1964 and ”Language of Love,” from Sweden, in 1971. More : query.nytimes.com |