Pre-Code Films
When the "talkies" first began there were no rules, until 1934
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- DirectorGregory La CavaStarsConstance BennettJoel McCreaJohn HallidayDetermined to reform upon leaving prison, a former prostitute falls in love with a cotton-barge owner and must choose between him and her banker lover.
- DirectorGeorge CukorLouis J. GasnierStarsWalter HustonKay FrancisKenneth MacKennaMarya is the wife of medical student Victor Sablin, who finds it impossible to deal with military life when he is inducted into the Russian army during World War I.
- DirectorSidney FranklinStarsRuth ChattertonBasil RathboneRalph ForbesA famous British actress gets involved with two members of a reserved British noble family, whose plan to get rid of her backfires.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsConstance BennettViolet Kemble CooperPhoebe FosterAlthough the British upper class may be thought our betters in society, but they are certainly not our betters, and perhaps our equals, in morality.
- DirectorJohn M. StahlStarsConrad NagelRose HobartGenevieve TobinA wealthy industrialist's wife gets into a big argument with him; to cool off, she goes on an ocean trip. He thinks she's left him for good, so he marries another woman. When his first wife returns, complications ensue.
- DirectorEdmund GouldingStarsGreta GarboJohn BarrymoreJoan CrawfordA group of very different individuals staying at a luxurious hotel in Berlin deal with each of their respective dramas.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsGreta GarboLewis StoneGavin GordonYoung Harry is in love and wants to marry an actress, much to the displeasure of his family. Harry thinks that Bishop Armstrong knows nothing about love, so Armstrong tells him the story of Rita and himself. Rita was an opera star singing in New York, who was at a party given by Cornelius. Armstrong was a 28-year-old rector. He fell for Rita when he saw her and after six weeks he wanted to marry her. Naive as he was, he thought that all of Rita's "relationships" were in the distant past, but Rita lives for the moment and knows that she can never marry Armstrong.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsTallulah BankheadClive BrookPhoebe FosterTarnished Lady is a 1931 Pre-Code American drama film directed by George Cukor. The screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart is based on his short story, A Story of a New York Lady.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsDorothy MackaillBasil RathboneLeila HyamsPhyllis wants to marry Bobby, but Father won't permit it until older sister Celia weds. So Celia invents a military fiancée in Arabia, unimaginatively christens him John Smith, writes him a love letter, and then kills him off. Only there really is a Col. John Smith.
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsWilliam PowellKay FrancisScott KolkWilliam Powell plays William Foster, a slick attorney who stays within the law, but specializes in representing crooks and shady characters. He's adept at keeping them out of jail, winning acquittals, and having decisions reversed, thus springing criminals out of prison. He is romantically involved with dancer Irene Manners (Kay Francis), who is two-timing him, although she wants to marry him. She kills a man driving while out with her other man, Jack Defoe (Scott Kolk), who takes the blame. Unfortunately, a ring Foster had just given Irene is found at the crime scene. Foster ends up defending Jack, but when the ring is found, he thinks he is protecting Irene, so pleads guilty to jury tampering, which he had done for the first time to save Irene. After his plea, the the prosecuting DA confides that Jack would have gotten off...
- DirectorRobert Z. LeonardStarsGreta GarboClark GableJean HersholtFleeing her cruel uncle and an arranged marriage Susan Lenox falls in love with a kind stranger but circumstances force her to become a woman of easy virtue.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsKay FrancisJoel McCreaLilyan TashmanTwo gold-diggers prey on rich old men, but one of them falls in love with a rich young man.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsGreta GarboJohn GilbertIan KeithQueen Christina of Sweden is a popular monarch who is loyal to her country. However, when she falls in love with a Spanish envoy, she must choose between the throne and the man she loves.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeLionel BarrymoreStarsLionel BarrymoreKay FrancisMadge EvansA district attorney commits the perfect murder when he kills his daughter's womanizing fiancé and then tries framing the fiancé's lover.
- DirectorHobart HenleyStarsLew AyresMae ClarkeBoris KarloffStory of the goings-on at a Prohibition-era nightclub.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsGreta GarboRobert MontgomeryLewis StoneYvonne is a beautiful model who loves frequenting the Parisian bohemian life, because she loves hobnobbing with artists.
- DirectorArchie MayoStarsConstance BennettNeil HamiltonHelen VinsonA woman from high society must testify in a murder trial prosecuted by her suitor.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsMarlene DietrichVictor McLaglenGustav von SeyffertitzThe Austrian Secret Service sends its most seductive agent to spy on the Russians.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsBillie DoveBasil RathboneKay FrancisA scheming musician seduces a wealthy woman for love and money.
- DirectorLloyd BaconMichael CurtizStarsDorothy MackaillLewis StoneNatalie MoorheadLarry Fellowes of Fellowes Publishing wants Kate to write her next book about the 'Office Wife'. The personal secretary/stenographer spends more time with the busy executive and makes more decisions than his wife ever will. This creates a bond between the secretary and boss that the wife cannot hope to equal. What Larry doesn't know is that sometimes literature mirrors life.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsDorothy MackaillDonald CookRalf HaroldeAfter accidentally killing the man who raped her and forced her into prostitution, a New Orleans woman flees to a Caribbean island. While she awaits her fiancé, the vicious local police chief sets his sights on her.
- DirectorGeorge FitzmauriceStarsGreta GarboMelvyn DouglasErich von StroheimAn officer tries to convince an amnesiac bar entertainer that she is his long-lost lover.
- DirectorGeorge FitzmauriceStarsGreta GarboRamon NovarroLionel BarrymoreA semi-fictionalized account of the life of Mata Hari, an exotic dancer who was accused of spying for Germany during World War I.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsMarlene DietrichCary GrantHerbert MarshallA cabaret singer takes up with a millionaire to pay for her gravely-ill husband's operation.