Joe William Boyd Steve William Gargan Mabel Wynne Gibson Released by RKO | Directed by Edward L. Cahn Run time: 65 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film Mabel’s last name is Weenie, which annoys her to no end. Steve delights in it, saying to her at various points: “I Read more
Burton Edmund Lowe Val Lorraine Evelyn Brent Ruth Barry Constance Cummings Released by Columbia | Directed by Irving Cummings Run time: 72 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film The woman Burton sleeps with is cheating on him. Frustrated, he tells the other man, “It may relieve you to know Read more
Mary Evans Constance Bennett Max Carey Lowell Sherman Lonny Borden Neil Hamilton Released by RKO/Pathe | Directed by George Cukor Run time: 88 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film “You want me to call Nick over?” “Sure. Tell him about that 17-year-old girl you put in pictures.” The tipsy Read more
Bill William Gargan Jane Frances Dee Hal Ralph Bellamy Mike Wallace Ford Hermie Gregory Ratoff Ricci Jack La Rue Released by RKO | Directed by Run time: 61 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film Opens with a shot of a man’s hat on a bedpost and a woman telling Read more
Dorothy Miriam Hopkins Sylvia Fay Wray Tony Joel McCrea Released by RKO | Directed by William A. Seiter Run time: 76 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code-ish Film A husband and wife sleep together. Which is fine, of course, but later a different woman pretends to have slept with the Read more
Released by Fleischer Studios | Directed by Dave Fleischer Run time: 6 minutes Betty Boop for President: Boop-A-Doop-Gate “What this country is in need of is a lot of heidi ho, boop-a-doop, and chocolate ice cream!” Released just before the 1932 Presidential election, “Betty Boop for President” imagines the squeaky Read more
Dick Walters Howard Phillip John ‘ Killer’ Mears Preston Foster Joe Berg George E. Stone Released by Astor Pictures | Directed by Sam Bischoff Run time: 69 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film Several people are killed in cold blood. The hero’s final action could be interpreted as immoral, Read more
Joe Connors Spencer Tracy Fay Wilson Bette Davis Warden Paul Long Arthur Byron Hype Warren Hymer Bud Lyle Talbot Joe Louis Calhern Released by Warner Bros./First National | Directed by Michael Curtiz Run time: 78 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film A number of prison guards and prisoners meet Read more
El Capitan Thunder Victor Varconi Ynez Fay Wray Juan Don Alvarado Released by Warner Bros./First National | Directed by Alan Crosland Run time: 65 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film Thunder is a lady’s man, and all the senoritas are totally into that. “Big boy!” “Little girl! Aren’t you Read more
Bill William Boyd Jim James Gleason Bud Russell Gleason Lew Lew Cody Katherina Lissy Arna Fritzi Zasu Pitts Released by Pathe | Directed by John S. Robertson Run time: 70 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film “Oh, go to… go to bed.” One girl certainly sees fit to celebrate Read more