Pre-Code (Hollywood)

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Joan Blondell in a provocative publicity photo taken during the Pre-Code in 1932 and banned after the Hays Code was introduced.

Pre-Code refers to a period of film history in Hollywood between the introduction of the sound film in the late 1920s to the appearance of the Hays Code in 1934. The era of pre-code films is primarily characterized by an open treatment of topics such as sexuality and crime that did not happen for decades after the Hays Code was introduced.

Pre-code

Beginning of the pre-code film

The Roaring Twenties brought a new relationship to sexuality and other issues that found its way to Hollywood at the time of the first sound films . Thus the films began to become increasingly revealing. During the Great Depression, the audience demanded both entertaining and real-life material. There are different opinions among film historians about the exact beginning of the pre-code era in Hollywood; the sources fluctuate between 1927 and 1930.

Features and course of the pre-code film

Actresses in particular had a good stand during the pre-code and regularly celebrated great box office hits. Often the films revolved around the role of the modern woman and dealt with subjects such as affairs, marriages, children and sex; which is why they were also called " Woman's Pictures " in technical terms . Good examples of women’s films are Baby Face and Fire Head . The characters in the films often reflected the fears and hopes of Americans hard hit by the Great Depression. Other melodramas dealt with topics such as homosexuality, rape, drug addiction and prostitution. The question of morality and the right way of life was often asked in the pre-code films, although the pre-code was considered immoral by its critics.

The male top stars were mainly used in crime films, in which there were very intense scenes of violence for the time. The gangster film in particular saw its first heyday with box office hits like The Public Enemy and Scarface . The gangsters were often drawn less as villains and more tragic heroes and their biographies bore parallels to real gangsters like Al Capone and John Dillinger . In addition to the gangster films, other films also dealt with society. The film Employees' Entrance shows a tough capitalist who leads his company with an iron hand through the global economic crisis. In Night Nurse from 1931 an alcoholic was seen as a mother who neglected her children.

In comedies, actresses like Mae West introduced numerous sexual innuendos into their films. In addition, musical and dance films with elaborate choreographies were popular, such as at Busby Berkeley , where the numerous young dancers and singers were usually only lightly dressed. Horror films like Dracula and Frankenstein , which shocked audiences at the time, were also popular and regularly brought in good box office results. Some of the successful genres fell in popularity after the pre-code ended, including horror film.

End of pre-code

Will H. Hays is considered the father of the Production Code , which is why colloquially as Hays Code is known

The opponents of pre-code films published the formal version of a list as early as 1930, known as the Production Code or Hays Code (named after the intellectual father of the list, Will H. Hays ). The code prohibited overt depictions of difficult subjects such as sexuality or crime. Initially, however, the implementation of the production code was only voluntary, so that hardly any film studio stuck to it, especially since the pre-code films promised success at the box office. With the publication of The Story of Temple Drake , the revealing film adaptation of William Faulkner's novel The Sanctuary about a rape in the southern states, church officials and politicians, among others, outraged so much that they called for more effective censorship.

The Production Code Administration was therefore founded on June 13, 1934 . From now on, all new films had to be reviewed by this office. If the film complied with the requirements of the code, it could be released. Violations were fined $ 25,000 and, far worse, it was banned from the MPPDA theaters, which included most of America's theaters. Until the 1960s, the Hays Code retained its position of power and for decades prevented the treatment of difficult or suggestive subjects that were permitted in pre-code films. In the Hays Code films, sexuality only appeared in symbols and ciphers, so in most films married couples had to sleep in separate double beds and film kisses were not allowed to be too deep. Overly brutal film scenes were also prevented.

This ended the pre-code and most of the films of the era that were now perceived as lewd had a difficult time in the next decades. Popular pre-code actors like Warren William and Ruth Chatterton fell into oblivion after the end of the era, while other actors like Clark Gable , James Cagney and Barbara Stanwyck , who made their breakthrough during the pre-code, continued to remain successful actors. It was only in the last few decades that film fans have rediscovered pre-code films. The theory has often been advocated by film historians that "before the code came into force, Hollywood's sound films were not only more provocative, but also artistically more ambitious, and that they developed a greater variety of styles and themes."

Pre-code films (selection)

Famous Pre-Code Actors (selection)

Men

Women

Web links

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pre-Code , website about the pre-code
  2. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.greencine.com
  3. ↑ Information about the pre-code ( Memento of the original from June 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at Green Cide @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.greencine.com
  4. ↑ Information about the pre-code ( Memento of the original from June 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at Green Cide @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.greencine.com
  5. ^ Pre-code in the film lexicon of the University of Kiel