The 1930s

Besides name authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald & William Faulkner, Hollywood imported Broadway Stars
Eddie Cantor, Fanny Brice, The Marx Brothers, Mae West

The 1930s
The Production Code Hays office formed in 1922 as a result of a series of scandals for self-regulation (see Fatty Arbuckle) Published in 1930, adopted fully in 1934 "if motion pictures present stories that will affect lives for the better, they can become the most powerful force for the improvement of mankind"

William Hays

The Hays Code

The 1930s
Profits hit hard during the Depression Needed to lure back their audience Production Code created by producers to please the Catholic Church and various other socially conservative groups No pictures in theatres that had not been passed by the Code administration Phased out in 1968

Betty Boop & Laughing Gas

The 1930s

Baby Face & Love Me Tonight

The 1930s
General Principles
1. No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin. 2. Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented. 3. Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.

The 1930s
Excessive violence Sex - even for married couples Words such as hell, sex, and damn Gave rise to stylized genres which were less threatening than gangster movies and sex romps Self-regulation preferred to that of the government

The 1930s
Some things made it through

Bringing up Baby & The Gangs All Here

The 1930s
Some did not

Casablanca & I Love Lucy

The 1930s
Some careers did not survive the Code
Mae West

She Done Him Wrong Why dont you come up & see me Sometime? Im home every evening.

The 1930s
Films became more conservative
Moral messages Comedies Unite and not divide

The 1930s
Gangster
Scarface, d. Howard Hawks Trouble with censors Released without approval but with subtitle Shame of a Nation and written prologue

The 1930s
Musicals
Busby Berkley Fred Astaire

The 1930s
Musicals
Busby Berkley Fred Astaire

The 1930s
Comedy
Screwball Surreal

My Man Godfrey & Monkey Business

The 1930s
The Filmmakers
Ernst Lubitsch William Wyler Howard Hawks John Ford Frank Capra Michael Curtiz Saratoga

The 1930s
Howard Hawks
- Rapid-fire, overlapping dialogue - Used first string writers - Keen eye for talent such as Paul Muni, Carole Lombard, Lauren Bacall and Montgomery Clift - Most versatile - crossed genres

The 1930s

The Big Sleep

Bringing Up Baby

His Girl Friday

Red River

The 1930s
William Wyler
Long takes Deep focus Elicited great performances through a massive amount of takes - 40 Take Wyler Actors seldom worked with him again

The 1930s

The Letter

Dead End

Wuthering Heights

Jezebel

The 1930s
Frank Capra
Started in silent comedies as a gag writer Successes for Harry Cohn at Columbia making the Poverty Row studio into a player Most successful director of the 1930s Supreme craftsman

The 1930s

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

It Happened One Night

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Its a Wonderful Life

The 1930s
John Ford
Began as an actor - he was one of the riding Klansmen in Birth of a Nation Hit his stride in the 1930s with The Informer Worked often with John Wayne whom he called a big dummy Responsible for some of the most enduring imagery in American film

The 1930s

The Informer

They Were Expendable

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

Fort Apache

The 1930s
Michael Curtiz 1886-1972 Hungarian who came to Hollywood in 1926 and became a staple in the Studio System Films include
Casablanca The Adventures of Robin Hood Captain Blood Mildred Pierce White Christmas Yankee Doodle Dandy Angels with Dirty Faces King Creole

The 1930s
Angels with Dirty Faces, 1938
James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Pat OBrien & Ann Sheridan & The Dead end Kids Banned in Denmark, China, Poland, Finland, and parts of Canada and Switzerland Cagney drew on his memories of growing up in New York's Hell's Kitchen The Dead End Kids terrorized the set throwing actors off with ad-libbing and stole Humphrey Bogarts pants, but the first time Leo Gorcey pulled an ad-lib on Cagney, he stiff-armed the young actor and from then on, the gang behaved.

The 1930s
James Cagney, 1889-1986

The 1930s
Quintessential tough guy but also an accomplished singer & dancer Made 9 films with Pat OBrien Retired in 1961 did 2 more films in the 80s Films include:
The Public Enemy, Each Dawn I Die, White Heat, The Roaring Twenties, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Mister Roberts, One, Two, Three

White Heat

The 1930s
Humphrey Bogart, 18991957
Began by playing gangsters & psychopaths but moved into playing tough, conflicted, cynical leading men with a noble side Married to Lauren Bacall after they met on set when she was 19 & he was 45. He became a father at 49. Oscar for The African Queen, 1952