Sam Spade Ricardo Cortez Ruth Wonderly Bebe Daniels Casper Gutman Dudley Digges Effie Perine Una Merkel Iva Archer Thelma Todd Dr. Joel Cairo Otto Matieson Released by Warner Brothers | Directed By Roy Del Ruth Proof That It’s Pre-Code Sam Spade likes the ladies. More on that below. Homosexual subtext Read more
Mary Clay Joan Crawford Dillon Todd Robert Montgomery Jeff Williams Clark Gable Paula Billie Burke Shemp Charles Butterworth Connie Frances Drake Released by MGM | Directed By W.S. Van Dyke Proof That It’s Pre-Code-ish Marriage is one big joke. Several scenes of Gable and Montgomery just exiting the shower (different Read more
Tony George O’Brien Jerry Sally Eilers Steve Humphrey Bogart Released by Fox Film | Directed By Irving Cummings Proof That It’s Pre-Code A man is killed and the only other person there says it was accidental suicide, so, hey, party! One other notable thing. And I’ll get to that in Read more
Louanne Dorothy Mackaill Wally Dean Frank Fay Miguel Parada Noah Beery Released by Warner Brothers | Directed by Michael Curtiz Proof That It’s Pre-Code “Why don’t you marry that guy and forget him?” We meet Dorothy Mackaill in the movie lounging in a negligee cooing a parrot on her outstretched Read more
Ruby Jean Harlow Eddie Clark Gable Gypsy Dorothy Burgess Lily Mae Theresa Harris Bertha Muriel Kirkland Al Stuart Erwin Released by MGM | Directed By Sam Wood Proof That It’s Pre-Code Our introduction to Ruby (Harlow) involves Eddie (Gable) running into her apartment and Read more
Bill Grimes William Haines Laura O’Neal Madge Evans Sally O’Neal Anita Page Larry Barnes Wallace Ford Honey O’Neal Joan Marsh Alice Grimes Karen Morley Released by MGM | Directed by Harry Beaumont Proof That It’s Pre-Code A carefree young girl sleeps with a man before marriage and learns that men Read more
Bob Brown Warren William Caroline Jean Muir John Smith David Landau Released by Warner Brothers | Directed By Robert Florey Proof That It’s Pre-Code The film’s opening shot, before it’s revealed to be an innocent examination (but still with plenty of pointed jokes about it): “You said you were bringing Read more
Margie Nichols Dorothy Mackaill Myrtle Nichols Joan Blondell Allen Crane Walter Byron Eddie Adams Conrad Nagel Harry Gleason Joe Donahue Walter Nichols H.B. Warner Released by Warner Brothers | Directed By John Francis Dillon Proof That It’s Pre-Code “They padlock a speakeasy one day and the next day the same Read more
Helen, AKA The Blonde Venus Marlene Dietrich Ned Herbert Marshall Nick Cary Grant Released by Paramount Pictures | Directed By Josef Von Sternberg Proof That It’s Pre-Code There’s a bevy of beautiful women skinny dipping in the opening scene. Most seem to be wearing flesh-colored underwear for a few of Read more
Michael Richard Cromwell Dora Arline Judge Betty Dorothy Wilson Duke Eric Linden Prof. Matthews John Halliday Barbara Aileen Pringle Released by RKO | Directed By Gregory La Cava Proof That It’s Pre-Code There is kissing in this film. Some damn good kissing. A nice car is like a hotel, but Read more