Dangerous Men: Pre-code Hollywood And The Birth Of The Modern Man
(Mick LaSalle)
For a five-year period, from the rise of talkies in 1929 through mid-1934, Hollywood produced a slew of refreshingly frank films that showed what was really going on in America. Men and women were equal partners, women could have successful careers, men could express their emotions and the good guys were often the criminals who bucked the system. This unique era abruptly ended when a small number of organized groups pressured the studios to censor themselves with the production code. This set of moral guidelines was created in 1930, but not strictly enforced until 1934. For an entire generation thereafter, the movies, and the men and women in them, were whitewashed. What defines manhood? And what was so special about the way manhood was portrayed in the films of the pre-code era? These are the questions that San Francisco Chronicle film critic LaSalle asks in his follow-up to "Complicated Women", a survey of the women of pre-code films. As a companion to that book, or on its own, "Dangerous Men" is a fascinating and entertaining exploration of the men of pre-code films and the turbulent society that created them. In addition to describing the pre-code adventures of film legends such as James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson and "Dangerous Men" cover model Clark Gable, La Salle sings the praises of some of the lost treasures of the period, including socially conscious actor Richard Barthelmess and the ultimate pre-code villain Warren William. He discusses the changing face of masculinity on film, from the grinning heroes of silent cinema to the wisecracking gangsters and journalists of the early thirties. These men were fascinating characters, simultaneously vulnerable and tough in their struggles with war, poverty and the myriad complexities of a new, faster age. While "Dangerous Men" is ideal for film fans, its fascinating exploration of American society in the early thirties makes it appealing for even those who have little interest in classic Hollywood.
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