Category Archives: 1933

Bombshell (AKA Blonde Bombshell)
Directed by Victor Fleming
Written by John Lee Mahin and Jules Furthman from a play by Caroline Francke and Mack Crane
1933/US
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Lola Burns: “Stone-Age Stuff!” “Mad with Desire!” “Lovers’ Brawl!” Is that the way you prove you just more than care for me? Treating me like a strip act in a burlesque show! A glamorous Bombshell, eh? A glorified chump, that’s what I’ve been! Well, I’m through do you understand? With the business, with everybody! You can get another “It Girl,” a “But Girl” or a “How, When and Where Girl.” I’m clearing out – and you can all stay here in this half-paid-for car barn and get somebody else to pull the apple cart! I’m going where ladies and gentlemen hang their hats and get some peace and quiet… and if any of you try to interfere with me – I’ll complain to the authorities!

I don’t associate Victor Fleming with screwball comedies but he did very well with this one. Jean Harlow had developed into quite a comedienne by this point.

Lola Burns (Harlow)  is a movie star and a sex symbol despite herself.  ‘Space’ Hanlon (Lee Tracy) is her fast-talking wisecracking publicity man. Poor Lola is supporting her family and a raft of hangers on and is being driven crazy in the process. Lee is always on hand to defeat her wishes and keep her on the job and her name in the headlines.

Among the projects Space defeats is Lola’s plan to adopt a baby and a couple of different romances.  With Frank Morgan as her drunken father, Ted Healy as her loser brother, Una Merkel as her assistant, Louise Beavers as her maid, and Franchot Tone as one of her suitors.

I found this frenetic but very entertaining.  The script is quite funny with the dialogue running at a mile a minute.  Harlow and Tracy make good antagonists.  The story was based on the life of Clara Bow but it bears some resemblance to Harlow’s own life. Recommended.

Dinner at Eight
Directed by George Cukor
Written by Frances Marion and Herman J. Mankiewicz from a play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber
1933/US
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Dan Packard: Remember what I told you last week?
Kitty Packard: I don’t remember what you told me a minute ago.

George Cukor and a team of talented screenwriters made this tragi-comedy with an all-star MGM cast a total delight.

Mrs. Jordan (Billie Burke), wife of ailing shipping magnate Oliver Jordan (Lionel Barrymore.) plans a formal dinner in honor of English aristocrats but nothing works out as planned. It’s the Depression and everybody has a secret, usually financial.

The guest list includes: Larry Renault (John Barrymore), a washed-up alcoholic movie star who is carrying on an affair with the Jordans’ young daughter Paula (Madge Evans); Kitty (Jean Harlow) and Dan Packard (Wallace Beery) a married couple that can’t stand each other; Carlotta Vance, a broke aging Broadway star; Dr. Wayne Talbot, who has been carrying on with Kitty Packard, and his long-suffering wife Lucy (Karen Morley); and, at the last minute, Mrs. Jordan’s cousin and her husband.  Plenty happens before the dinner, which we never see.  With Lee Tracy as Larry’s agent and Jean Hersholt as a Broadway producer.

I just love this one! All the actors, including both the Barrymores, do themselves proud but my very favorite part is the battles between Jean Harlow and husband Wallace Beery. Harlow had really developed her comedy chops by this time.  And of course Marie Dressler, my namesake, is a delight.  The screenplay is endlessly quotable.  Highly Recommended.

Ex-Lady
Directed by Robert Florey
Written by David Boehm; story by Robert Riskin and Edith Fitzgerald
1933/US
Warner Bros.
IMDb page
First viewing/Forbidden Hollywood Vol. 7

Hugo Van Hugh: Oh, those modern young people. Give me the old fashioned girl. Do you remember the bustle?
Don Peterson: Do you?
Hugo Van Hugh: No, more’s the pity. I remember the hobble skirt. Oh, there was an invention! The hobble skirt – they couldn’t walk fast nor far in the hobble skirt. You could trust them. And now… Iris is gone.

This remake feature Bette Davis still in the blonde ingenue mode that she fought so hard to get past.  She’s quite good nonetheless but give me Barbara Stanwyck in the original.

This is basically a remake of Frank Capra’s Illicit (1931) starring Stanwyck.  Helen Bauer (Davis) is a successful commercial artist.  Don Peterson (Gene Raymond ) runs a fledgling advertising agency.  Don spends most night at Helen’s apartment.  Her parents are furious. Don is tired of sneaking around but Helen believes marriage takes the fun and spontaneity out of relationships.  She’s also not interested in having children.  But finally she relents.

Most of Helen’s predictions come true.  So she declares the wedding experiment a flop and separates from him.  She doesn’t stop seeing him though and soon he is a frequent visitor at her new apartment.  The separation gives Don the opportunity to respond to a married lady’s advances.  Helen begins to date Nick Malvyn (Monroe Owsley).  Both partners are extremely jealous.  I won’t say how this works out.  But I bet you will need only one guess.  With Frank McHugh as an intellectual (!) and Claire Dunn as his bored wife.

This is definitely pre-Code but is somewhat tamer than Illicit (1931).  It’s a solid production and everyone, even the always bland Raymond, are fine.  A short enjoyable watch.

Bette Davis sure wore clothes well for such a petite woman.

Employees’ Entrance
Directed by Roy Del Ruth
Written by Robert Presnell Sr. from a play by David Boehm
1933/US
First National Pictures (Warner Bros.)
IMDb page
First viewing/Forbidden Hollywood Vol. 7

Kurt Anderson: When a man outlives his usefulness, he ought to jump out a window.

Another,  better expose of ruthless capitalism has similarities to Skyscraper Souls (1932).

Kurt Anderson (Warren William) is the workaholic General Manager of an upscale department store.  Anderson’s motto is “smash or be smashed”.  He has no hesitation in firing loyal long-term employees whom he considers to be “dead wood” or ruin a supplier that misses a deadline by one day.  His behavior with the ladies is equally deplorable.  He believes that love and marriage are unnecessary distractions from business.  Senior management is appalled by Anderson’s behavior and are trying to get the Board of Directors to oust him.  Anderson will stop at nothing to stay at the helm.

One day Anderson comes across Madeline Walters (Loretta Young) hiding out in one of the store’s bedroom displays.  She is desperate for work and Anderson gives her a job but not before taking advantage of her.

Madeleine is hired as a salesgirl/model in the dress department.  Sexy Polly Dale (Alice White) shows her the the ropes.  Later, Madeline falls for up-and-comer colleague Martin West (Wallace Ford).  Martin impresses Anderson with his idea to market boxer shorts to women (!) and Anderson makes him his executive assistant.  Anderson expects Martin to be at his beck and call 24/7.

Before long the Madeleine and Walter want to marry.  They hold off for awhile but then secretly marry.  But they can’t keep the secret for long.   As part of his effort to keep his job Anderson has already doubled Polly’s salary in order to use her to “distract” a rival executive.  Next he attempts to wreck Madeleine and Walter’s marriage.  I will stop here. With Ruth Donnelly as a secretary.

I thought this was quite entertaining. The story moves right along and has only a couple of plot threads to follow.  William is good at playing bastards.  Young looks lovely in her Orry-Kelly gowns.  She models a backless fringed wedding gown that is something to behold!

Wild Boys of the Road
Directed by William A. Wellman
Written by Earl Baldwin from a story by Daniel Ahern
1933/US
Warner Bros.
Wild Boys of the Road
Repeat viewing/Forbidden Hollywood Collection Vol.

Edward ‘Eddie’ Smith: Go ahead! Put me in a cell. Lock me up! I’m sick of being hungry and cold. Sick of freight trains. Jail can’t be any worse than the street. So give it to me!

Hard-hitting Warner Brothers pre-Code exposé about kids who leave home to seek work when their parents lose their jobs.

The story starts in small town USA where high school sophomores Eddie Smith (Frankie Darrow) and Tommy Gordon (Edwin Phillips) are trying to get into their class dance.  Tickets cost 75 cents and they have only 75 cents between them.  Their disguise attempt fails and the boys and their dates drive off in Eddie’s beloved jalopy. The kids are typical goofy teenagers.

The next morning brings bad news.  Eddie’s father has been permanently laid off from his job.  Eddie eventually sells his car for scrap to help out.  Eddie’s father can’t find work and eventually his folks are threatened with eviction as their credit for groceries etc. is cut off.

Tommy’s mother has had very little work for months.  The two boys think the best thing is to move to a big city and try to find work there.  They plan to send money home to their parents.

So they start hopping trains.  The first fellow migrant they find is Sally (Dorothy Coonan) who is traveling disguised as a boy.  The three will stick together throughout the story.  The little band keeps growing as more and more youth travel the rails in search of work.  But there is no work and the railroad and police intercept any attempts to settle.  Finally,  the  kids fight back against the relentless pressure to move on.  With Sterling Holloway as one of the gang and Ward Bond as a predatory railroad guard.

This is powerful, terrific stuff up until the the abrupt and unearned ending. The lead, Frankie Darro, is splendid. He had the talent, energy and athleticism to be another Cagney but was hampered by his small stature. Wellman again shows his mastery of crowd scenes and love of trains. Recommended.

Trailer with commentary from Trailers from Hell (spoiler alert)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu6XZ-2Y6_w

Very nice clip montage set to “(I Am) A Poor Wayfaring Stranger”.

Female
Directed by Michael Curtiz (William Wellman uncredited)
Written by Gene Markey and Kathryn Scola suggested by a story by Donald Henderson Clarke
1933/US
First National Pictures (Warner Bros.)
IMDb page
First viewing/Forbidden Hollywood Vol. 2

James – Alison’s Main Butler: It was the custom of Catherine the Great to serve vodka to her soldiers to fortify their courage.

Fun role-reversal movie rushes to its more conventional ending.

Alison Drake (Ruth Chatterton) inherited her father’s automotive company.  She runs it like a pro, barking orders, making split second decisions etc.  She also hires a stable of attractive young men she treats like bimbos.  She asks them to discuss business at her home, plies them with vodka, and lets the fun begin.  One of these is George Cooper (Johnny Mack Brown).  When he brings flowers in the morning, Alison makes it clear that a courtship was not what she was looking for.

Alison thinks the company’s car designs need an upgrade and sends for a prominent design engineer.

One night, Alison goes out cruising the streets incognito and runs into Jim Thorne (George Brent).  They have fun at a shooting gallery and then enjoy dining and dancing Depression style.  Jim wishes her a platonic goodnight, which definitely wasn’t what she was expecting.

Of course, it turns out Jim is actually her design engineer.  None of Alison’s ploys work on Jim, who is a manly man and will do the asking thank you very much.  What’s a girl to do?  No points for guessing correctly. With Ruth Donnelly as a nervous secretary.

The first two-thirds of this movie are immense fun.  Chatterton looks like the cat that swallowed the canary throughout and is clearly enjoying herself.  In the final third, the film races to its moralistic conclusion.  I have become used to this in pre-Code films so I can’t complain to much.  It would have been better if the film ran more than an hour and developed the relationship so that it earned its ending.  Brent is his old reliable self.  That first two thirds makes the film well worth seeking out.

There were three directors on this film.  William A. Wellman shot most of the film after William Dieterle had to bow out due to illness.  Then Jack Warner decided he didn’t like the actor playing the George Cooper part and subbed in Johnny Mack Brown.  Wellman was no longer available and Michael Curtiz re-shot those scenes.  Oddly, Curtiz got the directing credit.

Trailer (basically gives away the plot of the movie)

Baby Face
Directed by Arthur E. Green
Written by Gene Markey and Kathryn Scola; story by Darryl F. Zanuck (as Mark Canfield)
1933/US
Warner Bros.
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Forbidden Hollywood Collection

Lily Powers: Of course, if Fuzzy Wuzzy really wants to give me something, he could put a few more pennies in my bank account.
J.P. Carter: My Dear, ask me something difficult.

To me this is the epitome of all that is Pre-Code.

Smart and sassy Lily Powers (Barbara Stanwyck) has been raised in squalor by her abusive father who runs a low-rent saloon and brews his own liquor.  She has been encouraged to be nice to the male clients since she was 14.  They all grab and paw at her. Now she hates men.  One night, her father empties the joint so she can spend some alone time with the politician who protects the saloon from the cops.  Lily breaks a bottle over his head.  Shortly thereafter, the saloon’s still catches fire killing her father in the process.

Friedrich Nietzsche: Face life as you find it – defiantly and unafraid. Waste no energy yearning for the moon. Crush out all sentiment.

Lily turns to a fatherly friend for advice.  He tells her that her youth and beauty gives her power over men and she should use it to get ahead.  Exploit or be exploited.

So Lily and her maid (Theresa Harris) hop a train bound for New York with $4 between them.  On arrival, they see a bank several stories high and Lily sets her sights on the top floor.  She gets advice from a friendly policemen and starts her career by seducing a personnel clerk and winning a job as a secretary.  She doesn’t stick to small fry for long, seducing each new boss in turn until she reaches the tippy top and makes bank president Courtland Trenholm (George Brent) fall in love with her. With John Wayne as one of the small-fry and Douglass Dumbrill as one of the bosses.

The plot description doesn’t convey how really fun and funny this movie is. Stanwyck is quick with some great one-liners and her procession of lotharios are comically dense. Little lingerie but this is about as risque as it gets.  Very highly recommended.

I watched the pre-theatrical release of the movie this time which includes scenes cut by censors before theatrical release.  I can’t remember my first viewing scene by scene.  I do know that the version I watched yesterday omits a scene where the fatherly guy is appalled by what Lily is doing and tells her she has got Nieztsche all wrong.

This is the end of my Stanwyck pre-code retrospective.  It has been great fun. I will next tackle the 40+ movies in TCM’s “Forbidden Hollywood” collection.  Red-Headed Woman (1932) up today.

Ladies They Talk About
Directed by Howard Bretherton and William Keighley
Written by Brown Holmes, William McGrath and Sidney Sutherland from a play by Dorothy Mackaye and Carlton Miles
1933/US
Warner Bros.
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Forbidden Hollywood Collection

Susie: Listen. Don’t think you can walk in here and take over this joint. There’s a lot of big sharks in here that just live on fresh fish like you.
Nan Taylor: Yeah, when they add you up what do you spell?

What could be more fun than a pre-Code women’s prison movie starring Barbara Stanwyck at her seductive bad girl best?  Not much, according to me.

Nan Taylor works with a bank robbing gang as sort of a shill and a watchdog. Although she is disguised as a blonde, she is easily recognized by a policeman as somebody he picked up before and the cops make short work of their investigation.

Dan Slade is both a prosecutor and an evangelist. He instantly falls for Barbara but also convicts her for her crime. She serves her sentence in the women’s prison at San Quentin, where she is as tough as any of the other girls .  She hates Dan and refuses his many requests to visit … at least until she can use him for her gang’s escape attempt.   With Lillian Roth as a fellow inmate and Ruth Donnelly as a guard.

I thought this was ultra fun. Stanwyck is absolutely gorgeous and beautifully dressed by Orry Kelly. The script is sharp and her delivery is spot on. This is the seductive bad Stanwyck we have learned to love. The women’s prison is a hoot! The prisoners spend most of their time in a common area when they aren’t smoking in the bathroom. Stanwyck’s cell looks exactly like a bedroom. Each prisoner has a distinctive uniform with lace etc. And they are all expert wisecrackers. My favorite scene from the film is when Lillian Roth sings “If I Could Be with You (One Hour Tonight)” to a pin-up of Joe E. Brown. IMO, one of the essential Stanwyck pre-code films.  Recommended.

Even though it’s a cockatoo and the scene isn’t politically correct, this really made me laugh.