Review of The Bowery

The Bowery (1933)
Very pre-Code
14 April 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I've never seen the whole film but I saw the more notorious bits and pieces at a theatre years ago. There was a festival of pre-Code films shown and there was a lecturer who talked about the films before showing them. They couldn't get a print of this whole film but they did get clips of the sections that would not be allowed under the Production Code.

PLOT SPOILERS!!! We see a very drunk abusive woman getting punched out and dragged out of a bar and we hear tons of racial slurs coming from everybody--especially kids! And a whole tenement full of Chinese people is burnt to the ground--and this is treated as comedy! PLOT SPOILER END!!!

My audience gasped and laughed aloud at how over the top and offensive it was--but this was considered OK in 1930. I'd love to see it but it never shows on TV and (as far as I know) isn't available on VHS or DVD.
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