Happy October! This is probably the least active this site has been since I started it, and for that I apologize. In the past month, I have moved to Germany, broken my toe, got my kid started in school, dealt with severe health issues for both children, eaten a lot Read more…
It’s Summer Under the Stars! Enjoy all the pre-Code offerings on TCM and the Criterion Channel this month.
Paul Whiteman John Boles Laura La Plante Released by Universal Directed by John Murray Anderson Run time: 99 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film There are a few mildly racy sketches, like one where an adulterer hides in the closet when the husband returns home. King of Jazz: Happy Read more…
And a nice warm July greetings to you! As I noted before, I am moving this summer to Germany, with it looking like the flight is happening in mid-August. I am juggling a lot between moving houses, shipping my dog Harpo, and all of the other fun stuff that comes Read more…
Gertie Bebe Daniels Jimmy Hartigan Ben Lyon Kelsey Robert Emmett O’Connor Released by RKO Directed by George Archainbaud Run time: 68 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film A frantic Jimmy reaches down the front of Gertie’s dress to retrieve a stolen necklace. We follow a pair of career criminals Read more…
Leopold TrebelFrank Fay Gustave CortonJames Gleason SylvaineLilyan Tashman Released by Warner Bros. Directed by Michael Curtiz Run time: 67 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film That old cliche about promiscuous hairdressers that are handsome sex machines… I guess it had to start somewhere. Plenty of gay panic jokes, with Read more…
Kitty King Evelyn Knapp Ted Hunter James Murray Sylvia Carleton Thelma Todd Released by Columbia Directed by Albert Rogell Run time: 67 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film By now I am very used to the cringe in old movies when the husband sticks his wife over his knee Read more…
Ah, June! What is June’s deal? At least it’s not as useless as a month as March is, but it’s close. I say that partially inspired by the paltry number of pre-Codes present on Turner Classic Movies this month. While there a few obscurities– a Frank Fay movie that I Read more…
Elissa Landi is a woman with a past who seduces a dolt in colonial Africa on the eve of World War I. And it gets more complex from there.