Pre-Code April 2022
All the films I watched for Pre-Code April 2022
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- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsJoan BlondellAnn DvorakBette DavisAlthough Vivian Revere is seemingly the most successful of a trio of reunited schoolmates, she throws it away by descending into a life of debauchery and drugs.
- 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.
- DirectorEdgar SelwynStarsWarren WilliamMaureen O'SullivanGregory RatoffAn entrepreneur will let nothing stand in his way of acquiring a 100-story office building.
- DirectorRichard BoleslawskiStarsMadge EvansAlice BradyOtto KrugerA beautiful woman lands a job at an exclusive salon that deals with the wives of wealthy businessmen. Her contact with these men leads to a series of affairs.
- DirectorJohn Francis DillonStarsHelen TwelvetreesLilyan TashmanRobert AmesMillie's life begins to crumble when she finds out her husband is having an affair.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsLoretta YoungFranchot ToneRicardo CortezAn abused orphan sinks into a life of crime.
- DirectorMalcolm St. ClairStarsJoan CrawfordJohnny Mack BrownDorothy SebastianA vacuous and flirtatious daughter of a wealthy rancher falls in love and marries a Texas cowboy and rancher, who calls her 'Montana', and eventually clash over their different lifestyles, to the point of almost ending their marriage.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsWilliam PowellJoan BlondellDavid LandauIdealistic attorney Anton Adam makes headlines when he successfully beats high-profile legal eagle Granville Bentley in a murder case. Bentley asks Adam to become a partner in his law firm. But Adam's rising career takes a nosedive when he's framed by John Gilmurry, a prominent New York racketeer, and a sexy actress in a trumped-up breach-of-promise suit. The only constant in Adam's life is the loyalty and unrequited love of his secretary Olga.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsGrant WithersMary AstorRegis ToomeyEvents take an unhappy turn for two Bill and Jack, two locomotive engineers, after Bill is attracted to his best friend's wife.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsJames CagneyJoan BlondellVictor JoryDan Curly sends two hitmen to kill double-crossing Flicker Hayes, who retreats to a small village with ex-prostitute Rose to hide.
- DirectorGeorge W. HillStarsClark GableWallace BeeryConrad NagelRival fighter-pilots train in the art of dive bombing while teasing each other about their bravery and manliness. They wind up stranded and must work together for a common goal.
- DirectorGeorge AmyBusby BerkeleyStarsLoretta YoungWinnie LightnerLyle TalbotIn the depth of the Depression, Sol Glass has the idea that the girls in the stenographic department should be used to entertain the clients. It seems that the clients are tiring of the regular hard-and-fast women, and this would be a change that would allow the girls to go out to dinners and see shows. Tom does not want his fiancée Flo, to go out with clients--until he needs her to close a contract with Daniel. After that, she finds that Tom is two-timing her with Birdie, so she goes out again with Daniel. Everything is going well for a time until Daniel needs her to close a contract with Haines.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsJoan CrawfordRobert ArmstrongMarie PrevostMary Turner goes up for three years on a crime she didn't commit. Once out she and former prison mates plan a scam in which old men can be sued for breach of promise - the "heart balm" racket. After plotting verious ways to get back at the men who set her up initially, she softens and settles down.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsKay FrancisRicardo CortezWarner OlandAbandoned by her lover, a woman becomes the main "hostess" in a decadent nightclub, but tries to put her past behind her on a steamer to Mandalay.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJames CagneyBette DavisAllen JenkinsAn unpolished racketeer, whose racket is finding heirs for unclaimed fortunes, affects ethics and tea-drinking manners to win back the sweetheart who now works for his seemingly upright competitor.
- DirectorThornton FreelandStarsLoretta YoungGeorge BrentUna MerkelMarian moves to New York to make it big in the chorus and becomes involved in a love triangle.
- DirectorThornton FreelandStarsLoretta YoungNorman FosterAline MacMahonAn out-of-work husband (Norman Foster) resents his wife (Loretta Young) being the breadwinner in the family.
- DirectorLowell ShermanJack ConwayStarsLoretta YoungCary GrantJackie KelkAn immoral mother blackmails a wealthy businessman after he accidentally hits her delinquent son with his truck.
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenStarsDouglas Fairbanks Jr.Joan BlondellGuy KibbeeTravelers of different and varied backgrounds meet and interact on one night in a metropolitan train station and its environs.
- 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.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsAline MacMahonAnn DvorakPreston FosterA lady gas station attendant gets mixed up with escaped murderers.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsGinger RogersNorman FosterGeorge SidneyA man and a woman share an apartment on a shift basis, never seeing each other; she dislikes him until they actually meet.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsBarbara StanwyckAdolphe MenjouRalph BellamyA librarian takes a cruise and falls for an unobtainable man, a district attorney married to an invalid.
- DirectorArchie MayoMichael CurtizStarsJames CagneyMadge EvansArthur ByronFive members of a teen-age gang, including leader Jimmy Smith, are sent to the state reformatory, presided over by the melodramatically callous Thompson. Soon, Patsy Gargan, a former gangster appointed deputy commissioner as a political favor, arrives - complete with hip flask and blonde. Gargan falls for activist nurse Dorothy and, inspired by her, takes over the administration to run the place on radical principles. But Thompson, to conceal his years of graft, needs a quick way to discredit Gargan.
- DirectorGeorge AbbottBerthold ViertelStarsTallulah BankheadHarvey StephensIrving PichelWoman in debt makes an impulsive investment which doesn't go her way.
- DirectorPaul L. SteinStarsConstance BennettKenneth MacKennaBasil RathboneA plain secretary works for a womanizing divorce lawyer who only dates married women. To avoid having to deal with the matrimonial pursuits of any of his potential romances, he offers her financial support if she marries him in name only.
- DirectorHoward HawksRichard RossonStarsPaul MuniAnn DvorakKaren MorleyAn ambitious and nearly insane violent gangster climbs the ladder of success in the mob, but his weaknesses prove to be his downfall.
- DirectorRobert FloreyStarsBette DavisGene RaymondFrank McHughAlthough free spirit Helen Bauer does not believe in marriage, she consents to marry Don, but his infidelities cause her to also take on a lover.
- DirectorCharles VidorStarsEvelyn VenableMary MorrisAnne RevereIn New York in 1910, wealthy spinster Victoria Van Brett controls with an iron hand both the family fortune and the lives of her younger sister Caroline and half brother Rip. When Rip marries Anne Darrow, a nurse who saved his life, Victoria does everything in her power to ruin the marriage, asserting that Anne only loves Rip for his money. First, Victoria steals Rip's wedding present to Anne, his mother's pearls, which Victoria claims are not his to give. Next, she secretly writes Rip out of the family will, then calls him home early from his honeymoon to make him executor of the family millions, which leaves him little time for his bride. Victoria then restricts Anne's use of the family's Fifth Avenue mansion and only addresses her indirectly as "that woman." Meanwhile, Victoria tells Caroline that unless she cooperates with her treatment of Anne, she will lock her in the secret soundproof vault where their father died. Caroline's own romantic happiness was spoiled by Victoria years earlier, and she lives in daily terror of her sister's malicious manipulations. After many months of constant battering and humiliation, Anne goes to her friend, Dr. John Lucas, whom she was going to marry before she met Rip, for help. John suggests that Anne fight Victoria's tyranny and start inviting her own friends to the Van Brett home. That night, Anne invites John to dinner, and in the presence of family lawyer Mortimer Neff, Victoria accuses Anne of having an affair with him. Earlier in the day, Anne was forced to lie to Rip about visiting John unchaperoned. Under the weight of Victoria's present accusations, however, she admits her lie, swearing that John has not betrayed Rip's friendship. Finally overcoming Victoria's lifelong tyranny, Rip promises to take Anne from the house that night, forfeiting what he believes is his inheritance. When Anne comes downstairs with her suitcase, however, Victoria lures her into the vault by promising to give her the pearls and shuts the door. Caroline wakes at Anne's cry, but Victoria tells her it was only a dream and threatens to consign her to a mental institution. Victoria then tells Rip that Anne has eloped with John and dismisses the servants, planning to close up the house for a year. When John appears the next morning without any word from Anne, Rip becomes suspicious. The dog then barks at the wall that conceals the vault, and Caroline confesses that she heard a scream the night before and reveals the vault. Rip bends Victoria's arm to make her open the safe and discovers Anne, who has fainted. Although Victoria tries one last time to lure Caroline into the safe, Mortimer stops her, threatening to put her in prison unless she writes Rip back into the will. Caroline leaves the house with Anne and Rip, and after Mortimer leaves, Victoria goes into the safe to get the pearls, and the door locks behind her.
- 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.