Pre-Code Hollywood

(1931) PLATINUM BLONDE A young woman from a very rich family impulsively marries a reporter, but each assumes the other is the one whose lifestyle must change. A witty script and good chemistry between the actors. In my opinion, Loretta Young outshines Jean Harlow, but that is possibly because her character is meant to be more sympathetic. - Loretta Young... Gallagher - Jean Harlow... Ann Schuyler - Robert Williams... Stew Smith https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022268/

(1931) MATA HARI A semi-fictionalized account of the life of Mata Hari, an exotic dancer who was accused of spying for Germany during World War I. Perhaps one of the most tame and awkward "exotic dances" to ever be commited to the screen, Greta Garbo was not comfortable portraying a heterosexual sex siren (Garbo had affairs with Louise Brooks, Marlene Dietrich, Billie Holliday, Tallulah Bankhead, along with a host of other less well known women). The real Mata Hari wore what we would today consider a string bikini made out of gold chains and jewel-stones, something Garbo would not be seen dead in... perhaps an unfortunate term because the real Mata Hari had been executed just a few years earlier. - Greta Garbo... Mata Hari - Ramon Novarro... Lt. Alexis Rosanoff - Lionel Barrymore... Gen. Serge Shubin - Lewis Stone... Andriani - C. Henry Gordon... Dubois https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023196/

(1929) Pandora's Box The rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her. - Louise Brooks... Lulu - Fritz Kortner... Dr. Ludwig Schön - Francis Lederer... Alwa Schön https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018737/

Other stars acted as harlots and flappers, Louise Brooks actually lived it. Then right at the height of her Hollywood fame, she moved to Weimar Germany and made what was arguably her best movie, Pandora's Box. With a series of poor business decisions, Louise Brooks lost her star status and ultimately ended up a prostitute in New York. The next post will be Pandora's Box with a choice of audio track (I'm not sure if it will stream, but downloading will definiately allow you to select which audio track to listen to). The fifth track, marked as English, is a commentary track. The others are alternate music tracks depending on the mood you prefer. (I've posted this separate to movie because I cannot actually add a thumbnail and keep the different audio tracks)

(1932) Red Headed Woman Gold digger cheats on boyfriend to ensnare her married boss. Jean Harlow is perhaps considered the scarlet lady of the pre-code era, who was later idolised and copied by Marilyn Monroe. She was befriended by Bugsy Malone and had a wild reputation (she revealed in interview that she never wore any underwear) which fed into the public perception of her being a harlot. She died when she was 26 years old due to kidney failure. - Jean Harlow... Lil Andrews - Chester Morris... Bill Legendre Jr. - Lewis Stone... William Legendre Sr. - Leila Hyams... Irene Legendre - Una Merkel... Sally https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023385/

(1927) WINGS Two young men in love with the same woman become fighter pilots in World War I. Wings was perhaps the greatest Hollywood silent movie, and was so seminal that it deserves its place here despite being made prior to the pre-code period. It was the first Hollywood action blockbuster. The first movie to combine occasional titillation with glimpses of partial nudity, depictions of blood when injured, and riveting drama and action sequences that became the formula for an entire genre of movie. Special mention to Clara Bow, as she demonstrates her coquettish charm that made her the "it girl" of the silent era and the first modern pin-up (the Betty Boop cartoon character is a caricature of Clara, and her stances and movements were prototypes for the "cheesecake" pin-ups of later generations). - Clara Bow... Mary Preston - Charles Rogers... Jack Powell - Richard Arlen... David Armstrong - Jobyna Ralston... Sylvia Lewis - Gary Cooper... Cadet White https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018578/

(1933) Mystery of the Wax Museum The disappearance of people and corpses leads a reporter to a wax museum and a sinister sculptor. This is perhaps the most overlooked classic horror of this period that should be mentioned in the same lists as The Mummy and Frankenstein. In all fairness to critics, there was a copyright dispute at the time so it did not get the favourable coverage of the other movies. Nevertheless, the story stands up (there have been at least two remakes), as do the performances (and I bet you thought skirts that tight around the hips weren't invented for another generation!). - Lionel Atwill... Ivan Igor - Fay Wray... Charlotte Duncan - Glenda Farrell... Florence Dempsey - Frank McHugh... Jim https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024368/

(1933) Ace of Aces A sculptor who doesn't want to have any part of World War I is shamed by his girlfriend into joining the army. He becomes a fighter pilot, and undergoes a complete personality change. - Richard Dix... 2nd Lt. Rex 'Rocky' Thorne - Elizabeth Allan... Nancy Adams - Ralph Bellamy... Capt./Maj. Blake - Theodore Newton... Lt. Foster 'Froggy' Kelley https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023737/

(1930) All Quiet on the Western Front A young soldier faces profound disillusionment in the soul-destroying horror of World War I. This masterpiece retains its power even to this day. Hailed as the greatest anti-war movie ever made, it masterfully demonstrates the horror of war simply by telling us the tale of young German volunteers in The Great War. Made at a time before Hitler rose to power (so politics did not cloud the story), it shows how the typical enemy German was not the monster we were told he was and was no different to the average allied soldier. Many war veterans could not watch the movie because the artillery sounds were known to have triggered what we would now call PTSD incidents. These battle sounds rather incredibly convey the concussion such barrages caused. For the cinemas, the battle sounds were on a separate recording that were synced to play along with the movie roll. All Quiet On The Western Front is definately a must-have movie to watch and reflect upon.

(1932) DOCTOR X A wisecracking New York reporter intrudes on a research scientist's quest to unmask The Moon Killer. No pre-code collection would be complete without this mystery horror classic. - Lionel Atwill... Dr Jerry Xavier - Fay Wray... Joanne Xavier - Lee Tracy... Lee Taylor - Preston Foster... Dr Wells - John Wray... Dr Haines - Leila Bennett... Mamie https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022827/

(1933) KING KONG (colourised) Colourised version of the classic monster movie that was generally based on the tale of The Lost World. King Kong had certain scenes censored out of it because audiences were initially horrified so much that they fled the cinemas. - Fay Wray... Ann Darrow - Robert Armstrong... Carl Denham - Bruce Cabot... John Driscoll https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024216/

(1925) The Lost World The first film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel about a land where prehistoric creatures still roam. Technically speaking, this silent classic pre-dates the Pre-Code Era, but due to its impact, I've included it... people did not understand stop-motion animation and so assumed what they saw was actually real... not to mention that without this movie, we would never have had King Kong. - Lewis Stone... Sir John Roxton - Wallace Beery... Professor Challenger - Lloyd Hughes... Ed Malone - Bessie Love... Paula White https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016039/

(1932) The Most Dangerous Game After their luxury cabin cruiser crashes on a reef, Bob Rainsford finds himself washed ashore on a remote island. He finds a fortress-like house and the owner, Count Zaroff, seems to be quite welcoming, but the game is afoot... I was originally going to share the colourised version, but the picture quality of the original B&W is much better, so this is the original monochrome. - Joel McCrae... Bob - Fay Wray... Eve - Leslie Banks... Zaroff https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023238/

(1932) Scarface An ambitious and nearly insane violent gangster climbs the ladder of success in the mob, but his weaknesses prove to be his downfall. This is the original Scarface, but to give fair dues where merited, the 1983 update with Al Pacino was a masterful modernisation of the tale. - Paul Muni... Tony Camonte (Scarface) - Ann Dvorak... Cesca Camonte - Karen Morley... Poppy - Osgood Perkins... Johnny Lovo - George Raft... Guino Rinaldo - Boris Karloff... Tom Gaffney https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023427/

(1931) Little Caesar A small-time criminal moves to a big city to seek bigger fortune. - Edward G. Robinson... 'Rico' (Little Caesar) - Douglas Fairbanks Jr.... Joe Massara - Glenda Farrell... Olga Strassoff https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021079/

(1931) The Public Enemy A young hoodlum rises up through the ranks of the Chicago underworld, even as a gangster's accidental death threatens to spark a bloody mob war. Just like 1951 saw the explosion of the sci-fi movie, 1931 gave us the arrival of the gangster movie with Little Caesar, Public Enemy, and then Scarface in 1932. Based on a novel written by a couple of guys that survived the Prohibition gangs of 1920s Chicago, The Public Enemy gives us a career-defining performance by James Cagney, and a "template" for other gangster movie classics of the 20th Century. - James Cagney... Tom Powers - Jean Harlow... Gwen Allen - Edward Woods... Matt Doyle - Joan Blondell... Mamie - Mae Clarke... Kitty https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022286/

(1932) The Bitter Tea of General Yen A Chinese warlord and an engaged Christian missionary fall in love. Not only did this movie contain an illicit interracial relationship, 'Bitter Tea' also demonstrated how Christian compassion leads to folly that in modern parlance would be considered "red pilling" to the audience. - Barbara Stanwyck... Megan - Nils Asther... General Yen - Toshia Mori... Mah-Li - Walter Connolly... Jones https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023814/

(1934) TARZAN AND HIS MATE The idyllic life of Tarzan and Jane is challenged by men on safari who come seeking ivory, and come seeking Jane as well. This is one of THE pre-code movies that resulted in a strict enforcement of the Hays Code... Not only was Jane without any underwear when wearing her leathers (yes, there is one bush shot if you're quick enough with the freeze frame!), but Jane was also completely nude in a delightful underwater sequence. Olympic swimmer Josephine McKim performed the nude underwater scene as a double for Jane actress, Maureen O'Sullivan. - Johnny Weissmuller... Tarzan - Maureen O'Sullivan... Jane Parker - Neil Hamilton... Harry Holt - Paul Cavanagh... Martin Arlington https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025862/

(1932) TARZAN THE APE MAN A trader and his daughter set off in search of the fabled graveyard of the elephants in deepest Africa, only to encounter a wild man raised by apes. Both the "original" Tarzans (Buster Crabbe and Johnny Weissmuller) were olympic swimmers, so if you want to know how to get the perfect physique, there's the secret! The 1932 movie 'Tarzan the Ape Man' is based on the original character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912, and 'Tarzan and his Mate' is the follow-up movie released in 1934. - Johnny Weissmuller... Tarzan - Maureen O'Sullivan... Jane Parker - C. Aubrey Smith... James Parker - Neil Hamilton... Harry Holt https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023551/

(1933) TARZAN THE FEARLESS Buster Crabbe is the only actor to have portrayed Tarzan, Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon - all in the matinee serial format. Tarzan was a popular theme because of great action, danger, and the constant possibility that women in perilous situations might lose articles of clothing in ways that did not stop them from still being respectable ladies. This is a matinee serial, not to be confused with the more famous movies with Johnny Weissmuller - Buster Crabbe... Tarzan - Julie Bishop a.k.a. Jaqueline Wells... Mary Brooks - Edward Woods... Bob Hall - Philo McCulloch... Jeff Herbert https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024645/