1932
Girl of the Rio (1932) Review, with Dolores Del Rio and Leo Carrillo
Delores del Rio is a girl from the Rio who gets into a sitch as one does. On the Rio.
1931
Millie (1931) Review, with Helen Twelvetrees and Lilyan Tashman
Millie Helen Twelvetrees Helen Lilyan Tashman Angie Joan Blondell Released by RKO Directed by John Francis Dillon Run time: 85 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film We’re introduced to Blondell and Tashman’s characters shacked up in bed together. Frank McHugh has a musical number (yes) about being a beautiful Read more
1931
Dishonored (1931) Review, with Marlene Dietrich
Marie / X-27 Marlene Dietrich Colonel Kranau Victor McLaglen Chief Gustav von Seyffertitz Released by Paramount Directed by Josef von Sternberg Run time: 91 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film The opening shot is of Marlene Dietrich adjusting her stockings. It’s called an attention-getter. The opening also involves a Read more
1934
George White’s Scandals (1934) Review, with Rudy Vallee, Jimmy Durante, and Alice Faye
Kitty Alice Faye Happy Jimmy Durante Jimmy Rudy Vallee Released by Fox Film Directed by George White Run time: 79 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film “You Nasty Man!” features gams galore and oodles of men focusing in on various lady appendages with delight. Jimmy Durante has lost his Read more
1933
Possessed (1931) Review, with Joan Crawford and Clark Gable
Marian Joan Crawford Mark Whitney Clark Gable Al Manning Wallace Ford Released by MGM Directed by Clarence Brown Run time: 76 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film Joan Crawford plays a fallen, kept woman who loves her life no matter how many times she gets trampled on or slapped. Read more
1931
This Modern Age (1931) Review, with Joan Crawford
Valentine Joan Crawford Bob Neil Hamilton Tony Monroe Owsley Released by MGM | Directed by Nick Grinde Run time: 68 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film An inter-generational tale where a girl is shielded from the fact that her long-estranged mother is in fact a ‘kept’ woman. “I’m going Read more
1930
The Silver Horde (1930) Review, with Evelyn Brent, Louis Wolheim and Jean Arthur
Cherry Evelyn Brent Boyd Joel McCrea Mildred Jean Arthur Released by RKO | Directed by George Archainbaud Run time: 75 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film Our suffering heroine, Cherry, is a former prostitute who is known up and down the coast. “You’re nothing but a–“ “Don’t call me Read more
1930
Girl of the Port (1930) Review, with Sally O’Neil
Josie Sally O’Neil Whiskey Johnny Reginald Sharland McEwan Mitchell Lewis Released by RKO | Directed by Bert Glennon Run time: 65 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film “That one was old when ‘Fanny’ was a girl’s name!” Josie is a former burlesque dancer and girl of all ports. She Read more
1931
A Woman of Experience (1931) Review, with Helen Twelvetrees
Elsa Helen Twelvetrees Karl William Bakewell Otto Lew Cody Katie Zasu Pitts Muller C. Henry Gordon Hans Frank Pangborn Released by RKO Pathe | Directed by Harry Joe Brown Run time: 74 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film The title implies exactly what you think she’s had experience with. Read more
1934
The Merry Widow (1934) Review, with Maurice Cheavalier and Jeanette MacDonald
Danilo Maurice Chevalier Sonia Jeanette MacDonald Ambassador Edward Everett Horton King George Barbier Queen Una Merkel Orderly Sterling Holloway Released by Metro Goldwyn Mayer | Directed by Ernst Lubitsch Proof That It’s Pre-Code-ish How sexually carefree and attractive is the Chevalier character this go around? At a mod Parisian brothel, Read more