Torch Singer (1933), a pre-code melodrama. A singing star searches for her lost daughter. A bit sentimental for my tastes but Claudette Colbert makes anything worth seeing (and she wears some stunning gowns). In its own way it's quite pre-code.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2023/08/torch-singer-1933.html
#classicmovie #classicmovies #goldenagehollywood #1930smovie #1930smovies #precode #precodehollywood #precodemovie #precodemovies #ClaudetteColbert
#classicmovie #classicmovies #goldenagehollywood #1930smovie #1930smovies #precode #PreCodeHollywood #precodemovie #precodemovies #claudettecolbert
The 1929 version of The Letter might not be as good as the 1940 version and it doesn't have Bette Davis but it is pre-code so it's much more salacious and sexually honest and Jeanne Eagels' performance is outrageous. It's worth a look.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-letter-1929.html
#classicmovie #classicmovies #goldenagehollywood #1920smovie #1920smovies #precode #precodehollywood #precodemovie #precodemovies #JeanneEagels #WSomersetMaugham
#classicmovie #classicmovies #goldenagehollywood #1920smovie #1920smovies #precode #PreCodeHollywood #precodemovie #precodemovies #jeanneeagels #wsomersetmaugham
James Whale's 1931 film Waterloo Bridge, the tale of an American soldier who falls in love with an English prostitute, has attracted much praise. Personally I didn’t like any of the performances or the characters and this movie left me cold.
Bette Davis has a supporting role.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2023/06/waterloo-bridge-1931.html
#precodehollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #JamesWhale #MaeClarke #BetteDavis
#PreCodeHollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #jameswhale #maeclarke #bettedavis
Search for Beauty (1934). Crooks run a health magazine and health farm offering sex rather than health. Athletes (Buster Crabbe and Ida Lupino) are employed to provide a respectable front. It’s trashy, sleazy, exploitative, smutty pre-code fun.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2023/06/search-for-beauty-1934.html
#precodehollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #BusterCrabbe #IdaLupino
#PreCodeHollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #bustercrabbe #idalupino
Red-Headed Woman (1932). Lil (Jean Harlow) intends to be rich. She has never considered the option of being a good girl. Perhaps the most cheerfully amoral (or immoral) of all pre-code movies. And one of the very best.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2023/05/red-headed-woman-1932.html
#precodehollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #JeanHarlow
#PreCodeHollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #jeanharlow
The Barbarian (1933) is comedy/romantic melodrama. A movie filled to the brim with pre-code outrageousness. Myrna Loy is at her sexiest and her bathtub scene is a highlight. It would be impossible to make this movie today.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-barbarian-1933.html
#precodehollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #PreCodeApril
#PreCodeHollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #precodeapril
I'm a big fan of Cecil B. DeMille’s comedies. My favourite is his outrageous pre-code musical sex comedy Madam Satan (1930). Zeppelins, amazing costumes, lots of pre-code naughtiness. It all adds up to delirious crazy fun.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2023/04/madam-satan-1930.html
#precodehollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #KayJohnson #CecilBDeMille #musicals #hollywoodmusicals #PreCodeApril
#PreCodeHollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #kayjohnson #cecilbdemille #musicals #hollywoodmusicals #precodeapril
The Lady Refuses, a 1931 pre-code melodrama. A rich man hires a prostitute to lure his son away from a gold digger. The whore is the most morally admirable character in the film. Very pre-code, especially the ending. Enjoyable.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-lady-refuses-1931.html
#precodehollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #BettyCompson #PreCodeApril
#PreCodeHollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #bettycompson #precodeapril
Finally watching "Shanghai Express" with Anna Mae Wong and Marlene Dietrich.
Pre-code films, y'all . . .
#classiccinema #PreCodeHollywood
Loretta Young makes a wonderful bad girl in Born To Be Bad (1934). She’s funny, wonderfully wicked, gorgeous, glamorous and very sexy. She also gets to wear some stunning and very slinky dresses - this is full-on 1930s glamour.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2011/07/born-to-be-bad-1934.html
#LorettaYoung #precodehollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood
#lorettayoung #PreCodeHollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood
The Common Law is a 1931 romance and it's very pre-code - Constance Bennett is a model who poses nude for artist Joel McCrea and starts sleeping with him, and she's also a kept woman. And there's a nude scene. It's a rather delightful romance.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-common-law-1931.html
#precodehollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #ConstanceBennett #JoelMcCrea
#PreCodeHollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #constancebennett #joelmccrea
Red Dust (1932). A steamy tropical adventure/romance. Overheated and dripping with sweaty eroticism. It’s also funny and charming. Harlow is a delight as the cheerful whore. Superb chemistry between Jean Harlow and Clark Gable. One of the pre-code greats.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2023/03/red-dust-1932.html
#precodehollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #JeanHarlow #ClarkGable #MaryAstor
#PreCodeHollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #jeanharlow #clarkgable #MaryAstor
MGM's The Beast of the City (1932), most hard-edged and violent of all 30s gangster movies. Based on a W. R. Burnett story. Walter Huston is chilling as the obsessed cop. Jean Harlow, unconstrained by the Production Code, sizzles as a bad girl.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2023/03/the-beast-of-city-1932.html
#gangstermovies #gangstermovie #precodehollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #WRBurnett #WalterHuston #JeanHarlow
#gangstermovies #gangstermovie #PreCodeHollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #wrburnett #walterhuston #jeanharlow
To the Last Man, a 1933 Randolph Scott western based on a Zane Grey story about feuding. A very dark grim revenge western with multiple layers of revenge and an air of hopelessness.
A grown-up western unconstrained by the Production Code. Nobody worries about making gunfights fair. If you see an enemy, shoot him in the back.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2023/03/to-last-man-1933.html
#classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #westerns #RandolphScott #precodehollywood #precodemovies #precode
#classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #westerns #randolphscott #PreCodeHollywood #precodemovies #precode
Lonely Wives (1931) is a pre-code comedy that is pure bedroom farce. If you like that sort of thing and if you like Edward Everett Horton then you'll like this movie.
Sparkling spicy witty dialogue and lots of pre-code naughtiness.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2023/03/lonely-wives-1931.html
#precodehollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #EdwardEverettHorton
#PreCodeHollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #edwardeveretthorton
Baby Face (1933), one of the most notorious of all pre-code movies, and one of the greatest. Barbara Stanwyck plays a girl who uses sex to claw her way to the top and shows no shame or remorse.
Stanwyck sizzles. One of her very best performances. A wonderfully brazen movie.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2023/02/baby-face-1933.html
#precodehollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #BarbaraStanwyck
#PreCodeHollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #barbarastanwyck
Millie, a very good 1931 RKO romantic melodrama with plenty of wit and humour early on. It covers 17 years in a woman's life.
This is definitely a pre-code movie critical of the rigidity of traditional sexual morality.
Helen Twelvetrees is good in the lead role and gets great support from Joan Blondell and Lilyan Tashman.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2023/02/millie-1931.html
#precodehollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #HelenTwelvetrees #JoanBlondell
#PreCodeHollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #helentwelvetrees #joanblondell
Hot Saturday (1932) gave Cary Grant one of his first starring rôles. It's a delightful pre-code romantic melodrama and while it outraged puritans at the time it’s very much a feelgood movie.
It lands some effective punches against narrow-minded moralising.
Randolph Scott and Nancy Carroll are the other major players.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2023/02/hot-saturday-1932.html
#CaryGrant #precodehollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #RandolphScott
#carygrant #PreCodeHollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #randolphscott
Bombshell, a 1933 pre-code comedy with Jean Harlow playing a Hollywood star who is a bit like - Jean Harlow.
A glorious lighthearted celebration of Hollywood decadence but with satirical swipes at Hollywood hypocrisy, phoneyness and insanity.
A delight from start to finish. A grown-up movie and a feelgood movie and a very funny movie.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2023/02/bombshell-1933.html
#precodehollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #JeanHarlow
#PreCodeHollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #jeanharlow
Cecil B. DeMille’s 1915 silent movie The Cheat was a landmark movie which still stands up remarkably well. The 1931 remake with Tallulah Bankhead isn't quite up to DeMille's standard but it's worth seeing.
A woman obtains a loan, and there's a price to be paid in flesh. And there's the possibility of a cheat. Very precode.
My review: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-cheat-1931-remake.html
#TallulahBankhead #precodehollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #CecilBDeMille
#tallulahbankhead #PreCodeHollywood #precodemovies #precode #classicmovies #classicmovie #1930smovie #goldenagehollywood #cecilbdemille