Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood - Production & Contact Info

Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood (2008)
TV-MA
TV Movie | 68 min | Documentary

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Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood (2008)

TV-MA

TV Movie | 68 min | Documentary

Various film historians, film makers, and cultural commentators discuss the cultural, political, economic and religious reasons for what is known as the pre-code era of Hollywood movie making in the early 1930s, and those same factors ...See moreVarious film historians, film makers, and cultural commentators discuss the cultural, political, economic and religious reasons for what is known as the pre-code era of Hollywood movie making in the early 1930s, and those same factors which resulted in the drastic turn to working under the code for the twenty or so years starting in 1934. The "code" is the Hollywood Production Code of 1930 (also known as the Hays Code, so named for Will H. Hays, the first head of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America), which was developed in order for movie making in Hollywood to run smoothly in the face of increased outside censors. The code was largely ignored until 1934, when its enforcement was overseen by Joseph Breen who took over from Hays and who had a different agenda of moral purity. During those four years, pre-code Hollywood movies are characterized by their rawness and pushing the envelope of sexuality and moral ambiguity (with the depraved side often winning), which were not allowed under the code. What happened to the distribution of pre-code movies during the years that the code was enforced, the reasons for the slow breakdown of the code in the early to mid 1950s, and the reasons for renewed interest in pre-code movies later in the century are also discussed. Written by Huggo See less

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Cast	+ Add Cast
33 cast members

Name	Known for
Valerie Spencer Self - Narrator (voice) Self - Narrator (voice) See fewer	Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)
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Hugh Hefner Self - Interviewee Self - Interviewee See fewer	Miss March (2009)
Jack Valenti Self - Interviewee Self - Interviewee See fewer	This Week (1956)
Will H. Hays Self (archive footage) (as Will Hayes) Self (archive footage) (as Will Hayes) See fewer	The Clinging Vine (1926)
Jeffrey Vance Self - Interviewee Self - Interviewee See fewer	Safety Last! (1923)
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Norma Shearer Various Roles (archive footage) Various Roles (archive footage) See fewer	The Divorcee (1930)
Clark Gable Various Roles (archive footage) Various Roles (archive footage) See fewer	It Happened One Night (1934)
Barbara Stanwyck Various Roles (archive footage) Various Roles (archive footage) See fewer	Double Indemnity (1944)
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Wallace Ford Detective Ed Fitzpatrick (archive footage) Detective Ed Fitzpatrick (archive footage) See fewer	Freaks (1932)
Jean Harlow Various Roles (archive footage) Various Roles (archive footage) See fewer	China Seas (1935)
Paul Muni James Allen (archive footage) James Allen (archive footage) See fewer	Scarface (1932)
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Joseph Breen Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer
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Constance Bennett Valerie West (archive footage) Valerie West (archive footage) See fewer	Topper (1937)
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Warren William Various Roles (archive footage) Various Roles (archive footage) See fewer	The Wolf Man (1941)
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