Pre-Code Movies of the Early 1930s

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31 Jan 2023, 4:11 pm

I've been binge-watching movies from before the Hays code became rigorously enforced in 1934, to limit the exposure of American audiences to sexiness. After that, until about 1960, movies for the American market would often have a gratuitous fist fight, but no sexiness. Here are some that I recommend:

1931 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1931 Tabu: A Story of the South Seas
1931 Trader Horn
1932 Bird of Paradise
1932 Island of Lost Souls
1932 Rain
1932 Red Dust
1932 The Bitter Tea of General Yen
1932 The Red-Headed Woman
1932 The Mask of Fu Manchu
1932 The Sign of the Cross
1933 Footlight Parade
1933 Gold Diggers of 1933
1933 King Kong
1933 Sons of the Desert
1933 The Invisible Man
1933 The Narrow Corner
1934 Of Human Bondage
1934 Murder at the Vanities
1934 Tarzan and his Mate
1934 Wonder Bar

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spiderofdestiny
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06 Apr 2023, 7:17 pm

Film history and 1930s cinema are two of my favourite topics to talk about! I'm so glad to find a post about it here. I've seen a few from this list. What's your favourite and why?

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07 Apr 2023, 9:56 am

The Marx Brothers
- The Cocoanuts [1929]
- Animal Crackers [1930]
- Monkey Business [1931]
- Horse Feathers [1932]
- Duck Soup [1933]

Mae West
- Night After Night [1932]
- She Done Him Wrong [1933]
- I'm No Angel [1933]

Silent and not made in the U.S. but wonderful
- M [1931]
Recommended! Ooops! Not silent. German, and I watched it with English subtitles. But it is definitely wonderful!

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15 Apr 2023, 9:32 am

spiderofdestiny wrote:

Film history and 1930s cinema are two of my favourite topics to talk about! I'm so glad to find a post about it here. I've seen a few from this list. What's your favourite and why?

I liked ALL of them. Red Dust, starring Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, was later remade as Mogambo (1953), starring Clark Gable and Grace Kelly. For the remake, they actually went to Africa, and had a large number of natives dressed in native garb, and doing highly improbable things. Red Dust was just shot in a Hollywood studio. The topic was two women (one of them married) falling in love with Clark Gable. But, in Mogambo, the sexiness was watered down so much that you wouldn't know that either woman liked him much at all. Jean Harlow was absolutely exquisite in Red Dust. Gene Raymond did an excellent and convincing job playing the cuckold in Red Dust.

Bird of Paradise and Tarzan and his Mate have some decent nudity.

Here is a video with some more recommendations:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF82lbJM6ik

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15 Apr 2023, 10:42 am

Here is a short Danish film, Afgrunden, from 1910, that is worth watching for the remarkable dancing that begins about 20 minutes in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZUBzqGAPw4

You're welcome.

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19 Apr 2023, 7:29 am

I just watched "Call Her Savage"

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022737

I don't really recommend it, unless you're a Clara Bow completist, or a pre-code Hollywood completist.

One Reviewer wrote:

"It" girl Clara Bow made her comeback with this at times raunchy Pre-Code that features the actress turning up the sex level. In the film she plays a wild child who goes through various up and downs throughout her life. This starts with stealing a husband (Monroe Owsley) from his wife (Thelma Todd), which turns into a disaster but these two will pop up again later in her life. As with Bow's characters life, this film is up and down from start to finish. At times the film comes off very sexy, at times it's funny, at times it's heartbreaking but there are other moments where the film comes off as pure camp. Since this is a Pre-Code we get all sorts of scenes where Bow is showing off her sexuality, which includes scenes showing off her legs and one memorable scene with her nipples showing through her clothes. Before we get to all the sexual stuff we have a prologue that tells us Bow's character is cursed by God due to her grandfather's bad doings behind the back of his wife. These religious elements come off very campy and really put the movie at a slow start. The reason to see this film is due to Bow's terrific performance. She was always great at being the wild child and her funny side has always been good and that continues to be the case here. What really works is her dramatic turns,...

You should definitely watch "It", as she is the "It" girl. "Call her Savage" does have a LOT of dramatic turns. Probably too many.

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22 Apr 2023, 1:45 pm

I just watched "The Story of Temple Drake" (1933)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024617/

Excellent! Based on a Faulkner story. I highly recommend it!

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01 May 2023, 8:31 am

A fun scene from Hips Hips Hooray (1934), with Wheeler and Woolsey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNIviOHBTQw

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26 Jun 2023, 8:26 pm

I just watched Picture Brides

https://web.archive.org/web/20140329131 ... Movie=7799

A rather unique movie.

Actually, you can watch it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5oBqps ... =PizzaFlix

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03 Sep 2023, 5:20 pm

Safe in Hell is a rather intriguing precode movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjn3nGO ... ilmHistory

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03 Sep 2023, 5:26 pm

The Emperor Jones (1933) stars the great Paul Robeson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lim2tFk ... maClassics

I should mention a trigger warning: if you're bothered by old-fashioned racism.

It is, well, basically a lousy movie, except for the highly talented Paul Robeson, who seems out of place. I would recommend the movie as a weird curiosity piece, rather than one you would watch with a date.

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06 Sep 2023, 11:39 am

I've watched a handful of the films in the list. I have to say that the phrase 'pre-code' frequently appears in the descriptions of a lot of the films of that era, but the content is usually innocuous and not particularly provocative. That would certainly apply to two that I saw most recently, namely The Sea God and The Lawyer's Secret, both from the early 1930s and starring Fay Wray.

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09 Sep 2023, 12:14 pm

DeepHour wrote:

The Sea God and The Lawyer's Secret, both from the early 1930s and starring Fay Wray.

I've searched my usual sources, and couldn't find them

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17 Jan 2024, 11:18 am

Last night, I watched 42nd Street.

Okay, but not as good as some of the other depression-era musicals.

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17 Jan 2024, 1:30 pm

1931 The Public Enemy

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18 Jan 2024, 2:00 pm

I just watched Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023551/

This is a fun movie.

Available on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek0DYir_R5c

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