Anatomy of ‘The Code’: Why I Walked Away from My Dream TV Project
The HopeForFilm SHARE is back again with another awesome gift for our financial supporters
Once again, I able to share with our financial supporters / premium members, one of my favorite newsletter writers. Hopefully you too will elect to become one of Cole’s supporters as well.
I am particularly excited to share this post because Cole shares one of the most requested documents that is hard to get your hands on. People frequently ask me for the “sales pitch” of a series. I have a few, but generally I have been forbidden to share them. Cole does us all a great service by sharing. But it gets even better, at least for me.
One of the films he cites is one by Vanessa Hope’s grandfather, Walter Wanger. I love stories about that period and Walter has plenty.
Cole takes it even further than even that though. He gives you autopsy on why such a promising child died. Even the most perfect projects aren’t often able to be.
Back in 2021, I wrote a feature spec that got a little attention around Hollywood. It turned out to be director bait, which didn’t exactly surprise me as I suspected it would be. I met several of my filmmaking heroes as a result of it, including two Aussie giants, John Hillcoat and the legendary Philip Noyce – who was as impressive as I hoped.
This spec I wrote also rekindled several producer relationships and kicked off a few others that led to some exciting creative opportunities. You can read about what happened with one of those here. Today, I’m going to tell you about the other that stands out in my memory — a prestige (as we like to call them) — eight-part TV mini-series. An international coproduction between the US and Sweden about one of the biggest movie stars in both American and Swedish history. And like everything else I touched in 2021, it somehow, miraculously attracted some giant names – in fact, it did more than that. Another legend, Lasse Hallström – director of such classics as My Life as a Dog, The Cider House Rules, and Chocolat – attached himself to direct the series.
But before I go on, I want to tell you what you should expect out of this piece, because I think it’s a mix of cinema history (at least in part), an infuriating cautionary tale for screenwriters in general, and a chance to study a sales document that attracted Lasse but also had a certain (shall remain unnamed) Swedish-English superstar circling the project before things went south.
THE DREAM PROJECT
The project in question was called “The Code”. This was in reference to the Hays Code, a strict, self-imposed set of moral guidelines that were enforced in American film from 1934 to 1968 – until its architect died or the American New Wave blew it up, depending on your point of view. Bit of a chicken and the egg scenario, I think.
In the next section, I’m going to get more into what the Hays Code meant for Hollywood and, more importantly, America. But first, you should know that, while “The Code” was ostensibly about the origin of the Hays Code, it was really about the rivalry between Swedish movie star Greta Garbo (nicknamed the Divine) and Joseph Breen (the moral crusader behind the Code).
This rivalry would lead Garbo to star in a romantic drama called Queen Christina (1933) about a Swedish queen who abdicates her thrown in order to live her life on her own terms rather than the dictates of her court. The film was an allegory for Garbo’s own struggles to live her best life in a town that wanted to control her to such a degree that she couldn’t be with the man she really loved.
Fun fact for those who don’t understand how adventurous pre-Code Hollywood was: Queen Christina features Garbo cross-dressing and sharing a same-sex kiss — in 1933!
Before Shakespeare in Love and other similar stories that reimagined the origins of great works of art from the artist’s secret personal lives, there was Queen Christina.
The film was a smash hit, too, as you’ll learn, but it had disastrous consequences for Garbo, America, and, arguably, the world.
What else should know about “The Code”?
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