Pre-Code 1930s Movies
A list of the Pre-Code Hollywood films in Danny Peary's Guide For The Film Fanatic.
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- DirectorMillard WebbStarsMary EatonEddie CantorHelen MorganThe rise of a showgirl, Gloria Hughes, culminating in a Ziegfeld extravaganza "Glorifying the American Girl".
- DirectorArchie MayoStarsJohn BarrymoreMarian MarshDonald CrispThrough hypnotism and telepathic mind control, a sinister music maestro controls the singing voice, but not the heart, of the woman he loves.
- DirectorJohn M. StahlStarsClaudette ColbertWarren WilliamRochelle HudsonA struggling widow and her daughter take in a Black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter; the two women start a successful business but face familial, identity, and racial issues along the way.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsWallace BeeryGeorge RaftJackie CooperIn New York's Bowery during the Gay Nineties, a saloon owner and a rebel share a rivalry.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenrietta CrosmanHeather AngelNorman FosterA possessive mother pushes her son into World War I service rather than see him get married.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsHarry CareyEdwina BoothDuncan RenaldoTwo white traders in the darkest Africa of the 1870s find a missionary's daughter, who was captured as a child by a savage tribe and now worshiped as a goddess.
- DirectorEdward LudwigStarsClaude RainsJoan BennettLionel AtwillA brilliant but impoverished writer, who is a pacifist, goes to work for a publisher and writes anti-war editorials. When he discovers that the publisher has betrayed him and is in league with munitions manufacturers to make money off of war, he goes insane.
- DirectorJohn M. StahlStarsIrene DunneJohn BolesGeorge MeekerA woman's love for and devotion to a married man results in her being relegated to the "back streets" of his life.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsDick PowellRuby KeelerPat O'BrienMusical-romance with Powell as private in Hawaii involved with general's daughter Keeler. Break up to avoid scandal but reunite years later when he produces play at West Point starring her.
- DirectorHarry BeaumontStarsMarion DaviesLawrence GrayWalter CatlettA New York chorus girl's friends encourage her to pursue a handsome socialite.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsLon ChaneyLila LeeElliott NugentProfessor Echo, a ventriloquist, forms a burglary ring. He disguises himself as an elderly pet store owner selling talking birds to the wealthy, using his skills to make the birds seem to talk while casing the homes for robberies.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsWalter HustonUna MerkelWilliam L. ThorneAn episodic biography of the 16th President of the United States.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsLew AyresLouis WolheimJohn WrayA German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsPhillips HolmesSylvia SidneyFrances DeeA poor factory worker employed by a wealthy uncle falls in love with a beautiful heiress, but his happiness and promising future are jeopardized by a previous affair with a coworker he impregnated.
- DirectorVictor HeermanStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxMayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Spaulding.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsGreta GarboCharles BickfordGeorge F. MarionA young woman reunites with her estranged father and falls in love with a sailor, but struggles to tell them about her dark past.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsRonald ColmanHelen HayesRichard BennettA medical researcher is sent to a plague outbreak, where he has to decide priorities for the use of a vaccine.
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenStarsBarbara StanwyckGeorge BrentDonald CookA young woman, sexually exploited all her life, decides to turn the tables and exploit the hapless men at a big city bank by gleefully seducing her way to the top.
- DirectorFrank CapraAllan DwanRoy William NeillStarsWalter HustonPat O'BrienKay JohnsonSocially-conscious banker Thomas Dickson faces a crisis when his protégé is wrongly accused for robbing the bank, gossip of the robbery starts a bank run, and evidence suggests Dickson's wife had an affair...all during the same day.
- DirectorGus MeinsCharley RogersStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyVirginia KarnsOpposing the evil Barnaby, Ollie Dee and Stanley Dum try and fail to pay-off Mother Peep's mortgage and mislead his attempts to marry Little Bo. Enraged, Barnaby's Bogeymen are set on Toyland.
- DirectorRaoul WalshLouis R. LoefflerStarsJohn WayneMarguerite ChurchillEl BrendelBreck Coleman leads hundreds of settlers in covered wagons from the Mississippi River to their destiny out West.
- DirectorSidney FranklinStarsNorma ShearerFredric MarchCharles LaughtonElizabeth Barrett's tyrannical father has forbidden any of his family to marry. Nevertheless, Elizabeth falls in love with the poet Robert Browning.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsMae WestRoger PryorJohnny Mack BrownRuby Carter, the American Beauty queen of the night club-sporting world, shifts her operations from St. Louis to New Orleans, mostly to get away from prizefighter Tiger Kid. Installed as the prize attraction of "The Sensation Club", ran by Ace Lamont, she quickly becomes the toast of the town and also marked as personal property by Ace, arousing the fury of Ace's former flame, Molly Brant. The not-overly-bright Tiger comes to town and is set for a title match with the champ by Ace, while the latter also has him steal some of Ruby's jewels. Ruby, no dumb-belle, figuring Ace has the fix in on the fight, uses some of her other jewels to lay a trap for Ace. Tiger confesses, after the fight, to Ruby his role in the jewel robbery while she hints that Ace was the one who slipped him the knock-out drops. Tiger goes after Ace, who, for his own reasons, has Molly locked in a closet.
- DirectorGeorge W. HillWard WingStarsChester MorrisWallace BeeryLewis StoneA convict falls in love with his new cellmate's sister, only to become embroiled in a planned break-out which is certain to have lethal consequences.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsJohn BarrymoreKatharine HepburnBillie BurkeA man, Hilary Fairfield returns home after fifteen years in a mental asylum. However, he finds things are not the way they were when he left.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsBarbara StanwyckNils AstherToshia MoriA Chinese warlord and an engaged Christian missionary fall in love.
- DirectorEdgar G. UlmerStarsBoris KarloffBela LugosiDavid MannersAmerican honeymooners in Hungary become trapped in the home of a Satan-worshipping priest when the bride is taken there for medical help following a road accident.
- DirectorCharles BrabinStarsWalter HustonJean HarlowWallace FordPolice Chief Jim Fitzpatrick ruthlessly goes after organized crime and is prepared to use brutal and violent methods to fight it.
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsJean HarlowLee TracyFrank MorganA glamorous film star rebels against the studio, her pushy press agent and a family of hangers-on.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsEmil JanningsMarlene DietrichKurt GerronAn elderly professor's ordered life spins dangerously out of control when he falls for a nightclub singer.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsMarlene DietrichCary GrantHerbert MarshallA cabaret singer takes up with a millionaire to pay for her gravely-ill husband's operation.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsRichard BarthelmessBette DavisDorothy JordanA tenant farmer's son is caught in the middle of owner-tenant disputes when he falls for the plantation owner's seductive daughter.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsWallace BeeryJackie CooperIrene RichAn alcoholic ex-boxer struggles to provide a good living for his son.
- DirectorWesley RugglesStarsRichard DixIrene DunneEstelle TaylorA newspaper editor settles in an Oklahoma boom town with his reluctant wife at the end of the nineteenth century.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinVirginia CherrillFlorence LeeWith the aid of a wealthy erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed tramp who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl accumulates money to be able to help her medically.
- DirectorDorothy ArznerStarsKatharine HepburnColin CliveBillie BurkeA famous female flier and a member of Parliament drift into a potentially disastrous affair.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsClaudette ColbertWarren WilliamHenry WilcoxonThe man-hungry Queen of Egypt leads Julius Caesar and Marc Antony astray, amid scenes of DeMillean splendor.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsGary CooperSylvia SidneyPaul LukasMan joins a gang to free his girlfriend from prison.
- DirectorRobert FloreyJoseph SantleyStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxDuring the Florida land boom, The Marx Brothers run a hotel, auction off some land, thwart a jewel robbery, and generally act like themselves.
- DirectorRowland V. LeeStarsRobert DonatElissa LandiLouis CalhernAfter greedy men have Edmond Dantes unjustly imprisoned for 20 years for innocently delivering a letter entrusted to him, he escapes to get his revenge on them.
- DirectorLee GarmesBen HechtCharles MacArthurStarsClaude RainsMargoWhitney BourneProminent lawyer shoots unfaithful girlfriend during quarrel, has to establish alibi.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsJames CagneyJoan BlondellAnn DvorakRace car driver becomes overprotective of his brother when he decides to become a racer as well.
- DirectorRobert Z. LeonardStarsJoan CrawfordClark GableFranchot ToneAn attractive dancer is rescued from jail by a rich man who helps her to have her first big opportunity at a musical play on Broadway.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsWalter HustonPhillips HolmesConstance CummingsAfter a failed attempt at running for governor, D.A. Mark Brady is appointed warden of the state prison where many of the criminals he prosecuted are incarcerated.
- DirectorRay EnrightBusby BerkeleyStarsJoan BlondellDick PowellRuby KeelerA multimillionaire decides to boycott "filthy" forms of entertainment such as Broadway shows.
- DirectorHarry BeaumontStarsJoan CrawfordCliff EdwardsLester VailAfter the death of her father and loss of the family fortune, Bonnie (Joan Crawford) gets a job as a cub reporter while her brother (William Bakewell) becomes involved in bootlegging.
- DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsFredric MarchEvelyn VenableGuy StandingThe Grim Reaper takes the form of a Prince in an attempt to relate to humans and, along the way, also learns what it is to love.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsFredric MarchGary CooperMiriam HopkinsA woman cannot decide between two men who love her, and the trio agree to try living together in a platonic friendly relationship.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsRichard BarthelmessDouglas Fairbanks Jr.Neil HamiltonWorld War I ace Dick Courtney derides the leadership of his superior officer, but Courtney is soon promoted to squadron commander and learns harsh lessons about sending subordinates to their deaths.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsMarie DresslerJohn BarrymoreWallace BeeryAffluent Millicent and Oliver Jordan throw a dinner for a handful of wealthy and/or well-born acquaintances, each of whom has much to reveal.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsMarlene DietrichVictor McLaglenGustav von SeyffertitzThe Austrian Secret Service sends its most seductive agent to spy on the Russians.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsLionel AtwillFay WrayLee TracyA wisecracking New York reporter intrudes on a research scientist's quest to unmask The Moon Killer.
- DirectorTod BrowningKarl FreundStarsBela LugosiHelen ChandlerDavid MannersTransylvanian vampire Count Dracula bends a naive real estate agent to his will, then takes up residence at a London estate where he sleeps in his coffin by day and searches for potential victims by night.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsWill RogersMarian NixonVera AllenDoc Bull, a no-nonsense country doctor who has served his community for decades, fights small-town prejudice and provincialism in several crises.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsFredric MarchMiriam HopkinsRose HobartDr. Jekyll faces horrible consequences when he lets his dark side run wild with a potion that transforms him into the animalistic Mr. Hyde.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxRufus T. Firefly is named the dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of his wealthy backer Mrs. Teasdale, contending with two inept spies who can't seem to keep straight which side they're on.
- DirectorThornton FreelandStarsDolores Del RíoGene RaymondRaul RoulienA bandleader woos a Latin flame who is already engaged to his employer.
- DirectorStuart WalkerMitchell LeisenStarsFredric MarchCary GrantJack OakieThe pilots of a Royal Air Force squadron in World War I face not only physical but mental dangers in their struggle to survive while fighting the enemy.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsGary CooperHelen HayesAdolphe MenjouAn American ambulance driver and an English nurse fall in love in Italy during World War I.
- DirectorDudley MurphyWilliam C. de MilleStarsPaul RobesonDudley DiggesFrank H. WilsonUnscrupulously ambitious Brutus Jones escapes from jail after killing a guard and through bluff and bravado finds himself the emperor of a Caribbean island.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsWarner BaxterBebe DanielsGeorge BrentWhen the leading lady of a Broadway musical breaks her ankle, she is replaced by a young unknown actress, who becomes the star of the show.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsAdolphe MenjouPat O'BrienMary BrianA crusading newspaper editor tricks his retiring star reporter into covering one last case.
- DirectorGeorge Nicholls Jr.Wanda TuchockStarsFrances DeeBillie BurkeGinger RogersThe trials and tribulations in a private, snobbish girls school.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsEdward G. RobinsonMarian MarshH.B. WarnerThe City Editor of a sleazy tabloid goes against his own journalistic ethics to resurrect a twenty year old murder case... with tragic results.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsColin CliveMae ClarkeBoris KarloffDr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsWallace FordLeila HyamsOlga BaclanovaA circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.
- DirectorGregory La CavaStarsWalter HustonKaren MorleyFranchot ToneA political hack becomes President during the height of the Depression and undergoes a metamorphosis into an incorruptible statesman after a near-fatal accident.
- DirectorOscar MicheauxStarsCarl MahonStarr CallowayAlice B. RussellAn undercover government agent on a case in Mississipi meets and falls in love with a beautiful young woman who's being menaced by a local crime boss. He rescues the girl, and they leave Mississippi and head to Harlem, but their troubles follow them: they become involved in the murder of a local crime boss there.
- DirectorMark SandrichStarsFred AstaireGinger RogersAlice BradyA woman thinks a flirting man is the co-respondent her lawyer has hired to expedite her divorce.
- DirectorEdmund GouldingStarsGreta GarboJohn BarrymoreJoan CrawfordA group of very different individuals staying at a luxurious hotel in Berlin deal with each of their respective dramas.
- DirectorJack ConwaySam WoodStarsJean HarlowFranchot ToneLionel BarrymoreChorus girl Eadie is determined to marry a millionaire without sacrificing her virtue.
- DirectorLowell ShermanStarsJoan BlondellMadge EvansIna ClaireEx-showgirls and roommates Polaire Gwynn (Madge Evans) and Schatze Citroux (Joan Blondell) are reunited with their sometime friend and former co-worker, Jean Lawrence (Ina Claire), when she returns from France. Jean, a hard-boiled gold digger, asks the honest Polaire and loyal Schatze to introduce her to a new man, and Polaire calls her boyfriend, playboy Dey Emery (David Manners), for help. The girls meet Dey and his friend, pianist Boris Feldman (the film's director Lowell Sherman), at a speakeasy, where Boris bets Jean that if his piano playing does not induce her to love him, he will give her $5,000. Later, at Boris' apartment, Jean pretends to sleep through Boris' concert. Polaire then plays, and Boris, impressed with her talent, offers to be her teacher. He implies that she will have to be his lover as well as his student, however, and Polaire becomes upset when Dey does not protest. Dey mistakenly assumes that an exhibition of jealousy would be unwelcome, and his inaction results in Polaire's acceptance of Boris' proposition. After Polaire leaves to collect her things, Schatze and the heartbroken Dey also leave, but Jean stays to seduce Boris. Jean's calculated exhibitionism is successful, and Boris does not answer the door when Polaire returns. After she leaves, Polaire is hurt in an automobile accident and is hospitalized. Sometime later, Jean tires of Boris and breaks up with him, then pursues Dey. Dey welcomes Jean's attentions until Schatze tells him that Polaire has been in the hospital since their parting. Dey immediately goes to Polaire and proposes to her, and they reconcile. Later, Jean makes an unwelcome appearance at Polaire and Schatze's apartment while Polaire is waiting to meet Dey's father Justin (Phillips Smalley) for the first time. When Dey arrives and Jean learns that Polaire is to meet Justin at the Emery house, she slips a pearl necklace into Polaire's pocket so that she will have an excuse to follow. Polaire's interview with Justin is going splendidly until Jean arrives and intimates that Polaire stole the necklace. Indignant that Dey believes Jean, Polaire storms out, while Jean stays to flirt with Justin. Later, on the day of Jean and Justin's wedding, Schatze and Polaire arrive to retrieve a bracelet that Polaire loaned Jean. Jean returns the jewelry and miserably contemplates her future of wedded boredom as Schatze and Polaire brag about the fun they will have when they sail for France that afternoon. The trio are soon drunk, and Jean decides that she cannot exchange her freedom for Justin's fortune. She sneaks out of the house with Schatze, but Polaire is caught by Dey. Dey apologizes to Polaire for misjudging her, but Polaire leaves anyway. The determined Dey follows her onto the ocean liner, where Polaire consents to marry him when he states that he is certain of her virtue. The couple then cuddles happily as Jean flirts with Schatze's male traveling companion.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsAl JolsonMadge EvansFrank MorganA New York tramp (Jolson) falls in love with the mayor's amnesiac girlfriend after rescuing her from a suicide attempt
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsWarren WilliamJoan BlondellAline MacMahonA wealthy composer rescues unemployed Broadway performers with a new play, but insists on remaining anonymous.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsDaniel L. HaynesNina Mae McKinneyWilliam FountaineA sharecropper decides to become a preacher after falling for a vamp from the city.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsLoretta YoungRichard BarthelmessAline MacMahonA veteran fights drug addiction to make his way in the business world.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsJean HarlowClark GableStuart ErwinA woman is sent to a reformatory when her con artist lover flees after killing a man during a botched blackmail scheme.
- DirectorSidney FranklinStarsAlfred LuntLynn FontanneRoland YoungA jealous stage actor disguises himself as a Russian guardsman in order to test his actress wife's loyalty.
- DirectorHoward HughesEdmund GouldingJames WhaleStarsBen LyonJames HallJean HarlowBrothers Monte and Ray leave Oxford to join the Royal Flying Corps. Ray loves Helen; Helen enjoys an affair with Monte; before they leave on their mission over Germany they find her in still another man's arms.
- DirectorWesley RugglesStarsMae WestCary GrantGregory RatoffCircus performer Tira seeks a better life pursuing the company of wealthy New York men with improbable comic complications along the way.
- DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsGroucho MarxChico MarxHarpo MarxQuincy Adams Wagstaff, Huxley University's new president, accidentally hires bumblers Baravelli and Pinky to help his school win the big football game against their rival, Darwin University.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsPaul MuniGlenda FarrellHelen VinsonWrongly convicted James Allen serves in the intolerable conditions of a Southern chain gang, which later comes back to haunt him.
- DirectorJames CruzeH. Bruce HumberstoneErnst LubitschStarsGary CooperCharles LaughtonW.C. FieldsA dying tycoon gives million-dollar windfalls to eight people picked from the city directory.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsLew AyresRobert ArmstrongJean HarlowPrizefighter Mason loses his opening fight so wife Rose leaves him for Hollywood. Without her around Mason trains and starts winning. Rose comes back and wants Mason to dump his manager Regan and replace him with her secret lover Lewis.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsClaude RainsGloria StuartWilliam HarriganA scientist finds a way of becoming invisible, but in doing so, he becomes murderously insane.
- DirectorErle C. KentonStarsCharles LaughtonBela LugosiRichard ArlenA mad doctor conducts ghastly genetic experiments on a remote island in the South Seas, much to the fear and disgust of the shipwrecked sailor who finds himself trapped there.
- DirectorA. Edward SutherlandStarsW.C. FieldsPeggy Hopkins JoyceRudy ValleeAssorted wacky characters converge on a Chinese hotel to bid on a new invention: television.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsClark GableClaudette ColbertWalter ConnollyA rogue reporter trailing a runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops along the way.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsWilliam PowellMary AstorEugene PallettePhilo Vance, accompanied by his prize-losing Scottish terrier, investigates the locked-room murder of a prominent and much-hated collector whose broken Chinese vase provides an important clue.
- DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsW.C. FieldsKathleen HowardJean RouverolA henpecked New Jersey grocer makes plans to move to California to grow oranges, despite the resistance of his overbearing wife.
- DirectorWilliam J. CowenStarsWalter HustonLupe VelezConrad NagelThis remake of West of Zanzibar (1928) made four years later tries to outdo the Lon Chaney original in morbidity. From a wheelchair a handicapped white man rules an area of Africa as a living god. He rules the local natives through superstition and stage magic and he rules the few white people through sadism, keeping them virtual prisoners. He lives for the day he can avenge himself horribly on the man who stole his wife and crushed his spine. Strong and macabre stuff in a nearly forgotten horror film.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsWill RogersTom BrownAnita LouiseJudge Priest, a proud Confederate veteran, uses common sense and considerable humanity to dispense justice in a small town in the Post-Bellum Kentucky.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsEddie CantorLyda RobertiRobert YoungAn innocent man accused of robbing banks masquerades as a bullfighter to escape the police.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthWilly PoganyStarsEddie CantorAnn SothernEthel MermanA musical comedy about a Brooklyn boy (Eddie Cantor) who inherits a fortune from his archaeologist father, but must go to Egypt to claim it.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsWilliam PowellKay FrancisHelen VinsonA gentleman thief charms a Viennese baron's wife and also conducts a daring daylight robbery of a jewellers.
- DirectorDavid ButlerStarsEl BrendelMaureen O'SullivanJohn GarrickNew York, 1980: airplanes have replaced cars, numbers have replaced names, pills have replaced food, government-arranged marriages have replaced love, and test tube babies have replaced ... well, you get the idea. Scientists revive a man struck by lightning in 1930; he is rechristened "Single O". He is befriended by J-21, who can't marry the girl of his dreams because he isn't "distinguished" enough -- until he is chosen for a 4-month expedition to Mars by a renegade scientist. The Mars J-21, his friend, and stowaway Single O visit is full of scantily clad women doing Busby Berkeley-style dance numbers and worshiping a fat middle-aged man.
- DirectorJohn Murray AndersonWalter LantzStarsPaul WhitemanJohn BolesLaura La PlanteAmerican Pre-Code color film starring Paul Whiteman and his Jazz orchestra.
- DirectorMerian C. CooperErnest B. SchoedsackStarsFay WrayRobert ArmstrongBruce CabotA film crew goes to a tropical island for a location shoot, where they capture a colossal ape who takes a shine to their blonde starlet, and bring him back to New York City.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsNancy CarrollFrank MorganPaul LukasWhen a famous doctor kills his adulterous wife, he is defended by his best friend, an attorney who suspects that his own wife is having an affair.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsBarbara StanwyckRalph GravesLowell ShermanAn upper-crust artist hires a 'party girl' as a model; romance follows.