Category Archives: Pre-Code Reviews

Lovin’ the Ladies
Directed by Melville W. Brown
Written by J. Walter Rubin from a play by William Le Baron
1930/US
RKO Radio Pictures
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental

There are many harsh lessons to be learned from the gambling experience, but the harshest one of all is the difference between having Fun and being Smart. — Hunter S. Thompson

Sometimes watching a silly drawing room comedy is just what the doctor ordered.

New York City is one big party for the young and wealthy. After a conversation about the fickleness of love, Jimmy Farnsworth bets his equally wealthy friends that he can get any two people engaged within a month. It just so happens that electrician Peter Darby (Richard Dix) has been called in to fix something. Darby is self-educated, making him the smartest man in the room. He agrees, on the condition that he will receive half the $5,000 bet.

Jimmy selects wallflower/intellect Betty as the other half of his dream pair. Unfortunately for Jimmy, neither of his players is exactly cooperative. Much mayhem and misunderstanding ensue.

I had a really good time watching this. Kept me laughing – sometimes at just how ridiculous it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Uzz5SM5yAQ

Sin Takes a Holiday
Directed by Paul L. Stein
Written by Horace Jackson; story by Robert Milton and Dorothy Cairns
1930/US
Pathe Exchange
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube

Reggie Durant: It’s curious how attractive a girl can be on a honeymoon – without a husband.

Entertaining if slight pre-Code love triangle.

Gaylord Stanton (Kenneth MacKenna) is a divorce attorney who mingles with the “in-crowd” in New York City.  He and his friends all have active love lives.  Gaylord avoids commitment by sticking to married ladies.  When his latest fling’s husband files for divorce and names him correspondent, he knows he is in grave danger of getting caught.  So he decides to marry his secretary in name only and send her off to Europe.  Sylvia Brenner (Constance Bennett) is a plain Jane (read she is gorgeous but wears business attire and little make-up).  She is also secretly in love with Gaylord.  She agrees to the arrangement in exchange for a new wardrobe and money.

Gaylord’s friend Reggie Durant (Basil Rathbone) takes an annual trip to Paris where he can indulge in affairs with a definite expiration date.  He and Sylvia meet on the voyage over.  She has now morphed into a sophisticated glamor girl and Reggie is smitten.  Eventually, he proposes.  At about this time, Sylvia is called home to prove her existence.  And that she does indeed.

It’s a real pre-Code kind of a plot with plenty of glamor, spectacular gowns, and art deco sets. My favorite part was seeing Rathbone as a love interest for a change of pace. It’s the kind of movie you surely don’t need to seek out but if the period and plot appeals, I doubt you will be disappointed.

Headin’ North (1931)
Directed by John P. McCarthy
Written by John P. McCarthy
1930/USA
Trem Carr Pictures
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental

“Chris asks, “What are you going to stick to?”
“Mah guns, boy, mah guns,” I tell him. “That’s the Code of the West.”
― Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

I decided to take a chance on this obscure B Western and was not disappointed.

Jim Curtis (Bob Steele) takes the heat for his father when the later embezzles funds and loans them to a gambler who promises him a “sure thing”.  But the gambler instead kills the dealer and takes off with the embezzled funds and more.  Jim escapes from jail and pursues the gambler while the marshall pursues him.

Jim is accompanied by a friend he met while hiding out at a ranch.  The two are forced to disguise themselves as entertainers to elude the law, giving themselves time to reveal hidden talents as a pretty fair song and dance team.  Of course, a Western wouldn’t be a Western without a love interest.

I had never seen anything with Bob Steele and was surprised to find that the rather slight, unassuming young man turned out to be him!  He’s a good actor and also good with his fists.

Half Shot at Sunrise
Directed by Paul Sloane
Written by James Ashmore Creelman
1930/USA
RKO Radio Pictures
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube

Annette Marshall: Are you married?
Tommy Turner: No, I just naturally look worried.

Another fun film from my favorite pre-Code comedy team.

Doughboys Tommy Turner (Bert Wheeler) and his inseparable buddy Gilbert Simpson (Robert Woolsey) cannot resist the charms of WWI Paris and go AWOL.  Colonel Marshall isn’t having any of this and sends the world’s most incompetent MPs on their trail.  The boys get away over and over again using the slightest of disguises.

The Colonel’s sweet sassy 16-year-old daughter Annette shows up in time to instantly fall in love with Tommy and do a fun song and dance act.  The Colonel is being relentlessly pursued by a Russian vamp to the great displeasure of his jealous wife (Edna Mae Oliver).  When the authorities finally do catch up with the boys, Annette hatches a plan to make them heros by sending them to the front lines to deliver some secret plans.

All of the story is in service of the formula which is rapid-fire jokes, some pretty racy, a couple of musical numbers, and the traditional Wheeler-Lee romance.  The film does exactly what it set out to do — provide an hour and change of fun.

There’s usually an opportunity for one or more chorus girl number in a Wheeler and Woolsey film.

Monte Carlo
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
Written by Ernest Vajda from a variety of source material
1930/US
Paramount Pictures
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel

Countess Helene Mara: oh, oh, oh, oh… ohohohoo… that feels good… oh,oh… that feels even better… you must have electricity in your hands. I’ve never felt like this before! Gorgeous!

This bit of fluff might be the least of the Lubitsch musicals but it is still charming.

Countess Helene (Jeanette MacDonald) escapes her arranged marriage to the much older Duke Otto (Claud Allister) at the last possible moment. She hopes to increase her scant finances at the gaming tables of Monte Carlo. On arrival, Count Rudolph (Jack Buchanan) tries to chat her up but she won’t give him the time of day. He decides the best way to get close to her will be to pose as a hairdresser. This works out better than might be expected.

But the casino leaves Jeanette even broker than she was before and she reconsiders marrying the Duke who has come to town in search of her.  One guess as to how this will wind up.

While the songs aren’t particularly great, the dialogue is sharp and the performances are excellent.  I’ve loved Jack Buchanan since I first saw him in The Band Wagon (1953) and Zasu Pitts was a special treat as the maid.  MacDonald is at her sexy comic best and in good voice.

Clip

Also an audio of one of the songs (not sung by one of the principals) with a photo montage

Anna Christie
Directed by Clarence Brown
Written by Frances Marion from a play by Eugene O’Neill
1930/US
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Instant

Anna Christie: Gimme a whisky, ginger ale on the side, and don’t be stingy, baby! (Garbo’s first spoken words on screen)

Garbo showed she was a star for all times in this, her first talkie.

Anna Christie (Greta Garbo) has been knocked around hard in her short life and washes up drunk and sick on New York’s waterfront where she is taken in by her father (George F. Marion), whom she has not seen since she was a child. He had thought he was protecting her by sending her to live on a Mid-West farm.  In fact, she ran away and made her living on the streets while telling dad she was working as a nurse.

Living with her father on his coal barge is good for the jaded Anna.  The sea air restores her health and a modicum of optimism.   When she rescues an Irish sailor (Charles Bickford), they fall in love. It is then that her past as a prostitute comes back to haunt her.

This was Garbo’s first speaking role and I thought she did well despite the somewhat stage-bound dialogue. My favorite performance, though, was that of Marie Dressler as the father’s boozy pal. Dated but enjoyable.

Anna Christie was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Cinematography.

The Divorcee
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard
Written by John Meehan from a novel by Ursula Parrott
1930/US
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Theodore ‘Ted’ Martin: I’d like to make love to you till you scream for help.

Glittering MGM production could only have been made prior to 1934.

As the film begins, the New York in-crowd is partying at a country house.  Ted Martin (Chester Morris) asks career girl Jerry Bernard (Norma Shearer) to marry him and she accepts.  This delivers a crushing blow to Paul (Conrad Nagle) who gets roaring drunk and has an accident which leaves his passenger Dorothy disfigured. He marries her out of pity. Another disappointed potential suitor is Don (Robert Montgomery), Ted’s best friend.

Ted and Jerry have been married for three years when she discovers he has had a brief affair with another woman.  She confronts him and he excuses his behavior by saying “it didn’t mean a thing”. This rightly infuriates her.  She decides what’s good for the gander is good for the goose and has a one night stand with Don.  When she tells Ted she has balanced their accounts, he divorces her.

Jerry then becomes a real party girl.  Later, she begins an affair with Paul.  But when she realizes what she is doing to Dorothy she breaks up with him and heads to Paris in search of Ted.

This is really one hell of a movie!  I’m not a big fan of Shearer but she sure could wear clothes and her gowns are fabulous as is the art deco decor.  The film as a whole is a fine example of Hollywood glamor and sharp screenwriting.

Norma Shearer won the Best Actress Oscar.  The film was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director.