Re: [Videolib] Early Friday question: Pre-Code film series

[Logan, Michael]

Many thanks to Gary, Dennis, Anthony and Jessica for the Pre-Code film 
suggestions--exactly what was needed! Now to start investigating 
rightsholders...

Michael Logan
Acquisitions and Technical Services
Humboldt County Library
(707) 269-1962


VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues 
relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, 
preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and 
related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective 
working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication 
between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and 
distributors.

VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues 
relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, 
preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and 
related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective 
working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication 
between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and 
distributors.

Re: [Videolib] Early Friday question: Pre-Code film series

[Jessica Rosner]

Alas many of my favorites are not on DVD but there is a good selection of
ones that are. Baby Face is probably the best but a personal favorite of
mine is Skyscraper Souls also it goes across all genres and Goldiggers of
33 is a great pre-code musical, though 42nd Street contains one of the best
pre code lines about Ginger Rogers character "Anytime Annie" in which
another character says "She only said "No" once, and then she didn't hear
the question"

I would try to mix genre, comedies, dramas, musicals. Also at least one
Lubitsch probably Trouble in Paradise or Design for Living but all his
early 30s musicals are very pre code. For an early one I highly recommend
Applause.

There many great ones to choose from but do mix it up and FYI I don't
really consider Wild Boys or Heroes for Sale pre-code films and wrote my
thesis on them. They do contain significant elements but not the best for
the them and Ecstasy realy does not count as I  would not count any non
American film as they were not working under the code.

Now if only Girls About Town were legally available

A lot less than100 Dennis


On Thu, Jan 12, 2012 at 4:03 PM, Logan, Michael wrote:

> If you were going to introduce an audience to Pre-Code films, which titles
> would you select? Our library is considering a Pre-Code film screening
> series in a few months, and we want to select titles that are good
> representatives of the period (and available on DVD or Blu-ray).
>
> So which titles would you pick? And, optionally, why?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Michael Logan
> Acquisitions and Technical Services
> Humboldt County Library
> (707) 269-1962
>
>
>
> VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of
> issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic
> control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in
> libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as
> an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of
> communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video
> producers and distributors.
>
> VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of
> issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic
> control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in
> libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as
> an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of
> communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video
> producers and distributors.
>



-- 
Jessica Rosner
Media Consultant
224-545-3897 (cell)
212-627-1785 (land line)
jessicapros...@gmail.com
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues 
relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, 
preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and 
related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective 
working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication 
between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and 
distributors.

Re: [Videolib] Early Friday question: Pre-Code film series

[Dennis Doros]

And just to reiterate -- Since that AFI catalog description was written on
BABY FACE some years ago, the uncensored version was discovered by the
great, great film archivist George Willeman (he and this discovery is
featured in *Those Amazing Shadows*) at the LoC in 2004 and is on the DVD.

Dennis

On Thu, Jan 12, 2012 at 4:22 PM,  wrote:

> Lots to pick from.  My faves would include
>
> Baby Face (1933)
>Directed by Alfred E. Green. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent,
> Donald Cook, Alphonse Ethier, Henry Kolker, Theresa Harris, Margaret
> Lindsay, Arthur Hohl, John Wayne. It's the age-old story of the girl
> so mistreated by men that she's determined to get revenge. Lilly (Baby
> Face) sleeps her way from basement speakeasy bartender, literally
> floor by floor, to the top floor of a New York office building. Bank
> submanager Jimmy McCoy finds her a job in the bank only to be cast
> aside as she hooks up with the bank's president. "The Hays office
> recommended that the picture be pulled from the theaters for its
> violations of the production code. ...There was extensive
> correspondence between officials of the AMPP and Warner Bros.
> executives Darryl Zanuck and Jack L. Warner regarding various changes
> which were intended to make the film more acceptable to censor boards
> across the country. The main thrust of the changes was to attach an
> ending which showed Lily losing everything she had gained and
> returning to her hometown in order that viewers would not be tempted
> to believe that vice was rewarded. Originally the character of the
> cobbler professed a Nietzchian philosophy which was unacceptable under
> the production code. The character was changed to become instead the
> moral voice of the film, and was used to indicate that the character
> of Lily had been wrong to advance in the by using her body. Also cut
> were the most blantant references to the fact that Lily was being kept
> by men." [AFI Catalog]
>
>
> Blonde Venus (1932)
>Directed by Josef von Sternberg. Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Herbert
> Marshall, Cary Grant, Hattie McDaniel. The story of a woman who is
> torn between two men, her successful stage career and her child. Helen
> Faraday is a nightclub singer turned housewife, but when her husband
> needs money to have a life-saving operation, she decides to resume her
> career as a singer to raise money. She undergoes a chain of events
> that separate her from her husband and force her to make a choice
> between her lucrative singing career, and her role as a wife and
> mother. "Herbert Marshall's glimpse of Marlene Dietrich's skinny-dip
> leads to marriage and toddler Dickie Moore, their happiness derailed
> when she must hit the streets to pay for hubbie?s radium poisoning
> treatments. The most outlandish of the Dietrich/von Sternberg
> pictures, highlighted by her gorilla-suited "Hot Voodoo" number, plus
> a lucrative affair with young Cary Grant."
>
> Bombshell(1933)
>Directed by Victor Fleming. Cast: Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank
> Morgan, Franchot Tone, Pat O'Brien, Una Merkel, Ted Healy. Screen
> siren Lola Burns is fed up with the scandalous stories her publicist,
> Space Hanlon puts out, the endless arguments on the sets of her films
> and her family's constant drain on her money and peace of mind. Her
> attempts to get married, adopt a baby and quit the business altogether
> are constantly thwarted, unbeknownst to her, by Space, who is secretly
> in love with her. 96 min.
>
>
> The Divorcee (1930)
>Directed by Robert Z. Leonard. Cast: Norma Shearer, Chester Morris,
> Conrad Nagel, Robert Montgomery Based on Ursula Parrott's spicy 1929
> novel "Ex-wife," the highly controversial The Divorcee was nominated
> for four Academy Awards including Best Picture. Norma Shearer won for
> Best Actress as a woman who confronts the hypocrisy of the double
> standard after catching her husband in a compromising position and
> forcing him to confess his infidelities. Her solution to the problem:
> try to match him tryst for tryst. 82 min.
>
> Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
>Directed by Rouben Mamoulian. Cast: Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins.
> Famous version of the Stevenson masterpiece about a scientist who
> concocts a potion that releases the animal side of man. Restored
> version contains 17 minutes of previously censored material. "Jason
> Joy (Production Code enforcer) wrote to Will Hays: 'Frankenstein is
> staying for four weeks and taking in big money at theatres which were
> about on the rocks . . . resentment is surely being built up. How
> could it be otherwise if children go to these pictures and have the
> jitters, followed by nightmares? I, for one, would hate to have my
> children see FRANKENSTEIN, JEKYLL, or the others and you probably feel
> the same way about Bill [Will Hays, Jr.]. Not only is there a future
> economic consideration, but maybe there is a real moral responsibility
> involved to which I wonder if we as individuals ought to lend our

Re: [Videolib] Early Friday question: Pre-Code film series

[Anthony Anderson]

Michael! If you go to Amazon, and do a keyword
search using he term "pre-code", you can find several
dvd compilations available of early 1930 films. Quality (and
"naughtiness") of the individual films offered
differ considerably.

Cheers,
Anthony

 ***

Anthony E. Anderson 
Assistant Director, Doheny Memorial Library
University of Southern California 
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0182 
(213) 740-1190 antho...@usc.edu 
"Wind, regen, zon, of kou, 
Albert Cuyp ik hou van jou." 
*






Logan, Michael wrote:

  If you were going to introduce an audience to Pre-Code films, which titles would you select? Our library is considering a Pre-Code film screening series in a few months, and we want to select titles that are good representatives of the period (and available on DVD or Blu-ray).

So which titles would you pick? And, optionally, why?

Thanks in advance,

Michael Logan
Acquisitions and Technical Services
Humboldt County Library
(707) 269-1962


  





VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues 
relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, 
preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and 
related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective 
working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication 
between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and 
distributors.

Re: [Videolib] Early Friday question: Pre-Code film series

[ghandman]

Lots to pick from.  My faves would include

Baby Face (1933)
Directed by Alfred E. Green. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent,
Donald Cook, Alphonse Ethier, Henry Kolker, Theresa Harris, Margaret
Lindsay, Arthur Hohl, John Wayne. It's the age-old story of the girl
so mistreated by men that she's determined to get revenge. Lilly (Baby
Face) sleeps her way from basement speakeasy bartender, literally
floor by floor, to the top floor of a New York office building. Bank
submanager Jimmy McCoy finds her a job in the bank only to be cast
aside as she hooks up with the bank's president. "The Hays office
recommended that the picture be pulled from the theaters for its
violations of the production code. ...There was extensive
correspondence between officials of the AMPP and Warner Bros.
executives Darryl Zanuck and Jack L. Warner regarding various changes
which were intended to make the film more acceptable to censor boards
across the country. The main thrust of the changes was to attach an
ending which showed Lily losing everything she had gained and
returning to her hometown in order that viewers would not be tempted
to believe that vice was rewarded. Originally the character of the
cobbler professed a Nietzchian philosophy which was unacceptable under
the production code. The character was changed to become instead the
moral voice of the film, and was used to indicate that the character
of Lily had been wrong to advance in the by using her body. Also cut
were the most blantant references to the fact that Lily was being kept
by men." [AFI Catalog]


Blonde Venus (1932)
Directed by Josef von Sternberg. Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Herbert
Marshall, Cary Grant, Hattie McDaniel. The story of a woman who is
torn between two men, her successful stage career and her child. Helen
Faraday is a nightclub singer turned housewife, but when her husband
needs money to have a life-saving operation, she decides to resume her
career as a singer to raise money. She undergoes a chain of events
that separate her from her husband and force her to make a choice
between her lucrative singing career, and her role as a wife and
mother. "Herbert Marshall's glimpse of Marlene Dietrich's skinny-dip
leads to marriage and toddler Dickie Moore, their happiness derailed
when she must hit the streets to pay for hubbie?s radium poisoning
treatments. The most outlandish of the Dietrich/von Sternberg
pictures, highlighted by her gorilla-suited "Hot Voodoo" number, plus
a lucrative affair with young Cary Grant."

Bombshell(1933)
Directed by Victor Fleming. Cast: Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank
Morgan, Franchot Tone, Pat O'Brien, Una Merkel, Ted Healy. Screen
siren Lola Burns is fed up with the scandalous stories her publicist,
Space Hanlon puts out, the endless arguments on the sets of her films
and her family's constant drain on her money and peace of mind. Her
attempts to get married, adopt a baby and quit the business altogether
are constantly thwarted, unbeknownst to her, by Space, who is secretly
in love with her. 96 min.


The Divorcee (1930)
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard. Cast: Norma Shearer, Chester Morris,
Conrad Nagel, Robert Montgomery Based on Ursula Parrott's spicy 1929
novel "Ex-wife," the highly controversial The Divorcee was nominated
for four Academy Awards including Best Picture. Norma Shearer won for
Best Actress as a woman who confronts the hypocrisy of the double
standard after catching her husband in a compromising position and
forcing him to confess his infidelities. Her solution to the problem:
try to match him tryst for tryst. 82 min.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Directed by Rouben Mamoulian. Cast: Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins.
Famous version of the Stevenson masterpiece about a scientist who
concocts a potion that releases the animal side of man. Restored
version contains 17 minutes of previously censored material. "Jason
Joy (Production Code enforcer) wrote to Will Hays: 'Frankenstein is
staying for four weeks and taking in big money at theatres which were
about on the rocks . . . resentment is surely being built up. How
could it be otherwise if children go to these pictures and have the
jitters, followed by nightmares? I, for one, would hate to have my
children see FRANKENSTEIN, JEKYLL, or the others and you probably feel
the same way about Bill [Will Hays, Jr.]. Not only is there a future
economic consideration, but maybe there is a real moral responsibility
involved to which I wonder if we as individuals ought to lend our
support.'" [as quoted in Vieira, Mark. Sin in soft focus : pre-code
Hollywood New York : Harry N. Abrams, 1999 [MAIN: PN1995.62 .V54
1999]. Still, as Thomas Doherty has contended, "Horror films also
offer insights into what filmmakers would do if given nearly total
freedom. Censors were so concerned with limiting sex, crime and
violence, that they completely neglected the horror genre. "As long as
monsters refrained from illicit sexual activity, respected the clergy,
and maintained s

Re: [Videolib] Early Friday question: Pre-Code film series

[Dennis Doros]

Baby Face with Barbara Stanwyck -- especially since the censored and
uncensored versions are on the same DVD.

And it's Barbara Stanwyck seducing a half dozen men. Do you really need
another reason?!

Jessica will provide the other 100. :-)

Dennis

On Thu, Jan 12, 2012 at 4:03 PM, Logan, Michael wrote:

> If you were going to introduce an audience to Pre-Code films, which titles
> would you select? Our library is considering a Pre-Code film screening
> series in a few months, and we want to select titles that are good
> representatives of the period (and available on DVD or Blu-ray).
>
> So which titles would you pick? And, optionally, why?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Michael Logan
> Acquisitions and Technical Services
> Humboldt County Library
> (707) 269-1962
>
>
>
> VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of
> issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic
> control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in
> libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as
> an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of
> communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video
> producers and distributors.
>
> VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of
> issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic
> control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in
> libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as
> an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of
> communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video
> producers and distributors.
>



-- 
Best regards,
Dennis Doros
Milestone Film & Video/Milliarium Zero
PO Box 128
Harrington Park, NJ 07640
Phone: 201-767-3117
Fax: 201-767-3035
email: milefi...@gmail.com
www.milestonefilms.com
www.comebackafrica.com
www.yougottomove.com
www.ontheboweryfilm.com
www.arayafilm.com
www.exilesfilm.com
www.wordisoutmovie.com
www.killerofsheep.com

Join "Milestone Film" on Facebook and Twitter!
and the
Association of Moving Image Archivists !


Follow Milestone on Twitter! 
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues 
relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, 
preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and 
related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective 
working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication 
between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and 
distributors.

[Videolib] Early Friday question: Pre-Code film series

[Logan, Michael]

If you were going to introduce an audience to Pre-Code films, which titles 
would you select? Our library is considering a Pre-Code film screening series 
in a few months, and we want to select titles that are good representatives of 
the period (and available on DVD or Blu-ray).

So which titles would you pick? And, optionally, why?

Thanks in advance,

Michael Logan
Acquisitions and Technical Services
Humboldt County Library
(707) 269-1962



VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues 
relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, 
preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and 
related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective 
working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication 
between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and 
distributors.

VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues 
relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, 
preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and 
related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective 
working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication 
between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and 
distributors.