List of pre-Code films

Last updated

Pre-Code Hollywood is the era in the American film industry between the introduction of sound (talkies) in the late 1920s [1] and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code (Hays Code) censorship guidelines. Although the Code was adopted in 1930, oversight was poor and it did not become effectively enforced until July 1, 1934. Before that date, movie content was restricted more by local laws, negotiations between the Studio Relations Committee (SRC) and the major studios, and popular opinion than strict adherence to the Hays Code, which was often ignored by Hollywood filmmakers.

Contents

The criterion for inclusion on this list is the direct mention or discussion of the film as pre-Code in a mainstream source.

Movies

1928

1929

1930

1931

1932

A screen shot from the trailer for 1932's Murders in the Rue Morgue. The ape Erik enters Camille's room, with the shadow of his hand appearing over her head. What follows has been dubbed "interspecies miscegenation" by film historian Thomas Doherty. Rue Morgue.JPG
A screen shot from the trailer for 1932's Murders in the Rue Morgue . The ape Erik enters Camille's room, with the shadow of his hand appearing over her head. What follows has been dubbed "interspecies miscegenation" by film historian Thomas Doherty.

1933

Barbara Stanwyck in the trailer for the 1933 film Baby Face. Movies in the Pre-Code era were frequently marketed with suggestive tag lines like this one for a picture in which Stanwyck sleeps her way up the corporate ladder of a New York bank. Baby Face stanwyck.JPG
Barbara Stanwyck in the trailer for the 1933 film Baby Face . Movies in the Pre-Code era were frequently marketed with suggestive tag lines like this one for a picture in which Stanwyck sleeps her way up the corporate ladder of a New York bank.

1934

See also

Notes

  1. LaSalle (2002). pg.1
  2. 1 2 Doherty. pg. 255
  3. Doherty. pg. 193
  4. Doherty. pg. 254
  5. 1 2 3 Doherty. pg. 297
  6. Doherty. pg. 305
  7. Doherty. pg. 269
  8. 1 2 3 Doherty. pg. 298
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Doherty. pg. 132
  10. 1 2 Doherty. pg. 253
  11. 1 2 Doherty. pg. 257
  12. 1 2 3 4 Vieira. pg. 130
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Vieira. pg. 133
  14. 1 2 Vieira. pg. 131
  15. Doherty. pg. 27

Sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilfred Lucas</span> Canadian-American actor, director, and screenwriter (1871–1940)

Wilfred Van Norman Lucas was a Canadian American stage actor who found success in film as an actor, director, and screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Hamilton (actor)</span> American actor (1899–1984)

James Neil Hamilton was an American stage, film and television actor, best remembered for his role as Commissioner Gordon on the Batman TV series of the 1960s, having first played a character by that name in 1928's Three Weekends. During his motion picture career, which spanned more than a half century, Hamilton performed in over 260 productions in the silent and sound eras.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orry-Kelly</span> Australian-American Hollywood costume designer

Orry-Kelly was the professional name of Orry George Kelly, an Australian-American Hollywood costume designer. Until being overtaken by Catherine Martin in 2014, he was the most prolific Australian-born Oscar winner, having won three Academy Awards for Best Costume Design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pre-Code Hollywood</span> U.S. cinema before the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code (1929–1934)

Pre-Code Hollywood (1927–1934) was an era in the American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929 and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines in 1934. Although the Hays Code was adopted in 1930, oversight was poor, and it did not become rigorously enforced until July 1, 1934, with the establishment of the Production Code Administration. Before that date, film content was restricted more by local laws, negotiations between the Studio Relations Committee (SRC) and the major studios, and popular opinion than by strict adherence to the Hays Code, which was often ignored by Hollywood filmmakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irving Cummings</span> American actor (1888–1959)

Irving Cummings was an American movie actor and director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Fitzroy</span> British actress (1860–1954)

Emily Fitzroy was an English theatre and film actress who eventually became an American citizen. She was at one time a leading lady in London for Sir Charles Wyndham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jo Swerling</span> American dramatist

Jo Swerling was an American theatre writer, lyricist and screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Gordon (actress)</span> Scottish actress (1882–1963)

Mary Gordon was a Scottish actress who mainly played housekeepers and mothers, most notably the landlady Mrs. Hudson in the Sherlock Holmes series of movies of the 1940s starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Her body of work included nearly 300 films between 1925 and 1950.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Miljan</span> American actor

John Miljan was an American actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1924 and 1958.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Ellis (actor, born 1892)</span> American actor (1889–1959)

Robert Ellis Reel, known professionally as Robert Ellis, was an American film actor, screenwriter and film director. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1913 and 1934. He also wrote for 65 films and directed 61.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Porcasi</span> Italian actor (1879–1946)

Paul Porcasi was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 140 films from 1917 to 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theresa Harris</span> American television and film actress, singer and dancer (1906–1985)

Theresa Harris was an American television and film actress, singer and dancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pre-Code crime films</span> Film genre popular before The Hays Code

The era of American film production from the early sound era to the enforcement of the Hays Code in 1934 is denoted as Pre-Code Hollywood. The era contained violence and crime in pictures which would not be seen again until decades later. Although the Hays office had specifically recommended removing profanity, the drug trade, and prostitution from pictures, it had never officially recommended against depictions of violence in any form in the 1920s. State censor boards, however, created their own guidelines, and New York in particular developed a list of violent material which had to be removed for a picture to be shown in the state. Two main types of crime films were released during the period: the gangster picture and the prison film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pre-Code sex films</span> Film genre popular before The Hays Code

Pre-Code sex films refers to movies made in the Pre-Code Hollywood era, roughly encompassed between either the introduction of sound in the late 1920s or February 1930 and December 1934. This period was marked by an increase of sensationalistic content in pictures made by the major studios in a climate marked by the Great Depression and major debates on morality, often containing sexual references and images that were contrary to the yet to be enforced Hays Code. Pre-Code sex films explored women's issues and challenged the concept of marriage, and aggressive sexuality was the norm. The sexual subject matter of the uncensored period was found within many movie genres, most especially in dramas, crime films, exotic-adventure films, comedies and musicals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles C. Wilson</span> American actor (1894–1948)

Charles Cahill Wilson was an American screen and stage actor. He appeared in numerous films during the Golden Age of Hollywood from the late 1920s to the late 1940s.

Oliver T. Marsh was a prolific Hollywood cinematographer. He worked on over eighty films just for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer alone.

Shunji Shimizu, (1906-1988), is a well-known Japanese subtitler and translator, referred to by one scholar as 'practically a household name in Japan'. He translated popular authors including Erskine Caldwell and Agatha Christie. He had a long working relationship with the Hollywood studio Paramount Pictures. He was a mentor to the eminent subtitler Natsuko Toda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace Hayle</span> American actress

Grace Hayle was an American actress who appeared in more than 300 films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Fischbeck</span> German-born cinematographer

Harry Fischbeck (1879–1968) was a German-born cinematographer who emigrated to the United States where he worked in the American film industry. He was employed by a variety of different studios during his career including Universal, United Artists and Warner Brothers, but primarily for Paramount Pictures. One of his first credits was for the historical The Lincoln Cycle films directed by John M. Stahl.