Date and Time for this Past Event
- Sunday, Jun 16, 2024 7:15pm - 8:30pm
Details
"Pre-Code: Sex and Censorship" electrifies the first AFI Silver Classic Film Weekend. Immerse yourself in the thrilling era of pre-Code cinema, a fleeting moment from the late 1920s to 1934 when films defied convention before the Hays Code stifled Hollywood's boldness. These movies, lighthearted or dramatic, showcased complex women and flawed heroes struggling against social injustice, and unflinching explorations of sex, ambition and crime. Witness legendary stars ignite the screen: Clara Bow, James Cagney, Barbara Stanwyck, Cary Grant, Jean Harlow, Joan Blondell, Spencer Tracy, Warren William, Anna May Wong and Josephine Baker. Festival guests, including film historians Richard Koszarski, Steven C. Smith, Farran Smith Nehme, Katie Gee Salisbury and David Stenn, will introduce each film.
OT SATURDAY in 35mm
Special Features: Introduction by film historian Farran Smith Nehme
Should a woman resist temptation if everyone will think the worst anyway? The morals of the newly liberated women presented in pre-Code films were not welcomed everywhere, including the small town that is home to Ruth, a bank clerk played by Nancy Carroll. After a quarrel with her boyfriend, Bill (Randolph Scott), she visits a local roadhouse where the local youth can dance, drink and be unobserved. Joining a party held by visiting city playboy Romer (Cary Grant), she is encouraged to stick around after it ends, and her overnight stay puts her at risk of becoming an outcast in her town. Location filming at Lake Arrowhead and naturalistic performances by the leads (with Grant and Scott on the verge of stardom) make this an atypical but very rewarding pre-Code outing.
