Violence, crime, and the Code: 'White Heat' and film censorship in Cold War Hollywood.

摘要

This thesis studies and unpacks the concept of censorship as it relates to the United States film industry, most specifically in detailing the nature, extent, strengths, weaknesses, and enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code. It analyzes the Code's response to changing cultural standards and political situations (such as the Cold War), using White Heat (Raoul Walsh, 1949) as a framing device. Although White Heat is not the only movie with code-violating content to see full release, its production history, content, timing, and place in film canon make it ideal for this study. Particular attention is applied to the prevailing opinion of film censorship as a "stranglehold" over creativity, particularly when contrasted with the modern ratings system, although the MPAA's current system is merely a natural outgrowth of the old code, and its enforcement minors the original production code in many ways.;Sources used in this thesis include many films in question, ranging from the beginning of the "gangster" genre in 1912--15 to the modern post-code era. For the more significant films, actual production notes are included within the bibliography, as found in several film archives. Also utilized are literary works directly pertaining to film censorship and cold war history, as well as the code itself.