Middle Finger
I just watched this movie and was suprised to see someone flipping someone else the bird. I never have seen that in a pre-1967 film before.
That action is the real miracle.
Nothing exists more beautifully than nothing.
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However, Hays (who was Presbyterian) was only a tool, in both meanings of the word. The aforementioned child molesters would have found someone else, if not him, to do their bidding.
Well exactly.
It's hard to believe now, but back in the 20s and 30s, the motion picture industry faced a boycott by religious and social organizations (and the possibility of legislation) unless they "cleaned up their act." Hence the Hays Code. The Code was their attempt at self-censorship before anyone else could get jump in and start doing it for them.
Of course, enacting a code and enforcing that code are two different things. And it was only in 1934 that the Hays Code had actual teeth. Until then, moviegoers were treated to some real gems. Freaks (1932) comes to mind, as does Miracle Woman (1931).
Also, just because the Hays Code was enforced didn't mean the censors couldn't be fooled. I'm re-reading the book The Monster Show, where it talks about James Whale and his fight with the Hays Code people. The original Frankenstein was, of course, pre-code (1931). But Bride was made in 1935 and the atmosphere four years later (and after many other horror films tried to copy the success of Frankenstein) was quite different.
It makes you laugh to read about it: he played them like a piano. Whale understood exactly how those people worked. And he went out of his way to be charming, solicitous, and "easy to work with." Of course, he knew what he was after and made exactly the kind of picture he wanted to make. And the end result has some really eye-popping "hidden" meanings that it doesn't take long to pick up on.
Something else to consider: just because your film was (finally) approved by the Production Code Administration (i.e. the enforcement arm of the Code) didn't necessarily mean that your troubles were over. Apparently, there were state and local censorship boards that had to be appeased as well. All meeting the Hays Code did was allow you movie to be released on the Hollywood end. If the local censorship boards didn't like what you had to offer, your picture might not be shown unless you were willing to make the cuts (edits) that they deemed necessary to preserve the "moral integrity" of the people they purported to represent.
I've always wanted a job with, say, the National Legion of Decency, where I would do nothing but screen "morally offensive" movies for myself all day long in order to "make sure" that they were unfit for other people to see. :)
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