Film Censorship in Hollywood: The Hays Code.

by Ruby Gerhardt Greco

The Departure from Pre-Code Hollywood

Throughout the history of motion pictures, filmmakers have constantly sought to push the boundaries of the medium; from narrative storytelling that challenges beliefs, religions, and ideas, as well as the diverse filmmakers behind the camera, the film industry is continually evolving.

Pre-Code Hollywood was a period between the adoption of sound films (1929) and the Hays Code (1934); it was during this stretch of the industry that local laws and the Studio Relations Committee negotiated the content of films. SRC was a committee created by Hays to oversee the temporary “Don'ts and Be Careful” list created by Paramount in 1927, although it was difficult to enforce this, and controversy surrounding film customs continued to rise. The pre-code world featured criminals profiting from their crimes without consequence, prostitution, illegal drug use, violence, and strong female characters (shocker!). Alongside rising chaos brought with The Great Depression (1929 – 1939), the inclusion of adult content in Pre-Code films in the 1920s sparked concern from religious, civic, and political organizations for monetisation. There were many famous pre-code Hollywood films including: The Divorcee (Robert Z. Leonard, 1930) , which depicted an affair, Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931) , which contained blasphemous themes and a protagonist who failed to recognise moral code; and Betty Boop (1930) , which contained many sexual innuendos and was the subject of much controversy.

In response, the Major Hollywood studios voluntarily adopted The Hays code to prevent a full scale government censorship. Also known as the ‘The Motion Picture Production Code,’ The Hays Code was a regulation of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content in the United States (1934-1968).

Initially, the code emerged in response to several scandals within the industry; these included the 1921 arrest of comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and the 1922 unsolved murder of director William Desmond Taylor. These incidents resulted in a surge of sensationalized and false newspaper reports, which were widely consumed as tabloid journalism. The scandals were in parallel with increasing political pressure, with 37 states introducing almost 100 film censorship bills in 1921. A year later, prompted by the inconsistent decency laws, Will H. Hays introduced The Hays code to ‘restore’ Hollywood's image. The code prohibited profanity, graphic violence, sympathy for criminals, and suggestive nudity. It restricted the representation of interracial relationships and homosexuality. Despite this, some films that adhered to the code and actually benefited were: It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934) , Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) , and Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, George Cukor, & Sam Wood, 1939) . The classic movie Casablanca is a romantic drama set during World War II. By adhering to the Hays Code, the lead character, Rick (Humphrey Bogart), chooses to send Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) away instead of pursuing an adulterous relationship with her, resulting in the bittersweet ending that has since become a cult favorite.

The code was eventually replaced by the MPAA film rating system in 1968, prompted by unrestricted international cinema gaining popularity as well as the rise of Television. Whilst the code negatively restricted storytelling and representation, it challenged filmmakers such as Dorothy Arzner (1897- 1979) to produce a range of films that were deeply coded and nuanced.

Dorothy Arzner: Woman Film Pioneers during the Hays Code

Dorothy Arzner was an exceptional pioneer of early 20th-century filmmaking. She was the only female director during the Golden Age of Hollywood's studio system and was also the first openly homosexual director in the film industry. Additionally, she was the first woman to direct a sound film and become a member of the Director's Guild of America. On top of that, during the production of Clara Bow's first talkie, The Wild Party (1929) , Dorothy Arzner invented the boom microphone of which we’re all familiar with now. Directing over 20 films from 1919 to 1943, she worked with many famous actors such as Joan Crawford and Katherine Hepburn.

Dorothy Arzner started her career by typing scripts for the 'Famous Players-Lasky Corporation', which eventually became Paramount. After six months, she moved to the 'Realart Studio' and worked as a cutter and editor. Her career gained momentum, and she went on to work on 52 films before editing Blood and Sand(Rouben Mamoulian) in 1922.

Arzner's films featured female leads in complex and intelligent roles, grappling with moral dilemmas and offering a pessimistic perspective on marriage. As Sophie Mayer has written: “Love and marriage weren’t even close seconds to courage and self-determination for Arzner and her protagonists.” A prevalent theme in many of Arzner's films is the idea of making sacrifices for a moral code and showing bravery by staying true to oneself without compromise. Amid a male-dominated viewership, Arzner used her films as a platform to convey her feminist notions, challenging the male gaze and inspiring feminist film criticism at its conception. Although her films have not achieved the same level of wide circulation as those of her male counterparts, Dorothy Arzner is revered as a pioneer for both the LGBTQ+ community and women in Hollywood.

LGBTQ+ Representation during the Hays Code

The Hays Code prohibited the depiction or discussion of homosexuality, resulting in the creation of numerous iconic queer-coded characters in Hollywood. However, over time, the code became more flexible, and Hollywood began to show leniency towards the previously prohibited subject matter. Although depictions of homosexuality were still not widely accepted on screen, filmmakers pushed boundaries by including LGBTQ+ characters. However, these characters existed in the fringes of subtext and stereotypes, rather than being portrayed overtly. Stereotypical LGBTQ+ characters were often portrayed as either villainous or intended for comedic effect, while subtext queer characters existed primarily as implications, rather than in exposition.

Queer coding is the use of subtextual cues to depict a character as queer, even if their sexuality is not explicitly stated. Queer coding is often achieved through the portrayal of stereotypical traits and mannerisms that are recognizable to the audience. The Hays Code's restrictions on LGBTQ+ representation made it challenging for filmmakers to openly depict queer characters, resulting in the use of coded representation to evade these limitations. As a result, many on-screen villains were depicted as queer-coded, such as The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939) and Captain Hook in Peter Pan (Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, & Hamilton Luske, 1953).

As the 60s progressed, the influence of the Hays Code diminished, and filmmakers began to introduce openly LGBTQ+ characters on screen. One example is the 1968 film The Killing of Sister George (Robert Aldrich) , which featured the first openly gay character in mainstream cinema. In the following decade, the LGBTQ+ community saw a rise in positive representation in films such as and Cabaret (Bob Fosse, 1972) .

Since then, representation in media has progressed, although not always on a linear avenue. The 80s brought with it an increase in negative and stereotypical depictions of queer characters, which was then buried with the emergence of more nuanced characters in the 90s - such as Paris is Burning (Jennie Livingston, 1990) . Since the 2000s, LGBTQ+ characters have become more incorporated into mainstream media. Of course, there is always work to be done and steps to be made toward a more authentic representation of the community, a step I'm sure will be made by many upcoming filmmakers of our time.

by Ruby Gerhardt Greco, April 2023.

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