To get a more precise understanding of the scope of sexuality in film we
need to go back beyond the sound era which signaled when the "vulgarians"
took over Hollywd. (Hitchcock).

Pre code 30s?  Sure but how about pre sound 20s?  Some of the most sensual
films ever were the silents of the jazz age and earlier such as Pandora's
Box (Pabst) Clara Bow...et al...

Ellene Phufas

-----Original Message-----
From: Film and TV Studies Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Larsson, Donald F
Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2007 12:29 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [SCREEN-L] sexual explictness query

Actually, PLAY MISTY FOR ME includes a scene with Eastwood and Donna Mills
al fresco (watched by Walters) that very clearly implies sex, including oral
sex.  (I first saw this in an Army base theater, where such things got
noticed.)  Arthur Knight and Hollis Alpert used to do yearly updates (for
Playboy, of course) of sex in the movies during that transitional era of the
1960s.  Also see Parker Tyler's 1974 PICTORIAL HISTORY OF SEX IN FILMS.

And there was lots of suggestiveness in Code-regulated movies (Scarlett's
air of total refreshment the morning after Rhett carried her up those stairs
in GONE WITH THE WIND, for example).

But the most interesting period might be the so-called "pre-code" films c.
1930-1934 before the studios began strictly enforcing the code.  TCM was
featuring a number of these movies earlier this year.  You might also check
out PRE-CODE HOLLYWOOD by Thomas Patrick Doherty (1999).

Don Larsson
___________________________________________________
"When something is empty, fill it.  When something is full, empty it.  When
you have an itch, scratch it."   --Dieter Dengler

Donald F. Larsson, Professor
English Department, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Mail: 230 Armstrong Hall, Minnesota State University
        Mankato, MN  56001
Office Phone: 507-389-2368
________________________________________
From: Film and TV Studies Discussion List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Frank, Michael [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2007 10:13 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [SCREEN-L] sexual explictness query

[with the usual apologies for duplication]



in 1958 [north by northwest] eva marie saint says to cary grant
something like "i have no plans for tonight and my book isn't very
interesting" -- and we know she's inviting him to her bed . . . in 1971
[play misty for me] jessica walter says to clint eastwood "right, no
strings attached, but that doesn't mean we can't sleep together tonight
if we want to" . . . while this may fall short of the "let's screw"
which one might expect today, the increased explicitness clearly
reflects the changes [in both sexual mores and codes of representation]
that are a function of what have since come to call the sexual
revolution of the sixties



it would be interesting to trace these changes, which leads to the
question:  can anyone cite earlier examples in mainstream cinema [i.e.
films aimed at a mass audience] of this kind of sexual explicitness - or
of later developments that raised the bar even higher [or lower,
depending on your POV] . . .



thoughts??



mike


----
Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the
University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu

----
Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the
University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu

----
Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite
http://www.ScreenSite.org