Essay on The Hays Code in Film Noir

L.A Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997) is a neo-noir film about a shooting at an all night diner and the three Las Angeles policeman who investigate in their own unique ways. It is based on the book by James Ellroy and after a very well adapted screenplay, won nine academy awards. It starred actors with big names like Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and Danny Devito, which made it a very high earning film.

This paper was prepared for Introduction to Film History, Module 1 Homework Assignment, taught by Professor Stephanie Sandifer.

By all accounts, this movie reflects and highlights this interplay that exists between film and American Culture. As the world was riddled with battles and darkness, the movies of this time period reflected this sinister reality. Death was a major reality during this time period in America and it was no less a reality in The Maltese Falcon. The audience watches as the main character, Sam Spade, becomes involved in a grand scheme surrounding a priceless statue. Same Spade and his partner Miles Archer, both private investigators, meet a seductive and secretive woman named Ruth Wonderly who claims she is looking for her missing sister who is mixed up with a man named Floyd Thursby. As the movie continues, Spade receives news that Archer was murdered and is later accosted by a man who demands that he locate an irreplaceable statue (the Maltese Falcon). The story unfolds as Spade finds himself entangled in a dark and dangerous web of crime in which his only option is to find the Maltese Falcon, which is one thing they all seem to want. A dark and realistic outlook and mise-en-scene is not the only thing that linked this movie to the respective time period however. Also reflective of the time period is film noir’s dark, sexual, and seductive portrayal of

Film Noir was extremely trendy during the 1940’s. People were captivated by the way it expresses a mood of disillusionment and indistinctness between good and evil. Film Noir have key elements; crime, mystery, an anti-hero, femme fatale, and chiaroscuro lighting and camera angles. The Maltese Falcon is an example of film noir because of the usage of camera angles, lighting and ominous settings, as well as sinister characters as Samuel Spade, the anti-hero on a quest for meaning, who encounters the death of his partner but does not show any signs of remorse but instead for his greed for riches.

To understand why the fall of the production code was so prolific to the film industry one must first understand the production code and how it worked. This was a code that regulated what filmmakers could say, what kind of content their films could contain, and introduced an early version of the rating system that we know today. This kind of censorship was as detrimental to this art form as censorship can be. With a media as widespread as film, so many people see it on average that it can largely change a perception of a population or keep

In 1930, the Hay's Production Code was introduced into the film industry to regulate films that were produced. It regulated several different aspects of movie scenes containing crimes against the law, vulgarity, sex, obscenity, profanity, costume, dances, religion, locations, national feelings, titles and repellent subjects. (History of the Motion Picture Rating System) When scenes in films dealt with crimes committed against the law, the Hays Production Code stated that the crimes could never be presented in such a way to throw sympathy with the crime as against law and justice or to inspire others with a desire for imitation. The code goes into specific detail on several different crimes and how they shouldn't be shown in the films.

Film Noir, a term coined by the French to describe a style of film characterized by dark themes, storylines, and visuals, has been influencing cinematic industries since the 1940’s. With roots in German expressionistic films and Italian postwar documentaries, film noir has made its way into American film as well, particularly identified in mob and crime pictures. However, such settings are not exclusive to American film noir. One noteworthy example is Billy Wilder’s film Sunset Boulevard, which follows the foreboding tale of Joe Gillis, the desperate-for-success protagonist, who finds himself in the fatal grips of the disillusioned femme fatale Norma Desmond. Not only does the storyline’s heavy subject matter and typical character

In figure 2, Polhaus and Dundy wear nearly identical outfits, they have the same grim expressions, and they have extremely similar lighting on their faces, clothes, and hands. In figure 3, they both appear menacing with the same dark lighting and this lighting reinforces the idea that Spade is more trustworthy than the cops. Figures 2 and 3 illustrate how the individuals in the police force have been blurred, so that they are nearly the same. It has already been established that the lack of contrast in shadows on the faces of the cops makes them less complex characters, and since all the cops are similar, it means nearly all are superficial in a way, and that Spade is more human than all of them because he is in charge of his own actions and morals. The cops in the film have been transformed from characters into plot devices and obstacles for Spade to get around. This “de-characterization” of the police forces people to relate to criminals and morally ambiguous private investigators like Spade. The world of the film is bleaker than the world of the novel because cops, who are meant to protect and serve others, have been slightly discredited. Thus, the institutions in the filmic world are seen as ineffective and unstable, and the audience can only relate to people like Spade who work outside the

As one of the most famous hard-boiled crime fictions, The Long Goodbye enjoys its reputation not only for the story itself, but also for its delicate social criticism. In fact, this novel is representative of how female characters are formed in the noir world. There are basically three main female characters in the book: the victim Sylvia Lennox, her sister Linda Loring, and the criminal (or villain) Eileen Wade. These characters show the typical roles that women play in the noir world – women can be very emotional, and thus commit crimes. Compared with men, who may get involved with crime for money, revenge and other issues, women seem to have more emotional desires, which in most cases involve love. In The Long Goodbye, Eileen, the representative of “Blonde,” somehow also portrays the “femme fatale” image that would often appear in noir fiction, while Linda Loring, who is pure and innocent and who falls in

During the early years of Hollywood, films had very few regulations on how they can be made. From 1922 till 1930, people were outraged at Hollywood that they have no rules on how they should make films. In response, religious groups were editing movies for their local communities to make them save for their standards. Eventually the government started to talk about enforcing rules that would censor Hollywood movies for the public. To stop that from happening, Hollywood enforced their own rules called the Motion Picture Production Code or the Hays Code.

Film Noir was a result of it's time - The war had just ended and It was time where prohibition had influenced an abundance in crime and corruption. Film noir serves to highlight the darkest aspects of human beings. ‘Society is making the machinery of it's own destruction.

The scene we’re analyzing starts off with a shot of the New York Daily Inquirer. It’s a close shot, taking up the entire screen. I feel this close up is to show the viewer that the newspaper company is going to be the primary focal point for Kane, and his two partners at this point in the film. After the close up, the camera pans down to show Kane and Leland sitting in a car looking up at the building. Kane says “Take a good look at it Jedidiah, it’s going to look a lot different one of these days.” Despite the look on Kane’s face being one of optimism and promise, this statement gives leeway to all of the bad things to follow. Kane specifically says, “look a lot different” as opposed to anything else (i.e.

have found out that he is ‘the one’ who will stop “The Matrix”, he is

Since the beginning of the Industrial Age, Americans have idealized the journey towards economic success. One thing people do not realize, however, is that that journey is not the same for every individual. For Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles), the main character of Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles, the path towards riches and a fulfilled life is being well liked. He serves to please others. He strives for that attention. This view cost him his happiness in the end. In this man’s rise and fall through prosperity, Welles shows the futility of striving solely for likeability.

Throughout the novel, nothing is told about Detective spade or his private life. Unlike Detective Marlowe the reader learns that he once was an F.B investigator that was fired. Detective Spade’s past life is untold and unknown. Depending and trusting no one but himself with no individual from his past to vouch for his credibility trust by the people put with him. Has never displayed a weakness or has shown vulnerability toward any force of nature or human being. He is viewed as a stone cold individual that holds no emotions. Due to unknown information of Detective Spade, the people view him as a mysterious individual. He is mysterious in his own way and that creates fear in people when approaching him. Unable to figure out who he truly is as an individual.