Frank Miller (not the comic guy) includes a brief discussion
of The Maltese Falcon in his book Censored Hollywood. He
credits John Huston with knowing how to write around the
Code, being able to hint at things without saying them
explicitly enough to require changes. Still, Joe Breen asked
for changes, some focusing on the homosexual element, but no
mention was made of the word "gunsel."
George Gardner's The Censorship Papers: Movie Censorship
Letters from the Hays Office 1934 to 1968 contains some
direct quotes from Breen's letters dictating changes to be
made. Again, the depiction of homosexuality was a concern:
"We cannot approve the characterization of Cairo as a pansy,
indicated by the lavender perfume, high-pitched voice, and
other accoutrements. In line with this, we refer you to page
48, where Cairo tries to put his arm around the boy's
shoulder and is struck by the boy."
Given that Breen was also concerned that Gutman's repeated
use of the phrase "By Gad" might be too close to blasphemy, I
think he simply didn't understand the homosexual connotations
of the word "gunsel," assumed it to be criminal slang for
gunman, as so many have since.
This reminds me of Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side." Many
radio stations cut the word "colored," from the line "and the
colored girls sing," as possibly offensive, but they all left
"even when he was giving head"-- evidently that phrase was
not well understood at the time.
Mark
ps -- I was amused to find that gunsel is in my
spell-check.
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