Censorship in Silents: An Interview with Elaina Archer

As promised here's the interview with the wonderfully talented Elaina Archer. We're giving away a DVD of her documentary "Why Be Good? Sexuality and Censorship in Early Cinema". Click here for details. You can purchase and read more about Elaina's other documentaries (including some very stunning work on Louise Brooks and Clara Bow) over at http://www.aandfproductions.com

FTT: So what made you decide to do a documentary on not only censorship but sexuality as well?

EA: Sexuality and censorship go hand in hand. It is true that human sexuality is only one issue that is covered when discussing censorship, and a subject that I have always been fascinated in. All of the stars that I have focused upon in my documentary films have stood for some kind of freedom and empowerment in the sexual arena - yes, even Mary Pickford. I am highly impressed with the ability to create a powerful sexual persona on the screen, something that I truly believes takes a unique talent to pull off in a convincing manner. In another of our programs, "Gangland: Bullets Over Hollywood", we focus on censoring violence and gangland cinema. "Why Be Good? Sexuality and Censorship in Early Cinema" focuses only on the sexual arena. We include sociological, political, technical and all other aspects of the era in order to provide a background of knowledge that would explain the sexual mores of the time. This allows for a greater understanding of our subject and allows the clips, literally to speak for themselves. Nine years ago, I sold and produced a show for Timeline Films entitled "Complicated Women" which covers the pre-code era from 1929-1935. Now, I wished to create a film that shows the pre-pre-code era. I wanted to show that censorship has always existed in one form or another, since the very beginning of film, and even prior to the birth of film, in the theater and in all of the arts.

FTT: How did you enter the documentary world?

EA: We have Hugh Hefner to thank for many of our films. He has been incredibly supportive and absolutely wonderful to work for. Everyone at Playboy has been amazing. When I first began my career at the Mary Pickford library, and began to seek out financing for documentaries focusing on cinema history, I found Hugh Hefner to be immediately responsive and supportive of our efforts to create high quality programming to bring the subject of film history to a modern audience. Mr. Hefner collaborated with Turner Classic Movies to executive-produce our tributes to Louise Brooks, Clara Bow and Marion Davies for Timeline Films where I had a wonderful and extremely creative partnership producing and editing films for TCM with director, Hugh Munro Neely. When I ventured off on my own, I partnered with Todd Friedrichsen, and Mr. Hefner and TCM co-produced our tribute to Rita Hayworth. He then co-produced our study of 100 years of gangland cinema with Starz Encore Entertainment. By the time we were ready to tackle the subject of censorship, Hugh Hefner was our Executive Producer once again, this time owning all rights to the film. We share with Mr. Hefner a disdain for the hypocrisy behind censorship, and we were thrilled to create this film study under the auspices of Playboy Enterprises.

FTT: What is it like making a documentary?

EA: It takes many people to make a film, and we were lucky to work with some of the most creative and talented people I have ever met. Due to budget constraints, we did most of the work ourselves, from soup to nuts, so to speak. But, we were surrounded by such tremendous talent. The on-camera interviews were amazing and insightful, and we had incredible resources to work with. Based on my experiences in creating the other documentaries, I was able to get a pretty good grasp as to what elements were out there for us to work with. Mostly, I am eternally grateful to Maria Newman for providing us with an incredible collection of music form which to edit picture to - it was absolutely amazing to be in the editing room and to be able to watch as her music worked so perfectly with clip after clip - like magic. She has such a talent for breathing life into silent films with music. Also, Alan Boyd created our theme song for "Why Be Good?" and it works perfectly.

Holly Madison was the perfect model. She had to go through four costume changes, three wigs and dance for hours in uncomfortable shoes. She was a real trooper, and I am so proud of the footage we shot of her for the titles and act breaks. She was our representative of the iconic girl of the eras, and I couldn't ask for a better model. Of course, we were highly criticized for this choice as it is a modern representation of a historic image, but I think it is one of the most inventive visuals we have ever produced, and it adds a timeless feel and a beautiful, creative edge to the entire production. I was very happy with all of our on-camera interviews, as they allowed for many magical moments on screen. I had worked with Barry Paris years ago when he wrote our Louise Brooks documentary. It was incredible to edit together the bytes from him and Louise together. They speak in a similar manner, and since Barry knows Louise so well, combing the two on camera gave us some wonderful insight into her personality.


FTT: You've mentioned not being able to fit everyone and everything in "Why Be Good?" that you wanted. How do you decide what to keep in and leave out?

EA: There are a number of reasons why we chose the stars and directors that make up our arc of story in this particular film. First of all, there are those that I feel are true representatives of being a strong voice for their era. Also, when you are working with limited budgets, we had to be extremely careful with our licensing budget. I wanted to show Anna May Wong's dance in "Piccadily", but the price was out of our range, so that clip came off of our list. The other film we were going to focus upon for her was "The Toll of the Sea", but she came across as virtuous in the piece, and we would have had to spend a lot of time explaining the plot, which I chose not to do, as there were so many other films I wanted to spend more time with.

I feel that "Pandora's Box" is one of the most important films of the decade. Louise if perfect as a naive beauty who has a knack for destroying the lives of those around her, and for being used for her beauty. Barry Paris expertly describes the clip for us where she cries that everyone wants something from her. In the end, it is her sexuality that ultimately leads to her demise. This is a film I wanted to spend a lot of time on, and so some others were sacrificed in its place.

We were also trying to create an exciting and interesting piece that would not become a laundry list, so when Vilma Banky and Anna May Wong hit the cutting room floor, amongst many other talented icons from the era, it was indeed frustrating. But in the end, these decisions gave more power to the subjects that we did choose to focus upon. Cecil B. DeMille is incredibly interesting to me because of what he was able to get away with. As long as the fallen woman or man was redeemed by the end of the picture, they could get away with as much sex and violence as he could put on the screen. This is pretty much how they were able to get away with it also after the Code was enforced, which I find ironic. We left in what we felt was fitting for our thesis, and also what we could afford.

FTT: Some say censorship was good; it encouraged us to be...more creative. Whats your take? Censorship: good or bad?

EA: I think the ratings system truly saved the day as a parent can decide whether a film with an "R" rating is OK, but can always avoid X. I think censorship went overboard, really forcing people to push the envelope even further. As filmmakers, we choose to make documentaries that present the facts only and encourage people to make their own decisions, we present the facts so the audience can come up with their own conclusions. We simply show the events as they unfold. I must say that I agree with Michael Schlesinger when he stated in our show that there were classic films made after the code was enforced, but they were classics in spite of the code, not because of it.

I also feel that the entire concept of censorship is riddled with hypocrisy on so many levels, and we tried to show some of these in our film. The studios fought for self-censorship when they appointed Will Hays and threw Fatty Arbuckle under the bus, even though he had been acquitted. They didn't care what the stars did as long as it didn't get in the press. Dietrich was disgusted by this. As Maria Riva states, she told them that they could tell her what to do on screen, but what she did off of it was her own business. The "Bible Belt" is full of hypocritical holes, and there are so many obvious ones. Those who preach and who boycott certain films and condemn certain behavior, and then these same people pay to see these films, and conduct themselves in the same manner as those who stand accused. Mae West is the Queen for putting up a mirror in the face of hypocrisy. She was way ahead of her time and has opened so many doors - she was a powerhouse, and, for a while, she was virtually untouchable. Of course, until the Code was enforced. Then she lost some of her shock value, along with box office dollars. And, lets face it, in this business, it is all about the dollars. But, Mae West was on a mission - one that lasted for her entire life.

FTT: Do you think censorship during the 1910s and 1920s was effective or even accomplished anything other than creative inspiration? It seems like the messages were always snuck in somehow. Almost like the Hays Code was just to shut up the Mrs. Grundies. Do you think it ever accomplished what it was supposed to (i.e. make movies clean)?

EA: State Censor boards were a veritable nightmare for the studios and for the filmmakers. The costs were astronomical as films were returned literally chopped to pieces. The clips that were removed in the projection room were never replaced! Some of the most fascinating clips that we combed through were collected from projectionists who pieced together the "censored" clips. The quality was not the best, but we used these clips in montages to show what was removed. Of course, Hays was placed in his position in order to placate the American public, and to avoid government censorship.

Filmmakers managed to get around the code for many years, and even made very racy films during the early talkies, when shock value sold tickets. Films continued to contain shocking dialogue, adult situations, sexual innuendos and horrific violence right up until the axe fell in 1935. "Of Human Bondage" is a true example of that. Some of the most shocking and fascinating films I have ever seen was when I spent an entire year watching nothing but pre-code talkies in preparation for "Complicated Women". It makes you stop and consider how the enforcement of the Code truly watered down creative freedom in film. I don't think there was any real fear throughout the industry until sound came in. But, that is another show. In the same manner, the Blacklist created a void in the America film market for decades. So, in a sense many of the films that were considered subversive then, were embraced in the 1970s. Again, another show...but it is interesting to see it as one entire history of the progression of creativity in film thwarted by paranoia.

FTT: Now you've mentioned not being wild about The Vamp persona. Why? The vamp was one of the first major 'sexual' crazes of the film industry wasn't it?

EA: I certainly do think that the "Vamp" deserves credit for creating a persona for a woman's empowerment at a time when we were just coming out of a very strict and repressive time for women. I do agree with Jeanine Basinger when she mentioned in our film that the Vamp quickly became a caricature of herself - a stereotype with a limited lifespan. We quote Nita Naldi in our piece that she despised the "Vamp" - she claimed that it was ridiculous for any man to leave his wife and ruin his life based on how a woman can raise and lower her eyelashes. However, this type did provide a bridge for other sexual revolutionaries in cinema. Although, sexual icons in film after the Vamp did not have to be dangerous to be sexual.

FTT: Nita was a bit of a hypocrite on that (she stole J. Searle Barclay in a similar manner) but yes she did indeed loathe the vamp! So of the ladies who are your favorites? And who do you think challenged censors the most (both on and offscreen)?

EA: Most of my favorites are covered in the film. Mary Pickford has long been my mentor, and she is the reason that I became a producer. I respect her strength, and her taking a stand to get a divorce and marry the man she loved at a time when this would have normally killed her career. I find her early work to be refreshingly sexual, something that she toned down later. But she had the foresight and the power to create her own studio, to be the only woman amongst many men to stand up for independent filmmaking. I find that alone to be very sexy!

This production gave me the exciting opportunity to revisit some of my favorites, as I had already created shows on Louise Brooks and Clara Bow. I love these actresses because they had a natural sexuality, a sensual presence that did not come across as affected, rather it was part of their persona. Both of them were so stunning and so natural, that their very presence illuminated the screen and I find their performances modern and timeless. I feel that after Clara, Dietrich and West took over the role of the sexual icon at Paramount.

Dietrich has a wonderful sense of amusement about sex, treating it with a European attitude for an American audience. And, Mae West is truly the voice against the double standard. She was almost masculine in her approach to sex as she felt that a woman should be able to act in the same manner that a man does. I love her honesty. I also love Swanson's honesty, which I find to be a very powerful tool for a woman. A woman who can be honest with herself, and be proud of her actions, is truly a very sexual being. There are so many pre-code women that I wish we could have included in our program, but we were limited, as I mentioned, by a limited budget for licensing. Universal is a wonderful studio, and because of them, we were able to include many Universal and early Paramount films in our shows. This, of course made me happy as I was able to include these women in our film. We call act four our "rant n' rave" act. Now that women could talk, we wanted to show them shout at the hypocrites; at their lovers, their abusive fathers, and the supposedly "better" woman. This was very refreshing to show after all of the repression from earlier years. And when powerful actresses like Barbara Stanwyck and Bette Davis have control of the screen in such a manner, it is extremely powerful. Barbara Stanwyck, Miriam Hopkins, Joan Blondell, Ruth Chatterton, Carole Lombard, to name a few - the list is endless - pre-code women on the screen were expressing freedom in their sexuality, and their message packs as much of a punch today as it did in its time.


FTT: Now what about the men? In the 1910s your Thomas Meighan types (Francis X. Bushman, Arthur Johnson, etc) were the sex symbols. Then Rudy came in and changed it all. What impact on sexuality and censorship do you think that had?

EA: Arguably, Rudolph Valentino stood out, by far as the most dangerous, sexual male figure on film up to that point. His sexuality is timeless and, many times I found myself mesmerized in the editing room watching him to choose clips. He wasn't only handsome and elegant, but he had a dangerous sexual tension about him that is lasting today. His performances do not appear dated and he continues to thrill new audience members who are exposed to his raw talent. Do I sound like I'm drooling? Perhaps...but nobody can deny his appeal.

I would have loved to see what he would have accomplished in talkies as a dashing older man. I have had the privilege to hear a recording of him singing (click here to listen) and I think he would have done very well in musicals. I also love John Gilbert, who has a tremendous internal beauty and vulnerability that women love. It was so easy to fall in love with this gorgeous, incredibly talented man, and to want to take him home and take care of him, as many women did, including Dietrich. And, of course, I truly adore Jack Pickford. I created a documentary film tribute to Jack Pickford, a true labor of love, and am amazed every time I see his incredible talent. He was very modern and realistic in his approach to acting; natural and sensitive which gave him a unique sensuality. Sadly, he is mostly forgotten, which is why I created the film in the first place and hope that people have a chance to see it.

FTT: Whats your thoughts on the anti-miscegenation stuff? The Hays Code (and most production codes during the 1910s and 1920s) forbid 'interracial relationships' to be portrayed without one of them dying in the end (to show the evils of such things). Anna May Wong and Sessue Hayakawa could never kiss their white co-stars due to the code. What impact do you think this had?

EA: This is a very complex issue. Similarly, in "Broken Blossoms", Lilian was saved by Richard Barthelmess who played a Chinese man in yellowface. But, she dies in the end, and they cannot be together. I think, as usual, the studios were being careful, choosing stories that were safe in how they approached this situation. They wanted box office dollars and not angry patrons - yet another example of hypocrisy in the industry, and one of the reasons that Anna May Wong went to England and Germany to make films. She thought that she could avoid being stereotyped there, which was, in the end, unfortunately untrue. Black Cinema had it's own distribution chain of theaters, which is also shocking to today's audience. That is why I have such tremendous respect for the independent vision of King Vidor, who made "Hallelujah" for his first talkie - a musical with an all-black cast, and an amazing film seen only by black audiences at the time.

FTT: What impact do you think the censorship and sexual revolution of the 20s had on future generations? What bad and good things do we owe to them?

EA: This was, without a doubt the first sexual revolution. It was a time of change, on many levels, which allowed for a sexual freedom to arise. Women got to vote, they were hired as writers and editors at the studios, they had to work to support their families, and, in turn, they lifted their skirts, cut their hair and did as they pleased. And, the beauty of all of this is that it was captured on film! As opportunities arose for women in the workplace, and on film, women had a new sense of freedom. And, when Clara Bow made sex fun, instead of dangerous, attitudes toward sex changed. Mae West laughed at the hypocrisy and then sauntered off to bed the man of her choice.

FTT: I just adored your documentary. What future projects do you have in the works, and where can people buy the work you've already finished?

EA: All of our shows are available through different distributors - all of whom can be found on our web site - www.aandfproductions.com - we have put up links to the various distribution companies. At the present time, I cannot disclose what I am in development on, as these subjects are very dear to me, and I would not with to jinx any possibility of one day creating a documentary on any of them. I have been working with my dear friend, renowned composer Maria Newman, collaborating with her to present silent films with live scores. We have been actively seeking silent films for her to score. I feel that Maria has a real gift for creating poignant and exciting music for silent cinema. I am creating a documentary film study on Maria as she conceptualizes a score and breathes life once again into a silent film with music. Hugh Neely at the Mary Pickford library has been extremely generous in that regard. We recently acquired some beautiful Mary Pickford films for Maria to score and I cannot wait to see (and hear) what she does with them. We also recently acquired a Marion Davies film, and I will keep you posted as to when we will be able to plan a screening.

I have had the great pleasure of presenting films at her home, The Montgomery Arts House for Music and Architecture - a truly amazing experience. - www.malibufriendsofmusic.org - It is always very rewarding to expose people to silent films for the first time in the best possible circumstances, and of course, presenting them with gorgeous live music is ideal. I have also been lecturing and presenting films at various other venues in the Los Angeles area.

FTT: And finally, what are your thoughts on working in and putting up with the Silent Film Community?

EA: This is a very small community with experts on every subject. When I first got involved with the Mary Pickford library and Timeline Films, I was thrilled to be able to meet so many incredibly bright, enthusiastic lovers of silent cinema. I came to Los Angeles with a degree in Film History and Criticism ready to conquer the world, and to find where Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford made films, to name a few. Los Angeles was the mecca for film production for many decades, and this is one of the few places where there is constant exposure to all kinds of cinema.

I was lucky to land a job at Pickford as she was my greatest mentor. I admired her strength, her honesty and, of course, her talent. And, because of the foundation and through the production of our various documentary films, I was able to meet so many incredible people. I was a sponge, soaking up knowledge in order to create the most comprehensive, informative and entertaining docs that I possibly could. Of course, not everything was easy. I had my share of adversity and struggles. But, I truly feel that as long as you are sincere in your vision and respect the many knowledgeable people of the silent film community, than you will go far. Focus on your work, and do not let anything else distract you. Focus on your mission to excite people about silent films, and to promote film preservation and restoration...and to bring this beautiful art form to a modern audience. For that alone, I say good luck!