‘Sin Uncensored’ shows 1930s liberalism

Series to feature films produced before confining production code

Howard Ho
Published: Sunday, May 11, 2003

Classic films often get dated from their conservative definitions of morality and prejudices. But this doesn’t necessarily apply to all things old.

“We’re talking about 1933, and there’s a nymphomaniac from Brentwood who’s also a kleptomaniac and a sexual deviant,” said UCLA Film and Television Archive programmer Mimi Brody regarding the film “Bloody Money.”

That film will screen as part of the UCLA Archive’s retrospective of early 1930s films that contrast the conservatism that came later. The title, “Sin Uncensored: Hollywood before the Code,” refers to the Production Code, which censored films for over 30 years in the United States.

Whenever Professor Jonathan Kuntz teaches his class the history of the American motion picture, he screens a few films from the early 1930s, such as “Blonde Venus” and “They Done Him Wrong.” They feature nudity and risque content, such as prostitution and sexual innuendo.

“A typical response from students is, ‘I’m amazed they were doing stuff like that back then. I thought there would be more conservative stuff from the early days, and yet it’s the opposite,’” Kuntz said.

Indeed, the Code responded to the uses of skin. “Complete nudity is never permitted,” said the Code in response to films such as “Search for Beauty,” which features a locker room scene with naked men. “Dancing costumes intended to permit undue exposure or indecent movements in the dance are forbidden,” said the Code in response to films such as “Girl Without a Room,” where a cafe dancer is wearing nothing but body paint.

Graphic depictions of crime also came under fire. Films that dealt with the metropolitan underworld were thought to glorify criminal behavior.

“They show crime and criminals in a graphic fashion, and often the criminals are nuanced characters, so some are not completely villainous,” Kuntz said.

In 1927, an informal code called “The Don’ts and Be Carefuls” cautioned filmmakers against showing miscegenation, ridicule of the clergy and illegal drug trafficking. By 1930, Will Hays wrote the Production Code, an extensive manifesto that restricted content. Film studios thought the mere existence of the Code would be able to stem the criticism against supposedly salacious content.

The five-year period between 1929 and 1934 is generally referred to as the pre-Code era, after the development of sound but before the Code was enforced. As the Great Depression hit Hollywood, producers often used lurid content to attract viewers.

When religious groups such as the Catholic Church’s Legion of Decency boycotted films and censorship committees enforced fines, producers couldn’t afford to lose more profits and caved in.

Brody created this month’s pre-Code film series, the first such program in 15 years. In addition to screening films based on content, Brody also tried to get rare films. Some were drawn from the vaults, forgotten for decades because the Code basically made them impossible to reissue. Five are nitrate prints, a highly flammable medium which UCLA and only a handful of other venues can screen.

“I haven’t even heard of half these films,” Kuntz said.

The Code was revised several times but effectively remained in place until 1966. By 1968, the industry created the present-day Motion Picture Association of America, which still rates films for American audiences. While it seems filmmakers today have license to do almost anything in their movies, Brody still laments the disappearance of the archetypes such as Mae West and Marlene Dietrich, caused by the Code.

“These were women who were sexually uninhibited, had careers, and who were unapologetic about their desires and ambitions,” Brody said. “I’m not sure we see enough portrayals of these well-rounded women in contemporary film.”

For more information, call

(310) 206-FILM or go to

www.cinema.ucla.edu.