Dangerous Men: Pre-Code Hollywood and the Birth of the Modern Man

Rating:
Summary: HOW DID I SPEND CHRISTMAS NIGHT?
Review: My husband gave me DANGEROUS MEN last night as the one presentI was allowed to open before going to bed. . . Well, thank you very much . . . I never went to bed. I started reading the book at a little past midnight, had to take myself out of the bedroom and into the living room, when the night light started bothering my husband -- and there I read and read and read until five in the morning. Okay, finally then I did go to bed and slept a few hours.
I just want to say this, to anyone considering a purchase of DANGEROUS MEN. This is a brilliant book by a writer who knows his stuff, and who's witty and funny besides. The book is about how men changed in the first part fo the 20th century and how the new man that developed found his expression in the movies made during what's called the pre-Code era -- an amazing time before movies were censored in America. This is a book about who men are and how they got that way, as well as an introduction to a lot of great movies -- which I will get around to seeing (there's an appendix in the back that tells you how) just as soon as I finish the last 40 pages of the book.

Rating:
Summary: HOW DID I SPEND CHRISTMAS NIGHT?
Review: My husband gave me DANGEROUS MEN last night as the one presentI was allowed to open before going to bed. . . Well, thank you very much . . . I never went to bed. I started reading the book at a little past midnight, had to take myself out of the bedroom and into the living room, when the night light started bothering my husband -- and there I read and read and read until five in the morning. Okay, finally then I did go to bed and slept a few hours.
I just want to say this, to anyone considering a purchase of DANGEROUS MEN. This is a brilliant book by a writer who knows his stuff, and who's witty and funny besides. The book is about how men changed in the first part fo the 20th century and how the new man that developed found his expression in the movies made during what's called the pre-Code era -- an amazing time before movies were censored in America. This is a book about who men are and how they got that way, as well as an introduction to a lot of great movies -- which I will get around to seeing (there's an appendix in the back that tells you how) just as soon as I finish the last 40 pages of the book.

Rating:
Summary: IS THAT A COVER, LADIES, OR WHAT???
Review: The cover -- well, that just stopped me. Clark Gable and too dangerous even for his mustache! I had to have the book -- had to -- and then I read it, and I love it. I'm re-reading it now. How did men happen? How did we get here? Where are we going? And what wonderful movies! And what wonderful pictures! I loved Complicated Women, by the same author. I don't know which book I like more. The first book was sex. This one is politics and sex and business and corruption and the whole big mess, all of it fascinating. Christmas is over. Get it for somebody's birthday. Get it for everybody's birthday. Most of all, get it for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: IS THAT A COVER, LADIES, OR WHAT???
Review: The cover -- well, that just stopped me. Clark Gable and too dangerous even for his mustache! I had to have the book -- had to -- and then I read it, and I love it. I'm re-reading it now. How did men happen? How did we get here? Where are we going? And what wonderful movies! And what wonderful pictures! I loved Complicated Women, by the same author. I don't know which book I like more. The first book was sex. This one is politics and sex and business and corruption and the whole big mess, all of it fascinating. Christmas is over. Get it for somebody's birthday. Get it for everybody's birthday. Most of all, get it for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Greatness before the Censors Came
Review: The Golden Age of movies is sometimes taken as the glorious silent era. However, it can be argued that the films made right after the advent of sound provided more realism and more to think about than movies before or since. In a vital and entertaining study, _Dangerous Men: Pre-Code Hollywood and the Birth of the Modern Man_ (Thomas Dunne), Mick LaSalle lovingly analyzes the films and movie heroes from around 1929 until 1934 when censorship took over. Those interested in the history of film, and in learning more about giants like Cagney and Gable, as well as about important but forgotten former stars like Richard Barthelmess and Warren William, will find this book irresistible. After 1934, it was a long while before American films were made without a censor able to clip scenes, and LaSalle demonstrates that the pre-censorship (or "pre-Code") era was a time for realism as well as idealism in the movies.

LaSalle demonstrates that silent films were really productions of the Victorian era; men were expected to have sobriety and character. World War I, Prohibition, and the Great Depression changed all that. There was a deluge of pre-Code gangster movies, and every major actor played a gangster, even Spencer Tracy and Boris Karloff. The gangster movies, and the war movies, provided a new look at how a person might live in the world and live with himself; there was a good deal of introspection within the characters displayed on screen that would vanish when the Code came into force. Along with serious evaluation of such moral matters, pre-Code movies were full of pacifism. Repeatedly the young idealistic heroes go into battle only to be shocked at the destruction they themselves have wrought. These movies exalted individuality and distrust of governments that led citizens into pointless wars. Pre-Code films emphasized the heroism of getting wise and taking care of oneself, not the heroism of battles and bugles. There is a good brief history of Code censorship here, showing the role of the Catholic Legion of Decency and its regrettable effects. Not only did the Code enforcers impose wholesomeness on future movies, they insisted that when the pre-Code films were re-released they be re-cut into more acceptable form. Sadly, sometimes the censored version of a pre-Code film is all that remains. It was not until the ratings system came in 1968 that the Code was dismantled.

Partly LaSalle's book is a warning, and one especially pointed now that certain forces within the government find censorship in various forms appealing. LaSalle has enormous admiration for the films described here, but says, "Even vitality such as this can be squelched if a close-minded faction is obsessed, pernicious, and willing to organize." He has seen a lot more of these pre-Code pictures than his readers have, but anyone who enjoys the movies will be eager to take a look at these films after reading this book. Pre-Code films showed war brutality, governmental corruption, and harnessing courage to subvert the system. LaSalle writes, "These may be healthy things for individuals to know, but they aren't what governments like to see pumped into the public consciousness."

Rating:
Summary: Greatness before the Censors Came
Review: The Golden Age of movies is sometimes taken as the glorious silent era. However, it can be argued that the films made right after the advent of sound provided more realism and more to think about than movies before or since. In a vital and entertaining study, _Dangerous Men: Pre-Code Hollywood and the Birth of the Modern Man_ (Thomas Dunne), Mick LaSalle lovingly analyzes the films and movie heroes from around 1929 until 1934 when censorship took over. Those interested in the history of film, and in learning more about giants like Cagney and Gable, as well as about important but forgotten former stars like Richard Barthelmess and Warren William, will find this book irresistible. After 1934, it was a long while before American films were made without a censor able to clip scenes, and LaSalle demonstrates that the pre-censorship (or "pre-Code") era was a time for realism as well as idealism in the movies.

LaSalle demonstrates that silent films were really productions of the Victorian era; men were expected to have sobriety and character. World War I, Prohibition, and the Great Depression changed all that. There was a deluge of pre-Code gangster movies, and every major actor played a gangster, even Spencer Tracy and Boris Karloff. The gangster movies, and the war movies, provided a new look at how a person might live in the world and live with himself; there was a good deal of introspection within the characters displayed on screen that would vanish when the Code came into force. Along with serious evaluation of such moral matters, pre-Code movies were full of pacifism. Repeatedly the young idealistic heroes go into battle only to be shocked at the destruction they themselves have wrought. These movies exalted individuality and distrust of governments that led citizens into pointless wars. Pre-Code films emphasized the heroism of getting wise and taking care of oneself, not the heroism of battles and bugles. There is a good brief history of Code censorship here, showing the role of the Catholic Legion of Decency and its regrettable effects. Not only did the Code enforcers impose wholesomeness on future movies, they insisted that when the pre-Code films were re-released they be re-cut into more acceptable form. Sadly, sometimes the censored version of a pre-Code film is all that remains. It was not until the ratings system came in 1968 that the Code was dismantled.

Partly LaSalle's book is a warning, and one especially pointed now that certain forces within the government find censorship in various forms appealing. LaSalle has enormous admiration for the films described here, but says, "Even vitality such as this can be squelched if a close-minded faction is obsessed, pernicious, and willing to organize." He has seen a lot more of these pre-Code pictures than his readers have, but anyone who enjoys the movies will be eager to take a look at these films after reading this book. Pre-Code films showed war brutality, governmental corruption, and harnessing courage to subvert the system. LaSalle writes, "These may be healthy things for individuals to know, but they aren't what governments like to see pumped into the public consciousness."