From the introduction of “talkies” until up until 1934, Hollywood studios produced films en masse that spared few topics and reveled in a ferocious and often problematic honesty in tackling social issues and moral codes. But beginning in July 1934, the Motion Picture Production Code, created in 1930 but not rigorously enforced, was set into its full and originally intended effect by the Joseph Breen–led Production Code Administration. The PCA directly targeted the so-called immoral content of mass-produced films coming out of the major Hollywood studios and served to censor in the name of decency. With the Code, freedom of expression in Hollywood—in all its glorious messiness—was largely quashed in favor of wholesome values and an attempt to control cinema as a key tool for disseminating religious values and shaping the American Dream. For over three decades the Code managed to change the direction of films in ways we will never know. Our Pre-Code Cinema series, featuring everything from wisecracking gangsters to cunning “dames,” hardscrabble women, and the “forgotten man,” uncovers little-known gems and shines a light on some of the masterpieces of this short-lived yet legendary era.

All films presented on 35mm!