All posts tagged: production code

SCARFACE and the Italian

Published by Angela Peticca

In the United States during the early 1930s, Prohibition became a gateway for criminal activity that led to a fight for control over the different aspects of illegal goods and services. This new era of criminal underworld, brimming with riches ripe for the taking, attracted the likes of those such as Al Capone, Charles “Lucky” Luciano, and Frank Costello. America became fascinated with these gangsters and their illegal organizations, in part due to the economic status of the early 1930s, with the gangster representing a challenge to social institutions and the instability of the government and economy. Unlike the usual criminal, the gangster was smart and organized, an example of success and wealth, sought out public and media attention, and evolved into the embodiment of a Great Depression anti-hero.[1] Even though the Great Depression gravely impacted the United States’ economy and most industries, Hollywood managed to stay afloat through various marketing strategies and by providing a sought-after diversion.[2] To increase movie attendance, Hollywood quickly capitalized on America’s recent era of captivation with gangsters. Being the …

Angela Peticca is a recent graduate of Oakland University who minored in Cinema Studies.

Shifting Depictions of Mental Illness in Film

Published by Haley Spencer

Mental illness is an underlying force in a variety of films dating back to the 1940s. Illnesses such as mental disorders, drug, and alcohol addiction are referenced, yet because of the censorship laws, these ideas were either ridiculed or dismissed. In order to call action to these issues, the film industry had to adjust their mode of attack to relay the messages to audiences efficiently. Throughout the 1940s-1960s the censorship laws changed drastically.[1] In 1930, the Hays office implemented a new code to maintain moral values. This code required studios to submit their work for approval prior to filming. Only with this seal of approval, could production begin. The Hays office requested edits and changes of the script until it met their guidelines. The anxiety about the booming film industry stemmed from how the messages shown would affect the youth and society as a whole.  Led by Catholic advocate Joseph Breen, the Production Code Administration (PCA) was formed in July of 1934. Films were heavily censored under Breen’s leadership as he worked with the Catholic …

Class and Organized Crime in the Era of the Production Code: An Analysis of the Portrayals of White vs. Blue Collar Crime in Gangster Films

Published by McKenzy Woodworth

In the 1930s, the gangster flick ruled the movie theaters of America – however, only thanks to the films’ strenuous journey through the Production Code review process. A set collection of rules and regulations concerning what could and could not be portrayed on screen or implied through the cinematography or writing scenes or characterization of characters, the Production Code greatly influenced the way that organized crime and violence were portrayed in films during its reign. For instance, murder was something the Code was designed to make studios approach the topic in a way that would not “inspire imitation,” or cause audience members to get the idea that might be capable of executing brutal killings as well.[1] This fear of portraying something on screen that viewers might imitate most likely stemmed in part from the Payne Fund Studies conducted in the late 1920s and early 1930s, looking into the impact of films on the behavior of children in juvenile-correction centers, male graduate students and their wives, and young college professors.[2] This study drove the Hays Office …

McKenzy Woodworth is a rising junior and a Cinema Studies major.

SCARFACE: The Effects of its Censorship

Published by Katie Colwell

Introduction Scarface is a gangster film based on the life of Al Capone, a notorious gangster in Chicago during the prohibition era.[1] United Artists followed the public’s love for gangster films and produced one of the “most iconic gangster films ever made.”[2] The film was produced in the Pre-Code Era of Hollywood, an era where the Production Code and censorship were beginning to be established but before the code was completely enforced. Scarface had to undergo the compulsory submissions and discussions with the Hay’s Office Studio Relations Committee (SRC) in order to be allowed for theatrical release. Getting the SRC to okay the film was difficult, and then getting state censor boards to agree to present the film in theaters also proved challenging. There was much backlash against the release of Scarface by censor boards which inadvertently led to the public’s demand to see it and overall massive popularity of the film. In this essay I will first be discussing the history of the Production Code and how that and  censorship boards affected Scarface through …

Katie Colwell is a rising senior and a Cinema Studies major with a specialization in filmmaking.

Queer Christina: The Representation of LGBT Characters in Pre-Code Era Films

Published by Bushra Varachia

Historically, the representation of queer characters in film and onscreen is very poor. They are often one-dimensional stereotypes portrayed through gender inversions — the gay “pansy” or the “butch” lesbian. Despite the presence of LGBT persons in front of and behind the camera, showing homosexual characters in the early years of Hollywood “in anything but a degrading comic light” was “extremely rare.”[1] Queer characteristics were also often applied to the villains or monsters of early and classical Hollywood cinema to represent evil.[2] These demeaning representations lessened as Hollywood entered the pre-Code era. Homosexual and queer filmmakers and stars, such as Marlene Dietrich and arguably Greta Garbo, rose to fame, and studios grew more daring in the face of censorship, testing how far they could push the Production Code Administration and Studio Relations Committee in regards to the screen-time of banned topics. Although the Code prohibited “sex perversion,” which mainly concerned homosexuality, queer characters still appeared in pre-Code era films with alarming explicitness, growing less one-dimensional and more prominent, as particularly demonstrated in Morocco (1930), Queen …

Bushra Varachia is a Cinema Studies filmmaking major with a minor in Spanish. After graduation, she hopes to edit videos to help her pay her way through Europe. If she's not at Kresge Library, you can probably find her in her car, driving 2,000 miles to walk around some rocks and sleep on some dirt.

The “Utterly Impossible” Story of BLONDE VENUS

Published by Rachel Sarasin

“As soon as you stopped singing and started luring men into the bedroom, that’s when the moral outrage would kick in.”[1] This quote sums it up best when referring to the 1932 pre-Code film, Blonde Venus.[2] Starring Marlene Dietrich, and directed by one of Dietrich’s biggest collaborators, Josef von Sternberg,[3] Blonde Venus was set to be another hit. While production was scheduled to start on April 4, 1932, Paramount Pictures and the censors had many difficulties coming to agreements on the film, so production was pushed way back, with the film not being released until September 16, 1932. Being the pre-Code era, censors were not enforcing their rules quite as strictly as they did after 1934, but that did not stop them from trying hard to change this film, or not have it made at all. Looking into the Production Code Administration files for Blonde Venus, there was much back and forth between Paramount Pictures, the censors, etc.[4] In a letter addressed to Mr. Will H. Hays, the head of the Code, Jason S. Joy, …

Rachel Sarasin is currently a Cinema Studies student at Oakland University. Rachel hopes to pursue a career in production management in the film industry. Her friends love to take advantage of her passion for planning and organizing, but she doesn’t mind. If you’re one of the lucky people that receives the OUTV channel, you may spot her as the host of “OUt and AbOUt,” a monthly series documenting events happening around Oakland University. She’s also a Yooper, so if you see her around, feel free to ask her about the many mysteries and histories of the Upper Peninsula.

Pre-Code and SCARFACE’s Impact

Published by Lydia Hanna

In July of 1934, the Production Code Administration of Hollywood, or commonly recognized as the Hays Office, began to regulate Hollywood made films. But before this occurred, there was a brief four-year period from 1930 to 1934 where films had more ability to venture out and have free creative expression. Those four years, before filmmakers agreed to adhere to strict regulations of what they can and cannot show on screen, are now known as the pre-code Hollywood years. During these pre-code years, many films pushed censorship rules, as they were not heavily enforced, films such as Howard Hawks and Richard Rosson’s 1932 Scarface. The Hays Office was concerned films were doing a disservice to the public by allowing sex and violence on screens. Scarface is a gangster film that not only included many violent scenes and gun use, but is also based on the real-life events of gangster, Al Capone. The Production Code Administration was concerned that making this into a film would glamorize the gangster lifestyle. Taking nearly a year to be released due …