Picspam: 5 Films that Pushed the Hays Code
The Motion Picture Production Code, otherwise known as the Hays Code, was a set of self-regulatory guidelines put in place for Hollywood films effective from 1934 to 1968. While it was not officially abolished until 1968, the industry in all intents and purposes abandoned it long before. And even before that, filmmakers used tricks to get around the code or simply used suggestive imagery. For example- the fireworks in To Catch a Thief, lighting the cigarettes in Love is a Many Splendored Thing and the train going through the tunnel in North by Northwest, all of which suggest sexual consummation. Here's the Wikipedia article if you're interested.
The three 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.
In particular, certain restrictions on what was allowed or not allowed to be depicted on screen (see more in the wikipedia article):
++ References to sexual perversion (i.e. homosexuality) were banned.
++ The sanctity of marriage must be upheld.
++ Depictions of miscegenation were not allowed.
++ "Excessive and lustful" kissing and scenes of passion were to be avoided.
Casablanca, 1942
This film initially ran into some trouble with the Code due to the suggestive nature of Rick and Ilsa's relationship in Paris. While the Production Code Administration strongly opposed any such references, you can still pick up on it in the end product such as when we see Rick and Ilsa casually lounging on a couch. Also, on the night they reunite in Casablanca, there are some hints that they perhaps slept together. More importantly, the film's famous ending (spoiler alert!), in which Rick helps Ilsa and her husband escape from Morroco but decides to remain behind himself, could not have ended any other way because the Code would not allow a woman to leave her husband for another man.
Notorious, 1946
This Hitchcock thriller features one of the most famous and well-known kissing scenes in film history, in which Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman spend several minutes peppering each other with light kisses. The Code limited kissing length to only a few seconds, which they seem to follow, only they repeat several times within the span of a few minutes. They kiss on the balcony, walk inside, kiss again, make a phone call, kiss, walk to the door and kiss goodbye.
From Here to Eternity, 1953
While From Here to Eternity does push the boundaries of the Code, this film adaptation is far tamer than the novel that it's based on. The scene on the beach? They're not just kissing in the book. However, the scene in the movie is already highly suggestive. Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr are definitely horizontal on the beach. And the dialogue after the kiss-- Kerr remarks that she would need "an adding machine" to count all the men she's been with. There is also the issue of prostitution that was becoming more prominent in films such as East of Eden.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 1958
If you watched this movie with no knowledge of the play or Tennessee Williams, I think you could be somewhat confused as to what this movie is about. It's not quite as sanitized as Suddenly Last Summer (now that was just completely WTF even if you do know the play), but in order to get past the Code, Williams' play had to be rid of the more direct references to homosexuality. Brick's issues are less about his possible non-platonic feelings he had for his best friend, Skipper, than just guilt over his death. The film's ending is also much more optimistic about Brick and Maggie reconciling. Tennessee Williams was apparently very dissatisfied with the film. Notably, this film was nominated for 7 Academy Awards but won none, perhaps because even its sanitized adaptation was too controversial for the time.
Some Like it Hot, 1959
Billy Wilder released this movie without the seal of approval by the MPAA and its box office success, along with more avant-garde work from European filmmakers becoming prominent, effectively spelled the end for the Production Code. The most suggestive scene in the film is probably the scene with Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis on their 'date', in which he pretends to be impotent and Monroe attempts to get him aroused.
Past Picspams:
My Favorite Films of 2009 HERE
Trailers of Anticipated Movies HERE
Guilty Pleasures HERE
Best of the Franchise HERE
Top 15 Films of the Decade HERE
Tom and Summer, (500) Days of Summer HERE
Spock and Uhura, Star Trek HERE
Victoria and Albert, The Young Victoria HERE
Carl and Ellie, Up HERE
Memorable Dress in Film HERE
The Cast of Rob Marshall's 'Nine' HERE
Grey's Anatomy: Derek-Meredith-Addison Triangle HERE
Inglourious Basterds: The Dresses of Operation Kino HERE
Inglourious Basterds: Christoph Waltz as Col. Landa HERE
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Fashion HERE
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg HERE
My Personal Oscar Ballot (as of November 2009) HERE
Cruel Intentions vs. Dangerous Liaisons Comparison HERE
The 2007 Oscars in FYC Ads HERE
Cast My Life HERE
Romance in Period Films HERE
Glee vs. Popular Comparison HERE
Best Costume Design 2009 HERE
Musicals of the 50s and 60s HERE
Top 5 Prettiest Actress of the 1930s HERE