TCM Spotlight: The Hays Gaze (90th Anniversary of the Hays Code)
Turner Classic Movies’ monthlong Monday night remembrance of the Motion Picture Production Code (aka the Hays Code) that was instituted in Hollywood between 1934 and 1968 continues with more double features of various themes considered to be controversial during the era, contrasting one made before enforcement of the Code with another made when the Code was more fully in effect. The first pairing looks at two crime/gangster films:Scarface (pictured), director Howard Hawks’ influential 1932 classic led by Paul Muni, which was banned in some cities and states even after alterations were made to make it not appear to be glorifying gangsters and violence as much as some censors thought it did, followed by The Roaring Twenties(1939), directed by Raoul Walsh and starring James Cagney, Priscilla Lane and Humphrey Bogart. After that are a couple of films dealing with illegitimate children: the pre-Code comedy/drama The Bachelor Father(1931), led by Marion Davies, followed by Bachelor Mother(1939), a romantic comedy starring Ginger Rogers and David Niven. Two melodramas conclude things early Tuesday: the pre-Code title The Sin of Nora Moran(1933), starring Zita Johann, and That Certain Woman(1937), led by Bette Davis, Henry Fonda and Anita Louise. — Jeff Pfeiffer