Pre-Code Lobby Card and Poster Art

Along with the Production Code, the MPPDA also had an Advertising Code. These are some examples of adverting used for various pre-Code films.

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Pre-Code Hollywood – Pre‑Code Hollywood refers to the wild, daring era of American filmmaking between the arrival of sound (1929) and the strict enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code — better known as the Hays Code — in 1934.

During these few glorious years, studios pushed boundaries with stories featuring bold women, risqué themes, moral ambiguity, crime, vice, and all the spicy material that would soon be banned. Filmmakers had far more freedom, and they used every inch of it.

It was Hollywood before Hollywood got told to behave.

Pre-Code Hollywood Classic Clips