Before I talk about the blogging award, I want to acknowledge the anniversary of the death of the Queen of Precode herself, Mae West, who passed away 22nd November 1980. Through her two main films – ‘She Done Him Wrong’ and ‘I’m No Angel’ she created a great legacy of racy, entertaining yet intelligent plots, dialogue and film-making. She is gone but definitely not forgotten
Mae West: August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980
Secondly, a special thanks to Margaret from The Great Katharine Hepburnwho gave me my first ever blogging award: the 7 × 7 link award. For this one I am to link posts that fit in the seven categories and then hand the award onto seven other bloggers. It is a few days late, but here is my contribution below:
1.) Most beautiful piece– I was not sure about this category as I have done many pieces that feature beautiful pictures of Precode actresses and actors (see ‘Precode Colourisations’) but as an overall ‘beautiful piece’ is my post on ‘Lessons from Precode Hollywood’ which I discuss all the wonderful life lessons actresses such as Greta Garbo, Mae West and Ruth Chatterton have taught me through their best Precodes.
2.) Most helpful piece–For this topic I wanted to highlight my first ever post ‘In the Beginning.’ Although, it has appalling writing style and layout, it details a little bit of the history behind Precode Hollywood, mainly, the depression, the lead up to the decision to create the Hays Code and examples of classic movies from this era.
3.) Most popular piece– My most popular post probably illustrates the mindset and interests of people interested in Hollywood, it is entitled ‘Nudity in Precode’. In it I feature pictures from the more racy movies, some with silhouetted and complete nudity. I also followed this post with two clips; one of Dolores del Rio in ‘Bird of Paradise’ and Busby Berkley’s famous dance number ‘Pettin’ inthe Park’ from ‘Gold-diggers of 1933’.
4.) Most controversial piece– Another feature in my series on forbidden topics and their presence in Precode is my most controversial post ‘Gay and Lesbian in Precode’. It details the depiction and prevalence of homosexual characters in the era which can tend to shock some viewers who believe these stereotypes – namely, the ‘sissy male character’ and the ‘masculine butch female character’ were not present in early cinema.
5.) Surprisingly successful piece– I suppose this series appealed to the female audience and it really surprised me that my posts on ‘Precode Beauty Tips’ were so popular. I took most of my information from early Photoplay magazines and it was very interesting to discover how the actresses kept themselves beautiful and glamorous.
6.) Most underrated piece– Another piece I am proud of is a little study I did of remakes. Mainly those that were Precode films and were remade – and somewhat copied – in future film eras. My post called, ‘Beforethey were classics…’ discusses movies, such as, ‘The Wizard of Oz’, ‘The Letter’ and ‘Scarface’ which were classics for two generations of moviegoers.
7.) Piece you are most proud of - It is strange, but the piece I am most proud of was not written by me but by Ian who created several articles for me on the lovely Mack Sennett comedienne, Marjorie Beebe. For this category I choose the review of ‘Cowcatcher’s Daughter’ because it seemed to standout to me for several reasons; first because it took me a while to see the picture and it is really a hilarious and charming short, second as it was the first time that I successfully created and posted my own set of animated gifs (I can attest is not an easy feet) and, in general, Ian has written an entertaining and very informative piece which I encourage everyone to read.
2.) Most helpful piece–For this topic I wanted to highlight my first ever post ‘In the Beginning.’ Although, it has appalling writing style and layout, it details a little bit of the history behind Precode Hollywood, mainly, the depression, the lead up to the decision to create the Hays Code and examples of classic movies from this era.
3.) Most popular piece– My most popular post probably illustrates the mindset and interests of people interested in Hollywood, it is entitled ‘Nudity in Precode’. In it I feature pictures from the more racy movies, some with silhouetted and complete nudity. I also followed this post with two clips; one of Dolores del Rio in ‘Bird of Paradise’ and Busby Berkley’s famous dance number ‘Pettin’ inthe Park’ from ‘Gold-diggers of 1933’.
4.) Most controversial piece– Another feature in my series on forbidden topics and their presence in Precode is my most controversial post ‘Gay and Lesbian in Precode’. It details the depiction and prevalence of homosexual characters in the era which can tend to shock some viewers who believe these stereotypes – namely, the ‘sissy male character’ and the ‘masculine butch female character’ were not present in early cinema.
5.) Surprisingly successful piece– I suppose this series appealed to the female audience and it really surprised me that my posts on ‘Precode Beauty Tips’ were so popular. I took most of my information from early Photoplay magazines and it was very interesting to discover how the actresses kept themselves beautiful and glamorous.
6.) Most underrated piece– Another piece I am proud of is a little study I did of remakes. Mainly those that were Precode films and were remade – and somewhat copied – in future film eras. My post called, ‘Beforethey were classics…’ discusses movies, such as, ‘The Wizard of Oz’, ‘The Letter’ and ‘Scarface’ which were classics for two generations of moviegoers.
7.) Piece you are most proud of - It is strange, but the piece I am most proud of was not written by me but by Ian who created several articles for me on the lovely Mack Sennett comedienne, Marjorie Beebe. For this category I choose the review of ‘Cowcatcher’s Daughter’ because it seemed to standout to me for several reasons; first because it took me a while to see the picture and it is really a hilarious and charming short, second as it was the first time that I successfully created and posted my own set of animated gifs (I can attest is not an easy feet) and, in general, Ian has written an entertaining and very informative piece which I encourage everyone to read.
I know I am supposed to pass it on to seven other bloggers but I don’t think I could choose just seven; so I pass it on to anyone who wants to highlight their best posts.
