Released by MGM | Directed By Ub Iwerks The Bully: The Ol’ One-Two Flip the Frog is a footnote in the cartoon industry. Like Bosko or Betty Boop’s many sidekicks, you probably have to have had a serious side education in early cartoons to know his name. MGM, looking to Read more
Sam Spade Ricardo Cortez Ruth Wonderly Bebe Daniels Casper Gutman Dudley Digges Effie Perine Una Merkel Iva Archer Thelma Todd Dr. Joel Cairo Otto Matieson Released by Warner Brothers | Directed By Roy Del Ruth Proof That It’s Pre-Code Sam Spade likes the ladies. More on that below. Homosexual subtext Read more
Mary Clay Joan Crawford Dillon Todd Robert Montgomery Jeff Williams Clark Gable Paula Billie Burke Shemp Charles Butterworth Connie Frances Drake Released by MGM | Directed By W.S. Van Dyke Proof That It’s Pre-Code-ish Marriage is one big joke. Several scenes of Gable and Montgomery just exiting the shower (different Read more
Egbert Higginbothom Bob Woolsey Tommy Tunner Bert Wheeler Peggy Dorothy Lee Released by RKO | Directed By William A. Seiter Proof That It’s Pre-Code “While they’re up on their toes, we’re out flat on our–” “Tommy!” “– heels!” “The manager came backstage and said he didn’t allow profanity in his Read more
Knobby Walsh Jimmy Durante Nina Madero Lupe Velez Joe Palooka Stuart Erwin Mayme Palooka Marjorie Rambeau Pete Palooka Robert Armstrong Trixie Thelma Todd Released by United Artists | Directed By Benjamin Stoloff Proof That It’s Pre-Code The rather disgusting “National Geographic”/”it’s okay to show black women’s breasts if they’re uncivilized Read more
Andy Robert Wheeler Dr. Dudley Bob Woolsey Daisy Dorothy Lee Released by RKO | Directed By Mark Sandrich Proof That It’s Pre-Code The opening features a number of fetching young women wearing as little as a few strips of cloth and as much as some strategically placed strips. Our heroes Read more
Wilkie Spencer Tracy Hogan William Boyd Mitchell George Cooper Mary Ann Dvorak The Colonel Billy Bevan Fifi Yola D’Avril Released by United Artists | Directed By A. Edward Sutherland Proof That It’s Pre-Code The best part of being a lifeguard is the women. Sometime you may even get two! Someone Read more
Rico Edward G. Robinson Joe Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Olga Glenda Farrell Released by Warner Brothers | Directed By Mervyn LeRoy Proof That It’s Pre-Code Homosexual undertones galore. From a few guys checking out Douglas Fairbanks Jr.’s dance moves to Rico’s gushing toady, it’s hard not to read the whole thing Read more
Tom Powers James Cagney Gwen Allen Jean Harlow Matt Doyle Edward Woods Mike Powers Donald Cook Ma Powers Beryl Mercer Mamie Joan Blondell Released by Warner Brothers | Directed By William A. Wellman Proof That It’s Pre-Code Our hero is a thug and he’s punished for his actions. But, boy, Read more
Harold Hall Harold Lloyd Mary Sears Constance Cummings Vance Kenneth Thompson Released by Paramount Pictures | Directed By Clyde Bruckman Proof That It’s Pre-Code When Harold dons a magician’s coat and accidentally lets loose a flood of mice at a ritzy party, the person who flips out the most is Read more