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Marilyn
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:20 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 8210 Location: Skokie (not a bad movie, btw)
It's an interesting, if not a great flick. I enjoyed seeing Harry Langdon in a speaking part. Al Jolson played it less broad than he usually does.

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Syd
Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 1:13 am Reply with quote
Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12887 Location: Norman, Oklahoma
I've watched Scarface, which I'll discuss more thoroughly when the time comes. It took me a few minutes to get into it, partly because I kept expecting Louis to say, "Mamma Mia, that's a spicy meatball!" but Tony starts taking out the other bootleggers, I got thoroughly caught up in it. It's definitely one for the forum. The DVD I borrowed has an alternate ending which I think was filmed to conform with the Code. (The censors apparently didn't accept that ending, either.) The original ending is just right; the alternate ending is as awkward as the psychiatrist's speech in Psycho. Lots of brilliant scenes and not as much gore as you would expect, but it's still very violent, and there are sexual overtones all over the place.

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Melody
Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 1:32 am Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 2242 Location: TX
I'm TiVo-ing Week-End Marriage and Possessed, both on TCM later this morning (Tuesday). Thanks for the heads-up, Syd. I've ordered Forbidden Hollywood Vol. 1 from our man in Shanghai and will keep an eye out for Vol. 2.

I read Mo's Wikipedia article. Didn't Marilyn post a link to an article? I didn't see it in this forum, so maybe I dreamt it.

[digression] My daughter is this very moment comparing and contrasting Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried with Apocalypse Now for her lit class. I'm jealous, actually. She hasn't even asked me for input. Crying or Very sad

So it's kind of exciting to have my own homework to do!

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gromit
Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:40 am Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
Geez, another PC Forum.

Might as well learn from the masters.
From the 1930 Code:
Quote:

V. Profanity

Pointed profanity (this includes God, Lord, Jesus, Christ—unless used reverently—Hell, S.O.B., damn, Gawd), or other profane or vulgar expressions, however used, is forbidden.

After the section was amended by resolution of the Board of Directors November 1, 1939, and September 12, 1945, the section was written as follows:

Pointed profanity and every other profane or vulgar expression, however used, is forbidden.

No approval by the Production Code Administration shall be given to the use of words and phrases in motion pictures including, but not limited to, the following:

Alley cat (applied to a woman); bat (applied to a woman); broad (applied to a woman); Bronx cheer (the sound); chippie; cocotte; God, Lord, Jesus, Christ (unless used reverently); cripes; fanny; fairy (in a vulgar sense); finger (the); fire, cries of; Gawd; goose (in a vulgar sense); “hold your hat” or “hats”; hot (applied to a woman); “in your hat”; louse; lousy; Madam (relating to prostitution); nance, nerts; nuts (except when meaning crazy); pansy; razzberry (the sound); slut (applied to a woman); SOB.; son-of-a; tart; toilet gags; tom cat (applied to a man); traveling salesman and farmer's daughter jokes; whore; damn; hell (excepting when the use of said last two words shall be essential and required for portrayal, in proper historical context, of any scene or dialogue based upon historical fact or folklore, or for the presentation in proper literary context of a Biblical, or other religious quotation, or a quotation from a literary work provided that no such use shall he permitted which is intrinsically objectionable or offends good taste).

In the administration of Section V of the Production Code, the Production Code Administration may take cognizance of the fact that the following words and phrases are obviously offensive to the patrons of motion pictures in the United States and more particularly to the patrons of motion pictures in foreign countries:

Chink, Dago, Frog, Greaser, Hunkie, Kike, Nigger, Spic, Wop, Yid.


There's just so much there.
Nerts?
Cripes?
Hot?

And what's with the "hat" phrases?
I think I'm missing something there.

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tirebiter
Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:28 am Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 4011 Location: not far away
Re. hats: I think it must be a reference to "Go shit in your hat," an eminently practical suggestion with much currency in the 20s.

Don't agree? Nerts to you.
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bocce
Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:21 am Reply with quote
Joined: 24 May 2004 Posts: 2428
another pre-code sub genre that spawned a whole lot of celluloid was "the prison drama" at its best exemplified by THE BIG HOUSE (1930)...
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jeremy
Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:23 am Reply with quote
Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 6794 Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
Cripes is a euphemism for Christ.

Euphemism?

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gromit
Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 12:49 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
More of the 1930 Code:

Quote:
VI. Costume

1. Complete nudity is never permitted. This includes nudity in fact or in silhouette, or any licentious notice thereof by other characters in the pictures.

2. Undressing scenes should be avoided, and never used save where essential to the plot.

3. Indecent or undue exposure is forbidden.

4. Dancing costumes intended to permit undue exposure of indecent movements in the dance are forbidden.

VII. Dances

1. Dances suggesting or representing sexual actions or indecent passion are forbidden.

2. Dances which emphasize indecent movements are to be regarded as obscene.


The Dances section was taken out in the revised Code. The contents were rewritten and then inserted under the Obscenity section header. Owing to the removal of a section header strictly for this topic, from this point onward, both the older and revised versions of the Code have the same section numbering beginning with the next header, 8. Religion. (As noted earlier, section II. Sex of the original had become 3. Sex in the revision, and subsequent section numbers were consecutively incremented.)

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lady wakasa
Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 12:55 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 5911 Location: Beyond the Blue Horizon
My understanding, from reading around the past few days, is that the studios agreed to the Code never expecting to actually have to live up to it. They were more trying to forestall any outside imposition of a code.

Man, none of Lubitsch's films would've been released under this.

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bocce
Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 1:03 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 24 May 2004 Posts: 2428
since "pre-code" is generally accepted to be the period 1930 thru 1934, as i mentioned before, it's a bit of a misnomer since the code was drawn up in 1930 in response to more licentious 20's films...

perhaps we should call this one pre-code "enforcement" (1935 and the appointment of will hays) and have a separate discussion of ante pre-code films...juuuust kidding, but i bet this one has billy's head spinning....
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mo_flixx
Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 2:00 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 30 May 2004 Posts: 12533
tirebiter wrote:
Re. hats: I think it must be a reference to "Go shit in your hat," an eminently practical suggestion with much currency in the 20s.

Don't agree? Nerts to you.


Let us not forget that those were the days when one wore hats...that era came to an end with JFK who had so much hair he didn't need one.

Kind of like the end of the undershirt with Clark Gable in "It Happened One Night" - did I get that right??


Last edited by mo_flixx on Wed Mar 19, 2008 1:56 am; edited 1 time in total
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tirebiter
Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 8:12 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 4011 Location: not far away
mo: I presume there's a "hair" somewhere in your penultimate sentence....
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Nancy
Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:56 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 4607 Location: Norman, OK
Melody wrote:
I'm TiVo-ing Week-End Marriage and Possessed, both on TCM later this morning (Tuesday). Thanks for the heads-up, Syd. I've ordered Forbidden Hollywood Vol. 1 from our man in Shanghai and will keep an eye out for Vol. 2.


Melody --

Deepdiscount.com has the best price on FH v.2. I got my copy at Target for a little more (just couldn't wait), but still less than the list price.

I'll see if I can find the link Marilyn posted to that article.

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Nancy
Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:15 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 4607 Location: Norman, OK
Melody,

One of these may be the pre-code article you were thinking of. Marilyn posted one, and Ghulam posted the other:

http://selfstyledsiren.blogspot.com/2008/01/code-nostalgia-insane-inane-and.html
http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/03/29/pre_code_cinema.html

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Nancy
Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:34 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 4607 Location: Norman, OK
bocce wrote:
another pre-code sub genre that spawned a whole lot of celluloid was "the prison drama" at its best exemplified by THE BIG HOUSE (1930)...


That is a good one, if people can find it. It has apparently never come out on DVD, though Amazon has a few used VHS copies listed.

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