John Billheimer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813177427
- eISBN:
- 9780813177441
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813177427.003.0025
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter describes Hitchcock’s working relationships during his most productive years as a director. Under terms negotiated by his agent, Lew Wasserman, ownership of the films he directed for ...
More
This chapter describes Hitchcock’s working relationships during his most productive years as a director. Under terms negotiated by his agent, Lew Wasserman, ownership of the films he directed for Paramount reverted to Hitchcock eight years after their initial release, eventually pushing his earnings well beyond those of his peers. As Hitchcock’s star ascended, the influence of Joe Breen and the Production Code declined. Joe Breen’s health failed, and he was replaced in 1954 by his assistant, Geoffrey Shurlock, who was more accommodating than his predecessor with directors he admired, like Hitchcock. The Code itself received a major makeover in 1956 with the rescinding of flat bans on illegal drugs, abortion, white slavery, and kidnapping. Restrictions on such long-forbidden words as damn and hell were also lifted, and some directors, like Otto Preminger, openly challenged the Code and released films, notably The Moon Is Blue, without a Code Seal. Subsequent chapters include detailed discussions on the impacts of censorship on each of the eleven films Hitchcock made during his glory years.Less
This chapter describes Hitchcock’s working relationships during his most productive years as a director. Under terms negotiated by his agent, Lew Wasserman, ownership of the films he directed for Paramount reverted to Hitchcock eight years after their initial release, eventually pushing his earnings well beyond those of his peers. As Hitchcock’s star ascended, the influence of Joe Breen and the Production Code declined. Joe Breen’s health failed, and he was replaced in 1954 by his assistant, Geoffrey Shurlock, who was more accommodating than his predecessor with directors he admired, like Hitchcock. The Code itself received a major makeover in 1956 with the rescinding of flat bans on illegal drugs, abortion, white slavery, and kidnapping. Restrictions on such long-forbidden words as damn and hell were also lifted, and some directors, like Otto Preminger, openly challenged the Code and released films, notably The Moon Is Blue, without a Code Seal. Subsequent chapters include detailed discussions on the impacts of censorship on each of the eleven films Hitchcock made during his glory years.
John Billheimer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813177427
- eISBN:
- 9780813177441
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813177427.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
The Motion Picture Production Code controlled the content and final cut on all films made and distributed in the US from 1934 to 1968. Code officials protected sensitive ears from the standard ...
More
The Motion Picture Production Code controlled the content and final cut on all films made and distributed in the US from 1934 to 1968. Code officials protected sensitive ears from the standard four-letter words as well as a few five-letter words like tramp and six-letter words like cripes. They also scrubbed ‘excessively lustful’ kissing from the screen, and ensured that no criminal went unpunished. Censors demanded an average of twenty changes, ranging from trivial to mind-boggling, on each of Alfred Hitchcock’s films during his most productive years. No production escaped these changes, which rarely improved the finished film. Code reviewers dictated the ending of’ Rebecca, shortened the shower scene in’ Psycho, absolved Cary Grant of guilt in’ Suspicion, edited Cole Porter’s lyrics in’ Stage Fright, and decided which shades should be drawn in’ Rear Window. Nevertheless, Hitchcock still managed to push the boundaries of sex and violence permitted in films by charming (and occasionally tricking) the censors and by swapping off bits of dialogue, plot points, and individual shots (some of which had been deliberately inserted as trading chips) to protect cherished scenes and images. The director’s priorities in dealing with the censors highlight both his theories of suspense and the single-mindedness of Code officials. Hitchcock and the Censors’ traces the forces that led to the Production Code and describes Hitchcock’s interactions with Code officials on a film-by-film basis as he fought to protect his creations, bargaining with Code reviewers and sidestepping censorship to produce a lifetime of memorable films.Less
The Motion Picture Production Code controlled the content and final cut on all films made and distributed in the US from 1934 to 1968. Code officials protected sensitive ears from the standard four-letter words as well as a few five-letter words like tramp and six-letter words like cripes. They also scrubbed ‘excessively lustful’ kissing from the screen, and ensured that no criminal went unpunished. Censors demanded an average of twenty changes, ranging from trivial to mind-boggling, on each of Alfred Hitchcock’s films during his most productive years. No production escaped these changes, which rarely improved the finished film. Code reviewers dictated the ending of’ Rebecca, shortened the shower scene in’ Psycho, absolved Cary Grant of guilt in’ Suspicion, edited Cole Porter’s lyrics in’ Stage Fright, and decided which shades should be drawn in’ Rear Window. Nevertheless, Hitchcock still managed to push the boundaries of sex and violence permitted in films by charming (and occasionally tricking) the censors and by swapping off bits of dialogue, plot points, and individual shots (some of which had been deliberately inserted as trading chips) to protect cherished scenes and images. The director’s priorities in dealing with the censors highlight both his theories of suspense and the single-mindedness of Code officials. Hitchcock and the Censors’ traces the forces that led to the Production Code and describes Hitchcock’s interactions with Code officials on a film-by-film basis as he fought to protect his creations, bargaining with Code reviewers and sidestepping censorship to produce a lifetime of memorable films.
John Billheimer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813177427
- eISBN:
- 9780813177441
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813177427.003.0003
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter views the Production Code Administration through the eyes of the censors employed by the administration, documenting their approach to reviewing film sources, scripts, and completed ...
More
This chapter views the Production Code Administration through the eyes of the censors employed by the administration, documenting their approach to reviewing film sources, scripts, and completed films. General and specific guidelines in the four-thousand-word Code are cited, and the chapter provides examples of the interpretation of these guidelines by administration employees such as Joe Breen, Jack Vizzard, and Albert Van Schmus. Guidelines explored include the duration of screen kisses, forbidden words and the use of double beds. The approaches and effectiveness of Code censors are documented through their correspondence with producers and directors, including Alfred Hitchcock.Less
This chapter views the Production Code Administration through the eyes of the censors employed by the administration, documenting their approach to reviewing film sources, scripts, and completed films. General and specific guidelines in the four-thousand-word Code are cited, and the chapter provides examples of the interpretation of these guidelines by administration employees such as Joe Breen, Jack Vizzard, and Albert Van Schmus. Guidelines explored include the duration of screen kisses, forbidden words and the use of double beds. The approaches and effectiveness of Code censors are documented through their correspondence with producers and directors, including Alfred Hitchcock.
John Billheimer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813177427
- eISBN:
- 9780813177441
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813177427.003.0009
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Mr. and Mrs. Smith was a departure for Hitchcock, a light comedy he took on for the pleasure of working with Carole Lombard. The Production Code censors objected primarily to racy dialogue and the ...
More
Mr. and Mrs. Smith was a departure for Hitchcock, a light comedy he took on for the pleasure of working with Carole Lombard. The Production Code censors objected primarily to racy dialogue and the sound of a toilet flushing. Hitchcock eliminated some, but not all, of the objectionable dialogue, retaining the word mistress and other risqu’ references, and replaced the sound of a flushing toilet with the sound of clanging pipes. The Code taboo on toilet imagery was to haunt many Hitchcock films, until he was finally allowed to film a flushing toilet in Psycho.Less
Mr. and Mrs. Smith was a departure for Hitchcock, a light comedy he took on for the pleasure of working with Carole Lombard. The Production Code censors objected primarily to racy dialogue and the sound of a toilet flushing. Hitchcock eliminated some, but not all, of the objectionable dialogue, retaining the word mistress and other risqu’ references, and replaced the sound of a flushing toilet with the sound of clanging pipes. The Code taboo on toilet imagery was to haunt many Hitchcock films, until he was finally allowed to film a flushing toilet in Psycho.
