131 Classic Pre-Code Films You Must Watch

When 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.

An American ambulance driver and an English nurse fall in love in Italy during World War I.

When 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.

A German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.

Mayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Spaulding.

Based on a play by Philip Barry, this sophisticated comedy is about a man trying to justify his love for both his wife and his mistress.

A prison reformer and a controversial judge fall in love and have a child out of wedlock.

A young woman reunites with her estranged father and falls in love with a sailor, but struggles to tell them about her dark past.

A detective is tasked to capture an elusive thief called Arsene Lupin.

A 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.

Police Chief Jim Fitzpatrick ruthlessly goes after organized crime and is prepared to use brutal and violent methods to fight it.

Determined to reform upon leaving prison, a former prostitute falls in love with a cotton-barge owner and must choose between him and her banker lover.

A Chinese warlord and an engaged Christian missionary fall in love.

American 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.

A cabaret singer takes up with a millionaire to pay for her gravely-ill husband's operation.

Two young women find their friendship strained when one wins a role in a Broadway show, and the other's boyfriend begins to fall for her.

Bill Bailey (George Bancroft) is a Los Angeles, California bail bondsman who lives in a world of complete, casual corruption, where all he has to do is pick up the phone to get the charges against a client dismissed. He falls in love with a slumming socialite who bluntly and startlingly declares her sexual preferences with this immortal line: "If I could find a man who would be my master and give me a good thrashing, I'd follow him around like a dog on a leash."

An immoral mother blackmails a wealthy businessman after he accidentally hits her delinquent son with his truck.

A pair of sisters from the vaudeville circuit try to make it big time on Broadway, but matters of the heart complicate the attempt.

Sexy Texas gal storms her way through life, brawling and boozing until her luck runs out, forcing her to learn the errors of her ways.

The man-hungry Queen of Egypt leads Julius Caesar and Marc Antony astray, amid scenes of DeMillean splendor.

During the Florida land boom, The Marx Brothers run a hotel, auction off some land, thwart a jewel robbery, and generally act like themselves.

Rich couple loses their fortune in stock market crash.

London barrister's marriage is under strain after his affair with a shop-girl who is out to have him. Told in flashback.

After 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.