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TCM Morning & Afternoon Movies: ‘Pre-Code Horror’
TCM, beginning at 5 a.m.
Welcome to October, the month that is best suited for fans of spooky movies as the days lead up to Halloween. Turner Classic Movies will certainly be doing its part with a number of great horror movies airing throughout October, and things kick off today with a morning and afternoon lineup of scary titles that were made in the years before Hollywood’s Motion Picture Production Code took effect in 1934. Lasting until 1968, this code featured guidelines for the self-censorship of film content from major studios, but that did not apply to the films airing on TCM today, which had the freedom to feature some scenes and themes that likely would have been altered under the code — if the movies were allowed to be released at all. The Pre-Code Horror lineup starts with the iconic 1933 monster movie King Kong and continues with The Most Dangerous Game (1932); The Vampire Bat (1933); the German crime thriller The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933), from co-writer/director Fritz Lang; White Zombie (1932), headlined by Bela Lugosi; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), starring Best Actor Oscar winner Fredric March in both title roles; Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933); and Doctor X (1932). The lineup concludes with Tod Browning’s infamous Freaks (pictured) (1932), which has proven to be shocking or offensive to audiences before, during and after the Code — it was banned in the U.K. for 30 years, for example — given that its title characters are portrayed by actual sideshow performers with disabilities. But that title notwithstanding, these characters are generally treated sympathetically, and after decades of reappraisals, Freaks stands as a recognized horror classic and has been included in the National Film Registry.