Free Republic

Sometimes restrictions serve to bring out our creativity in startling and memorable ways There was a time in the early years of motion pictures when a kiss was the ultimate expression of love. Anything beyond a brush of the lips was left to the imagination, and love scenes were actually more potent because of it.In the 1930s a strict code dictated to directors and writers the lines of demarcation between what was permissible, not only for lovemaking, but also for vulgarity and other delicate themes. Though marked in part by what was considered backward in the era [i.e., miscegenation – ed],...

This wonderful Christmas perennial is very unusual for films in that Hays Code Era, a villain gets away with the crime. Does that affect your feelings about this movie? For me, when I saw this movie in my youth, it did catch my thought and I remember asking my parents why. Now as a seasoned adult, I think that I appreciate a movie that does not wrap up all of the threads into a neat package.

You may say these are fundamental truths, but I believe that many would agree that they don't always play a role in filmmaking. Sometimes we see films that aren't any better than tabloids. I am sure you are well aware of this. I am, because this issue is often raised when I meet with non-profit organisations. They always talk about cultural primitivism and occasionally immoral models of behaviour. We shouldn't forget that the film industry is a high-tech industry that develops hand in hand with scientific progress and acquires new means of expression and, therefore, new powers over the minds...

One of the best films ever made is Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night, starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. The 1934 comedy features an heiress on the run from her father, and the reporter who joins forces with her. The two fall in love and, alone in hotel rooms, to guard against temptation, they hang a blanket between their beds. They call it “the walls of Jericho.” When the couple finally ties the knot, the “wall” comes tumbling down. In the 1930s, a plotline that precluded premarital sex was a wise idea. Movie-makers who flouted the Motion Picture Production...

The Motion Picture Production Code of 1930 (Hays Code) If motion pictures present stories that will affect lives for the better, they can become the most powerful force for the improvement of mankind A Code to Govern the Making of Talking, Synchronized and Silent Motion Pictures. Formulated and formally adopted by The Association of Motion Picture Producers, Inc. and The Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, Inc. in March 1930. Motion picture producers recognize the high trust and confidence which have been placed in them by the people of the world and which have made motion pictures a universal...