Fox Before The Code

No, not that Fox, silly! While we were off gallavanting in Vegas with the International Film Festival Summit, we somehow lost sight of the fact that Fox Before The Code, a wonderful, three-week series of films from the era right before the infamous Hayes Production Code went into effect, was simultaneously unspooling at NYC's Film Forum.

In a lengthy discussion on The Reeler, the theatre's director of reperatory programming, Bruce Goldstein, notes how the package of films came together and puts them into their larger historical context. “When I first saw a pre-Code film, I was just stunned," Goldstein said. "I never believed that films could be that racy in 1931.”

But, while we may have missed Call Her Savage - pictured above and apparently containing not only the proffered whip, but a romp with a Great Dane and the silver screen's first bona fide gay bar - there's still time to catch such likely gems as Painted Woman, She Learned About Sailors and 3 On a Honeymoon! The series runs until December 21st.