You can’t beat pre-Code Barbara Stanwyck, who glows as a knockout thieves’ accomplice, tough prison convict and deceitful lover of an incorruptible revivalist preacher-politician. She’s matched by the sassy, naughty Lillian Roth. In this Warner crime-tale-duel between piety and sin, darned if Stanwyck and Roth don’t make the crooked path seem cozy. There’s a girl-girl punch-out and an ill-fated prison break, but just watching Barbara ooze attitude as she saunters through the prison is worth the price of admission. Even more eye-opening is a positively lewd cartoon extra, also from the pre-Code halls of joyful infamy.
Ladies They Talk About
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1933 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 69 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date , 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster, Lyle Talbot, Dorothy Burgess, Lillian Roth, Maude Eburne, Ruth Donnelly, Harold Huber, Mary Gordon, Madame Sul-Te-Wan, Robert Warwick, Etta Moten, Helen Ware.
Cinematography: John F. Seitz
Production Designer:...
Ladies They Talk About
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1933 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 69 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date , 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster, Lyle Talbot, Dorothy Burgess, Lillian Roth, Maude Eburne, Ruth Donnelly, Harold Huber, Mary Gordon, Madame Sul-Te-Wan, Robert Warwick, Etta Moten, Helen Ware.
Cinematography: John F. Seitz
Production Designer:...
- 12/27/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
What does a working girl have to do to get ahead, when all she has in her favor is an incredible face, a lavish wardrobe, and a pair of legs to make any executive wolf howl? Loretta Young juggles two egotistical swains, while Joan Blondell shines as an enticing all-pro homewrecker.
Big Business Girl
DVD-r
The Warner Archive Collection
1931 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 74 min. / Street Date September 14, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Loretta Young, Frank Albertson, Ricardo Cortez, Joan Blondell, Frank Darien, Dorothy Christy, Oscar Apfel, Judith Barrett, Mickey Bennett, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Virginia Sale.
Cinematography: Sol Polito
Film Editor: Pete Fritch
Written by Robert Lord, story by Patricia Reilly & H.N. Swanson
Produced and Directed by William A. Seiter
Let’s hear it for the Warner Archive Collection’s voluminous vault of early ’30s Warners, MGM and Rko entertainments, which has given us a real education about this era of filmmaking.
Big Business Girl
DVD-r
The Warner Archive Collection
1931 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 74 min. / Street Date September 14, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Loretta Young, Frank Albertson, Ricardo Cortez, Joan Blondell, Frank Darien, Dorothy Christy, Oscar Apfel, Judith Barrett, Mickey Bennett, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Virginia Sale.
Cinematography: Sol Polito
Film Editor: Pete Fritch
Written by Robert Lord, story by Patricia Reilly & H.N. Swanson
Produced and Directed by William A. Seiter
Let’s hear it for the Warner Archive Collection’s voluminous vault of early ’30s Warners, MGM and Rko entertainments, which has given us a real education about this era of filmmaking.
- 10/7/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Orange Is the New Black returns June 17. The show has rightly earned praise for its nuanced, moving portrayals of female inmates of all stripes, and serves as a reminder of how far things have come in terms of images of incarcerated women on screen. In appreciation of series creator Jenji Kohan and the cast and crew's elevated take on the subject matter, we're looking back at the bleak and often exploitative history of the strange "women's prison drama" film genre. The portrayal of women in prison can be split - as most of Hollywood can - into two periods: Pre- and Post-Code.
- 6/15/2016
- by Alex Heigl, @alex_heigl
- PEOPLE.com
Orange Is the New Black returns June 17. The show has rightly earned praise for its nuanced, moving portrayals of female inmates of all stripes, and serves as a reminder of how far things have come in terms of images of incarcerated women on screen. In appreciation of series creator Jenji Kohan and the cast and crew's elevated take on the subject matter, we're looking back at the bleak and often exploitative history of the strange "women's prison drama" film genre. The portrayal of women in prison can be split - as most of Hollywood can - into two periods: Pre- and Post-Code.
- 6/15/2016
- by Alex Heigl, @alex_heigl
- PEOPLE.com
Tod Browning’s “Freaks”
Before R-ratings, anti-heroes and gratuitous violence and nudity in mainstream Hollywood movies, there was the Hays Code. As a form of self-policing the industry, virtually every movie released up until 1968 needed that stamp of approval if it wanted distribution. And while it helped produce all of Old Hollywood’s true classics for several decades, it often included ridiculous rulings like not being able to show or flush a toilet on screen, not allowing married couples to be shown sleeping in the same bad or always making sure criminals, even protagonists of the movie, got punished in the end.
But before the Hays Code was nothing, and it was a gloriously weird, scandalous time for the movies. Certain Hollywood films in the early ’30s as “talkies” were rapidly taking hold have since been labeled “Pre-Code” films that never received Hollywood’s stamp of approval.
Every Friday in September,...
Before R-ratings, anti-heroes and gratuitous violence and nudity in mainstream Hollywood movies, there was the Hays Code. As a form of self-policing the industry, virtually every movie released up until 1968 needed that stamp of approval if it wanted distribution. And while it helped produce all of Old Hollywood’s true classics for several decades, it often included ridiculous rulings like not being able to show or flush a toilet on screen, not allowing married couples to be shown sleeping in the same bad or always making sure criminals, even protagonists of the movie, got punished in the end.
But before the Hays Code was nothing, and it was a gloriously weird, scandalous time for the movies. Certain Hollywood films in the early ’30s as “talkies” were rapidly taking hold have since been labeled “Pre-Code” films that never received Hollywood’s stamp of approval.
Every Friday in September,...
- 9/4/2014
- by Brian Welk
- SoundOnSight
Above: Us poster for Forbidden (Frank Capra, USA, 1932)
In honor of the month-long retrospective of the films of the great Barbara Stanwyck starting today at Film Forum in New York, I thought I’d select my favorite Stanwyck posters. Brooklyn-born Ruby Catherine Stevens made 85 films over 37 years in Hollywood so there is an awful lot to choose from. But the remarkable thing about looking back at these posters is how artists seemed to have had a hard time capturing her likeness. The poster for one of her earliest films, Capra’s 1932 Forbidden, above, captures her beautifully, but the poster for Stella Dallas (1937), her first Oscar-nominated role (she never won, shockingly), seems to be of a different actress entirely. As for the sexed-up illustration on the flyer for The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933), in that she looks more like Jean Harlow. Some of my favorite posters for her films are the Swedish and Danish designs,...
In honor of the month-long retrospective of the films of the great Barbara Stanwyck starting today at Film Forum in New York, I thought I’d select my favorite Stanwyck posters. Brooklyn-born Ruby Catherine Stevens made 85 films over 37 years in Hollywood so there is an awful lot to choose from. But the remarkable thing about looking back at these posters is how artists seemed to have had a hard time capturing her likeness. The poster for one of her earliest films, Capra’s 1932 Forbidden, above, captures her beautifully, but the poster for Stella Dallas (1937), her first Oscar-nominated role (she never won, shockingly), seems to be of a different actress entirely. As for the sexed-up illustration on the flyer for The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933), in that she looks more like Jean Harlow. Some of my favorite posters for her films are the Swedish and Danish designs,...
- 12/6/2013
- by Adrian Curry
- MUBI
It seems as though opening movies on the weekend isn't enough for the studios during the competitive summertime marketplace. Two films this weekend actually were released on Tuesday night (We're The Millers and Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters) to get a jump on their share of the box-office pie. In addition to several wide releases, there's a new Woody Allen comedy and one of the year's best documentaries hitting town. But first, let's take a look at some of the unique repertory screenings that are happening around town over the next week.
Austin Film Society launches their Films Of Johnnie To series tonight with a 35mm booking of The Mission at the Marchesa. That will play again on Sunday night and there are three more Hong Kong classics on deck in the weeks ahead. The Essential Cinema Pre-Code Stanwyck series packed the house last week for a rare look at early talkie Mexicali Rose.
Austin Film Society launches their Films Of Johnnie To series tonight with a 35mm booking of The Mission at the Marchesa. That will play again on Sunday night and there are three more Hong Kong classics on deck in the weeks ahead. The Essential Cinema Pre-Code Stanwyck series packed the house last week for a rare look at early talkie Mexicali Rose.
- 8/9/2013
- by Matt Shiverdecker
- Slackerwood
I was overjoyed to hear that Austin Film Society has picked one of my favorite actresses as their focus next month. Tuesday evenings in August, four films that Barbara Stanwyck made before the Hays Code was in effect will be shown at Afs at the Marchesa.
These pre-code movies have attention-grabbing storylines. Unlike films produced under the code, there isn't necessarily any punishment for the naughty or driven woman. And, boy, does Stanwyck play the naughty woman well! She also portrays working-class women with aplomb.
I asked Afs programmer Lars Nilsen why he chose Stanwyck for August's theme and he told me, "The idea for the series came to me when I was rewatching Ladies They Talk About. I had seen many other Stanwyck pre-code films, but on this viewing I began just admiring everything about Stanwyck's gifts as an actress and as an especially authentic individual, even in an...
These pre-code movies have attention-grabbing storylines. Unlike films produced under the code, there isn't necessarily any punishment for the naughty or driven woman. And, boy, does Stanwyck play the naughty woman well! She also portrays working-class women with aplomb.
I asked Afs programmer Lars Nilsen why he chose Stanwyck for August's theme and he told me, "The idea for the series came to me when I was rewatching Ladies They Talk About. I had seen many other Stanwyck pre-code films, but on this viewing I began just admiring everything about Stanwyck's gifts as an actress and as an especially authentic individual, even in an...
- 7/23/2013
- by Elizabeth Stoddard
- Slackerwood
By Doug Gerbino
The Warner Archive has released two more volumes in their “Forbidden Hollywood” series. Marijuana, Lesbians -And-William Powell speaks Yiddish!
Forbidden Hollywood-Volumes 4 & 5 have been released by Warner Archive Collection. I have been a big fan of this series since The VHS/laser disc days. These pre-code films are a hell-of-a-lot-of-fun to watch, and no one did them better than Warner Brothers. As my cinema guru , Tom Dillon ["The Sage of Grammercy Park"] once said: “You wanna take a shower after watching a good pre-Cceighte Warner Bros. film!” These 8 films are great examples of that genre.
Volume 4-all 1932
Jewell Robbery-William Powell and Kay Francis star in this story of a high society jewel thief who uses marijuana, amongst other things, to get what he wants. Directed by William Dieterle
Lawyer Man- William Powell and Joan Blondell. Powell stars as a lawyer who workds his way up from the lower east side to Park Ave.
The Warner Archive has released two more volumes in their “Forbidden Hollywood” series. Marijuana, Lesbians -And-William Powell speaks Yiddish!
Forbidden Hollywood-Volumes 4 & 5 have been released by Warner Archive Collection. I have been a big fan of this series since The VHS/laser disc days. These pre-code films are a hell-of-a-lot-of-fun to watch, and no one did them better than Warner Brothers. As my cinema guru , Tom Dillon ["The Sage of Grammercy Park"] once said: “You wanna take a shower after watching a good pre-Cceighte Warner Bros. film!” These 8 films are great examples of that genre.
Volume 4-all 1932
Jewell Robbery-William Powell and Kay Francis star in this story of a high society jewel thief who uses marijuana, amongst other things, to get what he wants. Directed by William Dieterle
Lawyer Man- William Powell and Joan Blondell. Powell stars as a lawyer who workds his way up from the lower east side to Park Ave.
- 8/26/2012
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
As a first volley in the Notebook’s coverage of Film Forum’s four-week, 50-film Essential Pre-Code series, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at the posters of the era that best captured the racy, uncensored, libertine air that the Motion Picture Production Code squashed in American movies for the next three decades. While the Code never addressed advertising materials per se it’s safe to say that many of the posters of the Pre-Code years of 1929 to 1934 (the year in which the Production Code Administration started to enforce the Code) are more risqué than those from the years that follow. Legendary pin-up artist Alberto Vargas painted an alluringly déshabillé Barbara Stanwyck for 1933’s Ladies They Talk About, (a women’s prison drama though you’d be hard pressed to tell), though Vargas’s best known film poster is the now iconic and even...
- 8/5/2011
- MUBI
Each year New York residents can look forward to two essential series programmed at the Film Forum, noirs and pre-Coders (that is, films made before the strict enforcing of the Motion Picture Production Code). These near-annual retrospective traditions are refreshed and re-varied and repeated for neophytes and cinephiles alike, giving all the chance to see and see again great film on film. Many titles in this year's Essential Pre-Code series, running an epic July 15 - August 11, are old favorites and some ache to be new discoveries; all in all there are far too many racy, slipshod, patter-filled celluloid splendors to be covered by one critic alone. Faced with such a bounty, I've enlisted the kind help of some friends and colleagues, asking them to sent in short pieces on their favorites in an incomplete but also in-progress survey and guide to one of the summer's most sought-after series. In this entry: what's playing Friday,...
- 8/4/2011
- MUBI
Each year New York residents can look forward to two essential series programmed at the Film Forum, noirs and pre-Coders (that is, films made before the strict enforcing of the Motion Picture Production Code). These near-annual retrospective traditions are refreshed and re-varied and re-repeated for neophytes and cinephiles alike, giving all the chance to see and see again great film on film. Many titles in this year's Essential Pre-Codeseries, running an epic July 15 - August 11, are old favorites and some ache to be new discoveries; all in all there are far too many racy, slipshod, patter-filled celluloid splendors to be covered by one critic alone. Faced with such a bounty, I've enlisted the kind help of some friends and colleagues, asking them to sent in short pieces on their favorites in an incomplete but also in-progress survey and guide to one of the summer's most sought-after series. In this entry: what's playing Friday,...
- 8/4/2011
- MUBI
Writer, producer, director Steve Balderson’s genre-bending, tragicomedy Stuck! will be playing at the beautiful Egyptian Theatre this Wednesday, February 3rd at 7:30pm.
I implore anyone in love with genre cinema and genuinely unique, low-budget films, to check it out for the discussion following the feature with Karen Black, Mink Stole, Susan Traylor, Jane Wiedlin, Pleasant Gehman, Stacy Cunningham and director Steve Balderson, which should be a hoot.
If you’re looking for a satisfying pastiche of the “girls behind bars” sub-genre of exploitation, Stuck! delivers. Early examples of the genre, like Barbara Stanwyck’s 1933 potboiler Ladies They Talk About, were – like many pictures of the day – problem pictures, in that they aimed to expose social injustices and inadequacies in the justice system. But by the 1960’s, when the genre really came into its own with cult classics like Caged and 99 Women, women-in-prison movies began to slide towards sexploitation and,...
I implore anyone in love with genre cinema and genuinely unique, low-budget films, to check it out for the discussion following the feature with Karen Black, Mink Stole, Susan Traylor, Jane Wiedlin, Pleasant Gehman, Stacy Cunningham and director Steve Balderson, which should be a hoot.
If you’re looking for a satisfying pastiche of the “girls behind bars” sub-genre of exploitation, Stuck! delivers. Early examples of the genre, like Barbara Stanwyck’s 1933 potboiler Ladies They Talk About, were – like many pictures of the day – problem pictures, in that they aimed to expose social injustices and inadequacies in the justice system. But by the 1960’s, when the genre really came into its own with cult classics like Caged and 99 Women, women-in-prison movies began to slide towards sexploitation and,...
- 2/2/2010
- by Jesse
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
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