BREAKING THE CODE
Preston Sturges was a directo
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Preston Sturges was a director of comedies, but he was serious about the social commentary he included in these films. He directed the majority of his films in the 1940s, and at that time he had to work under the strictures of the Motion Picture Code which determined what could and could not be included as subject matter for films and how certain subjects could and could not be treated. Sturges showed the ability to skirt the edges of this code in his comedies, and he did so in very interesting ways in his 1948 film Unfaithfully Yours. Much that the Code said could not be done, Sturges managed to do with apparent impunity. In Unfaithfully Yours, he does this with a plot that features a detailed plan for a crime (which the Code said was not allowed), and on first viewing, the first half of the film has a different effect on the viewer than it would from repeated viewing because much of what is depicted seems "real" in the context of the story but is not. He accomplishes this by toying with audience expectations, meaning what the audience is accustomed to seeing in other Hollywood films of the time. In the story, Sir Alfred is a great conductor who travels a good deal. He is also a rather foolish and often jealous man who adores his wife and is in turn adored by her, but there are nagging doubts in his mind that he never admits to himself until his foolish brother-in-law claims to have followed his orders by having the wife followed. In truth, that
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g punishment for crime had to be observed. The intent of the Code on one level was to avoid anything that seemed to promote crime, criminal activity, or disaffection with the social order, meaning that poking fun at officials, police, or judges had its limits and that criminals always received their comeuppance. In the first portion of this film, however, which is more than half the film in terms of running time, the "criminal" murders his wife (also an appealing character, making his crime all the worse), frames her supposed lover, destroys any evidence otherwise, and laughs as the "lover" is convicted an taken away to be executed.
Sturges undercuts all of this by revealing that it was only the mind of Sir Alfred we have been watching as it hatches this plan (an involved but not impossible plan, and so the plan itself went counter to the provision in the Code that films not become a "how-to" manual for criminals). Sir Alfred constitutes the central consciousness of the film from the beginning. He gets off the plane and has his meeting with August, and from then on, the audience remains with him as he seeks information, makes decisions, and carries out his plans. His wife is beautiful and devoted as far as we can see, and y
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Sir Alfred, Code Sturges, Sir Alfred's, sir alfred, Picture Code, Preston Sturges, Daphne Anthony, Preston Unfaithfully, portion film, appealing character, audience expectations, half film, commit murder, mind sir alfred, film seen, jealous streak, mind sir, mechanical recorder,
Approximate Word count = 1769
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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