Norwood Board Restricts Cinema Sunday License and Confronts Rapid Growth at Municipal Airport-November 15, 1972

Selectmen Vote Unanimously to Force Weekly License Renewals for Norwood Cinema Amid Heated Debate Over X-Rated Films

NORWOOD – Confronting intense community pressure over motion picture content, the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously on Monday night, November 13, 1972, to deny a standard one-year renewal of the Norwood Cinema‘s Sunday operating license. Instead, the board ruled that theater owner Irwin A. Cohen must formally reapply for the Sunday license on a week-to-week basis.

The decisive action followed a lengthy and emotionally charged public hearing packed with local residents, including a vocal contingent from Concerned Citizens Against X-Rated Movies and First Baptist Church pastor Rev. Clifford D. Anderson, who argued that sexually explicit films undermine public morality and threaten community standards. Despite a direct personal appeal from selectmen asking Cohen and his attorney, Leonard Skvirsky, to voluntarily halt the exhibition of X-rated features, the theater representatives declined to give a “carte blanche guarantee.”

Strict Provisions Attached to Weekly License Renewals

While Attorney Skvirsky defended the theater’s right to operate under free enterprise principles and cited state rulings protecting lawful movie choices, selectmen implemented stringent regulatory safeguards under the weekly licensing framework, moved by Selectman William F. Butters and John F. Lydon:

• Mandatory Advance Notice: The theater owner must notify selectmen in advance whenever an X-rated film is scheduled to be screened.
• Local Police Detail: The extra attendant required during X-rated screenings to prevent underage admissions must be an off-duty Norwood police officer, with the town taking up discussions regarding compensation rates.
• Citizen and Advisory Pushback: Proposals from selectmen to establish a citizen screening advisory group were dropped after defense counsel labeled the measure censorship, while citizen spokesperson Mary E. Capobianco presented petitions carrying 3,600 signatures demanding an end to adult cinema in town.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger