The hand on the knee of the gentleman under the table and then he pinches her back. Also framing the brother by putting in "Polly's" bed. Things you couldn't do during the code and would have damaged the substance of the plot/movie. Makes me despise Hayes all the more.
http://www.mgmbill.org/ Help protect boys rights, too!
So true! Haynes was a narrow minded prude, with all due respect.
shareI totally agree!!! Thank God for pre-code movies!!!
shareEven then, the off-color material was presented with fairly good taste and subtlety
For example, in BABY FACE, the heroine's sexual activity was symbolized by the camera panning upward on an office building.
Far different from the in-your-face raunchiness that was thrown at us when the Code was replaced by MPAA ratings!
You got THAT right! I really dunno why these "politically-correct prudes" make SUCH a Big Deal out of Gold Diggers, but don't even notice the stuff of TODAY!!!!
I'd make a comment of what i think of such people, but they'd probably throw me off!!!! LOL!
Makes me despise Hayes all the more.It has little to do with Hayes himself, but is part of a much larger reality.
One wonders the direction Hollywood movies might have taken if the Code had never been created. of course the problem with hypothetical questions is that they are hypothetical. There are always reasons why that didn't come to pass.
The past is a series of presents. The present is living history we are privileged to witness
Code films were good too. Some of the best films ever made as well. There is a place for both. I'd rather Hollywood still make films the way they did from the 1930's to 1950's than the trash they pump out nowadays.
Conquer your fear, and I promise you, you will conquer death.
Why didn't the studios use their political clout to fight censorship?Hayes,Breen and Lord tore the guts out of the movies to appease pathetic smallminded frustrated nobodies and hypocrites.
shareActually, they had very little political clout.
The "old (gentile) money" hated that immigrant Jews managed to build themselves an economic empire, and dreamed of taking it away. The studio bosses were extremely aware of this, and I can imagine them constantly looking over their shoulders. Add to that the fact that the studios were never independent of the New York banks, and the old-money they represented.
In the 1932 congressional elections many candidates were running on an anti-Hollywood campaign, blaming "non-Christian values" for what they saw as the decline of American society (remind you of something?). That, along with an earlier Supreme Court decision, that movies were not considered press, and so weren't afforded constitutional protection of their "freedom of speech", caused the bosses to fear national censorship, as a move to clip their wings, and put them in place.
So starting to enforce the Production Code was, in many ways, a pre-emptive measure, to keep what they could of their power and status within the industry.
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
to rock my soul
Vega_Lyra says > Code films were good too. Some of the best films ever made as well. There is a place for both. I'd rather Hollywood still make films the way they did from the 1930's to 1950's than the trash they pump out nowadays.I totally agree and am always happy to hear people make that point. I enjoy old movies, whether they were made pre-code or during the time of the code, a whole lot more than I enjoy modern movies.
Hitchcock showed how you can be clever by going around the code. So it wasn't all that bad
shareThe Code did not diminish the quality of movies. That being said, I enjoy the pre-code movies. Fortunately for us all, we have both.
share