The 1930s

Besides name authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald & William Faulkner, Hollywood imported Broadway Stars

Eddie Cantor, Fanny Brice, The Marx Brothers, Mae West

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Color Hand tinting certain elements

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Tinting entire frame

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Stencils

Pathe Color with stencils, circa 1905

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Technicolor & Herbert Kalmus
Founded in 1915 Three strip became standard instead of cheaper two strip with problematic skin tones High production costs - more lights + more film = more $$

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Technicolor #4 became standard for many years First live action short La Cucaracha in 1934 First feature Becky Sharp in 1935

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The Production Code
Hays office formed in 1922 as a result of a series of scandals for self-regulation (see Fatty Arbuckle) Published in 1930, adopted fully in 1934 "if motion pictures present stories that will affect lives for the better, they can become the most powerful force for the improvement of mankind"
William Hays

The Hays Code

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Profits hit hard during the Depression Needed to lure back their audience Production Code created by producers to please the Catholic Church and various other socially conservative groups No pictures in theatres that had not been passed by the Code administration Phased out in 1968

Betty Boop & Laughing Gas

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Baby Face & Love Me Tonight

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General Principles
1. No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin. 2. Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented. 3. Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.

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Excessive violence Sex - even for married couples Words such as hell, sex, and damn Gave rise to stylized genres which were less threatening than gangster movies and sex romps Self-regulation preferred to that of the government

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Some things made it through

Bringing up Baby & The Gangs All Here

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Some did not

Casablanca & I Love Lucy

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Some careers did not survive the Code
Mae West

She Done Him Wrong Why dont you come up & see me Sometime? Im home every evening.

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Films became more conservative
Moral messages Comedies Unite and not divide

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Musicals
Busby Berkley Fred Astaire

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Comedy
Screwball Surreal

My Man Godfrey & Monkey Business

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The Filmmakers
Ernst Lubitsch William Wyler Howard Hawks John Ford Frank Capra

Saratoga

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Howard Hawks
Rapid-fire, overlapping dialogue Used first string writers Keen eye for talent such as Paul Muni, Carole Lombard, Lauren Bacall and Montgomery Clift Most versatile - crossed genres

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The Big Sleep Bringing Up Baby

His Girl Friday

Red River

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William Wyler
Long takes Deep focus Elicited great performances through a massive amount of takes - 40 Take Wyler Actors seldom worked with him again

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The Letter

Dead End

Wuthering Heights

Jezebel

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John Ford
Began as an actor - he was one of the riding Klansmen in Birth of a Nation Hit his stride in the 1930s with The Informer Worked often with John Wayne whom he called a big dummy Responsible for some of the most enduring imagery in American film

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The Informer

They Were Expendable

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

Fort Apache

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Frank Capra
Started in silent comedies as a gag writer Successes for Harry Cohn at Columbia making the Poverty Row studio into a player Most successful director of the 1930s Supreme craftsman

Frank Capra on IMDB

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Platinum Blonde (1931), Forbidden (1932) Lady for a Day (1933), It Happened One Night, (1934), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, (136), Lost Horizon (1937), You Cant Take It With You (1938, Its a Wonderful Life (1946)

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Themes
Focus on the downtrodden Triumph of goodness and decency (the common man) over evil (usually the nasty banker or politician Moral vision suited the times - fight for whats right together with patriotism Capra-corn

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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington(1939)
Starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Thomas Mitchell, Edward Arnold Dir. Frank Capra Made Stewart a major star Joseph Breen, head of the Hays Office for censorship, objected to the generally unflattering portrayal of our system of Government, which might well lead to such a picture being considered, both here, and more particularly abroad, as a covert attack on the Democratic form of government Darker & more pessimistic than Capras other films

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James Stewart, 1908-1997
Portrayed many iconic roles in American Film although not immediately successful because of his gangly looks and shy, bumbling manner Flew bombing missions over Germany in WWII & eventually became a Brigadier General One of the first independently contracted actors Married for 45 years to the same spouse! 5 Oscar nominations won for Philadelphia Story Famed later collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock and Anthony Mann (Westerns) Films include: You Cant Take It With You, Harvey, Its a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Vertigo, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Rope, Anatomy of a Murder, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Destry Rides Again

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Jean Arthur, 1900-1991
Her squeaky voice gave her a career in comedy but no one knew what to do with her before Capra & Mr. Deeds Goes to Town & You Cant Take It With You Career waned in the 40s she was released from her contract at Columbia where she was the top-grossing actress even though Harry Cohn & Arthur had many disagreements She retired & only appearing in movies one more time in 1953 for Shane George Stevens (Shane) famously called her "one of the greatest comediennes the screen has ever seen", while Capra credited her as "my favorite actress"

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Claude Rains, 1889-1967
Leading stage actor and teacher in London he taught Lawrence Olivier & John Gielgud and New York Began in horror films at Universal because of his raspy voice Moved on to literary adaptations at Warner Brothers Unique position as an A-List supporting actor Four Oscar nominations but never won 40 films in the 1940s Eventually embraced television appearing in countless television shows

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Thomas Mitchell, one of the most recognizable character actors of the period, also the first person ever to win an Oscar, Emmy & Tony Edward Arnold, another of Hollywoods very employed character actors, which he came into when he gave up trying to lose weight And a whole mess of other Its that guy! actors