No, not that Fox, silly! While we were off gallavanting in Vegas with the International Film Festival Summit, we somehow lost sight of the fact that Fox Before The Code, a wonderful, three-week series of films from the era right before the infamous Hayes Production Code went into effect, was simultaneously unspooling at NYC’s Film Forum.
In a lengthy discussion on The Reeler, the theatre’s director of reperatory programming, Bruce Goldstein, notes how the package of films came together and puts them into their larger historical context. “When I first saw a pre-Code film, I was just stunned,” Goldstein said. “I never believed that films could be that racy in 1931.”
But, while we may have missed Call Her Savage – pictured above and apparently containing not only the proffered whip, but a romp with a Great Dane and the silver screen’s first bona fide gay bar – there’s still time to catch such likely gems as Painted Woman, She Learned About Sailors and 3 On a Honeymoon! The series runs until December 21st.