The Forgotten Women of Pre-Code: An Annotated Filmography and Bibliography

In recent years, "pre-code" films have been re-discovered and applauded by film scholars and feminists. The term refers to the period between 1929 and 1934 when many Hollywood studios openly disregarded the censorship restrictions of the Hays Code. Named after censorship czar William H. Hays, the Code forbade nudity, cursing, sexual innuendo, miscegenation and a host of other behaviors deemed inappropriate or offensive by religious groups. However, the impact of the Great Depression and the lack of a unified standard among state censorship boards allowed Hollywood to take risks in what could be shown. The result was a series of uncompromising, insightful, and controversial films that explored mature relationships between the sexes, offered realistic depictions of society's downtrodden, and challenged social and sexual mores.

After Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office and the economy recovered slightly, religious groups finally took on what they saw as the excesses of Hollywood. In 1934, the Catholic Legion of Decency mobilized a successful boycott against the studios, ordering millions of Roman Catholics to abstain from movie attendance until their demands were met. Amid a climate of anti-Semitism, the studio moguls were forced to capitulate. The result was the reinstitution of the Production Code, a censorship board that dominated all aspects of Hollywood filmmaking until the 1960s, when a rating-based system replaced it.

This filmography is intended to broaden a contemporary audiences' knowledge and appreciation of pre-code film and explore the ways in which these works can be used to support teaching and learning on campus. Contrary to the perception that the 1940s was the heyday of the "woman's picture," the pre-code era has been recognized by some film historians to have provided actually more opportunities to portray women as independent, strong-minded, and courageous in their explorations of sexuality. This annotated filmography and selective bibliography examines how and why these films might be considered appropriate for any college film collection and offers recommendations for collection development.

Only silent films and films unavailable on DVD have been omitted, reflecting the reality that most libraries today prefer to carry sound films and are increasingly likely to phase out their VHS collections. I have supplemented this annotated list with a selective bibliography of books on women in film.

The Animal Kingdom (1932)

Leslie Howard portrays a struggling writer who must choose between his wife, a calculating blue-blood played by Myrna Loy, and his mistress, bohemian artist Ann Harding. The film illustrates how pre-code films allowed a sexually active heroine to win out over the so-called virtuous woman of the day. The title refers to an ironic comment about marriage made by one of the characters.

Anna Christie (1930)

Greta Garbo stars in Eugene O'Neill's play about a reformed prostitute who seeks to reconcile with her drunk and ne'er-do-well father. Her past, however, threatens to undermine this relationship, along with her budding romance with a kind-hearted fisherman. The film's ending shows its pre-code origins: Garbo doesn't have to "pay" for her sins and the ending is a happy one.

Baby Face (1933)

Barbara Stanwyck stars as a small-town girl who escapes the Depression and a lecherous stepfather by sleeping her way up the corporate ladder. Available in censored and uncensored versions, the film celebrates her tough-mindedness and courage rather than condemning her use of sexuality—instead it subtly condemns a hypocritical society in which a woman is forced to use her physical charms to survive.

Blonde Venus (1932)

Marlene Dietrich plays a devoted mother and housewife who becomes a successful cabaret singer and kept woman after her husband becomes deathly ill from radiation poisoning. Dietrich gets to play a range of female archetypes and performs the controversial "Hot Voodoo" number, where she dons a blonde Afro and a gorilla costume while native girls form a chorus in the background.

Design for Living (1933)

Free-spirited Miriam Hopkins believes she doesn't have to choose between lovers Gary Cooper and Frederic March—she can have both! Based on a Noel Coward...