pre-code
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.71 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Prior to the introduction of the Hays Code, a set of moral guidelines for the US film industry widely applied between 1934 and 1968.
noun
A pre-Code movie, especially one that was subsequently banned under the Hays Code.
Example Sentences
- "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"
- "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."
- "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."