Classic films often get dated from their conservative
definitions of morality and prejudices. But this doesn’t
necessarily apply to all things old.
“We’re talking about 1933, and there’s a
nymphomaniac from Brentwood who’s also a kleptomaniac and a
sexual deviant,” said UCLA Film and Television Archive
programmer Mimi Brody regarding the film “Bloody
Money.”
That film will screen as part of the UCLA Archive’s
retrospective of early 1930s films that contrast the conservatism
that came later. The title, “Sin Uncensored: Hollywood before
the Code,” refers to the Production Code, which censored
films for over 30 years in the United States.
Whenever Professor Jonathan Kuntz teaches his class the history
of the American motion picture, he screens a few films from the
early 1930s, such as “Blonde Venus” and “They
Done Him Wrong.” They feature nudity and risque content, such
as prostitution and sexual innuendo.
“A typical response from students is, “˜I’m
amazed they were doing stuff like that back then. I thought there
would be more conservative stuff from the early days, and yet
it’s the opposite,'” Kuntz said.
Indeed, the Code responded to the uses of skin. “Complete
nudity is never permitted,” said the Code in response to
films such as “Search for Beauty,” which features a
locker room scene with naked men. “Dancing costumes intended
to permit undue exposure or indecent movements in the dance are
forbidden,” said the Code in response to films such as
“Girl Without a Room,” where a cafe dancer is wearing
nothing but body paint.
Graphic depictions of crime also came under fire. Films that
dealt with the metropolitan underworld were thought to glorify
criminal behavior.
“They show crime and criminals in a graphic fashion, and
often the criminals are nuanced characters, so some are not
completely villainous,” Kuntz said.
In 1927, an informal code called “The Don’ts and Be
Carefuls” cautioned filmmakers against showing miscegenation,
ridicule of the clergy and illegal drug trafficking. By 1930, Will
Hays wrote the Production Code, an extensive manifesto that
restricted content. Film studios thought the mere existence of the
Code would be able to stem the criticism against supposedly
salacious content.
The five-year period between 1929 and 1934 is generally referred
to as the pre-Code era, after the development of sound but before
the Code was enforced. As the Great Depression hit Hollywood,
producers often used lurid content to attract viewers.
When religious groups such as the Catholic Church’s Legion
of Decency boycotted films and censorship committees enforced
fines, producers couldn’t afford to lose more profits and
caved in.
Brody created this month’s pre-Code film series, the first
such program in 15 years. In addition to screening films based on
content, Brody also tried to get rare films. Some were drawn from
the vaults, forgotten for decades because the Code basically made
them impossible to reissue. Five are nitrate prints, a highly
flammable medium which UCLA and only a handful of other venues can
screen.
“I haven’t even heard of half these films,”
Kuntz said.
The Code was revised several times but effectively remained in
place until 1966. By 1968, the industry created the present-day
Motion Picture Association of America, which still rates films for
American audiences. While it seems filmmakers today have license to
do almost anything in their movies, Brody still laments the
disappearance of the archetypes such as Mae West and Marlene
Dietrich, caused by the Code.
“These were women who were sexually uninhibited, had
careers, and who were unapologetic about their desires and
ambitions,” Brody said. “I’m not sure we see
enough portrayals of these well-rounded women in contemporary
film.”
For more information, call
(310) 206-FILM or go to
www.cinema.ucla.edu.