Myrna Loy pushes the boundaries in “The Barbarian”...

Myrna Loy pushes the boundaries in “The Barbarian” (1933), one of the most infamous pre-code films, which was banned the year after it was released, when the Hays Code began enforcement.

These scenes of Loy “naked” worked brilliantly to set up the men in both the film and the audience as voyeurs, only to be revealed as the “barbarians” in the film’s pivotal rape scene.

Unfortunately, what could have been a powerful message about the objectification of women was completely defused by th...