Pre-Code Comedies
by FrankIrons | created - 06 Mar 2023 | updated - 11 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Cocoanuts (1929)
Passed | 96 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
During the Florida land boom, The Marx Brothers run a hotel, auction off some land, thwart a jewel robbery, and generally act like themselves.
Directors: Robert Florey, Joseph Santley | Stars: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx
Votes: 8,193 | Gross: $3.92M
2. Holiday (1930)
91 min | Comedy, Drama
Holiday is a 1930 American Pre-Code romantic comedy film which tells the story of a young man who is torn between his free-thinking lifestyle and the tradition of his wealthy fiancée's family.
Director: Edward H. Griffith | Stars: Ann Harding, Mary Astor, Robert Ames, Hallam Cooley
Votes: 680
3. Madam Satan (1930)
Passed | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
Angela and Bob Brooks are an upper-class couple. Unfortunately, Bob is an unfaithful husband, but Angela has a plan to win back her husband's affections.
Director: Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: Kay Johnson, Reginald Denny, Lillian Roth, Roland Young
Votes: 1,245 | Gross: $0.50M
4. The Front Page (1931)
Approved | 101 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A crusading newspaper editor tricks his retiring star reporter into covering one last case.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Adolphe Menjou, Pat O'Brien, Mary Brian, Edward Everett Horton
Votes: 3,449
5. Strangers May Kiss (1931)
Passed | 81 min | Drama, Romance
Against her friends wishes, Lisbeth moves to Mexico to live with her lover.
Director: George Fitzmaurice | Stars: Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery, Neil Hamilton, Marjorie Rambeau
Votes: 533
6. The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)
Passed | 93 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
An amorous lieutenant is forced to marry a socially awkward princess, though he tries to keep his violin-playing girlfriend on the side.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch | Stars: Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert, Miriam Hopkins, Charles Ruggles
Votes: 4,116
7. Big Business Girl (1931)
Passed | 75 min | Comedy, Romance
Thanks to her ability and her legs, Claire McIntyre rises in the business world.
Director: William A. Seiter | Stars: Loretta Young, Frank Albertson, Ricardo Cortez, Joan Blondell
Votes: 434
8. Blonde Crazy (1931)
TV-G | 79 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
The adventures of an egoistic con man and his glamorous accomplice.
Director: Roy Del Ruth | Stars: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Louis Calhern, Noel Francis
Votes: 2,324
9. Platinum Blonde (1931)
Passed | 89 min | Comedy, Romance
A young woman from a very rich family impulsively marries a reporter, but each assumes the other is the one whose lifestyle must change.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Jean Harlow, Loretta Young, Robert Williams, Halliwell Hobbes
Votes: 3,456
10. Three Wise Girls (1931)
Passed | 68 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Cassie moves to New York and jumps from one job to another until she lands a modeling gig.
Director: William Beaudine | Stars: Jean Harlow, Mae Clarke, Walter Byron, Marie Prevost
Votes: 721
11. One Hour with You (1932)
Passed | 78 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
An unhappily married couple try to come between a happy one.
Directors: George Cukor, Ernst Lubitsch | Stars: Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Genevieve Tobin, Lili Damita
Votes: 2,914
12. This Is the Night (1932)
Approved | 80 min | Comedy
An affair is almost exposed when Claire's husband unexpectedly returns early from the Summer Olympics.
Director: Frank Tuttle | Stars: Roland Young, Thelma Todd, Cary Grant, Lili Damita
Votes: 961
13. Beauty and the Boss (1932)
Passed | 66 min | Comedy, Mystery, Romance
An executive hires a mousy, plain woman as his secretary so she will not divert him from his work, but she still becomes determined to win his heart.
Director: Roy Del Ruth | Stars: Marian Marsh, David Manners, Warren William, Charles Butterworth
Votes: 698
14. Man Wanted (1932)
Passed | 62 min | Romance, Comedy, Drama
A female editor of a magazine falls in love with her male secretary.
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: Kay Francis, David Manners, Una Merkel, Andy Devine
Votes: 856
15. Miss Pinkerton (1932)
Passed | 66 min | Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
A hospital nurse is recruited by the police to watch a household where a suspicious death has occurred.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Joan Blondell, George Brent, Ruth Hall, John Wray
Votes: 605
16. Merrily We Go to Hell (1932)
Not Rated | 83 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A drunken newspaperman is rescued from his alcoholic haze by an heiress whose love sobers him up and encourages him to write a play, but he lapses back into dipsomania.
Director: Dorothy Arzner | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, Fredric March, Adrianne Allen, Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher
Votes: 1,936
17. Red-Headed Woman (1932)
Passed | 79 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Lillian (Jean Harlow) relentlessly attempts to seduce a married man (Chester Morris).
Director: Jack Conway | Stars: Jean Harlow, Chester Morris, Lewis Stone, Leila Hyams
Votes: 3,537
18. Jewel Robbery (1932)
Passed | 68 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
A gentleman thief charms a Viennese baron's wife and also conducts a daring daylight robbery of a jewellers.
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: William Powell, Kay Francis, Helen Vinson, Hardie Albright
Votes: 2,545
19. Million Dollar Legs (1932)
Passed | 64 min | Comedy, Sport
A small country on the verge of bankruptcy is persuaded to enter the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics as a means of raising money.
Director: Edward F. Cline | Stars: Jack Oakie, W.C. Fields, Andy Clyde, Lyda Roberti
Votes: 1,460
20. Love Me Tonight (1932)
Passed | 104 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A Parisian tailor finds himself posing as a baron in order to collect a sizeable bill from an aristocrat, only to fall in love with an aloof young princess.
Director: Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Charles Ruggles, Charles Butterworth
Votes: 4,625
21. Blessed Event (1932)
Passed | 80 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Al Roberts writes a gossip column for the Daily Express. He will write about anyone and everyone as long as he gets the credit. He gets into a little difficulty with a hood named Goebel who... See full summary »
Director: Roy Del Ruth | Stars: Lee Tracy, Mary Brian, Dick Powell, Allen Jenkins
Votes: 763
22. Virtue (1932)
Passed | 68 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A relationship gradually develops between a savvy New York street girl and a good-hearted cab driver, but other matters keep getting in their way, including financial problems and a murder.
Director: Edward Buzzell | Stars: Carole Lombard, Pat O'Brien, Mayo Methot, Jack La Rue
Votes: 930
23. Trouble in Paradise (1932)
Passed | 83 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
A gentleman thief and a lady pickpocket join forces to con a beautiful perfume company owner. Romantic entanglements and jealousies confuse the scheme.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch | Stars: Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, Herbert Marshall, Charles Ruggles
Votes: 16,153 | Gross: $1.04M
24. Hot Saturday (1932)
Approved | 73 min | Drama, Romance
A pretty but virtuous small-town bank clerk is the victim of a vicious rumor from an unsuccessful suitor that she spent the night with a notorious womanizer.
Director: William A. Seiter | Stars: Cary Grant, Nancy Carroll, Randolph Scott, Edward Woods
Votes: 1,374
25. Night After Night (1932)
Passed | 73 min | Comedy, Drama
A successful ex-boxer opens a high-class speakeasy in what once was the childhood home of a formerly rich society girl.
Director: Archie Mayo | Stars: George Raft, Constance Cummings, Wynne Gibson, Mae West
Votes: 1,066
26. If I Had a Million (1932)
Passed | 88 min | Comedy, Drama
A dying tycoon gives million-dollar windfalls to eight people picked from the city directory.
Directors: James Cruze, H. Bruce Humberstone, Ernst Lubitsch, Norman Z. McLeod, Stephen Roberts, William A. Seiter, Norman Taurog, Lothar Mendes | Stars: Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton, W.C. Fields, George Raft
Votes: 2,298
27. Me and My Gal (1932)
Passed | 79 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Young New York cop Dan falls in love with waterfront waitress Helen. Helen's sister Kate falls for gangster Duke. Dan must do in Duke.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Marion Burns, George Walsh
Votes: 1,390
28. She Done Him Wrong (1933)
Passed | 66 min | Comedy, Drama, History
In the Gay Nineties, a seductive nightclub singer contends with several suitors, including a jealous escaped convict and a handsome temperance league member.
Director: Lowell Sherman | Stars: Mae West, Cary Grant, Owen Moore, Gilbert Roland
Votes: 7,035 | Gross: $4.80M
29. Hard to Handle (1933)
Approved | 78 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Small time con artist Lefty Merrill has co-organized a crooked dance marathon and set up his girlfriend to win the prize money. When his partner disappears with money before the contest is ... See full summary »
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: James Cagney, Mary Brian, Allen Jenkins, Ruth Donnelly
Votes: 896
30. Ex-Lady (1933)
Unrated | 67 min | Comedy, Drama
Although free spirit Helen Bauer does not believe in marriage, she consents to marry Don, but his infidelities cause her to also take on a lover.
Director: Robert Florey | Stars: Bette Davis, Gene Raymond, Frank McHugh, Monroe Owsley
Votes: 1,691 | Gross: $0.50M
31. Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
Passed | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
A wealthy composer rescues unemployed Broadway performers with a new play, but insists on remaining anonymous.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler
Votes: 9,141 | Gross: $4.80M
32. International House (1933)
Passed | 68 min | Comedy
Assorted wacky characters converge on a Chinese hotel to bid on a new invention: television.
Director: A. Edward Sutherland | Stars: W.C. Fields, Peggy Hopkins Joyce, Rudy Vallee, Stuart Erwin
Votes: 1,468
33. When Ladies Meet (1933)
Passed | 85 min | Comedy, Romance
Mary, a writer working on a novel about a love triangle, is attracted to her publisher. Her suitor Jimmy is determined to break them up; he introduces Mary to the publisher's wife without telling Mary who she is.
Directors: Harry Beaumont, Robert Z. Leonard | Stars: Ann Harding, Robert Montgomery, Myrna Loy, Alice Brady
Votes: 1,134
34. I'm No Angel (1933)
Passed | 87 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
Circus performer Tira seeks a better life pursuing the company of wealthy New York men with improbable comic complications along the way.
Director: Wesley Ruggles | Stars: Mae West, Cary Grant, Gregory Ratoff, Edward Arnold
Votes: 3,981 | Gross: $6.21M
35. Female (1933)
Passed | 60 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Alison Drake, the tough-minded executive of an automobile factory, succeeds in the man's world of business until she meets an independent design engineer.
Directors: Michael Curtiz, William Dieterle, William A. Wellman | Stars: Ruth Chatterton, George Brent, Lois Wilson, Johnny Mack Brown
Votes: 1,916
36. Havana Widows (1933)
62 min | Comedy
Two golddiggers go fishing for millionaires in Havana.
Director: Ray Enright | Stars: Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell, Guy Kibbee, Allen Jenkins
Votes: 532
37. Design for Living (1933)
Passed | 91 min | Comedy, Mystery, Romance
A woman cannot decide between two men who love her, and the trio agree to try living together in a platonic friendly relationship.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch | Stars: Fredric March, Gary Cooper, Miriam Hopkins, Edward Everett Horton
Votes: 7,757
38. Lady Killer (1933)
Passed | 76 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
A former gangster makes it big in Hollywood, but his old life catches up with him.
Director: Roy Del Ruth | Stars: James Cagney, Mae Clarke, Margaret Lindsay, Leslie Fenton
Votes: 1,886
39. Hi, Nellie (1934)
Passed | 75 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
The managing editor for a newspaper, in hot water with his boss, is demoted to writing the "Nellie Nelson" heart throb column, where he gets the unexpected opportunity to crack a major story.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, Ned Sparks, Robert Barrat
Votes: 598
40. Search for Beauty (1934)
Approved | 78 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
Three con artists dupe two Olympians into serving as editors of a new health and beauty magazine which is only a front for salacious stories and pictures.
Director: Erle C. Kenton | Stars: Buster Crabbe, Ida Lupino, Robert Armstrong, James Gleason
Votes: 741
41. I've Got Your Number (1934)
Unrated | 69 min | Action, Comedy, Mystery
Two telephone repairmen have many adventures and romance a pair of blondes.
Director: Ray Enright | Stars: Joan Blondell, Pat O'Brien, Allen Jenkins, Glenda Farrell
Votes: 519
42. Murder at the Vanities (1934)
Passed | 89 min | Crime, Music, Musical
A homicide detective with an eye for the ladies, investigating a murder in Earl Carroll's Vanities, allows the music revue to continue during the investigation.
Director: Mitchell Leisen | Stars: Carl Brisson, Victor McLaglen, Jack Oakie, Kitty Carlisle
Votes: 975
43. Kiss and Make-Up (1934)
Approved | 78 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A handsome plastic surgeon has a beauty clinic, where many a beautiful client falls in love with him. His unnoticed secretary is in love with him, too.
Director: Harlan Thompson | Stars: Cary Grant, Genevieve Tobin, Helen Mack, Edward Everett Horton
Votes: 851
44. Tonight or Never (1931)
80 min | Comedy, Romance
A young opera singer finds her career stalled because of her cold and passionless performances, until she finds romance with a handsome admirer.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Gloria Swanson, Melvyn Douglas, Alison Skipworth, Ferdinand Gottschalk
Votes: 1,613
45. You Said a Mouthful (1932)
Passed | 70 min | Comedy
Shipping clerk Joe Holt is mistaken for a swimming champion and expected to compete in a long-distance swim race off Catalina Island.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Joe E. Brown, Ginger Rogers, Preston Foster, Allen 'Farina' Hoskins
Votes: 537
46. Sin Takes a Holiday (1930)
Passed | 81 min | Comedy, Romance
A plain secretary works for a womanizing divorce lawyer who only dates married women. To avoid having to deal with the matrimonial pursuits of any of his potential romances, he offers her financial support if she marries him in name only.
Director: Paul L. Stein | Stars: Constance Bennett, Kenneth MacKenna, Basil Rathbone, Rita La Roy
Votes: 759
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