#pre-code

[inthedarktrees]

Carole Lombard with Shirley Grey (in white) in the pre-code romance, Virtue, 1932

[precodesoul]

Showgirls pose with a prop airplane for the pre-code musical Flying Down to Rio (dir. Thornton Freeland, 1933)

[roserosette]

Hips, Hips, Hooray!, 1934, Mark Sandrich

[mudwerks]

Black Cat Mystery #50 File Copy (Harvey, 1954)

Pre-Code cover drawn by Lee Elias... or was it Warren Kremer? CGC and The Grand Comics Database say Elias, while Overstreet credits Kremer.

[ilovedamsels1962]

Joan Blondell, 1930's

[jazz-vampire]

Ladies of Leisure (1930)

[cladriteradio]

Here are 10 things you should know about Barbara Stanwyck, born 118 years ago today. Widely beloved by her colleagues—from co-star to cameraman—she was, for our money, the finest actress of Hollywood's Golden Age.

[hellostarrynightblr]

Christmas Countdown [5/12] The Thin Man (1934)

[citizenscreen]

My #TCMFF Day 2 starts with Norma Shearer in her Oscar-winning turn as THE DIVORCEE (1930), a Robert Z. Leonard pre-code gem.

[chaptertwo-thepacnw]

frances dee |1934|

[precodesoul]

Mandalay (dir. Michael Curtiz, 1934)

[toughtalkers]

Clara Bow entered "The Fame and Fortune Contest" as a teenager. Girls from all over the country competed, and the 1st Prize was a part in a movie. Bow showed up in ragged clothes, and the other girls smirked at her. The contest judges paid no attention until she did her screen test - and then they unanimously chose her over all the other girls. Bow lit up the screen and got the part, but it was later cut from the movie.

[mudwerks]

(via RED HEADED WOMAN, 1932, Jean Harlow, Pre Code, Chester Morris, Una Merkel, classic film)

“When I kiss them they stay kissed for a long time”

[ilovedamsels1962]

Joan Blondell, 1930's

[voidblacktea]

Merrily We Go To Hell (1932)

A complex look at open relationships, marriage, and alcoholism. Dorothy Arzner broke new ground as a woman behind the camera. I watched this film for the first time last year, but it was even better on a rewatch last night.

It starts with a lot of fun and it clearly wears its pre-Code sensibilities on its sleeve for an act or two, but then the film gets serious, sad and heavy, with the charming alcoholic lead (Fredric March) making a mess of himself before the woman who loves him (Sylvia Sidney) and our very eyes. Human and real, it pulls no punches.

There was a greater diversity of human experience and experimentation during the pre-code era, even when the films weren't objectively good or deep, that was stamped out under the code and it's a shame.

[cladriteradio]

Here are 10 things you should know about James Cagney, born 126 years ago today. He worked in the theatre, vaudeville, radio and television, but he was a true force of nature on the silver screen.