Most hardcore film addicts know the definition of a "pre-code". It refers to those films that were released before the Hays Code was strictly enforced in July 1934. The Hays Code dictated what could and could not be shown in film. Its purpose was to eliminate all negative imagery or suggestive ideals from public consciousness. Pre-code films portrayed a more realistic view of society; it showed scandalous behavior on-screen rather than sweep it under the rug. But sometimes it takes more than words to understand the impact these films had on the entertainment industry. Adding to their calendar of classics, the American Cinematheque presented a three-day salute to pre-code cinema with Why Be Good? Pre-Code Hollywood Films. Six of the best pre-code examples and a documentary made this festival not only entertaining, but informative.

Everything kicked off on Thursday, May 22, 2008 with 1931's Night Nurse and 1932's Three on a Match. Both films were direct contradictions of the Hays Code with issues ranging from murder to drug addiction. Night Nurse stars Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Blondell and Clark Gable in a tale of medical curruption. Stanwyck is Lora Hart, a young girl with no experience who tries to become a nurse-in-training. After garnering some favor with the head surgeon, she lands the position and quickly forms a camaraderie with B. Maloney (Joan Blondell). A bootlegger named Mortie (Ben Lyon) stumbles in one evening with a gunshot wound. Lora treats him; and although she's legally required to report all such cases to the police, she agrees to look the other way. After Lora and Maloney graduate to become full-fledged nurses, they're assigned to care for two sick children. Lora notices the children wasting away and suspects foul play. The mother of the children is in a constant state of drunkenness, and her boyfriend Nick (Clark Gable), is a brute with cruel intentions. Lora discovers that Nick is planning to starve the children to death, marry their mother and collect their trust fund. With time running out and the lives of the children hanging in the balance, Lora must find a way to stop Nick's plans. Three on a Match stars Joan Blondell, Bette Davis and Ann Dvorak. The plot surrounds three young girls and their transition from childhood to adulthood. As a child, Mary Keaton (Joan Blondell), was the troublemaker. She laughed in the face of authority and constantly belittled her teachers. Ruth Wescott (Bette Davis) was the picturesque well-behaved little girl. Her goal in life was to be a secretary like thousands of other girls. Vivian Revere (Ann Dvorak) had plans to attend a private school. As the three girls grow up, they all fulfill their adolescent dreams. Mary surprises everyone by becoming a well-respected actress after a stint in reform school. Vivian is unhappily married and Ruth is learning to type. To break the monotony in her life, Vivian takes a cruise without her husband Robert (Warren William) and quickly falls into the party scene. Despite Mary's intervention, Vivian develops a drug problem and endangers her son Junior, who's on-board with her. She quickly spirals out of control, due in part to a relationship with Michael Loftus, a wannabe gangster with ties to a real criminal organization. A young Humphrey Bogart also appears as "Harve". Read our full review of Three on a Match here.

The second evening of the festival boasted a huge crowd and began with an incredible documentary, Why Be Good? Sexuality and Censorship in the Early Cinema. Executive produced by Hugh Hefner and directed by Elaina Archer, the 70 min. feature is an extensive look at the dawn of the film industry and how society's progression has been represented on-screen. Beginning in the silent era, the documentary illustrates the glitter of the jazz age and continues with a burgeoning women's rights movement. Guest speakers including John Gilbert's daughter and Marlene Dietrich's daughter added to the realism of the documentary's focus. It was the perfect lead-in to Forbidden, the 1932 story of taboo love starring Barbara Stanwyck and Adolphe Menjou. Stanwyck is Lulu Smith, a bookworm-like librarian with the most boring existence imaginable. She dreams of romance and marriage, but her modest income and shyness guarantee otherwise. That is, until she decides to withdraw her savings and take a luxury cruise in search of love. She quickly meets District Attorney Bob Grover (Menjou) on the ship under comedic circumstances and a relationship blooms. Everything looks beautiful for the new couple. After the cruise, they set up a picturesque living arrangement and spend their days drunk with happiness. But when Bob confesses that he's been married all along to a woman with a handicap, and that leaving her would make him feel guilty, Lulu throws him out in a rage. Unbeknownst to Bob, Lulu is pregnant with his child. After the baby is born, Bob shows up at Lulu's apartment and they reconcile. He meets his daughter Roberta for the first time. Because Bob is married, and having a child with the other woman would prove scandalous, they masquerade the baby as an adoption case. Roberta grows up under a veil of secrecy. All the while, a reporter named Al Holland (Ralph Bellamy) has been looking for dirt on Bob and a case of infidelity may be the perfect headline. The final shock of the evening came in the form of 1930's Madam Satan, a deliciously odd film directed by the legendary Cecil B. DeMille. Angela Brooks (Kay Johnson) and her husband Bob (Reginald Denny) are a wealthy couple with problems. Their marriage starts to deteriorate, sending Bob into the arms of a promiscuous woman named Trixie (Lillian Roth). Kay, refusing to lose Bob to a fast woman, decides to use an upcoming masquerade ball to her advantage. She attends the party dressed as a "devil woman" named Madam Satan. She radiates of lust and sin, luring the men in the room just enough to tease them. In reality, her only goal is to attract her wandering husband and to be desirable to him once again. The ball is held inside a large zeppelin suspended in the air, so when a freak storm hits, the guests scramble in a frenzy in the midst of Madam Satan's repertoire. It should be noted that the scenes inside the zeppelin are some of the most psychedelic routines ever to be filmed. The entire sequence is dream-like and almost unreal. If one can imagine waking up and remembering a crazy nightmare, the masquerade ball in Madam Satan would be it.

The third and final evening began with a film that was as much gangster as it was pre-code, The Beast of the City. The 1932 hard-nosed drama stars Jean Harlow, Walter Huston and Wallace Ford. Jim Fitzpatrick (Huston) is a cop investigating a mob murder. He suspects that Sam Belmonte (Jean Hersholt), a rival mobster, is behind the grisly crime. Jim's brother Ed (Ford) agrees to help the investigation by questioning Daisy (Harlow), an employee of Belmonte who seems to have her own ties to the underworld. When Ed arrives at Daisy's apartment, it's business as usual until she entices him to drink a few beers. The combination of her allure and the alcohol cause the two of them to begin an affair. Meanwhile, Jim has assigned Ed to watch over a large shipment of money. Ed is happy to have the important assignment, and tells Daisy about it while in a drunken fog. She conveniently tells Ed of wanting to "get away", but that a lack of money has dampened her plans. With his judgment impaired, Ed agrees to be "knocked out" by two hoodlums, who will then steal the shipment and kick some back to the couple. The scheme plays out with tragic results, as a police officer is killed during a shootout with the assailants. Ed feels responsible for the officer's death, and when Jim finds out about his involvement, he essentially disowns him as a brother. What's more, none of the accused men are found guilty at trial. Ed's only chance at redemption is to turn the tables on the gangsters he helped. A huge showdown tops off this blatantly suggestive pre-code shocker! The festival concluded with one last 1932 drama, Skyscraper Souls. David Dwight (Warren William) is obsessed with his own skyscraper, The Dwight Building, which sits in the middle of New York City. But when the building's future is jeopardized by a loan that David had made to himself, his win-at-any-cost attitude kicks into a higher gear. His mistress Sarah (Verree Teasdale) doesn't realize the extent of his selfishness, despite the fact that he uses a dead (but still legal) marriage to his wife Ella (Hedda Hopper) as a convenience. He asks Sarah's secretary Lynn (Maureen O'Sullivan) to work late one evening so he can lure her into a party he's throwing in his apartment upstairs. Lynn complies and hand-delivers the assignment to David, while her date Tom (Norman Foster) waits in her office for her to return. She doesn't. Though Lynn refused David's advances, Tom can only assume the worst and lashes out on her. Lynn runs to Sarah and explains the situation. When Sarah explains it to Tom, he decides to reconcile with Lynn, but not before Sarah gives him an inside stock tip that all but guarantees a secure future. The stock rides a roller-coaster but eventually drops, leaving many broke, including Tom. Meanwhile, David has strengthened himself financially and now owns the entire skyscraper outright. Tom's jealousy towards David continues. Lynn, fed up with Tom's behavior, decides to run away with David. But David's selfish ways might just catch up to him before he has a chance to leave.

The American Cinematheque's Why Be Good? series at the Egyptian Theatre was a highly enjoyable trip through Hollywood's scandalous yesterdays. The prints shown were very clean, especially The Beast of the City, despite it being the only available print in existence. Scores of film lovers and curious newcomers to the pre-code "genre" filled the historic Egyptian for three days of unapologetic naughtiness. That small window of artistic freedom prior to the Hays Code is responsible for some of the most suggestive films of all time.