Warner Archive Wednesday ~ Forbidden Hollywood Collection Volume 7

The seventh set in the popular Forbidden Hollywood Collection is a true gem. All four films, on 4 MOD-DVD discs, are rife with all the sins that make Pre-Codes so enjoyable to watch.

I started to do something recently that I have been wanting to do for a very long time: watch Pre-Codes every morning. It sounds like a silly ritual and I blame it all on TCM's influence. I had TCM for years before I moved out on my own and couldn't afford cable anymore (I got it back last year). I had become used to waking up early in the morning, turning on TCM and watching about 20-30 minutes of whatever early 1930s film was showing. It became a habit and for years afterwards I had always craved Pre-Codes in the morning. The only bad part about this was that I would want to watch the entire film but didn't have the time. I would either rent it or buy it later but that didn't always work because many of the films weren't available on DVD. Now that I own numerous Pre-Codes, including several of the Forbidden Hollywood Collection sets, I decided that I would pop in a DVD in the morning and watch 30 minutes of a Pre-Code. I know it seems like such a weird thing but this new morning ritual makes me so happy and gives me a nice start to my day. If I have time, I watch the entire film in the morning if I can. I started this new ritual with the seventh set in the Forbidden Hollywood Collection and I had so much fun that I hope to stick with it.

Now on to the films...

The Hatchet Man (1932) - This curio from First National stars Edward G. Robinson and Loretta Young. They are both made to look Asian and Loretta Young is almost unrecognizable in "yellow face". The story takes place in San Francisco's Chinatown and explores the conflict between old Chinese traditions and the modern sensibilities of 1930s America. Edward G. Robinson plays Wong Low Get, a Hatchet Man who acts as an executioner for the different Tongs in Chinatown. Whenever a crime is committed, he executes the criminal with his hatchet. He has to kill his best friend but before he does he makes a promise to take care of his daughter Sun Toya San (Loretta Young). There is romance, adultery, betrayal and violence in this rather disturbing movie. It's the slowest of the four films in the set and probably the most odd but worth watching.

Skyscrapers Souls (1932) - This is the first of the two Warren William films in this set, this Pre-Code looks at the lives of the people who work in a New York City skyscraper. All the action happens inside the building. The conceit works really well and made for a very enjoyable and clever little film. Warren William is despicable as the womanizing executive who is hell bent on owning the entire building. That skyscraper is his life, he lives, breathes, eats, works and sleeps in it. He's having an affair with his secretary Sarah (Verree Teasdale), funds his wife's (Hedda Hopper) adventures to keep her out of his sight but isn't satisfied until he gets his hands on his secretary's secretary Lynn (Maureen O'Sullivan) who happens to be having a romance with bank teller Tom (Norman Foster). That is quite a romantic entanglement! Anita Page is also in the film but has a very minor role. She receives good billing and I don't think she was utilized well. It's an enjoyable film with a rather serious ending.

Employees' Entrance (1933) - Warren William is back to his old antics in this film (well not really, in real life he was a very nice guy!). William plays Kurt Anderson, a tough executive who runs a department store with an iron fist. He has no compassion for anyone except for those who are willing to sacrifice everything, even happiness, in the name of business. Alice White plays Polly, a fashion model who Kurt hires on the side to be a romantic distraction to a busy-body executive. Kurt himself has his eye on another fashion model, Madeline, played by Loretta Young. He lures her into bed only to abandon her shortly after. When Madeline marries the boss' right-hand-man Martin West (Wallace Ford), they have to keep it a secret. Things get really messy when sex, booze and money get involved! If anyone tells you that they think old movies are tame, show them this film! In fact, sit them down and show them several Pre-Codes. 

Dog lovers may not care for one particular scene in the film. Consider yourself warned.

Ex-Lady (1933) - I know that Bette Davis used to make fun of her early movies and this one is considered to be one of her flops. I have always disagreed with Bette Davis though and her early pictures are my favorites. In my honest opinion, this one is the best of the set. I enjoyed it so much and  the story really resonated with me. It doesn't try to shock like other Pre-Codes do. Instead it takes an honest look at romantic relationships and marriage. Bette Davis plays Helen, a very accomplished artist whose illustrations are highly sought after. She's an independent woman and in charge of her own life and career. Gene Raymond plays Don, an advertiser and Helen's beau. Helen doesn't want to get married so instead Don sneaks in to her apartment and sleeps over regularly. Helen's parents find out and they feel pressure to marry but Helen fights it every step of the way. I could go on but this film is so good that I hope to devote an entire post to it. This film most likely flopped because it took an honest look at relationships instead of romanticizing the marriage ideal. That kind of truth doesn't make for popular entertainment. Everyone wants the fantasy, not the reality. This film is a new favorite indeed!

Forbidden Hollywood Collection: Volume 7 is available on DVD MOD from Warner Archive.



Warner Archive Wednesday - On (random) Wednesdays, I review one title from the Warner Archive Collection. I received Forbidden Hollywood Collection Volume 7 from Warner Archive for review.

Warner Archive Wednesday ~ Miss Pinkerton (1932)

Source: Cinemagraphe

Joan Blondell as Nurse Adams in Miss Pinkerton (1932). Nurse Adams is sick of the monotony of being a hospital nurse and is quite vocal about her discontent. But things are about to change for the bored nurse. She's given the exciting opportunity of working at the home of the well-known Mitchell family. The head nurse informs Nurse Adams that she'll also be assisting the police in a homicide case that happened at that same home. When she arrives, she finds herself in a situation that is a lot more than she bargained for. Her situation brings to mind the common saying: Be careful what you wish for because it might come true.

George Brent plays Police Inspector Patten who is continuously at the house investigating the suspicious death of the Mitchell family heir Herbert Wynn. He enlists Nurse Adams to help him look for clues and dubs her Miss Pinkerton, a reference to the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. It's a reference that someone from 1932 would have gotten right away but a contemporary audience might scratch their head in confusion.

The film has a rather convoluted plot and there is quite a lot going on including murder disguised as suicide, insurance fraud, a secret marriage, affairs, poisoning, forgery, tricks and more. The film tries to spook audiences but in my opinion it falls flat and loses itself in its own plot. Even Joan Blondell couldn't save the movie for me. And I absolutely adore her and will watch just about any movie she's in. In Miss Pinkerton, Blondell's wide eyes grow even wider whenever she screams in fear. She does the frightened look well. But her character is in no way a victim even when she's put in various dangerous situations. She's sassy, clever and scrappy: the perfect detective. If I had to chose one thing I really liked about the film, it was Miss Pinkerton as a pre-code woman!

Source: Pre-Code.com

Nurse Adams/Miss Pinkerton and Inspector Patten (George Brent) have a romance which I thought could have been played up a bit more. The love story is rather neglected. It isn't given enough time to develop and because of that we don't really see any sparks between the two love birds. That whole plot line seems to have been added as after thought rather than an important part of the story.

It was nice to see actress Mary Doran in the film. She plays Florence Lenz, a gopher of one of the story's villains. Doran also played the other woman in one of my favorite pre-codes The Divorcee (1930). Also, Lyle Talbot has a bit part early on in  Miss Pinkerton as newspaper reporter.

Miss Pinkerton (1932) is one of five films in Warner Archive's Forbidden Hollywood Collection: Volume 5 DVD set. If you are a Pre-Code enthusiast, I recommend watching this film at least once to add to your repertoire.

Warner Archive Wednesday - On (random) Wednesdays, I review one title from the Warner Archive Collection. I purchased Miss Pinkerton as part of the Forbidden Hollywood Collection: Volume 5.

Warner Archive Wednesday - College Coach (1933)

College Coach (1933) is a film that combines two of my favorite themes in early films: sports and collegiate culture. Calvert College is in trouble. They just put some money into their science department and now they are on the brink of bankruptcy. They get the idea to hire Coach Gore (Pat O'Brien), a college football coach whose success in developing teams that draw crowds and win championships is well-known. The board of the college figure that a healthy and attractive football program will bring enough revenue to help the college recover from it's financial crisis.

Coach Gore hires athletes to be fake college students so they can play on the college's football team and bring the success that the college is looking for. Two of his hired players Buck Weaver (Lyle Talbot) and Phil Sargeant (Dick Powell) don't see eye to eye.

And not only that Weaver has an eye for Gore's wife (Ann Dvorak). Things become complicated as Gore continues to neglect his wife, as Weaver causes more problems and as Sargeant figures out he really wants to study chemistry and the chemistry department is dependent on the football team's success in order to continue.

I love the dilemma between academics and sports. We all know that talented athletes are highly sought after my colleges and universities. And even today there is still debate about how much a school should invest in it's academics versus it's sports. Sports definitely bring more public recognition to a school than academics (unless we are talking about Harvard or MIT or something). ESPN will not be covering students doing a particularly tough chemistry experiment but will cover their basketball game. In College Coach (1933), the college's academics is the poorer cousin to the much more handsome prospect of a robust football program. There is contention between them both with the hired players passing classes without having to do any studying.

College Coach is a fun movie with a good cast. It's not particularly collegiate. Some of the early scenes show students at games, together in dorms expressing their college spirit. The focus of this film is definitely the business behind college football and how the manipulation of Gore and his hired players causes problems for the school and for personal relationships.

Technically it's a pre-code but it's pretty tame. There is one scene in which Weaver (Lyle Talbot) hangs up a picture of a swell looking dame on a shelf much to the dismay of Sargeant. Weaver points to the picture and proclaims: "How would you like to stick your finger in..."

OH MY GOODNESS! I was so scandalized until he finished

How would you like to stick your finger in her coffee?

Phew! Also, who sticks their fingers in girls' coffees? Is this a thing? Is it to break the bubble of personal space?


Fun fact: A very young John Wayne has a bit part as a college student.

College Coach (1933) is available from the Warner Archive and at various online retailers.

Warner Archive Wednesday - On (random) Wednesdays, I review one title from the Warner Archive Collection. Movies selected are rented from Classicflix, watched on TCM or purchased from Warner Archive, Classicflix or TCM. This series is not sponsored by Warner Archive.

IOU: Madam Satan (1930)

Person I owe: Jonas of All Talking! All Singing! All Dancing!. I owe Jonas more than just this movie. I owe him a lot. He has sent me lots of great early talkies and silent films (more early talkies because that's his specialty). It's been hard to find the time to watch all those wonderful treasures. Jonas sent me a copy of Madam Satan (1930) long before Warner Archive made it available on DVD. And I'm ashamed that I only got to it now. What a fantastic film. Thank you Jonas!

Review: Madam Satan (1930) is one of the most entertaining Pre-Code movies I have ever seen.  It's both fun and bizarre. It stars Kay Johnson as Angela Brooks, the wife of Bob Brooks (Reginald Denny). Bob and his best friend Jimmy (Roland Young) go out regularly to paint the town red. Bob thinks that Angela is just blah now that she's his wife. And it turns out Bob is cheating on Angela with an entertainer named Trixie (Lillian Roth). While the two guys try to hide the affair in various ineffective ways, Angela is on to their schemes and wants to see what is going on for herself. It seems like Trixie's got her feline claws in deep with Bob and we think that Angela's lost him forever. That is, until Angela declares war!  The first 50 minutes of the film deal with the situation between the four characters. The other 1 hour and 10 minutes consists of a wild trip on a Zeppelin complete with a futuristic operetta (as Jonas calls it), crazy costumes that would shock and entice Lady Gaga and a grand finale that only a director like Cecil B. Demille could deliver.

This movie is so much fun to watch. The social drama at the beginning is full of fun jokes and physical humor. But once you hit that 50 minute mark, you are wowed by all the crazy Zeppelin shenanigans. You'll find yourself with your jaw to the floor, one hand on your head and one hand over  your mouth. It's that crazy. Like so many Pre-Codes, this film is full of sexual innuendos and experimentations of all sorts. What makes this film different to me is that I love the message. There are many Pre-Codes in which the ending completely undoes the original boundary-pushing message. In Madam Satan, we learn that men should appreciate their women. Because love, caring and intelligence don't have to stifle the carnal pleasures of a romantic relationship. And floozies don't always win in the end. I feel like in this day and time floozies seem to win because of their aggressiveness and charm. What ever happened to the value of self-respect? You want to be like Angela and NOT Trixie. And I like that message. Yes I do indeed.

If you haven't seen this movie, WATCH IT NOW! Don't wait as long as I did. Order a copy for yourself and several for your friends. If my review doesn't convince you, here are some screen caps for your viewing pleasure.

Angela is trapped like that cagged bird.

What do two drunk men do? Take a shower in their suits in the middle of a bedroom. Yeah.

Lillian Roth is the villain but her smile is too infectious for you to complete hate her.

Roland Young has some great expressions of confusion and fear in the film.

You are invited!

Zeppelin!

Lady Gaga would totally rip this off for one of her music videos.

One of the many WTF moments.

At this point I was jumping up and down in my seat cheering. Go Madam Satan!

The Big House (1930)

The Big House (1930) takes place in an over-crowded Art Deco prison.

Warden James Arden (Lewis Stone) presides over the prisoners at a safe distance, so as not to get his suit and bow-tie dirty.

Now for the prisoners...

Prisoner #44789

John  "Morg" Morgan (Chester Morris) Morgan is a slick robber with a talent for wielding guns. After putting in 3 years with good behavior, Morgan's just about ready to get out of prison, into the real world and into the arms of some understanding dame. But the Big House doesn't quite want to spit him out yet.

Prisoner #42633

Butch "Machine Gun" Schmidt (Wallace Beery) This big lug has a weak spot for his momma but has no qualms about gunning down the whole DeLacey gang in one fell swoop ($500 for all three!). He's got opinions and he's not afraid to share him. His mind is always on the dames. Butch is the type to kiss a gal one moment and knock out her teeth the next.

Prisoner # 48642

Kent Marlowe (Robert Montgomery) A yellow-bellied fish* (*a term for a new inmate) gets thrown into the slammer for vehicular manslaughter as a result of having too many drinks on one fateful night. Marlowe's from a respectable and wealthy family and feels he doesn't belong in the slammer and will do anything to get out. Even if it means backstabbing his fellow prisoners.

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It gets mighty lonely for a chap in prison with all those other chaps. Butch entertains the other prisoners by fake reading letters from a fictional girlfriend named Myrtle, who just adores her great big boy. He also entertains himself with the thought of all notches that are supposed to exist on bedposts around the area.

Morgan has his eye on Marlowe's sister Anne (Leila Hyams) who looks positively angelic in the photo Marlowe carries around with him. Her blonde curls frame her face almost like a halo. Morgan gets several glimpses of Anne before he can lay his hands on the real thing. First a picture, then a glance during visiting hours, then it's a visit to the bookstore where Anne works. Morgan envisions a new life in the Pacific Islands and Anne is just the sort of dame he'd like to take with him. She's a good virginal specimen. Or is she? Morgan possesses her with his stare and she seems willing to be possessed. He comes looking for her and she thinks it's to seek revenge against her for her brother's backstabbing. However, she caves in to his good looks, his charm and a little taste of danger that could spice up her life.

Who knew a film about a bunch of men in prison could be so sexy?

The Big House (1930) is available on DVD as part of the Warner Home Archive collection.

Forbidden Hollywood Collection Volume 2

So on Friday I broke down and went ahead and purchased the TCM Archives Boxed Set "The Forbidden Hollywood Collection Volume 2". I was going to buy it eventually but had just been renting it. Since I have a unique passion for Pre-Codes, I should be supporting the ones that are being put out on DVD. Especially ones that I'm interested in, like The Divorcee (1930), A Free Soul (1931) and Night Nurse (1931), all of which I had been waiting a substantial amount of time to view and all of which I had missed or only seen part of when aired on TCM.

So I forked over the $40 (hey I finished paying for school, so it's not so bad right?) and my set should be coming in a few days. I did happen to catch the Thou Shalt Not documentary, before I returned my second DVD to Netflix. I was very impressed by it. I wrote a lot of film names down, all of which, to my dismay, are not available on DVD, grrr. The documentary is very informative and chic, in that TCM style. There was one comment at the end that switched on the proverbial light bulb above my head. One of the interviewees said that although the Hays Code did a lot to stifle films in the late 30s to early 50s with its strict censorship, it was also a blessing to the film industry. It forced filmmakers to be more creative about conveying things in their stories in such a way that it would squeak by the censors. And thus we get some of the most well-written stories in the history of film. If you ever watch Family Guy, you'll know young Chris always does a funny "whhhhhhaaaaatt?" when he finds out something truly shocking. I had that kind of a moment. Here I was thinking that the films from that 20+ year span were being held back and I always wondered what they could be without so many restrictions. But now I realize that they may not have been as clever without the Hays Code restrictions. What would Out of the Past (1947) be with all its witty dialogue? So in the end, this documentary made me appreciate something that I had been taking for granted all this time!