Scene from Human Wreckage (1923), a film illustrating the hazards of drug addiction.
This week, Canadians were told that commercial radio stations would no longer be allowed to play the 26 year old Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing" because its lyrics contain the word "faggot." I just about fell off my couch when I heard on the news that the word "fudger" may be an acceptable alternative -- really!? Oh, censorship! The players and motives may change but it's a perennial.
Sin in Soft Focus is a beautiful thing. It's a Harry N Abrams publication, akin to a coffee table book though calling it that seems ungenerous. The format is a perfect showcase for the black and white images, but Mark Vieira's thoughtful analysis of the time period now known as "Pre-Code" ensures that the words carry equal weight. He tackles tropes thematically, working through the early 30s year by year. His tight timeline allows him the time to look at individuals advocating both for and against cuts with a little more nuance than other works that span decades. Those responsible for enforcing censorship are not all drawn simply as villains, but are shown doing a lot of in-fighting and compromising. Joe Breen is quoted writing to a snarky Philadelphia priest dissatisfied with the International Federal of Catholic Alumnae thusly:
My dear Bozo. I respectfully suggest that both yourself and Dr. Pace are fat-heads. I don't even hope that you are well. But I do hope that you get fired out of that soft job at the Seminary and have to go to work. I say again, you are a fat-head.
Major forces in film censorship, Vieira frankly calls these Catholic political bodies on their underlying motive, anti-Semitism. Yet this is balanced by examples of filmmakers' opportunism and audacity.
The book's larger format works perfectly, because the only evidence of scenes that were excised and forever lost exist today only as still photos. And what photos! These stills show what masters of light were at work in Hollywood during this time period. A book to drool over, for sure.
Sin in Soft Focus is a beautiful thing. It's a Harry N Abrams publication, akin to a coffee table book though calling it that seems ungenerous. The format is a perfect showcase for the black and white images, but Mark Vieira's thoughtful analysis of the time period now known as "Pre-Code" ensures that the words carry equal weight. He tackles tropes thematically, working through the early 30s year by year. His tight timeline allows him the time to look at individuals advocating both for and against cuts with a little more nuance than other works that span decades. Those responsible for enforcing censorship are not all drawn simply as villains, but are shown doing a lot of in-fighting and compromising. Joe Breen is quoted writing to a snarky Philadelphia priest dissatisfied with the International Federal of Catholic Alumnae thusly:
My dear Bozo. I respectfully suggest that both yourself and Dr. Pace are fat-heads. I don't even hope that you are well. But I do hope that you get fired out of that soft job at the Seminary and have to go to work. I say again, you are a fat-head.
Major forces in film censorship, Vieira frankly calls these Catholic political bodies on their underlying motive, anti-Semitism. Yet this is balanced by examples of filmmakers' opportunism and audacity.
The book's larger format works perfectly, because the only evidence of scenes that were excised and forever lost exist today only as still photos. And what photos! These stills show what masters of light were at work in Hollywood during this time period. A book to drool over, for sure.
Scene designed for Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise. As Mark Vieira notes, "Since most of the film was reshot, the scene exists only in this photograph by Milton Brown."
1 comment:
This is one of my favorite books. I also love the book Vieira did about George Hurrell. If you haven't read it, I think you'd love it.
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