Not really. You’re right about the cultural ideals shifting, but the Hays Code had more to do with sex than violence. Contrary to the article, the Code was not implemented in the “early days” of cinema but decades later in 1934.
The force behind it was the Legion of Decency, a group of Catholic matrons who generally did reflect real middle class societal values. Despite attitude changes in the ‘60’s, the Code lingered in a half-hearted way, with movies flirting on the boundaries.
The Code’s coup de grace was a movie of which I forget the name. David Niven was in it and a young, perky brunette. The girl bluntly asks the question about an unmarried woman, “Is she pregnant?” and the floodgates were opened. When women did not march in the streets or start a letter-writing campaign in protest, Hollywood knew they could now finally get back to the risque scenes and dialogue that were not uncommon in the teens and twenties.
The one film really started the shocking Hayes office was Divorce with Norma Shearer here funny story Iriving Thaldberg the Boy genius at MGM author the rules but his wife Norma broke it
*** David Niven was in it and a young, perky brunette.***
Prudence and the Pill.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063467/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_23
While these pushed the boundaries it was not until 1969 that the filth was unleashed with the new joke of a ratings system.ratings system. G, M,R,X. Then G,GP,R,X. Then G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17.
T&A, full frontal, vile language and worse became the norm. Some movies rated “R” in 1969 are now re-rated as PG-13.
I saw a Glen Ford movie at the theater in 1969, rated “M” due to mild violence. Kids were in the audience.
I saw the same movie a few weeks ago on TV, with extremely nude scenes re-shot which would have rated it a hard “R” rating in 1969.
There was a loosening of the Hays Code in 1956. But the resulting effect wasn’t nearly as severe as the immediate post-1968 changes.
“The Moon is Blue” actually did cause a bit of a stir. It’s also a pretty crummy film. Static and tiresome. I don’t find it so much akin to joyful pre-code risqueness as much as just having a sort of smutty-minded undercurrent.
By the way, in the very first year of talkies, around 1929-1930, you can catch a few instances of mild profanity. I’m always taken aback, seeing cute Marjorie White suddenly blurting out “then, why the hell are crying?” to Janet Gaynor in “Sunnyside Up.” There’s also that fascinating poverty-row item “The Sin of Lena Rivers” (1933) which has about four or five “hells” and “damns.”
A correction to my above post. The film with the profanity is “The Sin of Nora Moran” (1933). Not “The Sin of Lena Rivers” (1932), that’s a separate film. Both are poverty-row items with similar titles. Invariably, I mix them up.