Catalogue
Focus Film:
Item 1: Baby Face
(1933) Alfred E. Green- I chose this film as one of my focuses due to it
epitomizing films of the pre-code era. It was originally banned in some US
states due to its use of sexual innuendo. From the beginning this film was to
test the boundaries of censorship in the US having been rejected when it had
been sent to the New York State of Censors. They demanded cuts and changes and
were strict when enforcing such measures, partly due to the Studio (Warner
Bros.) being one of the ‘big five’ conglomerates at the time and therefore
practically counting for a major part of Hollywood’s Cinema income in the
Golden Age. Watching the film in all its explicit suggestion, one can’t help
but consider what the original, un-cut version must have been like.
Item 2: Red-Headed Woman (1932) Jack Conway- Jean Harlow stars in this 1932
pre-code film. The synopsis states how Lil (Harlow) intends to “sleep her way
to the top of The Great Depression”- conveying from the outset the explicit,
sexually driven themes usually tackled in 1930s Hollywood films. Scenes in this
film range from partial nudity, adultery, and divorce, attempted murder and
blackmail. Therefore this film epitomizes ‘pre-code’ Hollywood, and would, if
been made just one years later, have been strictly cut and re-written in order
to stick within the regulations of censorship rules and Hays-code guidelines.
Item 3: Party Girl (1930) Victor Halperin- this is one of many immoral
pre-code films in which graced the ‘late night screening’ of Golden Age cinema.
It is not considered one of the best of the era, due to being one of the
earliest and therefore having some sound complications; as the ‘talkies’ were
still a recently achieved milestone. It was also produced by Poverty Row
studio, an almost unheard of company in this era of cinema.
Supporting Films:
Item 4: The Big Sleep (1946) Howard Hawks- I chose this as one of my
supporting films after exploring censorship as part of my research and coming
across many references to this film. In the 40s, years after the reinforcement of the Hays-code many state
censorship boards were continuing to ‘lay down the law’ with films obtaining
similar themes seen in the pre-code era; in this case that meant crime, and
possible romance. Therefore looking at this film allows for a reflection on the
pre-code era, and thus the impact of the Hays-code on film.
Books:
Item 5: The Power of The Image-
Essays on Representation and Sexuality-2nd Edition by Annette Kuhn
published by Routledge, 1985.
Ø
The Big Sleep: Censorship, film text, sexuality- Page
74-95 Chapter 4
This chapter is where I
initially learnt of the strict censorship procedures such films had to follow
after the introduction of the Hays code/ Production Code.
Ø
Living Dolls and ‘real women’- Page 13-17 chapter 1
This chapter helps fundamentally
highlight how woman in film can be used as a device, one of desire, or glamour
and perfection and therefore, one could argue, they are a ‘living doll’ that do
not truthfully reflect on ‘real women’. I found this interesting as it conveyed
how woman are objectified, they are commodities of the films in which they
perform a role. At one instance, the book stated how, when objectified into
this glamorous ‘doll’ women are “…stripped of will and autonomy…” and this
reflected the desired, yet amoral ‘bad girls’ of the pre-code films.
Item 6: Film History: an
introduction,-3rd Edition, by Kristen Thompson and David Bordwell,
published by McGraw Hill Higher Education, 1994.
Ø
The Hollywood Studio System, 1930-1945-Page 198-199
chapter 10
This book was particularly
helpful at the beginning of my research, it told of the history of Hollywood
and defined the MPPDA (Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America),
its impact and reasoning.
Item 7: Introduction to Film
Studies-4th Edition, edited by Jill Nelmes, foreword by Bill
Nichols, published by Routledge, 2011.
Ø
Gender and Film:
Cinema, Identities and the politics of representation-Page 222-235
chapter 10
This chapter explored how woman
in film were received by a western audience, it talks about how different
cultures and ethnicities view the role of woman on film and how they have to be
presented in a particular way to be accepted by the male spectator; this was
helpful for understanding how audiences must have responded to the ‘bad girls’
of the pre-code era, due to the sexually liberated, amoral roles they were
fulfilling. This chapter also explained that when woman possess such traits
that are considered ‘masculine’; men accept them in a desirable way- this is
why audiences of this time kept coming back to the cinema, to see such decisive
leading females.
Item 8: From Reverence To Rape:
The treatment of women in movies- 2nd Edition, by Molly Haskell,
published by University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Ø
The Thirties- Page 90-91-, 92-93, 94-95, 122-123,
146-147.
This chapter talks of the early 30s as a Renaissance, a
new wave of cinema. I learnt from this how the pre-code era is consider
nowadays, no longer the ‘dark-age’ of film history. The chapter states: “until
the Production Code went into full force, between 1933-1934, women were
conceived of as having sexual desire without being freaks, villains…” which
conveys perhaps a time of immoral chaos, or perhaps of social acceptance?
Item 9: Imagining Women:
Cultural Representations and Gender-3rd Edition, Edited by Frances
Bonner, Lizbeth Goodman, Richard Allen, Linda Jones and Catherine King,
published by Polity Press, 1992.
Ø
Obscenity and Censorship, Article 5.2, by Suzanne
Kappeler- Page
Demonstrated the line
between freedom of expression and obscenity. I learnt that what is consider
‘obscene’ change with the changes of society and is never a fixed concept; this
could suggest how the pre-code films considered ‘over the line’ in the 30s
would be viewed as mild nowadays. Lastly it talks of how freedom of expression
and sexual liberation is all well and good however a spectator who does not
share the same values as the representative onscreen should not be subjected to
watch if they do not choose to, therefore this is how such pre-code films and
films that explored similar themes gained the ‘late night screening’
reputation.
Item 10: Flesh and Blood:
The National Society of film critics on sex, violence and censorship- 1st
Edition, Edited by Peter Keough, published by Mercury House, San Francisco,
1995.
Ø
CENSORSHIP: “America” versus Hollywood- Page 258
chapter: Sex and Sensibility by Peter Keough
This chapter talks of the
transgression from sex on screen to violence and how this transgression
occurred. Keough explains how when sex was not ‘allowed’ onscreen this allowed
for other such themes to take a front seat and be exploited and therefore the
‘sensibility’ of this.
Ø
CENSORSHIP: “America” versus Hollywood- Page 259-262
chapter: What’s wrong with Hollywood? By Carrie Rickey
This chapter focuses on how
Hollywood “…was a culture that used to trade in discreet imagery to one that exploited
the explicit” this helped me again with audience response and the reflection of
the 30s now.
Ø
CENSORSHIP: “America versus Hollywood- Page 295
chapter: Too much sex and violence by Michael Wilmington
This chapter explores how
much sex and violence can be shown in the movies, how it effects and audience
and why there has been a censorship struggle for a century. This was key to my
research as many of the pre-code films centre around sex and contain violence
as a result..
Ø
CENSORSHIP: Breaking The Code- Page 302-306: Warner
Bros Before The Code by Stuart Klawans
This chapter talks of the
initiation of the Hays Code and why it occurred. It also explores what else was
lost when the code came into play and therefore why the pre-code years were as
stand-alone as they are considered now. I learnt from this more about the Has Code
and who enforced it, plus how Warner Bros studio dealt with pre and present
code production.
Item 11:The Story Of Film-1st
edition by Mark Cousins, published by Pavilion Books, Great Britain, 2004.
Ø
Japanese Classicism and Hollywood Romance (1928-1945)
Cinema enters Golden Age. Pages 96,97,99.
These pages were helpful in
explaining the origins of sound within film and the impact that had on genre
such as the gangster film and as a result the attitudes of audiences. This
section also talks of Howard Hawks- the director of my supporting film The Big Sleep- and his career.
Item 12: Working Girls: Gender
and Sexuality in popular cinema-1st Edtion by Yvvonne Tasked,
published by Routledge, USA, 1998.
Ø
‘New Hollywood’, New film Noir and the femme fatale. Page
137
this chapter was particularly
interesting to me as it talked of the roles in which women play in film, and
more specifically noir film (helpful for The Big Sleep) I discovered that the
women in these pre-code films therefore act as almost the first of the femme
fatales due to possessing many of the characteristics being shared. It also
allowed me to question how The Big Sleep conformed to the ideals of roles and
moral obligation due to the Production code.
Internet:
Item 13: IMDb
Baby Face- This web page for Baby Face on IMDb helped throughout my
research, it contained important information on the film as well as a short
synopsis and plot summary and box office stats. I also learned of similar films
that other IMDb users liked; which helped me to find more pre-code movies such
as Party Girl.The site also contained links to external reviews that talked of
the film and critique they had.
Red-Headed Woman-I learnt of costumer reviews and was able to find
out cast, directors, studio and response to the film nowadays with the public,
especially after re-release. I also found through this page an interesting
external link to a golden age movie blog.
Party Girl- I originally found out about Party Girl through IMDb
and therefore this is where I got most of my information. There is not a whole
lot more information on the internet or in books about this film as it was of
bad quality, produced by a known unknown of studio form the golden age,
therefore this film is just lost in the depths of many others like it.
Item 14: Wikipedia
This site was a great starting point for understanding
the different themes explored in this era. It also defined the brief years
counted as ‘Pre-code’ and lists Baby Face
and Red-Headed Woman as part of the
leading films of this era due to the ‘strong women that dominated’ Lastly it
explores the ‘origins’ of the time and how it came to an end and thus the
actors with it. .
I wished to research The Great Depression in more depth
due to this being the reason for the pre-code era. It helped me to understand
the reasons behind such outrageous films and what was going on socially and
culturally at the time. Furthermore it allowed me to get a firmer grasp on the
attitudes to Americans living in this time and therefore how Hollywood was able
to thrive.
Item 15: www.pre-code.com
Ø
This blog was very useful as a critical view on Red-Headed Woman. It talked of the time,
the studio as well as the leading female-Jean Harlow and therefore allowed for
a deeper understanding of the movie and I therefore felt I could analyse at a
higher more in-depth level.
Ø
The site also had a list of pre-code films from 1929-34
and in this list- Baby Face. I therefore was able to earn a lot about the
breakdown of this film and it offered some interesting. links that talk of the
film from different critically analytical perspectives.
Item 16: www.moviediva.com
Ø A
wonderful website for Baby Face, it
tells of the background of the film, how it was certainly one of the reasons
for the censorship laws tp be revisited. I also learnt that it was Warner Bros.
Answer to Red-Headed Woman that was now becoming notorious for a number of
reasons including the leading lady Jean Harlow, the witticism and themes. It
also goes into greatd detail about when, where and what censors were added,
with a list from scene-to-scene. Lastly the article talks of Barbara Stanwyck
as the leading lady, her origins as an actor and her appeal.
Item 17: www.rottentomatoes.com
Ø This
was particularly useful for reviews on all my pre-code films and supporting
films. I learnt of a modern audiences response to these films in the present
day and why they think ones such as Baby
Face and Red-Headed Woman have
achieved longevity.
Magazines:
Item 18: Hollywood Before The Censors- Sight & Sound,
May 2014.
Ø This
was my initial starting point in all of my research; reading through this
article sparked my interest in the era and allowed me to focus on specific
films. It referenced different genres in the pre-code era, such as ‘bad girls’
‘gangster films’ etc. and even talks of Baby
Face and Red-Headed Woman.
Item 19: Slim Pickings-Sight & Sound, October 2014.
This article on Lauren Bacall and her death helped explain how she was discorverd and talked of her relationship with her Husband Humphrey Bogart. It was also very helpful in explaining the success of The Big Sleep and contained an interesting comparison to To Have and Have not.
Items not used:
I did not use the book ‘Working Girls’ apart from one
page due to it not being relevant to the time considered pre-code; it focused
more on the modern day woman in contemporary cinema.. Lastly I initially found a substantial amount of research
on The Divorcee (1930), which would
have been one of my foucs films however I was unable to get a hold of a copy.
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