Forbidden Hollywood: The Pre-Code Era (1930-1934)
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Forbidden Hollywood is a history of "pre-Code" like none other: you will eavesdrop on production conferences,...
Forbidden Hollywood is a history of "pre-Code" like none other: you will eavesdrop on production conferences, read nervous telegrams from executives to censors, and hear Americans argue about "immoral" movies. You will see decisions artfully wrought, so as to fool some of the people long enough to get films into theaters. You will read what theater managers thought of such craftiness, and hear from fans as they applauded creativity or condemned crassness. You will see how these films caused a grass-roots movement to gain control of Hollywood-and why they were "forbidden" for fifty years.
The book spotlights the twenty-two films that led to the strict new Code of 1934, including Red-Headed Woman, Call Her Savage, and She Done Him Wrong. You'll see Paul Muni shoot a path to power in the original Scarface; Barbara Stanwyck climb the corporate ladder on her own terms in Baby Face; and misfits seek revenge in Freaks.
More than 200 newly restored (and some never-before-published) photographs illustrate pivotal moments in the careers of Clara Bow, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, and Greta Garbo; and the pre-Code stardom of Claudette Colbert, Cary Grant, Marlene Dietrich, James Cagney, and Mae West. This is the definitive portrait of an unforgettable era in filmmaking.
Published By Running Press Adult
Format Hardback
Category
Number Of Pages 256
Publication Date 04/02/2019
ISBN 9780762466771
Dimensions 8.5 inches x 10.38 inches
"...an illuminating, superbly researched treasure trove of Hollywood history and gossip. ...Forbidden Hollywood is a real treat for film buffs. The hundreds of photos are dazzling and evocative, and Vieira's history lessons are compelling and fresh."
"Forbidden Hollywood is filled with lush and often erotic stills from pre-Code era movies. This is an in-depth work, an intriguing film history that dives deep into the art and commerce of Hollywood productions versus the social engineers who attempted - and ultimately failed - to set American movies into rigid cultural values."
"Impressively informative, absorbing, detailed, and definitive portrait of an unforgettable era in American filmmaking, Forbidden Hollywood: When Sin Ruled the Movies is an inherently fascinating, page-turner of a read that will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to both community and academic American Film History collections and supplemental curriculum studies rosters."
"Forbidden Hollywood is the ideal film book...the perfect marriage of information and entertainment."
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