Topic: Breaking the Commandments: Pre-Code Hollywood

For a few brief years at the end of the silent era and early years of the talkies, Hollywood reveled in breaking the rules. Pre-Code Hollywood refers to an era from the arrival of sound in 1927 to the mandatory enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code in July 1934. This era is notable because while there was a Production Code on record, many Hollywood films turned a blind eye to its dictates and served up some of the most delightfully scandalous comedies and darkly sensational dramas. Contemporary audiences are sometimes surprised by how openly suggestive and fun many of these Pre-Code films are. Join me on a journey through some of these films and learn about the Pre-Code Hollywood film series presented in 2019 at Digital Gym Cinema.

About Beth: Beth Accomando covers arts and culture around San Diego for KPBS News. Beth studied film at UCSD and had her student film Writer’s Notebook screened as part of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s “Forty-Two Emerging Artists” showcase in 1981. She has edited the sequels to “The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” and video documentaries on Billy Wilder and roller hockey.

Beth is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and Online Film Critics Society, and is the past President and former Education Chairperson for the San Diego Film Critics Society. She served as the festival director of Film School Confidential: A Showcase of San Diego Student Filmmaking. In the past she has served on the film selection committee for the San Diego State University Student Film Festival, San Diego International Film Festival and San Diego Latino Film Festival. Now she volunteers as part of The Film Geeks at the Digital Gym Cinema to bring independent and envelope-pushing genre filmmaking to the Media Arts Center San Diego’s micro cinema.

Beth has been a film critic for more than 25 years and began at KPBS in 1987. Since 1997 she has been covering independent and international cinema as well as pop culture for National Public Radio and Public Radio International’s The World. She has received numerous Society of Professional Journalist Awards and San Diego Press Club Awards for her radio and web site work at KPBS. She has also received 11 southwestern area Emmy Awards in the categories of producing, writing, and sound design for promotional spots as well as national Pro Max and Telly Awards while working at Fox.

She has a passion for Hong Kong cinema, Japanese monster movies, horror, and film noir. She collects movie posters and toys, and loves putting on a haunted house every year.

DayTimers monthly programs are open to the whole community. Please RSVP below at least one week in advance or to Program Director Ilene Tatro at itatro@cbisd.org, 858 900-2516. Fee: $5 with RSVP, $8 without RSVP.