“You’re a dad and shit and doing stuff.” It was harder to leave my kid than I thought it would be. The last month or so she’s started smiling a lot in the morning, and she has a gloriously beautiful smile. I miss my wife, too, though all of our Read more
Pre-Code.Com Site News for May 2016 Hey! This is late. Between my semester wrapping up and a host of other preparation for the TCM Film Fest– which you’ll see coverage of starting here on late Wednesday– I’ve been swamped. So pardon if some of the descriptions below are glib or Read more
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
Tom Brown Gary Cooper Amy Jolly Marlene Dietrich La Bessiere Adolphe Menjou Released by Paramount | Directed by Josef von Sternberg Run time: 91 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film “What are you doing with those fingers?” “Nothing. … yet.” One infamous scene has Dietrich, in a tux, kissing Read more
Bruce Foster Tom Brown Maizie Dickson Joan Blondell Bob Parks Kenneth Thompson Released by Warner Bros. | Directed by Lloyd Bacon Run time: 74 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film There’s a murder set off by a pair of adulterers… adultering. “That’s not your business!” “No, that’s monkey business!” Read more
“It’s here, it’s here!” proclaimed Raquel when I opened up Twitter Tuesday morning. Within a few minutes, Angela had sent me a half dozen Snapchats, half shaking fists, half drenched in excitement. Yes, Monday afternoon stateside, Turner Classic Movies released the full line up for the 2016 TCM Film Festival, Read more
Simon Edward Everett Horton Doris / Julia Patsy Ruth Miller Easter Louise Beavers Released by Warner Bros. | Directed by Archie Mayo Run time: 69 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film “I never spoiled a reputation in my life– male or female!” Simon’s maid, a black woman named Easter, Read more
Madeline / Shanghai Lily Marlene Dietrich Doctor Harvey Clive Brook Hui Fei Anna May Wong Henry Chang Warner Oland Sam Salt Eugene Pallatte Mr. Carmichael Lawrence Grant Released by Paramount Pictures | Directed by Josef Von Sternberg Run time: 83 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film This film’s most Read more
Captain Carson Richard Dix Natascha Gwili Andre Busby Edward Everett Horton Arline Judge Hortense O’Dare Gabby Zasu Pitts Voronsky C. Henry Gordon Released by RKO | Directed by Wesley Ruggles Run time: 70 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film We’re introduced to the film’s villain as he seers closed Read more
Lola Lola Marlene Dietrich Professor Rath Emil Jannings The Magician Kurt Gerron Released by Paramount Pictures | Directed by Josef Von Sternberg Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film Our lead singer, Lola Lola, has what men want, and is more than willing to pass it along. The Blue Angel: Destroyed Read more