Following up on from_a_to_z’s mention of Pre-Code hyperbole in this thread.
I have a mild amount of exposure to Pre-Code films. Trouble in Paradise is one of my favorite films and contains lots of fun innuendo. The Divorcee deals very frankly with the subject of adultery. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde contains some sexy sidal nudity from Miriam Hopkins, and, if I recall correctly, some minor profanity (“hell” or “damn”).
So, did these films pretty much push the Pre-Code limits, or am I missing out on something more titillating?
I saw a silent film from 1922 on TMC. The main character was the embodiment of some virtue, “truth,” or “goodness,” or something. There were four or five little vignettes and she appeared in each of them, first looking worried, then smiling beatifically as each little drama resolved. She never wore any clothes.
There was some nudity. Hedy Kiesler, aka Hedy Lamarr, had a nude swim in 1933’s “Ecstasty.” Maureen O’Hara had a nude swim in one of the Tarzan movies.
In addition to the scene already cited, someone who was probably Sally Rand was tied suspended about a foot in the air and naked except for a very inconveniently placed strand of garland in “Sign of the Cross.”
(Caps and a review here at my site, which is Officially NSFW by the silly standards of the SDMB):
“Signs of the Cross” also had a wicked lesbian Roman lady smooging all over a virtuous Christian slave girl and Claudette Colbert bathing nakedly in milk. Plus Amazon gladiators fighting against midget gladiators,if you’re into that sort of thing.
Also there were some maidens chained to some sort of layer cake thingie in “Roman Scandals of 1933” their naughty bits hidden by their very long tresses, and there is a dancing slave girl stripped by roughies as well (seen from the back, so no naughty bits).
I’m sure there were other films that included nudity of the “no naughty bits” as well – I believe there’s another pre-Code Christian epic that has some raunchy bits, but I don’t recall the name offhand. American films were generally moving toward increased sexual sophistication, until the Catholic Church and the fundies got roused (sound familiar) and said, “That’ll be enough of that!”
Thanks for the replies. One thing about Pre-Code nudity: it’s usually pretty tastefully done. A carefully placed garland, a body stocking, or an insanely wide shot (such as when Barbara Kent goes skinny-dipping in No Man’s Law. I don’t know if Ecstasy counts, since it was censored in the U.S.
After I posted my OP, I came across this great site: http://www.filmsite.org/sexinfilms1.html , a chronology of sex and nudity in film from 1884 until today (not all pages SFW).
[QUOTE=Evil Captor]
… Maureen O’Hara had a nude swim in one of the Tarzan movies.
I think you probably mean Maureen O’Sullivan. And in the same movie, Johnny Weismuller wears a tiny little loincloth that exposes most of his ass and gives a good view of his bulge, too.
I assume that what you’re asking for is the rauchiest pre-Code film that might still be considered a Hollywood production. There were a lot of cheap porn films made before the Code, I would guess. You might try Googling on various appropriate terms to see if someone has a website listing the known films of this sort.
“Tarzan and His Mate” from the 1930s. After 1935 the Catholic League of Decency had its tentacle around Hollywood’s throat and there was no nudity to be had.
Sex was often by innuendo. A favorite was in 42nd Street. Everyone knows the major one: “Not Anytime Annie? Say, who could forget 'er? She only said “No” once, and THEN she didn’t hear the question!”
But there was a nice subtle one during one of the dance scenes.
Guy: How about sitting on my lap.
Girl: I ain’t no flagpole sitter.
The nude in *Tarzan and His Mate * was a body double.
I’d have to put my vote behind Baby Face, the pre-censored version recently rediscovered and released on DVD by TCM. As an American movie, that is; there was no Code in Europe, so there was no “pre-code.” Otherwise, *Ecstasy * would win by a shiver.
Tarzan and His Mate was released in April 1934. The Production Code was enforced against movies that began filming after July 1, 1934.
The barest ass Tarzan was a psuedo-Tarzan played by Buster Crabbe in King of the Jungle (1933), a year before he played the real thing in Tarzan the Fearless. Seen from the side, his whole butt is visible.
Yeah, I’ll third Baby Face. Stanwyck openly discusses having been prostituted by her scummy father since puberty, she unapologetically seduces almost every man she sees (including a young businessman played by John Wayne of all people) on her way up to the top of a company, she kills one of 'em, blackmails/steals funds… and the whole time we’re pretty much led to admire her. Best of all, the script doesn’t even bother with innuendo, it’s pretty much stated flat out. All to the lowdown dirty strains of St. Louis Blues.
And in the same movie, Johnny Weismuller wears a tiny little loincloth that exposes most of his ass and gives a good view of his bulge, too.
