I had a bit of time, so I randomly picked this movie out of a list. I worked in a library (two actually) and was the librarian for my church for a few years. This particular movie deals with the banning of books, but it was in the 1950s.
Bette Davis plays an aged librarian, Mrs. Hull, who is asked to remove a book from her library. It has communist content, and the town council is getting complaints. They know she's stubborn, so they try to bribe her by agreeing to adding her children's wing.
Once it becomes time to actually get rid of the book, Mrs. Hull is unable to get rid of it. She decides to stand on her principles, and they fire her. A child is upset, and when rumors fly the librarian was a communist, the kid goes off the rails.
I really liked this movie. I found it interesting how this movie seemed very familiar. Book bans have been a thing for a long time. When I looked into the background, I found a comment I thought was pretty funny. The review mentioned the town turned on Mrs. Hull too fast. If you've ever been on the internet and read the comments section, you'd know people can turn on each other FAST. No evidence needed.
The kid was a bit disappointing, but he was a kid actor in the 50s, so I wasn't expecting much. The end of this hurt my soul, and I was on the verge of tears when Mrs. Hull was crying about the children. I also saw this was based on an actual woman named Ruth W. Brown, a librarian in Oklahoma. Good Movie!
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