Between 1929 and 1934, women in American cinema were modern! They took lovers, had babies out of wedlock, got rid of cheating husbands, enjoyed their sexuality. led unapologetic careers and, in general, acted the way many think women only acted after 1968. Greta Garbo and Norma Shearer were at the forefront of an eruption of female talent; Ann Harding, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich and Jean Harlow all came into their own during the pre-Code era. These women pushed the limits and shaped their images along ...
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Between 1929 and 1934, women in American cinema were modern! They took lovers, had babies out of wedlock, got rid of cheating husbands, enjoyed their sexuality. led unapologetic careers and, in general, acted the way many think women only acted after 1968. Greta Garbo and Norma Shearer were at the forefront of an eruption of female talent; Ann Harding, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich and Jean Harlow all came into their own during the pre-Code era. These women pushed the limits and shaped their images along modern lines. Then, in July 1934, the draconian Production Code became the law in Hollywood and these modern women of the screen were banished, not to be seen again until the code was repealed three decades later. Mick LaSalle, film critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, takes readers on a tour of pre-Code films and how the movies of the pre-Code are still worth watching. COMPLICATED WOMEN will include 35 of celebrated photographer George Hurrell's exquisite photographs.
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Add this copy of Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood to cart. $9.00, very good condition, Sold by Chatt PublicLibraryFoundation rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Chattanooga, TN, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Thomas Dunne Books.
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The preponderance of this book covers the female stars of Pre-Code Hollywood. The movies and actresses of this era reflected the new freedoms women had obtained as a result of changes in society. In the movies women were empowered and on an equal footing as men. Sex and romance combined to provide movie goers an idea of the new society. Stars like Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo exuded a sensuality that enticed men and women into the movies. Alas, reality was not to last. Anti-Semetic misogynists such as Joseph Breen, Christian fundamentalist (Roman Catholic and Protestant), and the Legion of Decency saw to it that strict moralistic 19th century propaganda was placed on the screen. Woman was subservient to man. A man could commit adultery and would always be taken back by a smiling wife. If his wife also cheated then she bore the consequences by dying. It was forbidden to portray independent women succeeding and having a good life. As a result, the Pre-Code films makers and the actresses lost their appeal as they were confined by strictures of the code. It wasn't until the last decades of the last century that the code was done away with, but the damage was done. No longer was romance and sex intertwined. Joseph Breen and his Legion of Decency has given us a 'cold-blooded and often depraved cinema that gives us sex with no humanity, feeling, or tenderness. Unfortunately, it seems there are those in this country that want us to return to the censorship which exposes their propaganda for their idea of morality.
