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Forbidden Hollywood Introduction
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It was not the roaring ‘20s, as is generally believed, but the four years between 1929 and 1934 that
was the real era of wide-open sexuality in films. Before Hollywood began enforcing a self-imposed
Production Code, many films allowed for extraordinary frankness, including nudity, adultery,
premarital sex and prostitution.
Film industry censorship began in 1922, following a trio of scandals that rocked Hollywood: the
Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle rape/murder trial, the never-solved murder of director William Desmond
Taylor and the drug-related death of matinee idol Wallace Reid. In 1930, a new version of the
Production Code was drafted to standardize the censorship requirements of various states, since the
inception of talking films made it difficult to arbitrarily cut offending scenes.
However, the studios merely paid lip-service to the Code since they were more interested in finding
ways to lure dwindling Depression era audiences into theatres.
The Pre-Code era “officially” kicked off with the 1929 release of The Divorcee, starring Norma
Shearer, with a startling story of a woman who discovers her husband has had an affair and sets out
to “balance the account.” The phenomenal critical and financial success of this picture led other
studios to attempt to top it and soon almost every actress in Hollywood was required to sin and
repent. The sensational series of films that emerged helped Hollywood survive its economic crisis and
moviegoers enjoy the vicarious thrills the films provided.
The era came to an abrupt close beginning July 1, 1934, when Catholic watchdog groups threatened
boycotts of all films and the Church established the Legion of Decency to monitor movies. Studio
heads bowed to the pressure and the era of censorship began, lasting until the establishment of the
industry’s rating system in 1968.
TCM revisits this racy and uninhibited period in the American cinema on March 3rd with a program of
five sassy and taboo films as well as a new documentary on Hollywood’s Pre-Production Code era -
Thou Shalt Not Sin (2008). The five features include Norma Shearer in her Best Actress
Oscar®-winning role as The Divorcee; William Wellman’s powerful drama Night
Nurse (1931), which stars Barbara Stanwyck with a very young Clark Gable; Bette Davis, Joan
Blondell and Ann Dvorak in Three on a Match (1932); Ruth Chatterton as a no-nonsense
CEO in the Michael Curtiz-directed comedy Female (1933); and A Free Soul
(1931), in which Lionel Barrymore captured an Oscar® for his portrayal of a brilliant alcoholic
lawyer. When he successfully defends dashing gangster Ace Wilfong (Clark Gable) on a murder
charge, he doesn't foresee that his headstrong daughter, Jan (Norma Shearer), will fall passionately in
love with his client.
In conjunction with our "Forbidden Hollywood" program, Warner Video will be releasing on DVD on
March 4th, the second volume of TCM Archives: Forbidden Hollywood Collection. This new
set contains all five of the Pre-Code movies being shown on TCM along with the documentary
Thou Shalt Not Sin. For more information or to buy the set, click on the "Buy Forbidden
Hollywood Collection Vol. 2" button on the left navigation.
 
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Deals With the Devil - 11/28
People who make pacts with Satan is the theme and we've got five cinematic case histories including Richard Burton as Doctor Faustus (1967), Dudley Moore in Bedazzled (1967) and Hurd Hatfield in The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945).
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