#precode april

[letterboxd]

Savage Cinema.

From anarchists and adultery to milk baths and massacres, Matthew Turner shares five of the weirdest and wildest highlights of Hollywood’s pre-Code era, as #PreCodeApril comes to a close.

Pre-Code April was directly inspired by Noirvember, a month-long celebration of noir cinema instigated by Marya Gates (Oldfilmsflicker). I did Noirvember for the first time in November 2019, really enjoyed it, and thought it would be great to do the same thing for pre-Code movies. Although I’ve watched most of the classic 1930s films, I realised there were a huge number of pre-Code films I’d never seen (of my Letterboxd list of over 900 Pre-Code films, I have only seen 200).

As a sucker for a bit of wordplay, no matter how tenuous, I picked April partly because it’s six months away from Noirvember and partly because of the shared “pr” sound in April and Pre-Code. I’ve been absolutely delighted by the response—the #PreCodeApril hashtag on Twitter is a daily treasure trove of pre-Code-related joy, but I was genuinely thrilled to see the response on Letterboxd (here is my watchlist for the month). It’s been a real pleasure to see pre-Code movies constantly popping up in my ‘new from friends’ feed. My hope is that it’ll be even bigger next year—and that maybe TCM will want to get involved, the way they do with Noirvember.

Produced between 1929 and 1934, pre-Code cinema refers to films made in a brief period between the silent era, and Hollywood beginning to enforce the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines (mandatory enforcement came in from July 1934). The “Code” in question was popularly known as the Hays Code, after then MPPDA president Will H. Hays. As the depression set in and box office declined, theater owners needed fare that would drive cinema-goers to the movies. It was a wild time to be a scriptwriter; they threw everything at the page, designers added even more, and actors played out the kinds of scenes, from the suggestive to the overt, that would otherwise be banned for decades to come.

The following five films demonstrate some of Hollywood’s craziest pre-Code excesses. They’re still jaw-dropping, even by today’s standards, and notably give female characters an agency that would be later denied as the Christian morals of the Code overruled writers’ kinks.

Madam Satan (1930) Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, written by Elsie Janis, Jeanie Macpherson and Gladys Unger

A critical and commercial flop in 1930, Cecil B. DeMille’s utterly insane musical comedy stars Kay Johnson as a straight-laced wife who plots to win back her unfaithful husband (Reginald Denny) by seducing him at a costume party, disguised as a mysterious devil woman. The location of this party? Oh, nothing too fancy, just on board a giant zeppelin. (“Madam Satan or: How the Film gets Fucking Crazy on the Blimp,” as Ryan reviewed it.)

Madam Satan is not by any stretch of the imagination a good movie (the editing alone is laughably bad), but as a piece of pre-Code craziness, it really has to be seen to be believed. Co-written by a trio of women and set in just three locations, it goes from racy bedroom farce to avant-garde musical to full-on disaster movie after a bolt of lightning hits the blimp.

The film is justly celebrated (in camp classic circles, at least) for the wildly over-the-top costumes paraded in the masquerade ball sequence, but there’s weird outfit joy everywhere you look. Keep an eye out for an enterprising extra who’s come dressed as a set of triplets.

Call Her Savage (1932) Directed by John Francis Dillon, written by Tiffany Thayer and Edwin J. Burke

Adapted from a salacious novel by Tiffany Thayer, Call Her Savage was former silent star Clara Bow’s second-to-last film before her retirement at the age of 28. She plays Texas gal Nasa Springer, who’s always had a “savage” temper she can’t explain. In the space of 88 minutes she goes from wild teenager to jilted newlywed to young mother to prostitute to wealthy society girl to alcoholic before finally (it’s implied) settling down with her Native-American friend after discovering that she’s half-Native-American, something the audience has known all along.

Bow’s performance is frankly astonishing, to the point where you simply can’t believe what you’re seeing from one moment to the next. Sample scenes see her savagely whipping both a snake and her Indian friend, smashing a guitar over a musician’s head and violently wrestling her Great Dane… and that’s all in the first five minutes. She’s also frequently in a state of near undress throughout—one funny scene has her maids chasing her with a dressing gown because they’re afraid she’ll run down the street in her négligée.

The rest of the film includes alcohol, adultery, strong violence, attempted rape, murder, syphilis (not named, but heavily implied) and baby death. It’s a veritable smorgasbord of outrageous content and Bow is pure dynamite throughout. The film is also noted for being one of the first on-screen portrayals of homosexuality, when Nasa visits a gay bar in the Village frequented by “wild poets and anarchists”.

Smarty (1934) Directed by Robert Florey, written by Carl Erickson and F. Hugh Herbert

This deeply problematic sex comedy features pre-Code stars Joan Blondell and Warren William (often nicknamed ‘The King of Pre-Code’) at their absolute filthiest. Blondell plays Vicki, a capricious, happily married wife who gets an obvious kick out of taunting her husband, Tony (William). When he cracks and slaps her at a party, she divorces him and marries her lawyer, Vernon (Edward Everett Horton), whom she also goads into slapping her in a deliberate ploy to win back Tony.

Essentially, Smarty hinges on Vicki liking rough sex and it’s completely blatant about it, ending with her sighing “Hit me again” (the film’s UK title!) as they sink into a clinch on a couch, a rapturous expression on her face. It’s a controversial film because on the surface it looks like it’s condoning domestic violence, but it’s very clearly about Vicki’s openly expressed sexual desires—she wants to be punished and dominated, she just has a rather dodgy way of getting what she wants.

It might be unsophisticated, but in some ways Smarty is remarkably ahead of its time and ripe for rediscovery. To that end, it would make a fascinating double bill with Stephen Shainberg’s Secretary (2002). Oh, and it’s also chock-full of lingerie scenes (like most pre-Code films), if you like that sort of thing.

Massacre (1934) Directed by Alan Crosland, written by Sheridan Gibney, Ralph Block and Robert Gessner

Several pre-Code films (notably those made by Warner Bros) took a no-punches-pulled approach to their depiction of social issues, and star Richard Barthelmess actively sought out such projects. Here he plays Joe Thunderhorse, a Native American who’s become famous on the rodeo circuit. When he returns to his tribe to bury his father, he ends up fighting for their rights, taking on corrupt government officials and religious authorities.

Massacre is fascinating because on the one hand it’s wildly insensitive—Barthelmess and co-star Ann Dvorak are both cast as Native Americans—but on the other, it burns with a righteous fury and does more than any other Hollywood film (before or since) to champion the rights and highlight the injustices dealt out to Native Americans. That fury is encapsulated in a horrifying and rightly upsetting rape scene (it happens off-screen, but the cuts leave you in no doubt) that the film handles with surprising sensitivity.

In addition to being a passionate fight against racism and social injustice, the film also has some genuinely shocking sexual content. Most notably, Joe is seen making love to a rich white woman (Claire Dodd, who’s also in Smarty) who has an obvious sexual fetish, flaunting him in front of her friends and making a shrine in her room with Native-American paraphernalia.

The Sign of the Cross (1932) Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, written by Waldemar Young and Sidney Buchman

Yes, this is Cecil B. DeMille again, but no list of weird and wild pre-Code films would be complete without the jaw-dropping ancient Rome epic, The Sign of the Cross. Adapted from an 1895 play by Wilson Barrett, it stars Frederic March as Marcus Superbus (stop sniggering at the back there), who’s torn between his loyalty to Emperor Nero (Charles Laughton) and his love for a Christian woman (Elissa Landi), while also fending off the advances of the Emperor’s wife, Poppaea (Claudette Colbert).

The film is racy enough in its sexual content alone: highlights include the famous scene of Claudette Colbert taking a nude milk bath and an erotic “lesbian” dance sequence, where Joyzelle Joyner’s “most wicked and talented woman in Rome” does ‘The Dance of the Naked Moon’ at Frederic March’s orgy, trying to tempt Landi’s virtuous Christian, to the obvious arousal of the gathered guests.

However, it’s the climactic gladiatorial-arena sequence that will leave your jaw on the floor. Lasting around twelve minutes, it includes: someone getting eaten by a tiger, a tied-up, naked women being approached by hungry crocodiles, pygmies getting chopped up by female barbarians, elephants stomping on heads, a gorilla approaching a naked woman tied to a stake, a man getting gored by a bull, and gladiators fighting to the death, complete with blood and gory injury detail.

The whole thing is genuinely horrifying, even for 2021. Best of all, DeMille pointedly critiques the audience (ourselves included), by showing a series of reaction shots ranging from intense enjoyment to abject seen-it-all-before boredom.

Matthew Turner (FilmFan1971) is a critic, author, podcaster and lifelong film fanatic. His favorite film is ‘Vertigo’. The films in this article are also listed here: Five of the Pre-Code Era’s Most Outrageous Films.

[acewithapaintbrush]

Combing through my doc files and did I ever upload this? I can't remember if I ever uploaded this???? Anyway, I like the idea of @ashwii s celestial turtles being giants actually

👩‍🚀🐢👩‍🚀🐢👩‍🚀🐢👩‍🚀🐢👩‍🚀🐢👩‍🚀

"Hey, April! Whatcha doing?" 

April can only spare a very quick glance at her friend, the personified (or is it turlefied?) comet. 

"Can't talk, Mikey. Kinda busy trying not to die." 

Ah, wrong word choice. Mikey immediately invades her space, pressing his face right up next to her helmet. "What is wrong? Is it your weak human body? Have you swallowed a coin again?" 

April groans and pushes the turtle away. She almost loses her grip on the space station and floats away into the vast abyss of space. Fun. 

She never should have told them that childhood story. Now they are all convinced that the smallest inconvenience is enough to kill a human. 

Well, in space that might actually be a fair assumption. 

Case in point.

"No!" She goes back to messing with the outside controls. So many damned wires and all in the same color. She can't even go 'It's always the red one' like this. Or would it be the blue one? "NASA miscalculated my orbit."

"Which means?" 

"Which means, due to a lot of scientific mumbo jumbo that goes right over my head, with every rotation I will get closer and closer to earth's orbit until the gravitational pull will become too much and this whole station will" she makes a sound Mikey can't place and swings her arm in an arch "whooooosh right into the ocean. With fireworks." 

Admittedly, NASA had reassured her that that was still months away and that they were working on a solution, but April knows platitudes when she hears them. Their faces had said it all. Ground control has no idea how to fix this. 

And April will not just sit around and wait until she rockets into the ground. 

"I have to move this stupid thing just a few degrees to the right and everything will be fine. But the course is precoded and it's locked and hidden behind a thousand firewalls and- Shit!" She pounds her fist against the outside of the ship. In zero gravity it is not a satisfactory sound at all, but the only other option is crying and hell no. April O'Neil is not a cryer, facing certain doom or not. "I have no idea how to do this!"

"Just a few degrees to the right? Don't worry April, I can do that! I'll move it for you!" 

April chuckles without humor. "A comet to the side might just cause more problems, Mike." 

Suddenly she feels a shift behind her and a shadow falls over her. She turns around and almost loses her hold.

The small turtle is suddenly gigantic. As tall as ten football fields, maybe even more. His movements are slow and careful as he takes the space station between two fingers like a child might hold a marble. 

"Hold on." he says and his voice echoes ominously. It is so loud that April kinda wishes she could put her hands over her ears, but instead she holds on for dear life as the station begins to move the tiniest bit to the right. 

"Is that enough?" 

April nods. She is pretty sure it is and anyway, she is kinda losing her mind right now. Math will have to wait until later. 

There is the sensation of the shift again and when she looks back, Mikey is small once more. 

"What the fuck?" 

Mikey sniffs, affronted. "Uhm, you're welcome, I guess?" 

"Yes thank you, you saved my life, I owe you one et cetera et cetera. Again. What the fuck? Could you always do that?" 

"Do what?" 

"TURN BIG!" 

Mikey looks genuinely confused. "What do you mean, turn big? That was my normal size." 

"Say what now?" 

Mikey has the audacity to rub the back of his neck as if he is embarrassed about something. As if he didn't just give April a reality shift of Lovecraftian proportions. "Oh, we size down when we are around you. Raph thought that might be less jarring for you and also you kinda would have to shout all the time so we can hear you and Leo said that couldn't be good for your voice and throat." 

"So your brothers are actually also that tall?" 

"Oh. No! Not at all!" 

April sighs in relief. 

"They are much taller. You should see Raph! Man, sometimes he turns around and just bumps a planet right out of its orbit with his butt. It's so funny!" 

As Mikey laughs and mimes Raph's fumbling with an out of control planet, April tries to rub a hand down her face. Her hand collides with her helmet instead. 

How is she going to explain this to NASA? 

[cccovers]

Black Cat Mystery Comcis #49 (April 1954) cover by Lee Elias.

This precode horror cover was muddied up by a clumsy coloring job, so the published comic doesn't have the same impact. Lots of construction went into this. The bulb & radiance effect is on one board with the whole main drawing cut out and pasted on top. The hand seems to have been cut out and repositioned or redrawn. White lines in the background are scratched in, not painted.

Reprinted in Misterios del Gato Negro #20 (October 1954).

[classicmollywood]

TCMFF  Home Edition Must Watch List

Hello friends!

I was supposed to be on a plane today to go to my first TCM Film Festival, but stuff happens and then you have a pandemic and everything gets canceled and you have to stay home! ANYWAYS, TCM decided to bring us some joy by playing programming for all of us, giving us the film festival, but at home. 

I have decided to list my must watch films for this Home Edition of the festival!

Thursday, April 16th

8 pm: A Star is Born (1954, George Cukor)

Starring Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson, and Charles Bickford

On TCM’s website, this was listed as the inaugural film for the 2010 TCMFF. It’s also a film that is Judy Garland at her best. Garland lights up the screen as Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester. This film has fantastic musical numbers, beautiful colors, and is the best starting film for this festival.

11 PM: Metropolis (1927, Fritz Lang)

Starring Gustav Frohlich, Alfred Abel, Brigitte Helm, and Rudolf Klein-Rogge

If you have never seen a silent film or a German Expressionist film, watch this! Metropolis is the film that aged so well. A futuristic utopia from the lens of the 1920s is very interesting to watch and also some of the themes of this film can be translated to life today. I will say, the film can be described by some as “weird” but I wouldn’t let that stop you from watching it!

Friday, April 17th

2 PM: Eva Marie Saint Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival (2014)

Eva Marie Saint is one of my favorite classic film actresses. She has class, she has poise, and she is very talented. In 2014, TCM had a sit down with the actress to talk about herself and her films. This is such a treat to see!

3 PM: North by Northwest (1959, Alfred Hitchcock)

Starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis, and Martin Landau

Another case of mistaken identity and suspense! Hitchcock knew what he was doing when he hired Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint to “sex” up in the screen during the 1950s. Their chemistry is electric. The airplane scene is such an intense watch. And James Mason seems to be good at playing a suave bad guy.

5:45 PM: Some Like It Hot (1959, Billy Wilder)

Starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe, Joe E. Brown, George Raft, and Pat O’Brien

Men witnessing a crime and then parading as women so they don’t get murdered! What a farce! Let’s be real, the best chemistry in the film is between Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. They play off each other so well. I will say, I do believe Marilyn Monroe was at her best in this film! Need a laugh, watch this!

1:30 AM: Grey Gardens (1975, Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Ellen Hovde, and Muffy Meyer)

Starring Edith “Big Edie” Ewing Bouvier Beale and Edith “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale

This documentary is fascinating. It is fun but at times absolutely heartbreaking. Big Edie and Little Edie were definitely a fine pair. It is interesting watching the aunt and cousin of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, because they aren’t living in luxury, which would be expected due to their relation. Big and Little Edie are characters that you have to see to believe. The irony is, they are real people and not acting roles. 

5 AM: Kim Novak: Live from the TCM Film Festival (2013)

Kim Novak is so much more than her looks and this interview opened my eyes to how amazing she is as a person as well as an actress. 

Saturday, April 18th (AKA MY BIRTHDAY)

6 AM: The Man with The Golden Arm (1955, Otto Preminger)

Starring Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, and Kim Novak

This is one of the grittiest films from the 1950s. It depicts a heroin addict during their ups and downs. I was honestly surprised this film got made at all during the Production Code Era, but am very glad it did. Sinatra is so raw in his performance and Eleanor Parker creates a complex character as his wife. Of course, Kim Novak is wonderful to watch because she is more than just beautiful, she is an actress. This film really showcases her talent. 

1:15 PM: Safety Last! (1923, Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor)

Starring Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, and Bill Strother

Zany antics a plenty! That’s the best description of this film. Harold Lloyd films are always great to watch because he wasn’t afraid to do crazy things to get a laugh. This film has the infamous clock scene too! 

2:45 PM: They Live By Night (1949, Nicholas Ray)

Starring Farley Granger, Cathy O’Donnell, and Howard Da Silva

If you only watch one movie on this list, THIS NEEDS TO BE THE ONE. It’s ironic that it airs on my birthday, because this is one of my favorite films. The story of doomed lovers who try their best to reform from a life of crime to survive wasn’t a new concept, but man, Farley Granger and Cathy O’Donnell make you fall in love with their characters and hope that they somehow, someway make it to their life of happiness together.

10 PM: The Magnificent Ambersons (1942, Orson Welles)

Starring Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter, Tim Holt, and Agnes Moorehead

This film is another case of a film that got cut down by the studio, and in case you were wondering, Orson Welles was pissed. I would hope and pray one day we all get to see the full version (kinda doubtful), but this film isn’t so bad. I think the all-star cast really makes it worth it! 

Sunday, April 19th

6 AM: Jezebel (1938, William Wyler)

Starring Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, and George Brent 

I am not gonna lie, my first viewing of this film enraged me. Henry Fonda’s character made me so mad because he was a jerk. But I have decided I need to rewatch this film and see if my attitudes have changed. This film did so many great things for Bette Davis and Henry Fonda, so we should all give it another (or first) go around. Also this was the film Jane Fonda was born during! Just a fun fact.

3:30 PM: Auntie Mame (1958, Morton DaCosta)

Starring Rosalind Russell, Forrest Tucker, Coral Browne, Jan Handzlik, and Roger Smith

I want to be Auntie Mame. She is so much fun and so unique and I love it. The costumes are so grand in this film and Rosalind Russell really does a great job of bringing Mame to life. This film is so fun!!!

6 PM: Singin’ in the Rain (1952, Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly)

Starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O’Connor, and Jean Hagen

This is in my top 5 musicals. This musical always makes me smile and it is one of the few musicals where I know most of the words to the songs. The trio of Kelly, Reynolds, and O’Connor is something magical. Cosmo Brown is also one of my favorite characters in any film (and one of my cat’s namesakes). The film history alone with this film makes it worth watching! JUST WATCH THIS MUSICAL, OKAY?

9:45 PM: The Hustler (1961, Robert Rossen)

Starring Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, and George C. Scott

Paul Newman is so cool in general, so he was born for this role. I never knew a movie about pool would have my interest, but here we are. The tension between Newman and Jackie Gleason is so well played and the way the film is shot, you feel like you are in the room with them. Also Piper Laurie does a great performance as the conflicted girlfriend of Newman’s ambitious pool shark.

12:15 AM: Baby Face (1933, Alfred E. Green)

Starring Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, and Donald Cook

THIS IS PRECODE HEAVEN! You have a woman who uses sex to get ahead in life and men become entranced, and usually destroyed, by her. Barbara Stanwyck plays her character so well that you have a love-hate relationship with her. She can be cruel, but you understand why she is doing what she is doing. 

[acewithapaintbrush]

Edited: some typos

@ashwii So I wondered how that would work with astronaut April and weeeeeeeeeeell:

👩‍🚀👩‍🚀👩‍🚀👩‍🚀👩‍🚀👩‍🚀👩‍🚀👩‍🚀👩‍🚀👩‍🚀

"Hey, April! Whatcha doing?" 

April can only spare a very quick glance at her friend, the personified (or is it turlefied?) comet. 

"Can't talk, Mikey. Kinda busy trying to not die." 

Ah, wrong word choice. Mikey immediately invades her space, pressing his face right up next to her helmet. "What is wrong? Is it your weak human body? Have you swallowed a coin again?" 

April groans and pushes the turtle away. She almost loses her grip on the space station and floats away into the vast abyss of space. Fun. 

She never should have told them that childhood story. Now they are all convinced that the smallest inconvenience is enough to kill a human. 

Well, in space that might actually be a fair assumption. 

Case in point. 

"No!" She goes back to messing with the outside controls. So many damned wires and all in the same color. She can't even go 'It's always the red one' like this. Or would it be the blue one? "Nasa miscalculated my orbit."

"Which means?" 

"Which means, due to a lot of scientific mumbo jumbo that goes right over my head, with every rotation I will get closer and closer to the earth's orbit until the gravitational pull will become too much and this whole station will" she makes a sound Mikey can't place and swings her arm in an arch "whooooosh right into the ocean. With fireworks." 

Admittedly, Nasa had reassured her that that was still months away and that they were working on a solution, but April knows platitudes when she hears them. Their faces had said it all. Nasa has no idea how to fix this. 

And April will not just sit around and wait until she rockets into the ground. 

"I have to move this stupid thing just a few degrees to the right and everything will be fine. But the course is precoded and it's locked and hidden behind a thousand firewalls and- Shit!" She pounds her fist against the outside of the ship. In zero gravity it is not a satisfactory sound at all, but the only other option is crying and hell no. April O'Neil is not a cryer, facing certain doom or not. "I have no idea how to do this!"

"Just a few degrees to the right? Don't worry April, I can do that! I'll move it for you!" 

April chuckles without humor. "A comet to the side might just cause more problems, Mike." 

Suddenly she feels a shift behind her and a shadow falls over her. She turns around and almost lets go of her space station.

The small turtle is suddenly gigantic. As tall as ten football fields, maybe even more. His movements are slow and careful as he takes the space station between two fingers like a child might hold a marble. 

"Hold on." he says and his voice echoes ominously. It is so loud that April kinda wishes she could hold her hands over her ears, but instead she holds on for dear life as the station begins to move the tiniest bit to the right. 

"Is that enough?" 

April nods. She is pretty sure it is and anyway, she is kinda losing her mind right now. Math will have to wait until later. 

There is the sensation of the shift again and when she looks back, Mikey is small once more. 

"What the fuck?" 

Mikey sniffs, affronted. "Uhm, thank you, I guess?" 

"Yes thank you, you saved my life, I owe you one et cetera et cetera. Again. What the fuck? Could you always do that?" 

"Do what?" 

"TURN BIG!" 

Mikey looks genuinely confused. "What do you mean, turn big? That was my normal size." 

"Say what now?" 

Mikey has the audacity to rub the back of his neck as if he is embarrassed about something. As if he didn't just give April a reality shift of Lovecraftian proportions. "Oh, we size down when we are around you. Raph thought that might be less jarring for you and also you kinda would have to shout all the time so we can hear you and Leo said that couldn't be good for your voice and throat." 

"So your brothers are actually also that tall?" 

"Oh. No! Not at all!" 

April sighs in relief. 

"They are much taller. You should see Raph! Man, sometimes he turns around and just bumps a planet right out of its orbit with his butt. It's so funny!" 

As Mikey laughs and mimes Raph's fumbling with an out of control planet, April tries to rub a hand down her face. Her hand rubs down her helmet instead. 

How is she going to explain this to Nasa?

I can no longer view your celestial au as small, they are giants now... especially near their counterparts. I can never unsee it. (Just found it and I love it)

They big boys, they can crush the entire basketball stadium lmaoo