100 New Code Films

Last year, here at PEPS I discovered new Code films through a special weekly series I created, 52 Code Films. I watched and reviewed one new Code film every week, so I discovered many new movies from the American Breen Era (1934-1954) which I had never seen before. I published my analysis of my findings from this series a few days ago here.

This year, I am starting a new series for discovering new Code films. I am calling it 100 New Code Films. Rather than just watching and reviewing one new Code film per week and occasionally watching extra new films which I don’t review, I have decided to definitely watch two new Code films in all but the first and last week of the year. Thus, I will watch 100 new Code films in all in 2020.

To make it possible for me to review all those films, I am going to keep my reviews briefer than those in last year’s series. Instead of writing a long condensation of the plot, I am going to keep the plot description down to a few sentences and will combine the opinion and recommendation sections into one section. Thus, I will be able to review two films per week instead of one.

Image result for Academy AWard

I want to watch a substantial amount of noteworthy films this year as well as less well-known ones which I may want to watch because of actors I like. As well as some films that are just famous or acclaimed, I want to watch the movies which won the most important awards during the Breen Era. To accomplish this, I am going to try to watch all the films in the top four Academy Award categories which I haven’t seen yet. That includes Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress. Below is a list of those films which I haven’t seen yet. There are some duplicates, since many Best Pictures won other awards, so I am just listing each film in the category which comes first. (Note: I am not including Hamlet from 1948, even though it won Best Picture and Best Actor, since it is a British film and thus not technically a Code film.)

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David O. Selznick (left) receiving the Best Picture Oscar for Gone with the Wind.

Best Picture:

The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

All the King’s Men (1949)

All About Eve (1950)

The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

From Here to Eternity (1953)

On the Waterfront (1954)

Frank Capra with his Best Director Oscar for It Happened One Night.

Best Director:

The Informer (1935)

The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

A Place in the Sun (1951)

Bing Crosby with his Best Actor Oscar for Going My Way.

Best Actor:

The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)

Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

Sergeant York (1941)

Watch on the Rhine (1943)

A Double Life (1947)

Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)

High Noon (1952)

Stalag 17 (1953)

Image result for Olivia de Havilland Oscars

Olivia de Havilland with her Best Actress Oscar for To Each His Own

Best Actress:

Dangerous (1935)

The Good Earth (1937)

Kitty Foyle (1940)

The Song of Bernadette (1943)

Mildred Pierce (1945)

To Each His Own (1946)

Johnny Belinda (1948)

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

The Country Girl (1954)

These four categories alone provide twenty-eight films. Two other films which I am determined to see this year are The Maltese Falcon and Citizen Kane, both from 1941. Those two movies are so famous that non-classic film fans have seen them. It’s about time that I watch them so that I can express an opinion if necessary! I will embolden the titles of these films throughout the year as I watch these movies.

Stay tuned for an exciting year of new Code films! If you have any suggestions for me, just let me know. If I haven’t watched the film yet, I will be happy to add it to my watchlist!

All film titles followed by asterisks (*) were entries in blogathons.