Rod complained loudly about censorship’s ruination of his 1956 drama The Arena, which lost its focus on the specific issues of the time, but did not lose its greater point about personal honor. This is typical of his strongest writing (for example, his screen adaptation of Seven Days in May) — the issues are almost beside the point; his forte is moral conflict and wrenchingly tough choices.

He wrote at great length about his early career, including censorship, in the forward to his 1957 paperback Patterns.