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The Production Code or “The Hays Code”...

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Pre and Post Production Code Films The Production Code or “The Hays Code” was arguably the most influential historical change in Hollywood. Filmmaking was never the same since 1934 when the code was implemented by the Motion Picture Producers and Distributers of America (MPPDA). I chose to compare two movies exactly one year before 1934, and one after to explore the differences conveyed by the code. " It is important to note how studios tried to dodge the code up until ’34. The code was actually released in 1930 but it was ignored till its implementation in ’34. Scarface (Howard Hawks 1932) is one perfect pre-code film example. Alternatively, also a great example of how production companies tried to ignore the code for as long as possible since sex and violence sells. The Caddo Company produced Scarface, an awfully successful movie for its time considering it was not produced by any of the 5 major studios at the time. This proves how much people loved taboo subjects and violence, and it had nothing to do with the popularity of the studio behind the film." The story of Scarface follows Tony, the protagonist, who violently kills his way up to the top of the Chicago Gangs. The movie consists of 5 minute long scenes of shootings and the characters excited about these happenings. The whole story glamorises the idea of violence, death and crime in general; being a gangster is cool. This films was vey successful, earning $600,000 at the box office which was a very large amount of money for a film to make with that decade." Post-Code films consisted of a much more different take on filmmaking. Once the code was reinforced, no films were getting screened if it wasn’t approved by the PCA. The administration became very strict on what films were allowed to convey or show. This greatly impacting the style and narratives of films also. " Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock 1946) portrays a love story in such an elegant manner that was the norm for the patriarchal society of the ‘40s. We are firstly introduced to the heroic history of the U.S trying to bring the Nazis to justice, already very different from glamorising crime in Scarface. The the film focuses on the growing love story of the main characters, Devlin and Alicia. Most precode love films would focus on the spectacle of sex and nudity, even if its a minor naked leg. However, Notorious tells their affectionate tale in a very ‘sensible’ manner. Studious on the other hand, knew that if the whole film was ‘sensible’, tickets won’t sell as much as they used to. In order to tackle this, they seemed any loophole in the code rules. Notorious is quite guilty of this in their 3 minute kissing scene. Kissing for longer than 3 seconds was one of the acts that became forbidden when the code was reinforced. However, the code said nothing about restarting kisses after 3 seconds. This is exactly what Hitchcock did and they ended up with a very affectionate 3 minute scene of the couple kissing." Pre-Code films were generally more exciting to watch since the studious had so much freedom. Post- Code films became much more regulated, a list of strict rules changed the style and narratives of films since the dissolution of the code....