and stand by to be escorted in police cars to a night court." Attorneys for The Captive secured the release of the cast by agreeing with the office of the District Attorney to withdraw their play from the stage. Production director Gilbert Miller asked the Famous Players-Lasky Motion Picture Company to support a legal challenge to the closure, but they wouldn't for fear of negative publicity. Following the suppression of the play, publisher Horace Liveright bought the production rights. He went to court seeking an injunction against the New York Police Department to prevent the play from being closed again. Though Liveright gave up after months of negotiations with the authorities, Acting Mayor McKee retaliated by re-opening a two-year-old indictment. Wales Padlock Act In New York, a censorship campaign against the plays The Captive, The Virgin Man, The Drag (another Mae West production marketed as "A Male Captive"), and SEX prompted the Wales Padlock Act, a state law that had the effect of banning depictions of homosexuality in theatres. Sponsored by New York State Senator B. Roger Wales, the bill allowed for the arrest and prosecution of any actors or producers involved in an "immoral drama." If the producers of a play were convicted, the theatre could be padlocked for a year. The legislature amended the public obscenity code to ban plays "depicting or dealing with the subject of sex degeneracy, or sex perversion." Effect on the demand for violets In the 1920s, "violet" was a common slang word for homosexuality, often associated with lesbians. Lesbian audience members for La Prisonnière in Paris pinned violets to their lapels and belts to show solidarity with the characters and subject. Newspaper coverage of The Captive further publicized the notion of the violet as a homosexual symbol, an association that lasted several decades. The association did not bode well for violet sales. Flower shops in New York City saw a decreased demand for violets. A November 1934 article in Harper's Bazaar, "The Story of Violets", related that "way back in the violet county last year they were still cursing this play as the knell of the violet industry." Notes 1.Sholem Asch's 1907 play God of Vengeance was performed on Broadway in 1923. References External links Full text of The Captive at HathiTrust Digital Library 1926 plays Broadway plays French plays LGBT-related plays LGBT-related controversies in plays Tragedy plays