These days are luckily seeing a big boon to Pre-Code DVD availability. If you’re looking for a good place to start, the Forbidden Hollywood Collections are all excellent, though I’d probably pick Volume 2 to be my favorite.
For this page, I mostly tried to list collections of films. There are boutiques like Warner Archive who put out a great number of pre-Codes: you can find their index of such here. Kino and TCM also put out individual DVDs that you can look into as well.
Collections
- “Forbidden Hollywood” Collections
- Studio Collections
- Specific Filmmaker/Genre Collections
- The Criterion Collection
Forbidden Hollywood Collections
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Forbidden Hollywood, Volume 1Movies Contained and My Reviews: My Recommendation: Rent it. While Baby Face is essential and Red Headed Woman is a lot of fun, the lack of special features here is a bear. Also note that this collection is only three films long, but usually sells for as much as volumes 2 and 3 which have twice as many films, as well as special features! |
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Forbidden Hollywood, Volume 2Movies Contained and My Reviews: My Recommendation: Buy! For anyone who has read Mick LaSalle’s Complicated Women, this one is a smorgasbord of female empowerment. The Divorcee is an essential, and Night Nurse is a blast. Special features include a full length documentary about Pre-Code as well as a number of excellent commentary tracks. Well worth your money, especially if you’re just starting to get into Pre-Code cinema. |
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Forbidden Hollywood, Volume 3Movies Contained and My Reviews:
My Recommendation: Buy! While not as solid of a collection as Volume 2, the last three listed– and Wild Boys of the Road especially– are all landmark pictures. All also showcase how diverse and wonderful William Wellman’s pictures are, and the disk contains two documentaries on the man as well as a bevy of commentaries. Well worth the dough! |
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Forbidden Hollywood, Volume 4Purchase this via Amazon | Purchase from Warner Archive Movies Contained and My Reviews: My Recommendation: Rent it! Unfortunately, this and all subsequent Forbidden Hollywood collections were released without any special features, which is a shame. You should definitely see Jewel Robbery from this set, and the other films are fun and inoffensive, even if I did have to click on my review to remember what They Call It Sin was… |
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Forbidden Hollywood, Volume 5Purchase this via Amazon | Purchase from Warner Archive Movies Contained and My Reviews: My Recommendation: Rent The Mind Reader. Ladies They Talk About is kind of fun, but the rest are pretty (and sadly) forgettable. |
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Forbidden Hollywood, Volume 6Purchase This Via Amazon | Purchase from Warner Archive Movies Contained and My Reviews:
My Recommendation: TBD. Will hopefully have this reviewed in the next few months. |
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Forbidden Hollywood, Volume 7Purchase This Via Amazon | Purchase from Warner Archive Movies Contained and My Reviews: My Recommendation: Buy! Even if Ex-Lady is kind of a dud, the two Warren William films are fascinating microcosms into how MGM and Warner Brothers operated in the early 30s– and they’re lots of dirty, nasty fun, too. |
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Forbidden Hollywood, Volume 8Purchase This Via Amazon | Purchase from Warner Archive Movies Contained and My Reviews: My Recommendation: Buy! Overall, the films on the set are very solid and fun. Blonde Crazy is a must-see, and Dark Hazard and Hi, Nellie! are unique fun. Even the only dog on the set, Strangers May Kiss, is at least fascinating as a curiosity. |
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Forbidden Hollywood, Volume 9Movies Contained and My Reviews: My Recommendation: Rent! Three of the films are definitely fun one-goes, I Sell Anything is a nightmare, and When Ladies Meet is one of my absolute favorite pre-Codes– though that’s probably not going to be true for everyone. A lot of these are worth a watch though. |
Studio Collections of Pre-Code Films
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Columbia Pictures Pre-Code CollectionPurchase this via Amazon | Rent This Via ClassicFlix Movies Contained and My Reviews: My Recommendation: Rent it! Virtue and Three Wise Girls are both excellent little films that showcase their stars (Carole Lombard and Jean Harlow respectively) before they reached their apexes. Unfortunately, the other titles on the disk include a John Wayne clunker that and a pair of Barbara Stanwyck’s weakest efforts of the entire era. |
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Universal Backlot Pre-Code CollectionPurchase this via Amazon | Rent This Via ClassicFlix Movies Contained and My Reviews: My Recommendation: Buy it! It’s a weird, eclectic set with Merrily We Go To Hell being a notable stand out. The others range from good to bad, but they’re all extremely interesting to say the least. It’s especially cheap, to boot! |
Specific Filmmaker/Genre Collections
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The Busby Berkeley CollectionMovies Contained and My Reviews:
My Recommendation: If you’ve seen one Busby Berkeley musical (and you should see one for damned sure), you’ll know whether or not his kaleidoscopic dance numbers and dirty humor are for you. One of my most treasured DVD collections. |
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The Marx Brothers Silver Screen SetMovies Contained and My Reviews:
My Recommendation: Buy! I mean, come on. |
The Criterion Collection
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The Scarlet Empress |
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Design for Living |
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Island of Lost Souls |
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Trouble in Paradise |
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Lubitsch Musicals
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