Cover of the code One of the fascinating things about watching old movies -- and we mean, really old movies from the first third of the twentieth century, is the "throw-anything-against-the-wall" feeling that the creators are making up a whole new art form as they go along. There's an impression that the earliest features were silly comedies featuring people who moved jerkily at high speeds. But as early as the 1910s, directors like Lois Weber were making films about such controversial topics as capital punishment, drug addiction, and abortion. Such strong subjects were accompanied by strong language, but until the movies learned to talk, intertitles were able to shield the more sensitive members of the audience (or at least, those who couldn't read lips) from that language. When technology finally allowed patrons to hear as well as see actors, moviemakers were faced with tough choices; how to maintain the grittiness and realism audiences had come to expect without making the dialogue so raw that films would be censored by regional film boards or condemned by the powerful Legion of Decency. (This was an era when the epithet "son of a bitch" caused an uproar when it was used in the 1928 play "The Front Page.") The solution was to tone down most of the language while keeping the themes the same. Movies like "Baby Face" or "Employees' Entrance" (featuring the hard-boiled Barbara Stanwyck and the delightfully sleazy Warren William sleeping their way to the top) were as popular as they were scandalous. But even that taming was too much, and on March 31, 1930, Will H. Hays, president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America released a codified rulebook designed to ensure that movie producers self-censored their films. That way, not only would filmgoers of all ages be spared anything the least bit unsavory, but it ensured that "American" values would be promoted and upheld. So strong was the Hays Code that, in 1939, when David O. Selznick wanted to keep Rhett Butler’s final line in "Gone With the Wind" intact, he had to pay a $5,000 fine for using the word "damn." For the next 35 years, the Code remained virtually inviolate. One of the first directors to subvert it was Otto Preminger, who fought to use such verboten words as "virgin and "rape" in his films, making them strictly "adults only" fare. As society changed in the 1960s, the code became unenforceable. Keeping mature themes and language out of the movies became increasingly absurd, so the Code was abandoned in favor of the rating system (G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17) we know today. While it's now possible to go to the movies and see and hear virtually anything, there’s still a thrill in watching a pre-code movie like "Night Nurse" and finding out that our grandparents were a lot more interesting than we thought. Suggested Sites... You Tube: Doin' the Prodcution Code - the Hays Code, set to tap-dance rhythm. Wikipedia: List of Films Condemned by the Legion of Decency - from 1933 to 1980. Put them on your "must-see" list. DVDs of Early Films Show Nothing Was Taboo - NPR audio report on Pre-Code movies. Sinner's Holiday - "an ode to Pre-Code." Censor's Notes for "Baby Face" - the Hays Office contacts Warner Bros. about "objectionable material."

Directory categories: Movie History, Censorship, Movies, Barbara Stanwyck

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