Pre-Code Favorites, Part 2: The Ladies

The last entry focused on the guys who gave Pre-Code cinema its zing, this time around the spotlight shines on the dames what gave it its sass. Some folks prefer actresses like Kay Francis and Norma Shearer, who starred in serious Pre-Coders focusing on high-toned marital problems, but I've always gravitated toward the rough-and-tumble pictures from studios like Warner Bros. that focused on fast-talking dames trying to scratch out a decent living in this crazy world. Hence, the following selections...
              

Joan Blondell: "The Public Enemy," "Night Nurse," "Gold Diggers of 1933," "Footlight Parade," "Blondie Johnson," "Havana Widows," "Three on a Match," "The Crowd Roars," "Other Men's Women," "Lawyer Man," "Blonde Crazy." (Queen of the Pre-Codes, as far as I'm concerned -- and a pretty impressive career after the Code, too.)
              

Ann Dvorak: "Scarface," "Three on a Match," "The Strange Love of Molly Louvain," Side Streets," "Massacre," "The Crowd Roars"


Aline MacMahon: "Five Star Final," "Side Streets," "Gold Diggers of 1933," "The Mouthpiece," "Heroes for Sale"


Barbara Stanwyck: "Night Nurse," "Ladies They Talk About," "Baby Face," "Ten Cents a Dance"

                 

Mae Clarke: "Night World," "The Public Enemy," "Frankenstein," "Waterloo Bridge," "Fast Workers," "The Man With Two Faces," "Turn Back the Clock"


Marion Marsh: "Five Star Final," "Under 18," "Beauty and the Boss" (She's also in a great Josef Von Sternberg version of "Crime and Punishment" that, being released in 1935, just misses the Pre-Code era. Look for a review sometime around June 1, in this blog's monthly movie recap.)

Leila Hyams: "Freaks," "Isle of Lost Souls" (I've only seen her in those two movies, but c'mon -- as taboo-breaking horror movies go, that's a hell of a pair to draw to.)

Myrna Loy: "Thirteen Women," "The Mask of Fu Manchu," "The Thin Man," "Manhattan Melodrama," "Night Flight"

Thelma Todd: "Monkey Business," "Horse Feathers," "Hips Hips Hooray," "The Maltese Falcon" (1931 version) plus dozens of shorts both in supporting roles (with Laurel and Hardy) and leads

Miriam Hopkins: "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1931 version), "The Story of Temple Drake," "Design for Living"