Wow. We survived 2019. Well, I mean this is premature, but it’s sure looking like we’re making it through at this point. Our reward for it appears to be The Story of Temple Drake on blu-ray (finally) and Joan Blondell month on TCM. There are ton of excellent Blondell pre-Codes Read more…
Dulce Morado Kay Francis Cassy Pringle Wallace Kay Johnson Dan Wallace Charles Bickford Tony Lewis Stone Tommy Dickie Moore Mrs. Harney Zasu Pitts Released by MGM Directed by William C. DeMille Run time: 78 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film Worried that she almost fell off a cliff, Dulce Read more…
Jimmy Mason Junior Durkin Matt Kelly Pat O’Brien Peggy Gardner Bette Davis Released by Allied Artists (?) Directed by Howard Higgin Run time: 72 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film One early scene has Jimmy Mason (Durkin) trying to pick the right door to knock on, and he plays Read more…
Oh man! Who here spent October pouring through the Godzilla films that TCM was showing? … anyone? Just me? No one else building tiny towns and stomping through them? Forcing their unsuspecting daughters to dress up as Mothra?? Just me? Wow, okay, awkward. Anyway, while October on TCM had a Read more…
Orin Nordholm Jr. Paul Muni Anna Nordholm Aline MacMahon Ginny Claffin Mary Astor Released by Warner Bros./First National Directed by Mervyn LeRoy Run time: 91 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film A broad historical overview that features suicide, multiple marriages and even the Great Depression. The World Changes: Never Read more…
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…
Catherine Helen Hayes Frederic Gary Cooper Rinaldi Adolphe Menjou Released by Paramount Directed by Frank Borzage Run time: 89 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film Banned in Australia and British Columbia. The film originally included a more graphic depiction of birth, one that violated the Production Code. The MPPDA Read more…
Happy spooky Halloween, everyone! Lots of personal issues over on my end, but, haha, I can’t talk about it. But thank you for continuing to visit this site for my very sporadic reviews that I love to do. TCM in October has some really amazing pre-Code content, including October 2nd Read more…
Letty Madge Evans Mrs. Sherwood Alice Brady Sherwood Otto Kruger Carol Una Merkel Mrs. Merrick May Robson Burt Barton Phillips Holmes Released by MGM Directed by Richard Boleslavsky Run time: 86 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film “You know how divorces are.” “I’ve never been married.” “Not even once?!” Read more…
Ellen Bradford Marcelene Day Jim Thorne Kenneth Harlan Dutch Mike Tom Santschi Released by Tiffany Productions Directed by Bert Glennon Run time: 68 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film It’s a beautiful tropical island full of natives and, gosh darn it, as we note again and again, they are Read more…