Pre-Code.Com Site News for October 2016 September was rough for me. Was it rough for you? Between the disappearance of Rarefilmm and a couple of other places I get my movie fix from (I was even without TCM for a few days because of issues with my VPN), it’s been Read more
I get irritable when I go a day without watching a movie. It’s not something I’m proud of, but with a wife who prefers cooking shows and a baby who shouldn’t have her head pointed at a screen at all, those days where my one major relief in the world Read more
The sixth (and, for now, final) issue of The Pre-Code Companion is now available at Amazon. It runs 77 pages and costs $2.99, with all profits being donated to the ASPCA. This issue’s contributors are: Jewel Robbery by Kim Luperi Kay Francis by Molly Bugamelli Lawyer Man by Jake Woehlke William Powell by Read more
Pre-Code.Com Site News for September 2016 Well, I hope your August was good! You may have noticed that I added a few more reviews than expected– I’m just cool like that. In some ways. September will (mostly) be dedicated to exactly whom I wished I’d been able to cover a 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
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
This minor clash between old and new would have been one of many, as traditional ways of showmanship gave way to modern, more impersonal exhibition of filmed entertainment. What we come to celebrate, then, are the long-gone years when movies we now call classic were sold at both nationwide and Read more