Happy wintry snowy cold cold cold days (except for you lucky jerks who don’t get to experience it)!
Pre-Code Hollywood Movies on Criterion Channel
A lot of these will feel familiar as they all made ballyhooed appearances on DVD, but that’s no reason to dismiss them. Ladies of Leisure, while not Barbara Stanwyck’s film debut per se, is her spiritual debut, the first movie to really showcase her power. Forbidden is another film she made with Capra and not a top-tier kind of film, it still has some really lovely moments and some truly nasty work from Ralph Bellamy (yes). Despite starring Jean Harlow and Mae Clarke, Three Wise Girls is a great showcase for the unjustly forgotten Marie Prevost. The last two selections, Virtue and Man’s Castle, are two excellent little dramas, with Carole Lombard in Virtue showing off in easily one of her best dramatic roles.
- Ladies of Leisure (1930)
- Ten Cents a Dance (1931)
- Forbidden (1932)
- Shopworn (1932)
- Three Wise Girls (1932)
- Virtue (1932)
- Man’s Castle (1933)
Pre-Code Movies on Turner Classic Movies in December 2024
December is usually a lean time for pre-Code on the classic movie network (outside of 1933’s Little Women and almost always a double showing for The Thin Man), but there are plenty of offbeat and obscure (even for me) selections popping up at weird hours throughout the month. For recommendations, the Arsene Lupin / Jewel Robbery double feature on the 2nd will be lots of charming fun, and you can’t go wrong with Three on a Match in primetime on the 13th. And, while I’m not sure it’s much of a controversy, The Thin Man is the best holiday movie; I’m looking forward to settling down with it again. (And revisiting the book I edited, Thoughts on the Thin Man, on its 10th anniversary!) (It’s a great cheap gift!)
All times listed are Eastern Standard. Programming can change at any time. See the full TCM December 2024 schedule here.
- 12/2 @ 06:30 – Bachelor Apartment (1931)
- 12/2 @ 08:15 – Sin Takes a Holiday (1930)
- 12/2 @ 09:45 – The Right to Romance (1933)
- 12/2 @ 11:00 – They Call it Sin (1932)
- 12/2 @ 15:30 – Arsene Lupin (1932)
- 12/2 @ 17:00 – Jewel Robbery (1932)
- 12/2 @ 21:30 – Hollywood Party (1934)
- 12/2 @ 22:45 – The Road to Ruin (1934)
- 12/3 @ 03:15 – Madame Satan (1930)
- 12/4 @ 20:00 – It Happened One Night (1934)
- 12/4 @ 06:00 – The Beast of the City (1932)
- 12/4 @ 07:30 – Broadway to Hollywood (1933)
- 12/4 @ 09:00 – The Chief (1933)
- 12/4 @ 10:15 – The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933)
- 12/4 @ 15:00 – Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
- 12/13 @ 07:00 – Numbered Men (1930)
- 12/13 @ 08:15 – Scarlet Pages (1930)
- 12/13 @ 09:30 – Playing Around (1930)
- 12/13 @ 12:00 – Paid (1930)
- 12/13 @ 13:30 – The Widow from Chicago (1930)
- 12/13 @ 14:45 – Alias French Gertie (1930)
- 12/13 @ 16:00 – The Woman Racket (1930)
- 12/13 @ 17:30 – Framed (1930)
- 12/13 @ 18:45 – Three on a Match (1932)
- 12/17 @ 05:45 – Lady with a Past (1932)
- 12/17 @ 07:15 – Dinner at Eight (1933)
- 12/17 @ 09:30 – Eskimo (1933)
- 12/17 @ 13:00 – Men of the North (1930)
- 12/20 @ 11:15 – Private Lives (1931)
- 12/20 @ 16:45 – Let Us Be Gay (1930)
- 12/24 @ 02:00 – The Thin Man (1934)
- 12/25 @ 03:00 – Hell’s Heroes (1930)
- 12/25 @ 12:00 – Little Women (1933)
- 12/31 @ 09:15 – The Thin Man (1934) and assorted sequels
Happy holidays everyone. Stay cozy!
