Stubs - They Call It Sin

 

They Call It Sin (1932) starring Loretta Young, George Brent, Una Merkel, David Manners Directed by Thornton Freeland. Screenplay by Lillie Hayward, Howard J. Green Based on the novel They Call It Sin by Alberta Stedman Eagan (New York, 1932). No Producer Credited. Run time: 68 minutes. Black and White. USA. Pre-Code, Drama.

If you’re ever looking for a film to watch, the old adage "you can’t judge a book by its cover" can come into play if you go simply by the title. Case in point, They Call It Sin from First National. I saw the title in the guide for TCM and saw that Loretta Young was the star. Young had been the lead of many racy pre-code films and the promise of one with this title was too much to pass up.

Stubs - Big City Blues

Big City Blues (1932) Starring: Joan Blondell, Eric Linden, Jobyna Howland. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Screenplay by Ward Morehouse, Lillie Hayward. Based on the play New York Town by Ward Morehouse (copyrighted 5 Jan 1932). Producer Uncredited. USA Run time: 63 minutes Black and White. Drama.

There are some actors that when I see one of their movies is going to be on TCM, I make a point of recording to make sure I can watch it. Joan Blondell is one of those whose films I try to catch if I can. Recently, I happened to see that Big City Blues was going to be on, which is how I ended up watching this film.

At this point in her career, Blondell was very busy. Having arrived in Hollywood in 1930 thanks to her Broadway appearance in Penny Arcade and was cast to reprise her role in the film version Sinners' Holiday (1930). By the end of 1932, she would have appeared in 21 films, some as a co-star or in a supporting role and some as the star, as with Big City Blues.

Stubs - An American Tragedy

An American Tragedy (1931) Starring: Phillips Holmes, Sylvia Sidney, Frances Dee Directed by Josef von Sternberg Screenplay by Samuel Hoffenstein Based on the novel An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser (New York, 1925). Produced by Josef von Sternberg Runtime: 96 minutes. USA Black and White Melodrama, Romance, Pre-Code.

On July 11, 1906, Chester E. Gillette drowned Grace Brown in a lake in Herkimer County, New York. That murder was the basis of Theodore Dreiser’s 880-page novel, An American Tragedy, published in 1925. When Paramount bought the rights, the film was originally planned as the American debut of Sergei Eisenstein, the renowned Soviet film director; Battleship Potemkin (1926).

Apparently, Eisenstein was so interested in the project that he wrote, what the Associate Producer David O. Selznick called “the most moving script I have ever read." However, B.P. Schulberg, the head of Paramount, wasn’t so impressed and replaced Eisenstein with Josef von Sternberg. Eisenstein never did make a Hollywood film and returned to the Soviet Union.

The change in director didn’t change the Hays Office’s objections to the film and the aspect of the story that dealt with an abortion. Colonel Jason S. Joy, the Director of the Studio Relations Office, wrote to Schulberg on April 25, 1931, "If the references to abortion remain in "American Tragedy"...it will surely tend to eventually open the way for a more serious development of this subject in pictures." However, Schulberg wasn’t willing to eliminate Roberta's attempts to secure an abortion from the film because of an earlier approval given by Father Daniel J. Lord, a clergyman who collaborated on the draft of the Hays Code. But on July 15, 1931, Jesse Lasky wrote to Hays agreeing to eliminate the following dialogue, which refers to abortion: "You went to the druggist who testified here." "Yes sire." "Anyone else?" "Yes sire, to seven others before I could get anything at all." "But what you got didn't help, did it? "No sir."

Stubs - Bombshell

Bombshell (1933) Starring Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan, Franchot Tone, Pat O'Brien. Directed by Victor Fleming. Produced by Hunt Stromberg. Screenplay by John Lee Mahin, Jules Furthman. Based on the unproduced play Bombshell by Caroline Francke and Mack Crane. Run time: 98 minutes Black & White. USA Pre-Code, Romantic Comedy

It’s rare that an actor will play a character that so closely seems to mirror their own lives. While not a biography, much of Bombshell seems to be based, at least in part, on the life of its star, Jean Harlow.

However, the film is really based on an unproduced play, Bombshell, by Caroline Francke and Mack Crane. It was in a story conference at MGM that the idea to make the play into a comedy was born.  Screenwriter John Lee Mahin had the inspiration to turn the tale into a comedy, ­ an idea seized by Fleming when he realized Bow's story was ripe for satire. "She used to be my girl," Fleming explained. "You'd go to her house, and there'd be a beautiful Oriental rug with coffee stains...and her father would come in drunk, and her secretary was stealing from her."

Stubs - Island of Lost Souls

Island of Lost Souls (1932) starring: Charles Laughton, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Bela Lugosi; Directed by Erle C. Kenton; Screenplay by Waldemar Young, Philip Wylie. Based on the novel The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells (London, 1896). Producer: None Credited. Run time: 70 minutes. Black and White. Drama, Science fiction, Horror

While Universal gets credit for the early 30s craze for horror film with Dracula in 1931, they were not the only studio to make that genre of films. Paramount Pictures had released Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) and wanted to make a follow-up with more horrific and sexual themes. On June 1, 1931, Paramount paid $15,000 (equivalent to $300,500 in 2023) for the rights to H. G. Wells' novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, first published in 1896. Along with the novel, the studio also had access to an unproduced play by Frank Vreeland that was based on Wells' story and titled His Creatures.

The Paramount version of the story differed from the H.G. Wells novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, on which it is based. One of the differences was the addition of a character called The Panther Woman. This was used in pre-production as publicity with a talent search for the actress to play the role. Paramount publicist Arthur Mayer developed a contest that involved giving the winner a trip to Hollywood, $200 (equivalent to $4,470 in 2023) a week for five weeks, a home at the Ambassador Hotel, and a role in the film.

A copy of the form women could fill out to be considered for the role.

Contestants were required to be between the ages of 17 and 30 years old, to be in good health, between 5 feet 4 inches and 5 feet 8 inches tall, and not have worked, or be related to anyone who had worked, at Paramount. In his memoir, Merely Colossal, published in 1951, Mayer claimed that the contest attracted 60,000 contestants. There were four finalists; Lona Andre, Gail Patrick, Kathleen Burke, and Verna Hillie and the judges were Cecil B. DeMille, Rouben Mamoulian, Ernst Lubitsch, Norman Taurog, Stuart Walker, and Erle C. Kenton, who took over directing the film from Taurog.

On September 29, 1932, Kathleen Burke was summoned to the casting office and told she had won the contest. Two days later, the film went into production. There was location shooting on Catalina Island for a week, and on the SS Catalina, which encountered real fog as called for in the script. Shooting lasted until early November, with retakes of the scene of Ruth with Ouran on December 8. Bela Lugosi was added to the cast in October, replacing George Barbier as the Sayer of the Law. The film was first released in Chicago on December 23, 1932.

Stubs - Murders in the Rue Morgue

Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) starring Bela Lugosi, Sidney Fox, Leon Waycoff (Ames). Directed by Robert Florey. Screenplay by Tom Reed, Dale Van Every. Based on the short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" by Edgar Allan Poe in Graham's Magazine (Apr 1841). Produced by Carl Laemmle Jr. Run time: 62 minutes. USA. Black and White. Pre-Code, Horror.

How does one follow up on a landmark performance? This is what faced Universal Pictures and Bela Lugosi after he made Dracula (1931). The original thought was to star him in Frankenstein, which is what director Robert Florey intended, with Carl Laemmle, Jr. wanting Lugosi to play the monster. According to TCM, “Accounts vary, but Lugosi was to say that he turned down the monster role because it was not a speaking part; others claim that at the time he threw himself into the preparations. What is known is that Florey, working with Garrett Fort, completed a draft of a screenplay for Frankenstein, and shot a make-up test with Lugosi (as the monster), Edward Van Sloan, and Dwight Frye. This footage, shot over two days, June 16 and 17, 1931, is long-gone and much-discussed among horror fans.”

Stubs - The Vampire Bat

The Vampire Bat (1933) starring Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Melvyn Douglas. Directed by Frank Stayer. Screenplay by Edward T. Lowe. Produced by Phil Goldstone Run time: 63 minutes. Black and White. USA. Pre-code. Horror.

While most of Hollywood history revolves around the releases from the majors (MGM, Universal, Paramount, Warner Bros, Fox, Columbia, RKO), there were several smaller studios known as poverty row studio. One of those was Majestic Pictures, which was in business in the early 1930’s. Studios like Majestic were always on the look for what they hoped would be a break out film. And with The Vampire Bat they thought they had one.

To give a little background, Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray had been paired together in Warner Bros’ Dr. X (1932), a horror film directed by Michael Curtiz, and had completed work on The Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), a follow up horror film, also directed by Curtiz. The latter was a large-scale release and would have a lengthy post-production process before it was released.

Stubs - What! No Beer?

What! No Beer? aka What - No Beer? (1933) Starring Buster Keaton, Jimmy Durante, Roscoe Ates, Phyllis Barry Directed by Edward Sedgwick. Screenplay by Carey Wilson. Produced (None listed: Irving Thalberg) Run time: 78 minutes. Black and White. Pre-Code, Comedy

Buster Keaton’s tenure at MGM, “the worst business decision of his life in his autobiography”, was relatively short lasting only five years. His last film for the studio, What! No Beer?, would also mark his last starring role in an American film. While his films at MGM are not generally regarded as his best, they were, for the most part, financial successes.

The studio first paired him with Jimmy Durante, a one-time nightclub comedian who had recently begun to appear in films. Durante’s rambunctiousness was a compliment to Keaton’s more iconic style. The two of them would appear in three films together, Speak Easily (1932), The Passionate Plumber (1932), and What! No Beer?

Stubs - Smart Woman

 

Smart Woman (1931) Starring; Mary Astor, Robert Ames, John Halliday, Edward Everett Horton, Noel Francis. Directed by Gregory La Cava. Screenplay by Salisbury Field. Based on the play Nancy's Private Affair by Myron C. Fagan (New York, 13 Jan 1930). Produced by William LeBaron. Run time 68 minutes. USA Black and White. Pre-Code, Drama.

Mary Astor may be best known for her role as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon (1941) but before that film, and for many years after, she was a movie star with a career that dated back to silent films. Her first film role at the age of 14 in Sentimental Tommy (1921) may have ended up on the cutting room floor but that didn’t deter her. She would appear in other films before moving to Hollywood in 1923, with her parents, and signed with Paramount Pictures.

Stubs - Illicit

Illicit (1931) Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, James Rennie, Ricardo Cortez, Natalie Moorhead. Directed by Archie Mayo. Screenplay by Harvey Thew. Based on a play by Edith Fitzgerald and Robert Riskin (copyrighted 1 Jul 1930). Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck Run time: 82 minutes. USA Black and White Pre-Code, Drama.

So much has changed since the day that Illicit was originally released on February 14, 1931. Back then, the film was condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency and enraged women’s groups. What had once been scandalous is now rated TV-G when it recently aired on TCM.

Stubs - The Sin of Madelon Claudet

The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931) Starring Helen Hayes, Lewis Stone, Neil Hamilton, Robert Young. Directed by Edgar Selwyn. Screenplay by Charles MacArthur. Based on the play The Lullaby by Edward Knoblock (New York, 17 Sep 1923). Produced by Harry Rapf. Run time: 74 minutes. USA. Black and White. Pre-Code Drama, Academy Awards

Helen Hayes was known as the “First Lady of the Theatre” but she was more than that, having won not only the “Triple Crown of Acting”, a competitive Academy Award, Emmy Award, and Tony Award in the acting categories, she was also one of only 18 people who have won an EGOT. Hayes would, in fact win two Academy Awards, Best Supporting Actress for Airport (1970) but also one for Best Actress for her role in The Sin of Madelon Claudet.

Based on a play, The Lullaby by Edward Knoblock, Hayes was not the first choice for the role, Kay Francis was. But Francis rejected the offer, stating "I would have to be out of my mind to play that silly French prostitute. Why that dumb little bunny actually walked the streets so that she could buy clothes for her son. Phooey! How can you generate sympathy for such a shallow woman?" While Francis was ultimately wrong about that, the first previews seemed to indicate that she may have not been.

Stubs - Arsène Lupin

Arsène Lupin (1932) Starring John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Karen Morley. Directed by Jack Conway. Screenplay by Carey Wilson. Based on the play Arsène Lupin by Maurice Leblanc and Francis de Croisset (Paris, 28 Oct 1908) and was based on the book of the same name by Maurice Leblanc, first published in Paris in 1907. Producer (none Credited) Run time: 84 minutes. USA Black and White Pre-code. Drama. Crime. Comedy.

If you’re like me, you may be aware of Arsène Lupin through Lupin III, a series of manga and anime about the supposed grandson. The origins go back to a short story written by Maurice Leblanc, "The Arrest of Arsène Lupin", which was published on July 15, 1905. The character would go on to be featured in 17 novels and 39 novellas by Leblanc published until 1935.

It should come as no surprise that films would be made as well. The surprise may be in how many. The first film was The Gentleman Burglar (1908). The German film Arsène Lupin contra Sherlock Holmes followed in 1910. A French film called Arsène Lupin came out in 1914. A new version of The Gentleman Burglar (1915) was followed by a pair of films called Arsène Lupin (1916; UK) and (1917, US). Overall, there have been at least 25 films made, with the most recent being the Japanese film Lupin no Kiganjoh (2011). That doesn’t count the television series (Lupin III), stage plays, comic books, and video games based around the character and his descendant.

While the finished film would star the acting Barrymore siblings, they were not the first choices for the roles. Robert Montgomery and John Gilbert were both considered for the starring role in the film. This would end up being the first of four films to feature the brothers. They would also appear in Grand Hotel (1932), Dinner at Eight (1933), and Rasputin and the Empress (1933).

Stubs - Beauty and the Boss

Beauty and The Boss (1932) Starring: Marian Marsh, David Manners, Warren William, Charles Butterworth Directed by Roy Del Ruth Screenplay by Joseph Jackson Based on the play A Templom Egere by Ladislaus Fodor (Budapest, 2 Dec 1927). Producer (None Credited). Run time: 66 minutes. USA Black and White. Pre-Code, Comedy.

Violet Ethelred Krauth had a bit of a meteoric rise in Hollywood. Her film career began in 1928 when she was only 15. While she was still attending Hollywood High, Marian had approached a silent movie actress, Nancy O’Neil, who gave her speech and movement lessons. That lead to appearances in short subjects produced by Pathé, where she used the name Marilyn Morgan.

Stubs - The Mystery of the Wax Museum

The Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) Starring: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Glenda Farrell, Frank McHugh. Directed by Michael Curtiz. Screenplay by Don Mullaly, Carl Erickson. Based on “The Wax Works" by Charles S. Belden. Producetarring: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Glenda Farrell, Frank McHugh. Directed by Michael Curtiz. r Uncredited. Run time: 75 minutes. Color. Pre-Code. Horror.

Capitalizing on the success of Doctor X (1932), Warner Bros. brought back the director, Michael Curtiz, as well as several of the stars from that film, Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray, in another horror film, The Mystery of the Wax Museum. They also added to the cast Glenda Farrell, who was a rising star at the studio, and the reliable character actor Frank McHugh.

The Mystery of the Wax Museum was the last film to use the two-strip Technicolor process and was considered lost for a number of years. Color was still a bit of a novelty in the early 1930s and Technicolor was an expensive process. The process required extremely bright lights, resulting in hot temperatures on the set and even eye damage to many actors during that period. In The Mystery of the Wax Museum, the enormous heat generated by the lights needed for the two-color process made the wax figures melt, so in most scenes, the figures were played by actors.

Stubs - Rain (1932)

Rain (1932) Starring: Joan Crawford, Walter Huston, Matt Moore, William Gargan, Guy Kibbee, Beulah Bondi Directed by Lewis Milestone. Screenplay by Maxwell Anderson. Based on the play Rain by John Colton and Clemence Randolph (New York, 7 Nov 1922) as adapted from the short story "Miss Thompson" by W. Somerset Maugham in The Smart Set (Apr 1921). Produced by Joseph M. Schenck. Run time: 94 minutes. USA Black and White Drama. Pre-Code.

Hollywood loves to tinker with films and remake them, usually aimed at a new generation of moviegoers. Once sound had become the norm, silent films were considered passé and some of them were remade to take advantage of the “talkies”. Case in point, Rain. What had been a very successful silent film, Sadie Thompson (1928) starring Gloria Swanson, seemed ripe for a remake.

Stubs - Downstairs

Downstairs (1932) Starring: John Gilbert, Paul Lukas, Virginia Bruce Directed by Monta Bell. Screenplay by Lenore Coffee, Melville Baker Story by John Gilbert Produced (None Credited) USA Run time: 77 minutes. Black and White. Drama. Pre-Code.

There were many silent stars who did not fare well with the coming of sound but none may have been more famous than John Gilbert. Once the rival of Rudolph Valentino as a box office draw, Gilbert was once known as "The Great Lover". The coming of sound didn’t end Gilbert’s career, but it did correspond with his decline.

Stubs - The Sign of the Cross

The Sign of the Cross (1932) Starring: Fredric March, Elissa Landi, Claudette Colbert, Charles Laughton Directed by Cecile B. DeMille. Screenplay by Waldemar Young, Sidney Buchman. Based on the play The Sign of the Cross by Wilson Barrett (London, 27 May 1895). Cecil B. De Mille's Production. Run time: 126 minutes. USA Black and White. Melodrama, Historical, Religious. Pre-Code.

Feature filmmaking in Hollywood owes a lot to Cecile B. DeMille. Along with Jesse Lasky, Sam Goldfish (later Samuel Goldwyn), and a group of East Coast businessmen created the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company in 1913, one of the companies that would eventually become Paramount Pictures. DeMille became director-general of the company. He would also co-direct the first full-length film shot In Hollywood with The Squaw Man (1914).

Stubs - Trouble in Paradise - "The Lubitsch Touch"

Trouble in Paradise (1932) Starring: Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, Herbert Marshall, Charlie Ruggles, Edward Everett Horton, C. Aubrey Smith, Robert Greig. Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. Screenplay by Samson Raphaelson. Based on the play A Becsuletes Megtalalo (The Honest Finder) by László Aladár (Budapest, Dec 1931). Produced by Ernst Lubitsch Run time: 83 minutes. USA Black and White. Pre-Code Romantic Comedy.

Director Ernst Lubitsch was an early émigré from Germany to Hollywood but he didn’t come to America to escape the Nazis. Instead, by 1922, he had seen enough American films to know that Hollywood had more financial resources than the rather spartan German one. While making films in America he became known for his urbane comedies of manners and something called the “Lubitsch Touch.” One of the better examples of that is Trouble in Paradise (1932).

Stubs - The Last Flight

The Last Flight (1931) Starring: Richard Barthelmess, David Manners, John Mack Brown, Helen Chandler. Directed by William Dieterle. Screenplay by John Monk Saunders. Based on the novel Single Lady by John Monk Saunders (New York, l931). No Producer Credited. Run time: 80 minutes. USA Black and White Drama, Pre-Code.

After the First World War, many American soldiers chose to stay in Europe rather than return to the States. They needed to forget the horrors they encountered during the war and with a generous exchange rate for the U.S. dollar, they could afford a more hedonistic lifestyle. Besides, Prohibition had taken a stranglehold back in the States and drinking seemed in order for these Vets.

Stubs - Chances

Chances (1931) Starring: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Rose Hobart, Anthony Bushell. Directed by Allan Dwan. Screenplay by A. Hamilton Gibbs. Based on the novel Chances by Arthur Hamilton Gibbs (Boston, 1930). Producer Not Credited. Run time: 72 minutes. USA Black and White. Pre-Code, Drama.

There is no one way that you can become aware of a particular movie. In the case of Chances, for me, it was purely by accident. One morning while I was getting ready for work, the film happened to be on TCM and I happened to be watching. Since I didn’t have the time to watch it, I decided to DVR it and watch it later, which I recently did.

There were several things that attracted me to the film. I haven’t seen a lot of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. films, and those I have seen, especially from this time period, I have liked. Then there is the backdrop to the story, World War I. For most of my life, World War II has been so dominating, and rightly so, that the first World War is somewhat forgotten. However, during the 1920s and 30s, it was the last major war that most people had lived through, so it was used quite often for a backdrop for films. And then there was the obvious story detail that becomes quickly apparent, two close brothers fall in love with the same woman. I’m happy to say that on all these points, the film does not disappoint.