Pre-1934 Films...

[artdecodame]

Any fans of the underrated genre of pre-Codes here??

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Oh, yeah. I've been caught by surprise by a few pre-Hayes Code movies I've seen... "Huh? WHAT did she just say?" lol

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yes indeed -- give me a snappy little 1932 Warner Bros. programmer at 2 am on TCM, and I'm a happy gal! I've been lobbying for months for a pre-code fest at the theatre where I work, and hopefully I can convince the board that other folks share my taste for these films.

Pre-code musicals are nifty too!

 

[scotrace]

Link Me, Lizzie, Eight To The Bar.

Got'ny links?

Recently there was a Berkeley film on TCM. The plotline was an excuse to have several big musical numbers (all supposedly on small stages, and all complete with elaborate swimming pools and fountains that would tax and modern football stadium). It starred Jimmy Cagney and was really neat and shockingly pre-code. What was that thing called.....?

 

[artdecodame]

Pre-code musicals are nifty too!

Yeeeees!! I love not only Busby Berkeley titles, but pretty much anything with catchy tunes.

People always say MGM was "the" studio, with all the great stars, but I somewhat disagree, especially with pre-Codes- Warners was much more fun in general.

 

[artdecodame]

It starred Jimmy Cagney and was really neat and shockingly pre-code. What was that thing called.....?

Ahh, "Footlight Parade" ('33), I believe!! I rather like that one, but "Gold Diggers of 1933" is my favorite. I recommend it if you haven't already seen it.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, that's a swell picture -- "Footlight Parade." It contains my all time favorite pre-code line -- Joan Blondell is being high hatted by Claire Dodd as Cagney's gold-digging ex-wife, and finally gets fed up with her and kicks her out the door with "Go wan, get out -- as long as there's a sidewalk, you got a job!"

Priceless.

The Busby Berkeley box set is full of great stuff like this -- most highly recommended!!

There's an excellent, albeit a tad academic, article on Warners' pre-code output at http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/17/04b_warner.html.
For pre-code musicals in particular, check out "A Song In The Dark," by Richard Barrios -- a book which is almost as entertaining as seeing the movies themselves!

 

[artdecodame]

"Go wan, get out -- as long as there's a sidewalk, you got a job!"

Hilarious! Joanie constantly cracks me up.

I mostly like Bright Lights site, although occasionally I disagree with the writers. They did do a nice little article on Kay Francis last month, which is wonderful since she's so forgotten these days.

check out "A Song In The Dark," by Richard Barrios -- a book which is almost as entertaining as seeing the movies themselves!

Thank you, I shall add it to my wishlist on Amazon, which is already huuuge, but oh, well!

 

[Lauren]

I'm a HUGE fan of pre-code films. Especially Busby Berkely. "Petting in the Park" cracks me up.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

Clara Bow in Call Her Savage, Yow!

 

[Novella]

I am in love with pre-codes! I love Busby Berkeley musicals and Norma Shearer films (especially when she's paired with Robert Montgomery).

Of the Berkeley films Gold Diggers of 1933 is definitely the most strongly pre-code of his pre-code films. I love at the end of Pettin' in the Park when all the chorus girls are in metal costumes and Dick Powell gets a can opener to open Ruby Keeler's metal clothes!

Any good recommendations for pre-codes that are out on DVD? I try to catch them on TCM, but I find it easiest just to Netflix them.

Oh, and "A Song in the Dark" sounds like a really good book and is definitely going on my amazon wish list too!

 

[The Wolf]

They can surprise you

A lot of people think sex and drugs were invented in the '60s.lol
Woman: These old films are nice because they're safe. I'll put on "Tarzan and His Mate".
Child: Mom, why did Tarzan rip of her dress. And why are swimming around naked?
Woman; Ahhh!

That is a great scene because they just inserted a Billy Rose's Aquacade kind of sequence in the film...with a naked Jane.

The pre-code films I've seen have all been good. I was surprised Joan Blondell still had a career when Hayes came in considering.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[artdecodame]

Clara Bow in Call Her Savage, Yow!

That catfight between her and Thelma was sure fabulous!

 

[artdecodame]

and Norma Shearer films (especially when she's paired with Robert Montgomery).

Wooo! I was in love with him at one point, and I have a friend on Live Journal who is the biggest Bob nut ever (she even made a community devoted to him.) She's great.

Any good recommendations for pre-codes that are out on DVD? I try to catch them on TCM, but I find it easiest just to Netflix them.

"Touble in Paradise" ('32, with Kay Francis and Miriam Hopkins) is great, as are "Counsellor at Law" ('33) and "The Kennel Murder Case" ('33).
Some that aren't on DVD but are still fab: "Female" (Ruth Chatterton, yay!), "Ladies They Talk About" ('33), "Three On a Match" ('32), and basically anything from the Forbidden Hollywood series. Someone should really put those out in a DVD set!

 

[Novella]

I have a friend on Live Journal who is the biggest Bob nut ever (she even made a community devoted to him.)

I'm on livejournal (under a different screenname) and in the night must fall lj community. I've seen Three On a Match and enjoyed it, but I haven't seen any of the others. I'll put them on my Netflix list and keep my eye out for them on TCM. Thanks for the recommendations!

I was surprised Joan Blondell still had a career when Hayes came in considering.

Anyone know actors whose careers did suffer after the code? I've read something about Mae West before, but not anyone else.

 

[Veronica Parra]

In the 1930s and '40s, there was a Kansas City jazz singer named Julia Lee. She was famous for her double-entendre songs. One of them, "The Spinach Song" (1938), is a euphemism for both sex and marijuana:

"I didn't like it the first time, I had it on a date;
Although the first was the worst time, right now I think it's great!
Somehow, it's always hittin' the spot, especially when they bring it in hot;
I didn't like it the first time, but oh, how it grew on me!"

I will quote from a website:

"Another 1930s song of hers, 'Don't Come Too Soon', delves into the finer points of punctuality, taking note of the oft-ignored problem of arriving before the designated time -- a problem that can be easily solved, according to Lee, by taking cold showers. 'In Like a Lion and Out Like a Lamb'? That one's about ... well, that one's about a man's 'little friend'.

It seemed, also, that with a repertoire of songs unmistakably about sex -- not love, not walks on the sunny side of the street and not paper moons -- Lee might also have been ahead of her time. Because we're not just talking sex. Lee's lyrics are about women wanting and liking sex, completely unsentimentally. In many of her songs, Lee instructs the guy and kinda talks to him like he's a dumb***. She also sings directly to the ladies in the house about what happens when a man has two women, offering advice and warnings and sharing secrets."

 

[Haversack]

Novella wrote:

"Anyone know actors whose careers did suffer after the code? I've read something about Mae West before, but not anyone else."

Well, the Hays Office really had it in for Mae West. Most were able to either tone it down or reinvent themselves. One who did the later quite successfully was Jeanette MacDonald. Now widely known for her teaming with Nelson Eddy as the wide-eyed, virginal soprano, before the code was enforced, Jeanette Macdonald was the Lingerie Queen. She was discovered by Lubitsch and starred in several of his sophisticated sex comedies paired with Maurice Chevalier.

Haversack

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

The Hayes Code did a number on Betty Boop, too. She really had to be toned down.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The comedy team of Wheeler and Woolsey got slapped down hard too -- their 1932 film "So This Is Africa" had the distinction of amassing the thickest censorship file ever compiled by the Hays Office.

Before the Code, W&W films had a delightfully surreal edge to them, full of double entendres, but after the Code their films got progressively lamer and lamer. "Diplomaniacs" and "Hips Hips Hooray" are wonderful comedies. "Mummy's Boys" and "The Rainmakers" are most definitely not.

 

[artdecodame]

I'm on livejournal (under a different screenname) and in the night must fall lj community.

Really?? I should add you.

You're welcome! And, yes, Dorothy Mackaill and Ruth Chatterton didn't make too many movies after the Code came in; before that they tended to be pretty risque, so that is probably why. It's sad, as I love them both. "Dodsworth" ('36) was just not the real Ruth.