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Pre-Code Hollywood explores the fascinating period in American motion picture history from 1930 to 1934 when the commandments of the Production Code Administration were violated with impunity in a series of wildly unconventional films -- a time when censorship was lax and Hollywood made the most of ...

Pre-Code Hollywood explores the fascinating period in American motion picture history from 1930 to 1934 when the commandments of the Production Code Administration were violated with impunity in a series of wildly unconventional films -- a time when censorship was lax and Hollywood made the most of it. Though more unbridled, salacious, subversive, and just plain bizarre than what came afterwards, the films of the period do indeed have the look of Hollywood cinema -- but the moral terrain is so off-kilter that they seem imported from a parallel universe. In a sense, Doherty avers, the films of pre-Code Hollywood are from another universe. They lay bare what Hollywood under the Production Code attempted to cover up and push offscreen: sexual liaisons unsanctified by the laws of God or man, marriage ridiculed and redefined, ethnic lines crossed and racial barriers ignored, economic injustice exposed and political corruption assumed, vice unpunished and virtue unrewarded -- in sum, pretty much the raw stuff of American culture, unvarnished and unveiled. No other book has yet sought to interpret the films and film-related meanings of the pre-Code era -- what defined the period, why it ended, and what its relationship was to the country as a whole during the darkest years of the Great Depression... and afterward.

""Outspoken is heartwarming and inspiring, as it reminds us that there are people who refuse to be cowed into obedience, who maintain their resistance to war and injustice against all odds."--Howard Zinn, author of "A People's History of the United States

"Nan Levinson, herself one of this nation's ...

""Outspoken is heartwarming and inspiring, as it reminds us that there are people who refuse to be cowed into obedience, who maintain their resistance to war and injustice against all odds."--Howard Zinn, author of "A People's History of the United States

"Nan Levinson, herself one of this nation's free speech heroes, brings the First Amendment to life by telling the stories of those who have fought for the freedom we so often take for granted, but that is increasingly under attack. This book shows in funny, tragic, and lurid detail why the freedom of speech is worth fighting for."--David Cole, author of "No Equal Justice

"Levinson's book couldn't come at a more important time. These compelling tales are increasingly relevant now that our civil liberties are being threatened in the name of 'national security.' "Outspoken should be required reading for anyone interested in preserving the freedom we've come to take for granted in the United States."--Candida Royalle, Erotic film director and President, Femme Productions, Inc.

"In this imaginative and highly readable examination of dozens of provocative First Amendment controversies, Nan Levinson establishes herself as a resolute student of the role of free speech in a democratic society. This is an exceptional book about an endlessly important subject."--James O. Freedman, President Emeritus, Dartmouth College

Arguing that theatrical censorship coincides with significant challenges to religious, political and cultural traditions, John Houchin explores its impact on twentieth-century American theatre. Along with the well-known example of the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s, other almost ...

Arguing that theatrical censorship coincides with significant challenges to religious, political and cultural traditions, John Houchin explores its impact on twentieth-century American theatre. Along with the well-known example of the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s, other almost equally influential events affected the course of the American stage during the century. After a summary of censorship in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century America, Houchin analyzes key political and theatrical events between 1900 and 2000.

Classical Film Violence is the first book to examine the interplay between the aesthetics and the censorship of violence in classic Hollywood films from 1930 to 1968, the era of the Production Code Administration (PCA), when filmmakers were required to have their scripts approved before they could ...

Classical Film Violence is the first book to examine the interplay between the aesthetics and the censorship of violence in classic Hollywood films from 1930 to 1968, the era of the Production Code Administration (PCA), when filmmakers were required to have their scripts approved before they could start production. Stephen Prince explains how Hollywood's filmmakers designed violence in response to the regulations of the PCA and regional censors. Taking this one step further, he shows (or makes the connection) that graphic violence in today's films actually has its roots in these early films made during the time period of 1930 to 1968. He explains how Hollywood's filmmakers were drawn to violent scenes and how they "pushed the envelope" of what they could depict by manipulating the Production Code Administration.