Censorship of Howard Hawks’ Film, Scarface Essay - 2339 Words

An Examination into Howard Hawks’ Film Scarface (1932), and Whether This Film Was Truly Dangerous, Deeming the Necessity for Censorship This paper discusses the controversial issue of censorship of Howard Hughes’ film Scarface (1932) while presenting the opinions of the proponents and opponents of the practice of censorship in Scarface. Although Scarface (1932), was thought to be a dangerous film during the 1930s, the film, in general, only portrayed the violence that already existed in the society at that time. The film wasn’t a â€Å"clear and present danger† to the public; therefore, the film shouldn’t have been censored. Changes that were made to the film at the behest of the Hays’ Office , may have been out of good intentions but†¦show more content†¦Hollywood had every right to make films on controversial topics, but various censorship boards thought otherwise, and these censorship boards felt that it was necessary to have c ommunity restrictions on immoral topics of controversy such as adultery, prostitution and divorce. The question was how censorship should be placed on films as well as to what extent in the way these controversial topics were presented (Black 53). Continuing the battle over screen content was not an easy task—issues were intensified as United States was facing the greatest economic decline in U.S. history caused by the Depression. As economic conditions were declining, the film making technology was improving greatly, making more exciting movies by turning â€Å"silent cinema† into â€Å"sound movies† (Black 53). Having this new technology allowed a more realistic form of entertainment that was different to other forms of entertainment such as novels. Consequently, these pictures became a great fascination to the public, offering a kind of cultural escape valve to which audiences could explore serious controversial issues that were comparative to the era that they were living in. Given that film producers were including contemporary controversial issues in their film along with the new technology of â€Å"sound movies† became a great controversial problem considering the morality of all audience s (women, men and children of all ages). One typeShow MoreRelatedEssay about The Motion Picture Code of the Great Depression1206 Words   |  5 Pages The Motion Picture Code of the Great Depression During the times of the Great Depression, film was viewed as a valuable importance to people. Film during this time of distress contributed to the maintenance of the national morale of America. During this time Hollywood played a valuable part, getting over eighty million Americans to attend theaters, but soon it would become a lot harder as America continued living in the Great Depression. Everyone in America, even the most troublingRead MoreClassicism and Modernism Essay2724 Words   |  11 Pageswas the golden-age of a new era of filmmaking. The films of that period went beyond the silent films being produced in the past. Diagetic sounds like dialogue and more advanced filmic techniques would push cinema to a new mode of filmmaking, that being classicism. The classical Hollywood structure was being developed in the past with silent films but it came to full fruition in the 30’s, where many filmmakers would produce feature-length films with fully developed storylines and the use of glamorous