Joan Constance Cummings Frank Paul Kelly Clark Russ Columbo Sybil Smith Blossom Seeley Hugh O’Connell Chuck Haskins Tex Kaley Texas Guinan Released by 20th Century Pictures | Directed by Lowell Sherman Run time: 91 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film One character, Sybil, is a former burlesque queen, and Read more
Barrington Hunt Ronald Colman Camille Fay Wray Eliza Estelle Taylor Released by Samuel Goldwyn | Directed by George Fitzmaurice Run time: 75 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film The main action takes place in a desert oasis full of scumbuckets. There’s also a girl who goes between beds as Read more
Ann Carver Fay Wray Bill Graham Gene Raymond Carole Rodgers Claire Dodd Released by Columbia | Directed by Edward Buzzell Run time: 68 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film A woman… with a college degree! And… and she doesn’t want to sit around the house! It’s madness I tell Read more
Ann Vickers Irene Dunne Barney Dolphin Walter Huston Lindsey Atwell Conrad Nagel Released by RKO | Directed by John Cromwell Run time: 76 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film One suspicious trip to Havana that ends in an out-of-wedlock child’s life ending. One prisoner is told, “We’ll have to Read more
Dr. Dick Lundley Conrad Nagel Marianne Madison Sidney Fox Laura Madison Bette Davis Mr. Madison Charles Winninger Valentine Corliss Humphrey Bogart Hedrick Madison David Durand Released by Universal Pictures | Directed by Hobart Henley Proof That It’s Pre-Code The family’s youngest brother pesters his sister about her undergarments: “Why don’t 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
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