alix1929 Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 Who would you nominate as the #1 pre-Code lady? The woman who most embodies the spirit of the pre-Code era of movie making? Link to post Share on other sites
alix1929 Posted May 9, 2009 Author Share Posted May 9, 2009 There are so many...Kay Francis, Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Harlow...it is hard to make a real choice! Link to post Share on other sites
goldensilents Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Barbara Stanwyck, for me. Link to post Share on other sites
traceyk65 Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Harlow, Mae West Link to post Share on other sites
decoduchess Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 I'd say it's a toss up between Kay Francis and Ruth Chatterton. Link to post Share on other sites
njpaddy Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 I love Kay Francis, but Stanwyck was so over the top in her early days she gets my vote as #1. Miriam Hopkins is a close second with Joan Blondell at #3. Link to post Share on other sites
feaito Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Definitely Barbara Stanwyck. Link to post Share on other sites
Rickspade Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 > {quote:title=feaito wrote:}{quote} > Definitely Barbara Stanwyck. That says it all. . .in just three words. Link to post Share on other sites
michiganj Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 For me it's Stanwyck , too, and then everyone else (which would Joan Blondell, Harlow, and Mae Clarke, if only for her performance in *Waterloo Bridge*.) Link to post Share on other sites
musicalnovelty Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 Those are all excellent choices given already. But often when I think of pre-code I think I'd pick actresses whose careers were so defined by their pre-code films that they were (unfortunately) pretty much washed up post-code. A few examples: Clara Bow Nancy Carroll Alice White Dorothy MacKaill And even Betty Boop! To name just a few...I'm sure others can add more. Link to post Share on other sites
goldensilents Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 Everyone has mentioned a great group of precode ladies. There's one who is missing: Irene Dunne. Yes, she is more likely to be remembered today for her romantic screwball comedies during the Code years, but she also played in some heavy duty precodes as well. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 and let's not forte that Gloria Swanson and Norma Talmadge made a few pre-Coders. Admittedly these were gritty like the films Stanwyck and Francis were making but they were in there. Also... there were Helen Twelvetrees, Betty Compson, Constance Bennett, and Ann Harding. Link to post Share on other sites
goldensilents Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Just a reminder: there are a whole slew of precodes on tomorrow for a big part of the day. Check the schedule. Link to post Share on other sites
michiganj Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Jill, Thanks so much for the reminder, there are a few of these I haven't seen before. (Is *Dirigible* any good? I'm a big fan of Fay Wray but am unfamiliar with this film.) Link to post Share on other sites
feaito Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 She hasn't been mentioned here and she's not really a Pre-Code dame, but Helen Chandler played many interesting roles during the Pre-Code Era, most notably in my opinion in Jacques Feyder's "*Daybreak*" (1931), in "*The Worst Woman in Paris?*" (1933) and in "*The Last Flight*" (1931). She has also the female lead in "*Dracula*" (1931). Link to post Share on other sites
goldensilents Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 *Dirigible* is just ok, but you might like it more than I did. I seem to have most of the precodes they are showing tomorrow already although I haven't watched them all. I have a compunction to record but don't always find the time with 4 children at home and 2 dogs to sit and watch films. I can just imagine how much catching up time I will get to once we retire. lol Link to post Share on other sites
goldensilents Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 We all also forgot Loretta Young! No one has mentioned her yet. *Midnight Mary*. Mmm. Mmm. Great performance! Link to post Share on other sites
feaito Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Yes Loretta Young is superb in "*Midnight Mary*" (1933); also in "*Weekend Marriage*", "*Man's Castle*", "*Heroes for Sale*", "*Zoo in Budapest*" et al. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I had seen *Dirigible* before and liked it a lot. It's the best of the series of action films Frank Capra made in the early talkie period with Jack Holt and Ralph Graves as stars. This one also has Fay Wray and, in a terrific performance, Hobart Bosworth, who was an matinee idol in early silents. The special effects are pretty good and it's a good (if familiar) story. I always felt Capra patterned these films and the relationship between the men on the William Haines/Lon Chaney pairing in *Tell It to the Marines.* Link to post Share on other sites
michiganj Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Thanks, Jill and drednm, I have the DVR set to record *Dirigible* (and a few others). Look forward to seeing Fay. I know Bosworth from *My Best Girl* and *A Woman of Affairs* (among others), but this may be the first talkie I've seen him in. Link to post Share on other sites
goldensilents Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 10:15am Rain or Shine (1930) A young woman inherits her father's financially troubled circus. Cast: Joe Cook, Louise Fazenda, Joan Peers, William Collier Jr. Dir: Frank Capra BW-88 mins, TV-G Hey! this one was *very* entertaining, I really enjoyed it. It had everything: old tunes, funny vaudeville routines, great circus acts and a fantastic climax with a huge circus tent burning to the ground and Louise Fazenda being rescued. I was sitting on the edge of my seat, literally! Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 During the ice and storm scenes Bosworth famously injured himself by getting dry ice in his mouth. Apparently it caused a lot of damage.... Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I thought Joe Cook was terrific in this one. Too bad his film career was so brief.... I agree, the finale was excellently done, but it was Joan Peers who got hoisted (I thought), not Louise Fazenda. Link to post Share on other sites
goldensilents Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Thanks, I thought it was Louise but on closer examination I think you're right. The print was on the dark side. In the very last shot I couldn't even make out the face of who was shown. Was it Joe Cook at the very end? Link to post Share on other sites
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