Sin In Soft Focus: Pre-Code Hollywood

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful photos, slightly disappointing text
Review: Buy this for the stunning black and white photos generously presented throughout. Many are full-page sized and all are beautifully printed. The text, however, is somewhat disappointing, serving as a rather shallow survey of movies of the early 30's. Historical context is covered well but, for all the pre-code movies that are available on cable these days, this book discusses in depth only the most well known (such as King Kong, It Happened One Night, and Sign of the Cross). Reading this book got me interested in watching pre-code movies, but most of the more interesting films I've seen from that era (Wild Boys of the Road, Safe in Hell, Other Men's Women, Five Star Final) aren't covered here, despite their provocative themes. I'm finding more depth in Thomas Doherty's book Pre-Code Hollywood. But as a coffee-table book of early Hollywood, and perhaps as a mouth-watering introduction to this fascinating era of popular culture, this can't be beat.

Rating:
Summary: BEAUTIFUL AND COMPELLING.
Review: In this exhaustively researched, beautifully illustrated book, author Vieira does an exceptional job. Recently, I have been drawn to the fascinating world of Pre-Code Cinema. There were some really realistically seedy, controversial and revealing films made in the Hollywood of the late twenties and early thirties. Many films which have been previously believed lost or destroyed have been rescued for the public to enjoy once more on either video or TCM. Hot stuff for the depression era! Fascinating films of the era include: THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE which starred the unique Miriam Hopkins. In this one, she plays the title character who is lured into the underworld, gets raped - and finds she likes it (!). Even sweetly saccharine Loretta Young had a dark-side: check out MIDNIGHT MARY. What I find ironic is that to many people, many vintage films are considered too pretty or unrealistic. This book proves otherwise!! A thoroughly fascinating venture into a little-known side of Hollywood which existed a scant half-dozen years: the era of Pre-Code talkies. A very informative and revealing laboured work of art - and a fine resource - for fans of vintage film.

Rating:
Summary: So Many Movies, So Little Time
Review: Like Mick LaSalle's wonderful book COMPLICATED WOMEN which chronicles the impact the Hayes Office had on decimating the interesting roles portrayed by women, this book serves as an interesting companion piece. It chronicles the somewhat racy plots and the female characters portrayed in pre-code movies.
Bordering on an almost scholarly take on this topic, this tome takes you through a lot of the grittier plots tackled by early Hollywood films and the wonderful actresses who portrayed the lead characters.
By the end of this book, you will find yourself craving a pre-code Harlow, Shearer, Crawford, Garbo or Bow film and will want to devour a lot of them like a 21 oz. bag of Hershey kisses or Raisinets. Such were the days when little titans like Hayes weren't dictating the mantra called the CODE and films were a little risque and fun and not always that predictable.

Rating:
Summary: NICE BOOK, WRONG PAIRING
Review: SIN IN SOFT FOCUS is both a great general history of pre-Code and a gorgeous book of photography. But ladies, ladies, ladies, why oh why, if you're to sell it with another book, aren't you pairing it with COMPLICATED WOMEN by Nick LaSalle, which truly complements Vieira's work and is a very great book in its own right? Now THAT would be a deal.

Rating:
Summary: SPLENDID SPLENDOR
Review: The consensus on this book has been uniformly enthusiastic, and for good reason. Mark Vierra has created an accurate, breezily written and artistically informed pre-Code history, far superior to Thomas Doherty's Pre-Code Hollywood and worthy of mention (and bookshelf kinship) with Mick LaSalle's magisterial Complicated Women. Vierra knows the movies, has seen them and, I think importantly, likes them -- likes them enough to communicate their splendid splendor to 28-year-old converts like myself and long-time fans alike. And what BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS. You just want to cry for the beauty.

Rating:
Summary: SPLENDID SPLENDOR
Review: The consensus on this book has been uniformly enthusiastic, and for good reason. Mark Vierra has created an accurate, breezily written and artistically informed pre-Code history, far superior to Thomas Doherty's Pre-Code Hollywood and worthy of mention (and bookshelf kinship) with Mick LaSalle's magisterial Complicated Women. Vierra knows the movies, has seen them and, I think importantly, likes them -- likes them enough to communicate their splendid splendor to 28-year-old converts like myself and long-time fans alike. And what BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS. You just want to cry for the beauty.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific book of pre-code movie photos
Review: The quality & the quantity of photos in this book is terrific! It covers the pre-code (1930-1934) era of Hollywood films. It should be used in conjunction with Mick Lasalle's "Complicated Women" (or less interestingly, with Thomas Doherty's "Pre-Code Hollywood") for best results. You can look at the great pictures in his book while reading the text of the other two (which also include great photos, but not nearly to the extent contained here).

Rating:
Summary: Terrific book of pre-code movie photos
Review: The quality & the quantity of photos in this book is terrific! It covers the pre-code (1930-1934) era of Hollywood films. It should be used in conjunction with Mick Lasalle's "Complicated Women" (or less interestingly, with Thomas Doherty's "Pre-Code Hollywood") for best results. You can look at the great pictures in his book while reading the text of the other two (which also include great photos, but not nearly to the extent contained here).

Rating:
Summary: Great book, great text
Review: This book is a very informative book on pre-code Hollywood, excellent written and visual examples.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining look at a formidable time in film history
Review: This book offers a great collection of photographs and an insightful look at the early days of Hollywood when religious groups, politicians and self-important studio execs were grappling with Hollywood's role and responsibilities. Many nearly forgotten films are discussed. Like McCarthyism, this issues deserves this look so that we don't forget where society has been. A great book for film buffs.