Changes

== Conditions and Attitudes of the U.S. in the Early 1930s ==

In 1933, American society was enduring what was arguably the worst year of the Depression. With the unemployment rate a staggering 24.9 percent, and honest jobs scarce, “dishonest ones sometimes seemed more attractive than standing in soup lines.”<ref>U.S. Department of Labor, ''Compensation and Working Conditions''(Fall, 2001) by Albert E Schwenk and Robert VanGiezen. Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/cm20030124ar03p1.htm (accessed April 9, 2012).</ref><ref>U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, ''The F.B.I. and the American Gangster.'' FBI.gov, http://www.fbi.gov/about_us/history/a-centennial-history/fbi_and_the_american_gangster_1924-1938 (accessed March 2, 2012).</ref>The real-life outlaws and gangsters of the day——— John Dillinger, "Pretty Boy" Floyd, and Al Capone——— were portrayed to the public as having anti-establishment attitudes and being free of the daily burdens with which average citizens were encumbered.

On July 1, 1934 Breen replaced the ineffective SRC with the Production Code Administration (PCA). The PCA not only reviewed scripts prior to filming, it also scrutinized the final production of the film and either issued a “Seal of Approval” or returned the film to the studios to make the recommended changes. If the film was released without the approval of the PCA, the studio was fined $25,000. More importantly, without the PCA’s Seal, major urban theaters did not show a film, thus leaving the studios with no other choice but to adhere to the regulations stipulated under the Code.<ref>Jewell, 133.</ref>The new “morality” stipulated by the Code had dramatic consequences for the gangster genre. The ability of the gangster to evade capture and enjoy a brief period of luxury, sin, and excitement was stifled by the first general principle of the Code, which stated that “the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing or sin.”<ref>Jewell, 117.</ref>Additionally, the Code forbade the ridicule of law enforcement and sex was off limits.

== Real Life Gangsters ==

Many people saw no futures for themselves during the Depression and were captivated by the gangsters, both real and fictional, who lived for the moment, however brief. The events of 1934 changed the opinions of movie audiences as the Hays Code dictated morality, real-life gangsters were killed in non-heroic and well publicized situations, and the end of Prohibition meant the end of the bootlegger. Although the gangster genre continued after 1934, it did so without the grit and authenticity of the pre-Code films that were made when outlaws and bootleggers lived off the screen.

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==Related DailyHistory.org Articles==

[[Category:Wikis]] [[Category:Great Depression]] [[Category:Film History]] [[Category:United States History]][[Category:20th Century History]]

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