1 / 25

Today’s Topic: Motion Picture Production Code

Today’s Topic: Motion Picture Production Code. Was the pop culture of 1920s America corrupting the citizens? Should films & radio be censored?. New Morality. Fundamentalists. Basic Vocab:. Morals? Morals are our beliefs about what is wrong and what is right. Censorship?

echo-mcguire
Download Presentation

Today’s Topic: Motion Picture Production Code

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Today’s Topic: Motion Picture Production Code Was the pop culture of 1920s America corrupting the citizens? Should films & radio be censored?

  2. New Morality

  3. Fundamentalists

  4. Basic Vocab: Morals? • Morals are our beliefs about what is wrong and what is right. Censorship? * the act of stopping transmission or publication of material deemed objectionable. In other words: Cutting out the bad stuff

  5. Example: 1920s Censorship: Prohibition Jan. 1920 = 18th Amendment People Fear = life is changing, becoming corrupt…all b/c of alcohol!

  6. Example: 1920s Censorship: • Target = Loose behavior in Film • People Fear = movies are sending a bad message • By 1930s = • strict Motion Picture • Production Code = Hays Code

  7. Mae West • Spent her career pushing the boundaries of sexual and moral behavior • Outraged critics with two sensational Broadway productions in 1926 and 1927 • Sex (a play she wrote about a Montreal prostitute) • The Drag (a “homosexual comedy-drama”) • Arrested in 1928 for her play about a troupe of female impersonators, Pleasure Man • Moved from Broadway to Hollywood in 1932, surprising considering that the film industry followed the MPPC (tighter moral scrutiny)

  8. Scandalist film…

  9. 1920s Censorship Will Hays Wrote the Code Joe Breen Enforced the Code

  10. The Hays Code Cannot say: *&^$^@ Or $%#@^* Or $#@*()&^ Or #%%#&@@ OR #@&*^%# • Why it was needed: • The rules: • “No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it” • Only correct standards of life shall be presented • No ridicule of the law or law enforcement agencies (criminals cannot be shown in a sympathetic light) • NO: nudity, “suggestive” dancing, ridicule of religion, no drug use, methods of crime, homosexuality, interracial marriage, STDs, or depiction of child birth, scenes of passion, excessive and lustful kissing

  11. MPPC to MPAA • MPPC adopted the code in 1930 • began enforcing it in 1934 • abandoned it in 1968 • MPPC was mocked in its early years of “enforcement” • The MPPC also prevented a number of anti-Nazi films from being filmed • By 1968, society has changed  use MPAA rating system instead • created in 1968 to help ease restraints on filmmakers’ while informing parents about the content of films so they can determine which movies are appropriate for their children

  12. 1920s Motion Picture Production Code What was the MPPC? Why was it created in the 1920s?

  13. Basic Vocab: Morals? • Morals are our beliefs about what is wrong and what is right. Censorship? * the act of stopping transmission or publication of material deemed objectionable. In other words: Cutting out the bad stuff

  14. Example: 1920s Censorship: Prohibition Jan. 1920 = 18th Amendment People Fear = life is changing, becoming corrupt…all b/c of alcohol!

  15. Example: 1920s Censorship: • Target = Loose behavior in Film • People Fear = movies are sending a bad • message • By 1930s = • strict Motion Picture • Production Code = Hays Code

  16. Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle • (March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) • Highest paid Silent Film Actor ($1 mill in 1918) • Mentored Charlie Chaplin • Labor 1921: Miss Virginia Rappe got sick at his party and soon died. • Arbuckle stood trial 3 times for manslaughter. • Acquitted.

  17. 1920s Censorship Will Hays Wrote the Code Joe Breen Enforced the Code

  18. The Hays Code Cannot say: *&^$^@ Or $%#@^* Or $#@*()&^ Or #%%#&@@ OR #@&*^%# • Why it was needed: • The rules: • “No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it” • Only correct standards of life shall be presented • No ridicule of the law or law enforcement agencies (criminals cannot be shown in a sympathetic light) • NO: nudity, “suggestive” dancing, ridicule of religion, no drug use, methods of crime, homosexuality, interracial marriage, STDs, or depiction of child birth, scenes of passion, excessive and lustful kissing,

  19. Chicago "Big Jim" Colosimo Al Capone Johnny Torrio Assassinated 1920

  20. Al Capone St. Valentine's Massacre Bugs Moran Feb 14th 1929 North Side Gang

  21. Pop Quiz 1.) The film opens with a “plea”? Who is it to and why? 2.) Why did Women start wearing short hair, drinking, smoking, and acting “loose” during the 1920s? 3.) The movie Scarface is based on the life of _________? 4.) What was one crime this individual committed in real life that we see reenacted in the film? 5.) What did the 18th Amendment do? Why did it help the gangster?

More Related