Category Archives: Pre-Code Reviews

The Mysterious Island
Directed by Lucien Hubbard
Written by Lucien Hubbard from the novel by Jules Verne
1929/US
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube

Count Andre Dakkar: Who am I? I’m a scientist – who asks nothing, but to be left alone. Here on my island we don’t think of kings or rank or power. Here the humblest workman in my shops, the peasant who tills my field, is my equal. We work with but one end: to study, to learn, to be free! To seek happiness, each in his own way.

This early silent-talkie science fiction film suffers from many limitations but is a bit of fun nonetheless.

The setting is the mainland realm of Hetvia, ruled by the evil Baron Falon (Montagu Love), and the adjacent Mysterious Island which is benevolently governed by Count Dakkar (Lionel Barrymore). The people appear to be Eastern European or Russian. Dakkar is not only an egalitarian leader but a brilliant scientist who has invented a submarine that can explore the deepest depths of the sea. He has a theory that the place in occupied by a humanoid race that can breathe underwater.

Dakkar’s daughter Sonia is in love with his assistant Nikolai. Falon vehemently objects saying a Count’s daughter should not mix with a mere employee. Secretly, he covets Sonia for himself.

Nikolai volunteers to take the submarine on a test run. Later Dakkar joins them. With Dakkar gone Falon invades the island and kidnaps Sonia. He then takes a second sub down. The confrontation between the two rulers is interrupted with attacks by a crocodolian-like monster, a giant squid, and thousands of humanoids.

Despite the big budget and glamor studio backing, this is mighty similar to a good/bad 50’s B-film.  The miniature work is laughable as are the monsters and humanoids.  But it’s good fun for a lazy afternoon nonetheless.

Nothing But the Truth
Directed by Victor Schertzinger
Written by John McGowan from a play by James Montgomery and a novel by Frederic H. Isham
1929/US
Paramount Pictures
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube

E.M. Burke: Oh, you’re a smart little fellow, aren’t you?
Robert Bennett: My mother thinks I am.
E.M. Burke: You wouldn’t want to buy any of this stock yourself, would you?
Robert Bennett: Oh, I… I don’t want to change my mother’s opinion.

I saw this two weeks ago and can remember nothing about it but the barest plot outline.  The definition of not essential.

Robert Bennett (Richard Dix) invests his fiancee’s money on a bet that he will not tell a lie for 24 hours.  His friends are eager betters on the other side.  Robert is not quite prepared for the spots his friends maneuver him into that require him to avoid the little white lies that polite society relies on.

Stills from this are few and far between. Here is Helen Kane (the voice of Betty Boop) performing.

I remember thinking this was OK but little else.  Richard Dix, who I absolutely hated in Cimarron (1931), is growing on me.  His “big” persona is perfect for this type of comedy.

Clip

Framed
Directed by George Archainbaud
Written by Paul Schofield and Wallace Smith
1930/US
RKO Radio Pictures
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube

Harry was left to ponder in silence the depths to which girls would sink to get revenge. —J. K. Rowling

Lackluster potboiler about romance and revenge gangland style.

Rose Manning (Evelyn Brent) was a sweet young thing when her father was killed in a gun battle in which a policeman was shot.  Her thirst for revenge has left her hard and bitter. She hates police in general but especially despises Inspector “Butch” McArthur (William Holden – not THE William Holden).

Rose gets a job as an MC and hostess at a casino/speakeasy owned by gang boss Chuck Gaines (Ralf Harolde).  Gaines is after Rose, even asking her to marry him.  But Rose is interested in a young man who calls himself Jimmy Carter (Regis Toomey).  When she learns he is actually the inspector’s son she sees an opportunity to get even.  With Robert Emmett O’Connor playing his signature tough Irish cop.

There’s no particular reason to see this movie.  I was kind of curious about Evelyn Brent but in the event she didn’t wow me.

Evelyn Brent photo montage

Beggars of Life
Directed by William A. Wellman
Written by Benjamin Glazer from a book by Jim Tully
1928/US
Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube

The Boy: Ain’t it funny when you think of the millions o’ people in warm houses and feather beds, an’ us just driftin’ ’round like the clouds? But I guess it’s about even when you boil it down. Even them people in feather beds ain’t satisfied – we’re all beggars of life.

This has a lot in common with Wellman’s Wild Boys of the Road (1933) despite being made before the stock market crash and onset of the Great Depression.

As the movie begins, Nancy (Louise Brooks) is standing over the corpse of her guardian, whom she has just murdered.  Shortly thereafter, hobo Jim (Richard Arlen) stops by to beg something to eat.  Nancy tearfully spills out the whole story.  The old man was trying to rape her.  Jim reluctantly agrees to take her with him and show her the ropes of the hobo life.  She dresses in boy’s clothing since the cops will be looking for a girl.  She proves to be a natural at chasing after trains.

Jim’s idea had been to split up but somehow they don’t and they become a team.  They camp out in hobo jungles.  In one, they meet The Oklahoma Kid (Wallace Beery) who is self-appointed leader of his gang of tramps.  Nobody, but nobody, believes that Nancy is a boy.  When they figure out that Nancy is a fugitive, the gang wants to ditch the couple but the Kid is holding out for his time with Nancy.  Can Jim protect her from this villain?

I enjoyed this.  Brooks is very good in a role that does not rely on her sex appeal or winning smile.  The rest of the cast is fine and Wellman keeps the film moving right along.

Restoration trailer

The Naughty Flirt
Directed by Edward F. Cline
Written by Richard Weil and Earl Baldwin
1930/US
First National Pictures (Warner Brothers)
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube

Miss Katherine Constance ‘Kay’ Elliott: And now the prisoner takes the stand in her own defense. Listen, Alan, I have an income of a hundred thousand dollars a year, and every man I know is trying to marry it. They don’t fool me for a second. Do you blame me for fooling them? I go out a lot and I stay out late. I don’t like golf, or tennis, or horses. So what else is there for me to do? One more word before you pass sentence. I’ve always played fair, and I’ve never done a deliberately rotten thing. Now, what has the court got to say?

I couldn’t get too excited about this one.

Kay Elliot (Alice White) is the daughter of a very wealthy lawer and has substantial income of her own.  She lives a wild life on the nightclub and boozy party scene.  Fortune-hunter Jack Gregory is determined to marry her by fair means or foul aided by his scheming sister Linda (Myrna Loy).  But Kay prefers a lawyer in her father’s firm.

There are many, many pre-Code pictures with this kind of “idiot” romcom plot that are better than this one.  I did enjoy my introduction to Alice White and this early role from Myrna Loy, still in her “evil vamp” stage. .  I thought Alice White was charming, if affected, and Myrna Loy had a long way to go becoming a pro in the line reading department.

Laughter
Directed by Harry d’Abbadie d’Arrast
Written by Douglas Z. Doty and Harry d’Abbadie d’Arrast
1930/US
Paramount Pictures
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube

From quiet homes and first beginning, out to the undiscovered ends, there’s nothing worth the wear of winning, but laughter and the love of friends. — Hilaire Belloc

Watchable pre-Code romance features early performances by some Golden Age stars.

Peggy (Nancy Carroll) was a chorus girl and lived the carefree highlife.  She had a relationship with composer Paul Lockridge (Fredric March) before he left for Paris.  She forgoes her freedom for a life of luxury with much older millionaire C. Mortimer Gibson and they marry.

A few years pass.  Gibson’s daughter Marjorie comes home from college and he puts her under Peggy’s care.  The two women are almost the same age and Marjorie aspires to the kind of carefree life Peggy once had.  Paul comes back from Paris determined to steal Peggy back from Gibson, distracting Peggy from her step-motherly duties.  Marjorie falls for a starving artist and gets her picture in the paper.  The appearance of Paul causes Peggy to disappoint Gibson in many ways, though the old man always seems willing to take her back.

It’s a pleasant light pre-Code romance with some good acting.  Not something that is likely to stick in my mind but watchable.

Private Lives
Directed by Sidney Franklin
Written by Hans Kraly and Richard Schayer from a play by Noel Coward
1931/US
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Amanda: I think very few people are completely normal really, deep down in their private lives. It all depends on a combination of circumstances. If all the various cosmic thingummys fuse at the same moment, and the right spark is struck, there’s no knowing what one mightn’t do. That was the trouble with Elyot and me, we were like two violent acids bubbling about in a nasty little matrimonial bottle.

MGM glamor meets Noel Coward in this solid early screwball comedy.

The setting is among the cosmopolitan young and wealthy.  Amanda Prynne (Norma Shearer) and Elyot Chase (Robert Montgomery) were formerly Mr. and Mrs. Chase.  They had a tumultuous passionate marriage that lasted three years. Constant bickering and even mutual combat did them in. Now they are divorced and have remarried. Amanda is with Victor Prynne (Reginald Denny) and Elyot is with Sybil (Una Merkel). Both new spouses constantly want to be reassured and are pretty boring.

As fate would have it, the two couples have booked romantic honeymoon suites next to each other on the French Riviera. It doesn’t take long before Elyot and Amanda hook up again and leave their new partners in the lurch. But can this new pairing overcome the differences that made them divorce in the first place?

This is a charmingly sophisticated movie with a preposterous plot. It’s a sort of proto-screwball comedy.  The dialogue and acting is spot on. Recommended.

Madam Satan
Directed by Cecil B. DeMille
Written Jeanie Macpherson, Gladys Unger, and Elsie Janis
1930/US
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Angela Brooks: I’ll get my husband back from you.
Trixie: Try and do it!
Angela Brooks: All right, I will! You made him sick of virtue, I’ll make him so sick of vice he’ll scream for decency! I’ll give him perfume and jazz until his head reels! He wants them hot, does he? All right, I’ll give him a volcano! They’ll have to call out the whole fire department to put me out!

This is one of the most bizarre movies I have ever seen, and that’s saying something!

Angela (Kay Johnson) and Bob (Reginald Denny) Brooks are a wealthy, sophisticated couple.  But Bob has tired of domesticity and is openly having an affair with vamp Trixie (Lillian Roth). Angela has no intention of letting Bob go.

The couple’s friend Jimmy (Roland Young) decides to help patch things up by hosting a lavish masquerade party on a blimp!  Bob is enthralled by the alluring “Madam Satan”, who arrives to show everyone how bad a bad girl can be.

This movie moves from classic love triangle to musical disaster flick by the end!  Everything is done with DeMille’s characteristic love for excess.  I can’t describe it or exactly recommend it but certainly it is something unique that appeals to the good-bad movie lover in me.

Unreal

Lillian Roth.  I had not been acquainted with Roth’s work when I saw Susan Hayward play her in I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955).

The Cuckoos
Directed by Paul Sloane
Written by Cyrus Wood based on a musical play by Guy Bolton, Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar
1931/US
RKO Radio Pictures
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Flapper: You’re Americans, aren’t you?
Professor Cunningham: Yes, yes, but we can’t lend you any money.

Back for another dose of Wheeler and Woolsey tom-foolery.

Sparrow (Bert Wheeler) and Professor Cunningham (Robert Woolsey) are fake fortune tellers who have somehow wound up in Mexico near a gypsy camp.  The camp is run by an expert knife thrower who covets young American Anita (Dorothy Lee) who has lived with the gypsies since she was four.  Sparrow and Anita instantly fall in love when they meet and the knife thrower is out for vengeance.

At the same time, a wealthy lady is trying to break up a romance between her niece and clean-cut American Billy and force her to marry a baron.   The lady has her niece kidnapped and Anita also is dragged back to the camp.  Fun and frolic ensue.There’s more music and musical numbers than usual. The best is Wheeler and Lee’s “I Love You So Much” duet. The aviator/niece subplot slows down the proceedings but the aunt is pretty funny and has a good number with Woolsey.  Not the duo’s best perhaps, but there are several laugh out loud moments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hszjf_6gsgA&t=1s