Golden Era Of Hollywood Film example essay topic

Censorship and Hollywood have always come hand in hand. Often a continuing topic of discourse in relation to the medium of film For a period of approxamatley 20 years from the thirties to the fifties Hollywood commercial cinema was subjected to a rigorous censorship laws. Several factors attributed to the rise of the production code. One of the major issues that determined a change in censorship etHics at the time were a rash of high publicised scandals involving big name stars that were to tarnish the image of the industry. In the 1930's, film industry executives embraced a strict set of guidelines, or Production Code, that governed movie content for two decades. explores how the American motion picture industry practiced self-censorship as a strategy for cultural and economic survival to answer growing charges of immorality. It was a rash of Hollywood scandals in the late teens and the early twenties that helped intensify the ire of local censors and forced the film industry leaders to address the industry's image problems.

In 1921, comedian Fatty Arbuckle was accused of the rape and murder of a young actress; director William Desmond Taylor was found murdered; actor Wallace Reid died of a drug overdose; and America's sweetheart, actress Mary Pickford, obtained a quickie divorce to marry dashing matinee idol, Douglas Fairbanks. Studio heads hired a public relations man, Will Hays, to bolster the industry's tainted reputation by convincing the nation that Hollywood was not all scandalous and that the movie industry would censor itself The Code was created to avoid official government censorship and to appease the growing criticism of motion pictures as immoral entertainment. With patronage of theatres declining in the early years of the Great Depression and widespread politically active criticism by the American Catholic Church, there was a real danger that the government would intervene and seize control of the film industry. These were the years of scantily clad chorus girls in Busby Berkeley musicals, of violent crime dramas, of lurid horror films such as Frankenstein and Dracula. Nudity was occasionally glimpsed in films of this era, too, and sexual content was present in some films, especially in those of the frankly liberated Mae West. The decadence of Hollywood was well-known through a series of scandals; perhaps the most notorious involved Fatty Arbuckle.

To silence its critics, the Code conceded to many of their demands. Homosexuality, interracial romance, drug and alcohol abuse, abortion, and nudity were all prohibited. Couples could not be shown as sharing the same bed. Not only were the "Seven Dirty Words" that George Carlin would later joke about prohibited, but so were many others. Violence was toned down. More importantly, no story could appear in which evil and good were confused.

Any evil character had to be concocted so there could be no audience sympathy for him, and the evil character must be punished by the end of the film. While not part of the Code, Hollywood publicity would ensure that a more positive public image would be projected of its stars. The Code would remain in place until the 1960's, and ironically, its limitations would help create the framework within which the Golden Era of Hollywood film making would flourish. The Code had some fine results, albeit indirectly. In place of brash musicals that seemed to exist only to show leggy chorus girls, Fred Astaire starred in a series of beautifully stylized musicals that showcased choreographed dancing and well-crafted songs. Classic novels such as Wuthering Heights and The Wizard of Oz were filmed along with Shakespearean plays in an attempt to show how cultured Hollywood could be.

On the one hand, the Code's limitations on sexuality resulted in achingly beautiful romances and on the other, hilarious screwball comedies that threatened to unhinge the Code at any minute. Film noir and more stylish horror films like The Black Cat became adept at suggesting violence that the Code would not openly allow. The gangster films became morality plays in which the mob boss was transformed into a parable of the American Dream gone awry. The downside is that there were whole areas of human experience that were off limits to Hollywood.

Hollywood could not create stories in which a lead character agreed to an extramarital affair, or in which drug addiction was realistically portrayed. In the early 1920's three major scandals rocked Hollywood: the Fatty Arbuckle murder trial, the murder of William Desmond Taylor, and the drug-related death of actor Wallace Reid. The public outcry over these lurid, headline-grabbing stories led to the creation in 1922 of the Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors Association (which would later become the Motion Picture Association of America. Why was the production code started What effects did it have Site two movies that it effected In the early 1930's, Hollywood was reeling from a decade of scandals.

Questions of a moral nature were brought against several of the main film stars of the day, including Charlie Chaplin, Clara Bow.