Baby Face (1933)

 Alfred E. Green's "Baby Face"

Before the Hays Code was put into effect in 1934, the pre-code era of Hollywood contained films that were more liberal in their depiction of sexuality, politics, and other 'controversial' subject matters. One of the films that kickstarted the need for the Hays Code was Alfred E. Green's 1933 film "Baby Face." The film stars Barbara Stanwyck as an abused barmaid who sleeps her way to the top of the banking empire, leaving a trail of broken marriages in her headstrong quest to better her life. 

The film was controversial for many reason. Firstly, the Hays Office disliked the overt sexual nature of the films. After all, a woman uses her natural sexuality to exploit the men around her. She uses her sexuality as a form of power. She sleeps with multiple men in the film and breaks apart many a marriage in order to climb her way to the top. The Hays Office felt this was too explicit and immoral. Secondly, another issue taken with the film was the overt friendship between Stanwyck's character and her black coworker, Chico.  Throughout the film, Stanwyck defends her comradery with Chico and even takes her along with her to New York for a better life. Thirdly, the film's use of Friedrich Nietzsche as the moral compass guiding Stanwyck's character was also controversial. After being abused and sold for sex by her father in the opening of the film, Stanwyck's reading of Nietzsche's "Will to Power" is what convinces her to take control of her circumstances and use her femininity and her sexuality to gain power. There were many alternate versions of the film in which the Nietzschean references were eliminated completely.

Overall, the film was a major controversy upon its release. It helped force the Hays Office to implement the Hays Code, which severely censored Hollywood films for the next 11 years. It is a film that demonstrates a women's inherent power and how women can take control over their lives and circumstances. This is perhaps why it was looked down upon by the Hays Office and even pulled from distribution in many states. It was a bold and daring film in 1933 and retrospectively, its impact created a vast ripple effect in film history.