Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry
between the widespread adoption of sound in pictures in 1929 and the
enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship
guidelines, popularly known as the "Hays Code", in mid-1934. Although
the Code was adopted in 1930, oversight was poor, and it did not
become rigorously enforced until July 1, 1934, with the establishment
of the Production Code Administration (PCA). Before that date, movie
content was restricted more by local laws, negotiations between the
Studio Relations Committee (SRC) and the major studios, and popular
opinion, than by strict adherence to the Hays Code, which was often
ignored by Hollywood filmmakers.As a result, some films in the late
1920s and early 1930s depicted or implied sexual innuendo, romantic
and sexual relationships between white and black people, mild
profanity, illegal drug use, promiscuity, prostitution, infidelity,
abortion, intense violence, and homosexuality. Nefarious characters
were seen to profit from their deeds, in some cases without
significant repercussions. For example, gangsters in films like The
Public Enemy, Little Caesar, and Scarface were seen by many as heroic
rather than evil. Strong female characters were ubiquitous in such
pre-Code films as Female, Baby Face, and Red-Headed Woman. Along with
featuring stronger female characters, films examined female subject
matters that would not be revisited until decades later in US films.
Many of Hollywood's biggest stars such as Clark Gable, Bette Davis,
Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Blondell, and Edward G. Robinson got their
start in the era. Other stars who excelled during this period,
however, like Ruth Chatterton (who decamped to England) and Warren
William (the so-called "king of Pre-Code", who died in 1948), would
wind up essentially forgotten by the general public within a
generation.Beginning in late 1933 and escalating throughout the first
half of 1934, American Roman Catholics launched a campaign against
what they deemed the immorality of American cinema. This, plus a
potential government takeover of film censorship and social research
seeming to indicate that movies which were seen to be immoral could
promote bad behavior, was enough pressure to force the studios to
capitulate to greater oversight.
between the widespread adoption of sound in pictures in 1929 and the
enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship
guidelines, popularly known as the "Hays Code", in mid-1934. Although
the Code was adopted in 1930, oversight was poor, and it did not
become rigorously enforced until July 1, 1934, with the establishment
of the Production Code Administration (PCA). Before that date, movie
content was restricted more by local laws, negotiations between the
Studio Relations Committee (SRC) and the major studios, and popular
opinion, than by strict adherence to the Hays Code, which was often
ignored by Hollywood filmmakers.As a result, some films in the late
1920s and early 1930s depicted or implied sexual innuendo, romantic
and sexual relationships between white and black people, mild
profanity, illegal drug use, promiscuity, prostitution, infidelity,
abortion, intense violence, and homosexuality. Nefarious characters
were seen to profit from their deeds, in some cases without
significant repercussions. For example, gangsters in films like The
Public Enemy, Little Caesar, and Scarface were seen by many as heroic
rather than evil. Strong female characters were ubiquitous in such
pre-Code films as Female, Baby Face, and Red-Headed Woman. Along with
featuring stronger female characters, films examined female subject
matters that would not be revisited until decades later in US films.
Many of Hollywood's biggest stars such as Clark Gable, Bette Davis,
Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Blondell, and Edward G. Robinson got their
start in the era. Other stars who excelled during this period,
however, like Ruth Chatterton (who decamped to England) and Warren
William (the so-called "king of Pre-Code", who died in 1948), would
wind up essentially forgotten by the general public within a
generation.Beginning in late 1933 and escalating throughout the first
half of 1934, American Roman Catholics launched a campaign against
what they deemed the immorality of American cinema. This, plus a
potential government takeover of film censorship and social research
seeming to indicate that movies which were seen to be immoral could
promote bad behavior, was enough pressure to force the studios to
capitulate to greater oversight.
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