Adjective
Prior to the introduction of the Hays Code, a set of moral guidelines for the US film industry widely applied between 1934 and 1968.
Usage- not-comparable
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The Sign of the Cross, in certain senses the ultimate pre-Code movie, can still have a queasying ^([sic]) effect on viewers with its arena brutality, and its effect on 1933 audiences was that much stronger
Noun
A pre-Code movie, especially one that was subsequently banned under the Hays Code.
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The most brutal pre-Codes take the viewer to Hell, and only sometimes back, just as the noir films did after the war a one-way ticket to oblivion, destruction, and death.
The good news is that most of the pre-Codes mentioned in these pages are either available on video or can be seen on television.
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I was surprised that there even were young people at the festival at all and even more surprised by the fact that they liked Pre-Codes more than any other genre - Pre-Codes are the earliest "classic" films you can watch.