The 1930s was a successful decade for the Studios mainly due to the increase of their control over a films creative decision. This meant that the studios had more of a say in what would happen, which ensured that the films followed their hopes and aspirations. It also ensured that they could continue with a level of control over the film

The big studios produced many academy award winning films which showed the success of the creative decisions made. Studios such as RKO and Warner Brothers produced Cimarron and The Life Of Emile Zola respectively which won academy awards and gained exceptional reviews

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In the late 1920’s, films usually had little restrictions and were very sexual. Due to this, a ‘pre-code’ was established in 1927 before the actual code was submitted in 1930. This was significance because the excess of inappropriate scenes led to a negative perception of Hollywood for allowing such content to appear

The code was split into two main parts – the ’general principles’ and  an actual list of restricted materials and concepts used in film

Certain restrictions were put into place so the studios had a vague idea of what to include and avoid. This was important because it allowed the studios to exclude certain content that could be deemed inappropriate from their films

Morals were a main focus because the code was written by Father Daniel Lord who was Catholic.

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The aims of the general principles were to discourage ‘wrongful actions’ such as sexual relationships before marriage. Ultimately, these types of behaviours were prohibited because by being shown they were giving the wrong impression on how to live your life which would send out the wrong messages.

Main concepts such as adultery and miscegenation were forbidden in the hopes of promoting morality and high values

The code covered many varieties of inappropriate behaviour but a high emphasis was put on sexual content. This could be perhaps due to the widespread use of it prior to the code and also catholic significance

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The particular applications consisted of a list of restrictions

These focused mainly on crime, sexual content and gore to name a few. This could be due to the controversies surrounding the showing of such content. An example of this comes from the 1933 film Ecstasy (Machaty) which was heavily criticised due to the amount of sexual content shown

Although film is regarded as a form of entertainment, another significant purpose is to convey important messages. By showing such behaviours, this encourages the wrong aspects of morality.

But by creating the code, the Studios are acknowledging the responsibility of maintaining high morals which presents them in a positive light, contradicting the negative perception

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Many people viewed the code as ridiculous and prudish. This could be due to the growing appeal of sexualised films mainly during the great depression.

Films such as James Whale’s ‘Frankenstein’ (1931) were controversial due to the scenes of a young girl drowning. Regardless. It grossed £13 million profit by other 1953 and was very popular

But towards the mid-1930s, the enforcement of the code grew much stricter. To the point where the famous character of Betty Boop was adapted to wearing a housewives skirt which was deemed more appropriate

Tarzan and his mate was the first real instance of censorship, where nude scenes were edited out

But the code began to weaken again, and child nudity was even shown in the 1939 film ‘Child Bride’ Harry Reiver

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In general, the 1930s was considered successful for the studios as the ‘big 5’ dominated 95% of the box office. This proved the success of the decade

However, smaller studios also produced successful films such as ‘Gone with the wind’ 1939 victor flemming. This showed that it was not always the larger studios who produced more successful films or grossed the most money