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Sin in Soft Focus
Pre-Code Hollywood
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Book Presentation:
Showcasing the "pre-Code Hollywood" era, this is an account of the making of films between March 1930, when the film industry adopted the Production Code, and July 1934, when it became fully enforced. Mark Vieira documents the infamous power struggle between Hollywood producers and the censors, who sought to forbid profanity, excessive violence, illegal drugs, sexual perversion and explicitness, white slavery, racial mingling, suggestive dancing, lustful kissing and the like. Illustrated with film stills and production shots, the book captures the visual artistry of the era's controversial films and highlights the careers of screen luminaries such as Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, James Cagney, Mae West, Clara Bow, Joan Crawford, Claudette Colbert, Norma Shearer, Gary Cooper and Clark Gable.
Press Reviews:
Prudes and the faint-of-heart shield your eyes! The stunning Sin in Soft Focus contains some of the most breathtaking black-and-white stills ever taken, all from the debaucherous decade before the Hollywood production code was established. With chapters devoted to "The Warners Grit," "The MGM Gloss," and "The Paramount Glow," and to horror films, gangster movies, and the sexy scandal of Mae West, Mark A. Vieira illustrates the story of classic Hollywood's most delightfully lascivious period--brought to a stop when Joseph Breen began enforcing the puritanical production code of 1934.
The text of this book is fascinating even for those familiar with the films of the era, but the mesmerizing photographs are what will keep readers glued to the pages. Oversized and abundant stills capture stars like Clara Bow, Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford, William Powell, Mae West, Joan Blondell, James Cagney, and Greta Garbo in striking clarity, dashing poses, and of course, shockingly revealing outfits. Voyeurs seeking more on this naughty era will also want to read Thomas Doherty's Pre-Code Hollywood. --Raphael Shargel
From Library Journal:
Emboldened by a 1930 Production Code that required only voluntary compliance, film studios lured Depression-hardened audiences with bullet-riddled gangster sagas; hot jungle tales; horror films; sexy, sophisticated dramas; and lurid depictions of drug abuse, fallen women, and "white slavery." Eventually, challenged by state film boards and decency groups, Hollywood finally agreed to a 1934 Code (with enforcement powers) that endured until finally crumbling in the late 1960s. Vieira (Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits) is good at showing how the 1934 Code was part of a general return to order; though Mae West was too flamboyant to change her image, Claudette Colbert and Myrna Loy quickly went from playing on-screen vixens to playing housewives and mothers. In the end, precode films weren't better or worse than the films that came later, just different. This timely, informative look at a little-known period in American film history covers much the same ground as Thomas Doherty's Pre-Code Hollywood (LJ 7/99)Awhose main attractions are the many creamy film stills, which may surprise readers with their frank treatment of sex, nudity, and violence. This fascinating look at an important though brief period in Hollywood history is highly recommended.AStephen Rees, Levittown Regional Lib., PA Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
See the publisher website: Abrams Books
> From the same author:
Forbidden Hollywood (2019)
The Pre-Code Era (1930-1934): When Sin Ruled the Movies
Into the Dark (2016)
The Hidden World of Film Noir, 1941-1950
Cecil B. Demille (2014)
The Art of the Hollywood Epic
by Cecilia DeMille Presley and Mark A. Vieira
Subject: Director > Cecil B. DeMille
George Hurrell's Hollywood (2013)
Glamour Portraits 1925-1992
Harlow in Hollywood (2011)
The Blonde Bombshell in the Glamour Capital, 1928-1937
by Darrell Rooney and Mark A. Vieira
Subject: Actor > Jean Harlow
> On a related topic:
Pre-Code Hollywood (1999)
Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930-1934
Sex in the Cinema (2017)
The Pre-Code Years (1929-1934)
by Lou Sabini
Subject: On Films > Film selections
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The Hollywood Novel and the Studio System
Just Making Movies (2005)
Company Directors on the Studio System
Poverty Row Studios, 1929–1940 (2005)
An Illustrated History of 55 Independent Film Companies, with a Filmography for Each
Radical Hollywood (2003)
The Untold Story Behind America's Favorite Movies
by Paul Buhle and David Wagner
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