Sin in Soft Focus: Pre-Code Hollywood [Hardcover]

Mark A. Vieira (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1999

Sin in Soft Focus showcases a scintillating era in film history: "pre-code Hollywood," that boldly creative period in the early 1930s when defiant producers flouted the restrictions of the censors, who tried--but failed--to ban everything from sex, profanity, and excessive violence to "lustful kissing." Lavishly illustrated with rare film stills, the book captures the artistry and bravura of the era's controversial films.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Prudes and the faint-of-heart shield your eyes! The stunning Sin in Soft Focus contains some of the most breathtaking black-and-white stills ever taken, all from the debaucherous decade before the Hollywood production code was established. With chapters devoted to "The Warners Grit," "The MGM Gloss," and "The Paramount Glow," and to horror films, gangster movies, and the sexy scandal of Mae West, Mark A. Vieira illustrates the story of classic Hollywood's most delightfully lascivious period--brought to a stop when Joseph Breen began enforcing the puritanical production code of 1934.

The text of this book is fascinating even for those familiar with the films of the era, but the mesmerizing photographs are what will keep readers glued to the pages. Oversized and abundant stills capture stars like Clara Bow, Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford, William Powell, Mae West, Joan Blondell, James Cagney, and Greta Garbo in striking clarity, dashing poses, and of course, shockingly revealing outfits. Voyeurs seeking more on this naughty era will also want to read Thomas Doherty's Pre-Code Hollywood. --Raphael Shargel

From Library Journal

Emboldened by a 1930 Production Code that required only voluntary compliance, film studios lured Depression-hardened audiences with bullet-riddled gangster sagas; hot jungle tales; horror films; sexy, sophisticated dramas; and lurid depictions of drug abuse, fallen women, and "white slavery." Eventually, challenged by state film boards and decency groups, Hollywood finally agreed to a 1934 Code (with enforcement powers) that endured until finally crumbling in the late 1960s. Vieira (Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits) is good at showing how the 1934 Code was part of a general return to order; though Mae West was too flamboyant to change her image, Claudette Colbert and Myrna Loy quickly went from playing on-screen vixens to playing housewives and mothers. In the end, precode films weren't better or worse than the films that came later, just different. This timely, informative look at a little-known period in American film history covers much the same ground as Thomas Doherty's Pre-Code Hollywood (LJ 7/99)Awhose main attractions are the many creamy film stills, which may surprise readers with their frank treatment of sex, nudity, and violence. This fascinating look at an important though brief period in Hollywood history is highly recommended.AStephen Rees, Levittown Regional Lib., PA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; First Edition edition (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810944758
• ISBN-13: 978-0810944756
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #873,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark A. Vieira was born in Oakland, California on October 28, 1950. He is a filmmaker, photographer, and writer specializing in the history of Hollywood. He makes portraits in George Hurrell's original studio in the historic Granada Buildings with Hurrell's own Verito lens. Mark celebrates his fortieth anniversary as a professional photographer in October 2009.

He has lectured at the University of Southern California, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Universal Studios, the University of California Los Angeles, the Hollywood Museum in the Max Factor Building, the Hollywood Heritage Museum, the Palm Springs International Film Festival, the Rafael Film Center in San Rafael, and the Balboa Theatre in San Francisco. He has appeared on camera in Photoplay Productions' "Garbo," TimeLine's "Complicated Women," Playboy's "Sex at 24 Frames per Second," Twentieth Century-Fox Home Video featurettes on Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, Warner Home Video's "Thou Shalt Not," Universal's "Forbidden Film," and on CBS Sunday Morning.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, educational text and fine photos, April 27, 2000

By 

Keith Nichols (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sin in Soft Focus: Pre-Code Hollywood (Hardcover)

This coffee-table volume may look like another of the many good Hollywood photo books, and the title may promise some photo-titillation, but in fact this is a serious book dealing with movies in the era of the infamous morality "code." The many photos support the text and make for satisfying perusing all by themselves. Although not the scandalous, x-rated outtakes you may have expected (hoped for?), the photos are all interesting, partly because many of them seldom appear in Hollywood picture books. The well-written text details the code, difficulties enforcing it, and the personalities who devised and promulgated it. Code enforcement apparently found it had to deal more with moral implications, suggested relationships, and what might be going on just outside the frame than with what showed up onscreen (which may explain the absence of racy pix). This doubly satisfying book certainly belongs in the library of any movie scholar or serious fan and adds to the stature of its author as a movie historian..

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEAUTIFUL AND COMPELLING., January 21, 2003

By 

"scotsladdie" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sin in Soft Focus: Pre-Code Hollywood (Hardcover)

In this exhaustively researched, beautifully illustrated book, author Vieira does an exceptional job. Recently, I have been drawn to the fascinating world of Pre-Code Cinema. There were some really realistically seedy, controversial and revealing films made in the Hollywood of the late twenties and early thirties. Many films which have been previously believed lost or destroyed have been rescued for the public to enjoy once more on either video or TCM. Hot stuff for the depression era! Fascinating films of the era include: THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE which starred the unique Miriam Hopkins. In this one, she plays the title character who is lured into the underworld, gets raped - and finds she likes it (!). Even sweetly saccharine Loretta Young had a dark-side: check out MIDNIGHT MARY. What I find ironic is that to many people, many vintage films are considered too pretty or unrealistic. This book proves otherwise!! A thoroughly fascinating venture into a little-known side of Hollywood which existed a scant half-dozen years: the era of Pre-Code talkies. A very informative and revealing laboured work of art - and a fine resource - for fans of vintage film.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars So Many Movies, So Little Time, August 31, 2002

By 

Gail K. Powers "Abra" (Harbor Country, Mi,N. Naples, FL, Chicago area) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sin in Soft Focus: Pre-Code Hollywood (Hardcover)

Like Mick LaSalle's wonderful book COMPLICATED WOMEN which chronicles the impact the Hayes Office had on decimating the interesting roles portrayed by women, this book serves as an interesting companion piece. It chronicles the somewhat racy plots and the female characters portrayed in pre-code movies.
Bordering on an almost scholarly take on this topic, this tome takes you through a lot of the grittier plots tackled by early Hollywood films and the wonderful actresses who portrayed the lead characters.
By the end of this book, you will find yourself craving a pre-code Harlow, Shearer, Crawford, Garbo or Bow film and will want to devour a lot of them like a 21 oz. bag of Hershey kisses or Raisinets. Such were the days when little titans like Hayes weren't dictating the mantra called the CODE and films were a little risque and fun and not always that predictable.