Captain Ahab John Barrymore Faith Joan Bennett Queequeeg Noble Johnson Released by Warner Bros. Directed by Lloyd Bacon Run time: 77 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film “I’ll be 18 next Tuesday!” “Then I’ll see you Wednesday!” [checking out Ahab’s tattoos] “Where’s my name, dearie?” “On the seat of Read more…
Lee Peggy Shannon Tom Charles “Buddy” Rogers Jackie Lilyan Tashman Released by Paramount Directed by Richard Wallace Run time: 73 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film It’s set in Reno, the 1930s libidinal capital of the United States! There are divorces, marriages, remarriages, and not-so-discreet affairs. We even have Read more…
The 31 Days of Oscar is over, so let the good times roll! There’s a ton of great pre-Codes showing in February of all shapes in sizes. Feeling like a ton of Fredric March dramas? Got ’em– he’s star of the month! Constance Bennett weepies? Oh yeah. Weird-ass musical fever Read more…
Carol Owen Dorothy Mackaill Jim Leonard Humphrey Bogart Bruce Hardy Hale Hamilton Released by Columbia Directed by Thornton Freeland Run time: 67 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film The film opens with Mackaill in a negligee. Late in the film, Bogart and Mackaill clearly spend the night together, with Read more…
Uncle Dudley Jack Holt Bob Dudley Richard Cromwell Dorothy Joan Marsh Released by Columbia Directed by Edward Sedgwick Run time: 68 minutes Maker of Men: Fumbles “When you’re talking against football, you’re talking against me!” “Wow,” I muttered about 20 minutes into Maker of Men. “My desk is filthy!” Fifty Read more…
Laura Diana Wynyard Edward Seward Lewis Stone Bob Seward Phillips Holmes Released by MGM Directed by Edgar Selwyn Run time: 61 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film The film opens with a nurse and flyer getting dressed in a secluded room. As a result, an unmarried woman gets pregnant. Read more…
Hey hey, ho ho, it’s … 31 Days of Oscar on TCM, which means that pre-Code content is slim. There’s quality, but I mean– there’s not a single pre-Code on the network until the 7th. Really, the only good news in the pipe is that the Criterion Channel launches on Read more…
Helen Parr Belle Bennett Brentwood Parr John Halliday Peggy Price Dorothy Burgess Released by Warner Bros. Directed by John G. Adolfi Run time: 65 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film Marriage, affairs, and remarriage. “Don’t you love erratic books?” “You mean erotic, dear.” Recaptured Love: Toss it in the Read more…
Laura Dorothy Mackaill Jay James Rennie Kate Dorothy Petersen Released by Warner Bros./First National Directed by Clarence G. Badger Run time: 73 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film “Aw, go to–” “Naughty naughty!” There’s a marriage where both agree to a certain level of freedom with the opposite sex, Read more…
Toto Dureyea Frank Fay Diane Churchill Laura La Plante Fifi Joan Blondell Released by Warner Bros. Directed by Michael Curtiz Run time: 72 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film The film follows a Lothario who is diagnosed with an illness that could kill him if he were to ever Read more…