Robert Marshall Lew Ayres Myra Deane Genevieve Tobin Collins Frank McHugh Released by Universal Directed by Monta Bell Run time: 68 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film “You dumb cluck!” One reporter keeps his bottle of liquor concealed in the newspaper’s basement, which he takes frequent swigs from. I Read more
Hank Martin/Sir Boss Will Rogers King Arthur William Farnum Morgan le Fay Myrna Loy Released by Fox Directed by David Butler Run time: 95 minutes A Connecticut Yankee: A Good Knight “Canst thou tellest me where the hellest I am?” Electrician Hank Martin (Rogers) is tasked with visiting a creepy Read more
“Kid”Gary Cooper NanSylvia Sydney “The Big Fella”Paul Lukas Directed by Rouben MamoullianReleased by Paramount PicturesRuntime: 82 minutes Proof That It’s Pre-Code Concerns bootleggers and beer barons. City Streets: Wrong Ways “Good kid. You’ll never tell nobody nothing.” Rouben Mamoullian’s City Streets is a particularly stylish entry in the early-30s gangster Read more
Dot Dorothy Mackaill Dick Joel McCrea The Ned Sparks part Ned Sparks Released by RKO Directed by Lloyd Bacon Run time: 76 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film The best I’ve got is that there’s a dog named ‘Pansy’. Kept Husbands: All Lost “Easy things aren’t much good.” Have Read more
Sally Leila Hyams Tom Reginald Denny role Lilian Bond Released by MGM Directed by Charles Reisner Run time: 73 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film “You were a blushing bride– and what blushes!” “Awright, I’ll go around without a stitch of clothes! Without a stitch of clothes! Like Lady Read more
Connie Newton Dolores Costello Neil Hartley Warren William Melville Raymond H.B. Warner Released by Warner Bros. Directed by Hobart Henley Run time: 60 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film Our first shot of our heroine is of her in the bathtub, scrubbing up. Connie gets a call from her Read more
Millie Helen Twelvetrees Helen Lilyan Tashman Angie Joan Blondell Released by RKO Directed by John Francis Dillon Run time: 85 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film We’re introduced to Blondell and Tashman’s characters shacked up in bed together. Frank McHugh has a musical number (yes) about being a beautiful Read more
Whitlock Walter Huston Ma Leeds Frances Starr ‘Pa’ Charles ‘Chic’ Sale Released by Warner Bros. Directed by William A. Wellman Run time: 67 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film Gangsters and murders and that particular snarl we all know and love. A kid gets kicked across the room at Read more
Michael William Powell Mary Carole Lombard Irene Wynne Gibson Released by Paramount Directed by Richard Wallace and Edward Goodman Run time: 71 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film Guy Kibbee’s portly oligarch is taken with the ‘funny little green drinks’ of Paris– absinthe. “He was playing ‘nature’s nobleman’ with Read more
Marie / X-27 Marlene Dietrich Colonel Kranau Victor McLaglen Chief Gustav von Seyffertitz Released by Paramount Directed by Josef von Sternberg Run time: 91 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film The opening shot is of Marlene Dietrich adjusting her stockings. It’s called an attention-getter. The opening also involves a Read more