Hollywood's Shocking First Sex Symbols
3/20/202649 min
Nearly 100 years ago, films in Hollywood were so much sexier and shocking than you might think they were.
One of the most shocking things was how empowered and sexual women were in those films.
Who were these women? And what are the scandalous reasons behind the censorship that came in?
Joining Kate to tell her about these incredible women is journalist and author Mick LaSalle.
This episode was edited by Tim Arstall. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.
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All music from Epidemic Sounds.
Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.
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First 90 secondsKate Lister· Host0:00
Do you want even more shocking and scandalous history? Like why the ancient Greek statues had such small manhoods, or what went on behind closed doors in the Georgian era. Well, sign up to History Hit, where you can see me discover the scandalous side of history as well as hundreds of hours of original documentaries, plus new releases every week, covering everything from prehistoric Scotland to the Treaty of Versailles. Sign up to join me in locations around the world and explore the past. Just visit historyhit.com/subscribe. Hello, my lovely Betwixtors. It's me, Kate Lister, and you are back once again listening to Betwixt the Sheets. Come in, come in. Find somewhere comfortable to plonk yourself. But I do have to tell you, and I have to keep telling you, this is an adult podcast spoken by adults to other adults about adulty things in an adulty way. For real subjects, you need to be an adult too. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I have to keep telling you that because if anyone happens to get offended, we need to be able to go, "Well, tough tits and fair dues, we did tell you." Right, on with the show. [upbeat jazz music] Hello, Betwixtors. You've joined me on a cavernous MGM soundstage in 1931. Huge overhead lights are burning, powder dust floats in the air, and the cameras are beginning to whir for a scene. But this is Hollywood pre-code, pre-Hays Code, pre-censorship, and it's a very different world than the one you might be thinking of. And given that this is nearly 100 years before our present