Joe Holt Joe E. Brown Alice Ginger Rogers Sam Allen ‘Farina’ Hoskins Released by Warner Bros. | Directed by Lloyd Bacon Run time: 70 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film There’s a bird poop gag, but that’s the most I can muster. You Said a Mouthful: Toothy “Suppose you Read more
Tony Adolphe Menjou Connie Leila Hyams Jack Norman Foster Released by MGM | Directed by Edgar Selwyn Run time: 72 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film “He has another hobby. Jumping out of bedroom windows!” “We’re not the sorts to wear our hearts on our sleeves. In fact, we’re Read more
Reeves Mr. George Arliss Jenny Bette Davis Tommy Theodore Newton Benjamin Hardie Albright Pettison Gordon Westcott Hank J. Farrell Macdonald Released by Warner Brothers | Directed By John G. Adolfi Proof That It’s Pre-Code Tommy and Betty prize their ability to buy booze from bootleggers above all else. At first, Read more
Oliver Lane Herbert Marshall Wallace Lionel Atwill Bascom Ralph Forbes Mrs. Vail May Robson Mrs. Hopkins Mary Boland Helen Elizabeth Allen Released by Metro Goldwyn Mayer | Directed by Jack Conway Run time: 67 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film [poking head out of bathroom] “I thought you were Read more
The Warren William experiment was deemed a success, although the new name was not without its own problems. The inevitable consequence fo the last name “William” is that everyone unconsciously adds an “s” to it. […] The mistake was so prevalent during his career that it would be no exaggeration Read more
Larry / Ted Richard Dix Doris Powell Mary Lawlor Ace Martin Matthew Betz Released by RKO | Directed by George Archainbaud Run time: 72 minutes Shooting Straight: A Direct Shot “He doesn’t like to be referred to as a racketeer.” Shooting Straight is a fairly inoffensive, cute little movie. It’s Read more
Pre-Code.Com Site News for August 2016 The good news: there’s some excellent pre-Code programming on TCM for August. There are early-30s focused days dedicated to stars like Robert Montgomery, Fay Wray, Jean Harlow, Ruby Keeler, Boris Karloff, Janet Gaynor and– amazingly– Constance Cummings. The bad news: between grad school and Read more
Of all the books I’ve read about Stanwyck (and this is #3), Starring Miss Barbara Stanwyck is the one I imagine most likely to show up on the actress’ own bookshelf. While not unremittingly fawning, the book is an upbeat look at her life, a careful curation of her filmography Read more
When [Robert Taylor’s] agents committed him to the 1965 film The Night Walker costarring his ex-wife [Barbara Stanwyck], he exploded, but could do nothing about the commitment. He told reporters, “Who could pass up the opportunity of working with such a wonderful talented woman?” He could. The only truthful word Read more
When I mentioned I was writing a book about Barbara Stanwyck to people around my age (mid-twenties to mid-thirties), they usually didn’t quite know who she was, unfortunately. If they asked me what movies she had been in, I always rushed right to Double Indemnity first, thinking they might have Read more