Curse like an actor!?

[Serial Hero]

Has anyone watched the blooper real on the new “the Maltese Falcon”?

Now, I’m not naive enough to think people in the 30’s and 40’s didn’t curse, and it’s hard to get away from it in this day and age…

But to hear Pat O’Brien, Jimmy Stewart, and a couple of others let out a string of swear words every time they flubbed a line was a bit shocking. I was surprised this was even on a short that would have been played in theaters in the early 40’s.

Any thoughts?

 

[BJonas]

...

I'm sorry, I just can't get over the thought of Jimmy Stewart cursing. It's like seeing Santa Claus selling drugs.

Incidently, I have been reading a book about the 1939 World's Fair, and the author mentions that things like cursing and pornography were much more public at the time than we think they were.

Jimmy Stewart... imagine the "Harvey" bloopers.

 

[carebear]

Maybe Dana Carvey's impression of Stewart on SNL was closer to reality than we realized.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Those Warner Bros. breakdowns weren't actually shown in theatres -- they were put together for the studio's annual Christmas party, where the libations were flowing and everyone was in a loose-n-happy mood.

But there *was* swearing in the occasional pre-Code film during the early talkie era -- mild h's and d's, but nevertheless it was there. Seeing these moments is usually quite an eyeopener to viewers who've assumed films of the era were always as sanitized as the post-Code stuff.

 

[Feraud]

Maybe Dana Carvey's impression of Stewart on SNL was closer to reality than we realized.

I always wondered where Carvey got that material from! lol
Everytime I see that one I crack up.

 

[MrBern]

I've read criticisms by veterans that the depicted cursing & swearing in SavingPrivate Ryan really wasnt prevalent back then. Defensively, they atribute that language more to the VietNam era than the noble `40s.
But I've also heard otherwise.
Those soldiers were often very young & not accustomed to profanity but the older guys cursed plenty.
usually stories were cleaned up before relating them in memoirs or to th press.

 

[carebear]

I always wondered where Carvey got that material from! lol
Everytime I see that one I crack up.

When you read these, do the voice.


The George Bailey Senate Hearing

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/89/89gwonderfullife.phtml

I've posted this before but the combined goodness of Shatner hosting and the Lost Ending to It's a Wonderful Life

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/86/86hlife.phtml

 

[Feraud]

When you read these, do the voice.

There's the interview on Sprockets...

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/89/89asprockets.phtml

The George Bailey Senate Hearing

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/89/89gwonderfullife.phtml

I've posted this before but the combined goodness of Shatner hosting and the Lost Ending to It's a Wonderful Life

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/86/86hlife.phtml

I cannot get through reading the interview with "Dooter" without breaking up laughing!!! lol lol

 

[carebear]

It's so antithetical to his film persona. Especially the Mexico/Paraguay bits.

 

[scotrace]

I've read criticisms by veterans that the depicted cursing & swearing in SavingPrivate Ryan really wasnt prevalent back then. Defensively, they atribute that language more to the VietNam era than the noble `40s.
But I've also heard otherwise.
Those soldiers were often very young & not accustomed to profanity but the older guys cursed plenty.
usually stories were cleaned up before relating them in memoirs or to th press.

Back farther: George Washington was said to be able to "curse the paper off a wall."

 

[BJonas]

Jimmy Stewart: [brandishing broken bottleneck] C'mon, monkey, let's see what's in that belly of yours!


lol lol lol

Thanks for the laughs, carebear!

 

[Tomasso]

Salty language is as old as Man.

The difference is that it now comes from the mouths of women as well. :eusa_doh:

 

[The Wolf]

Claude Rains cursed like no one else.lol
Watching the old Breakdowns I was impressed by how many people said "Aw nuts!".
I've talked to many a WWII veteran that said the F-word was very commonly used.

Sincerely,
The WOLF

 

[Absinthe_1900]

The difference is that it now comes from the mouths of women as well. :eusa_doh:

Mabel Normand had an large vocabulary of blue language.

(The silent stars had to watch their language too, when lip readers picked up on some interesting dialog.)

 

[carebear]

I've heard even the Amish and Mennonite farmers enjoy salty barnyard humor.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

In Gold Diggers of 1933, you can almost hear a swear word as the actresses are grabbing their costumes before an act. It may not have been audible in the original version, perhaps it came out when the soundtrack was restored.

I love that movie, it's definitely pre-Code.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(The silent stars had to watch their language too, when lip readers picked up on some interesting dialog.)

The classic example of this is the 1927 Fox film "What Price Glory?" This was a World War 1 melodrama based on a Broadway show which was noted for the rawness of its script -- and in the film version, that same hairy-chested dialogue can be clearly lip-read, so much so that the more prim critics of the day made disapproving note of it in their reviews.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Ok Everyone, if we are going to discuss this topic, we have to do so with an extreme amount of skill. Replacing letters with symbols is the same as writing the word, so I had to remove those. Please don't assail me with emails about censorship; it's not censorship, it's editing. I am editing you for a family audience, much as an editor of a magazine would adapt your submission for his publication. -Those of us who are published writers have seen what editors have done to our work!- Your message is still out there.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Swearing, from what i gather from older chaps i know, was just as prevalent in *real* life back then as it is now. Films do NOT depict real life. They depict some version of life (typically absurdly off base from everyday life) that has never existed, and never will. They did then they do now. How films are censored has changed, that's all.

I would be surprised if the film actors of the day did not swear as much as they do now. Just as i'd be surprised if most people actually had a bed separate from their wife in the 50s. I think not.

bk

 

[carebear]

Swearing, from what i gather from older chaps i know, was just as prevalent in *real* life back then as it is now. Films do NOT depict real life. They depict some version of life (typically absurdly off base from everyday life) that has never existed, and never will. They did then they do now. How films are censored has changed, that's all.

I would be surprised if the film actors of the day did not swear as much as they do now. Just as i'd be surprised if most people actually had a bed separate from their wife in the 50s. I think not.

bk

Good call.

Since cursing has been a constant subject of moms, teachers and pastors in our nation's history I'm sure you're right. Just as the jokes about "being on the couch tonight" probably didn't appear out of nowhere in the '60's.