Good Line- pre censorship - Flying Down to Rio (1933) Discussion

[–] osusue 15 years ago

here's a reference I don't understand... when Franklin Pangborn is inspecting the staff - he looks at the heels of one of the girls' shoes (they appear to be filed off at an angle..) -- i must be pretty naive, but is that a reference to her being 'loose'? he says that is something he WILL NOT stand for. I love this movie and i'm watching it on an old VHS tape right now!

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[–] tejonm 15 years ago

"Round heels" was an expression that meant a girl was a slut! Apparently it was supposed {the round heels} to come from her being pushed over on her back all the time.

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[–] ange_gabb 15 years ago

Oh, yeah, and here's another pre-Hays-Code line (and visual): While the ladies are being tied down to the wings, the camera's eye is aimed at crotch level. One woman says to another: I'll try ANYTHING once. Whoa!

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[–] jacklaw820 15 years ago

And I believe that their blouses are see-through. I'm sure that in some shots you see nipples.

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[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] horatiohornblower 14 years ago

Oh yeah absolutely---in fact I was very suprised the first time I saw this film at just how racy this film was, lol! It was made in 1932-33, and I remember thinking to myself "I cant believe they got away with this back then, there must have been people who were outraged!" Some of the things they were showing in this film wouldnt even make it to current television broadcasts in some areas even now. Interesting how things ebb and flow regarding what is tolerated isnt it?

"Why does the Earth have colors?" - "The New World"

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[–] canuckteach 8 years ago

Well it was pre-code, so the content was more suggestive than we would expect from films made in the 30's. Some films were made on the borderline -- in 1935, we hear, in 'A Night at the Opera', Margaret Dumont, who asks Groucho Marx '...are you sure you have everything...?'. He replies, "Well I haven't had any complaints yet!"

The Turner Broadcasting System has more or less written the book on the pre-code films and the profound changes that the Hayes code instituted. What's ironic is that the big fans of pre-code films with wayward girls, two-timing men, and casual affairs were.... women! (surprisingly). Anyway, TBS has webpages, books, movie collections and movie festivals galore on the subject of the pre-code films. Knock yourself out.

:-) canuckteach (--:

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[–] Enrique-8 14 years ago

Yes! you can see those nipples I just saw that and you are right! Amazing for a wide release movie even with pre-code standards! I was a little shocked! Innocent me!

Enrique Sanchez

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[–] jeremey-1 14 years ago

I just saw it and yes, some of those blouses are pretty transparent !

As a semi-side comment : The 1930s was not particularly conservative. Books and my own step-grandmother concurred that if a girl was thin enough, all that she wore underneath those bias-cut gowns was a pair of thin tap pants... and my step-grandmother was !

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[–] AliciaHuberman59 14 years ago

Thanks, Tenjonm, for the "round heels" explanation. I caught that, and figured that's what the reference was. I guess since they couldn't drink (Prohibition) and everyone was broke (Depression), at least sex was still available!

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[–] ga526 14 years ago

A girl would have "round heels" if she was a street walker, apparently prostitution would put a lot of wear and tear on one's footwear.

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[–] Reithian 13 years ago

There are several ambiguous lines spoken off camera by the women as they prepare to be strapped to the aircraft. Could be taken in a number of ways.

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[–] Marlburian 11 years ago

When Fred spots Belinha and Dora Elena having refreshments outside a pastry shop, Honey obviously isn't impressed with his interest in Belinha and asks "what's the Portuguese for a little tart".

Moonraker

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[–] bilsnod 10 years ago

yeah you can see grandmas boobs alraight!

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[–] inframan 10 years ago

This possibly the most juvenile thread I've seen so far on IMDB, which is really saying something. Come out of the little boys' room with your viddie games, kiddies. Sex has been around a very long time...and back in the 1930s the really enjoyed engaging in it, not just speculating.
LOL

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[–] bricksnmortar82 8 years ago

There's nothing 'juvenile' about it.

The subjects of art and censorship are quite interesting, especially when put in historical context.

I find it interesting to learn how artists have cleverly compromised, how rules were dodged and loopholes exploited. The creative ways in which people have had to skirt the barriers to free speech and art that get thrown in their paths is, in essence yet another type of art all together.

This goes as much for the sexual innuendo found in many Hayes-era films as it does for all sorts of films from the former Eastern bloc. You can catch all sorts of cleverly disguised political innuendo if you know where & how to look - it gets quite enjoyable at times...

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[–] Henry_Framus_Valentine 7 years ago

I`m trying to figure out if you are a prude or just a prig.

🇺🇸 Liberty • E Pluribus Unum • In God We Trust 🇺🇸

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[–] Owlnut73 8 years ago

Sometimes I wish they still used some kind of code. For me, movies are an escape. I don't want to see profanity, or nudity. This is why I like old movies. They are decent. Code or no code. I didn't even know about the Hays Code. I had to Google it.

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[–] richspenc 7 years ago

Even the pre Hays code was more innocent than today is. Pre or post code, raunchy lines were still more subtle than today. Today people say things like "****you!", or "**** that mother******". When did anyone ever talk that way pre code 30s? And the pre code films never showed complete bare breasts or genitals on screen, and they never showed people actually having sex on screen. Today is still way less innocent. And there wasn't even that much of a difference between pre code and post code in the 30s. In "Day at the races" which came out in 1937 after the code was enforced, Groucho Marx says to Ester Muire "why don't we sit down and bat it around?" How was that any less of a double meaning line than the lines said in "Flying down to Rio"? They were all subtle non direct lines. This is in response to several of you posters above. And yes of course people had sex in the 30s. I've never made any discoveries or heard anyone say that no human beings were being born in the 30s. And to me, sex doesn't automatically mean " no innoccence ". Sex is natural. It just wasnt exploited the way it is today. The world was a lot more innocent in the 30s, pre or post code, than it is in the 21st century.

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