Sin in Soft Focus Pre-Code Hollywood

Vieira, Mark A.

ISBN 10: 0810944758 / ISBN 13: 9780810944756

Published by Harry N. Abrams, 1999

About this Item

Gray cloth first edition is bumped at points and has light wear along bottom edge. Jacket shows corresponding wear. Signed by Vieira to title page. ; 9.5 X 1.25 X 12.75 inches; 240 pages; Signed by Author. Seller Inventory # 42580

Bibliographic Details

Title: Sin in Soft Focus Pre-Code Hollywood

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams

Publication Date: 1999

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good+

Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: First Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

Looks at motion picture history during the decade before the Hollywood production code was established

Reviews:

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.