Pre-Code.com's Essential Pre-Code Films
Published on Pre-Code.com. I have no relationship with that site beyond browsing it. "Please note that this list skips a few movies that have long been categorized as ‘great films’ regardless of the period. . . . I wanted to save this list for the more discerning connoisseur whose goal is to dig a bit deeper into pre-Code Hollywood."
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- 30 titles
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenStarsBarbara StanwyckGeorge BrentDonald CookA young woman who has been abused by men all her life decides to turn the tables and exploit her hapless colleagues at a big-city bank to make a cozy life for herself.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsJames DunnSally EilersMinna GombellTwo adolescents fall in love and are wed, but misunderstandings born from a lack of trust and communication haunt their marriage.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsBarbara StanwyckNils AstherToshia MoriA Chinese warlord and an engaged Christian missionary fall in love.
- DirectorEdgar G. UlmerStarsBoris KarloffBela LugosiDavid MannersStranded honeymooners follow mad doctor to manor.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsMarlene DietrichCary GrantHerbert MarshallA cabaret singer takes up with a millionaire to pay for her gravely-ill husband's operation.
- DirectorJohn Francis DillonStarsClara BowGilbert RolandThelma ToddSexy Texas gal storms her way through life, brawling and boozing until her luck runs out, forcing her to learn the errors of her ways.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsBert WheelerRobert WoolseyMarjorie WhiteBarbers Nilly and Glub reluctantly become ambassadors for an Indian nation at a peace conference in Geneva. Facing sabotage from an ammunition executive, they persevere through romantic entanglements and setbacks to represent their people.
- DirectorRobert Z. LeonardStarsNorma ShearerRobert MontgomeryChester MorrisWhen a woman discovers that her husband has been unfaithful to her, she decides to respond to his infidelities in kind.
- 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.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsWarren WilliamLoretta YoungWallace FordA working girl is menaced by her tyrannical employer.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsWallace FordLeila HyamsOlga BaclanovaA circus' beautiful trapeze artist Cleopatra agrees to marry Hans the leader of side-show performers, but Hans' deformed friends discover that she is only marrying him for his inheritance. So they seek revenge.
- 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.This movie is pro-Soviet propaganda.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsWarren WilliamJoan BlondellAline MacMahonA wealthy composer rescues unemployed Broadway performers with a new play, but insists on remaining anonymous.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsLoretta YoungRichard BarthelmessAline MacMahonA veteran fights drug addiction to make his way in the business world.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsPaul MuniGlenda FarrellHelen VinsonA World War I veteran and aspiring engineer tries to re-enter civilian life. After being unwillingly caught up in a robbery, he suffers the intolerable conditions of a Southern chain gang, struggling to clear his name and prove his worth.
- 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.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsVictor McLaglenBoris KarloffWallace FordA dozen British soldiers, lost in a Mesopotamian desert during World War I, are menaced by unseen Arab enemies.
- DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsCarl BrissonVictor McLaglenJack OakieA homicide detective with an eye for the ladies, investigating a murder in Earl Carroll's Vanities, allows the music revue to continue during the investigation.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsBarbara StanwyckBen LyonJoan BlondellA nurse enlists the help of a petty criminal to foil a sinister plot to murder two children.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsGreta GarboJohn GilbertIan KeithQueen Christina of Sweden is a popular monarch who is loyal to her country. However, when she falls in love with a Spanish envoy, she must choose between the throne and the man she loves.
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsClark GableJean HarlowGene RaymondThe owner of a rubber plantation becomes involved with the new wife of one of his employees.Was remade in 1953, also starring Clark Gable, as Mogambo.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsJean HarlowChester MorrisLewis StoneA gold-digging secretary will do whatever it takes to get ahead in society-including luring her morally minded boss away from his happy marriage.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsDorothy MackaillDonald CookRalf HaroldeAfter accidentally killing the man who raped her and forced her into prostitution, a New Orleans woman flees to a Caribbean island. While she awaits her fiancé, the vicious local police chief sets his sights on her.
- DirectorsHoward 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.
- DirectorStephen RobertsStarsMiriam HopkinsWilliam GarganJack La RueA wealthy but neurotic Southern belle finds herself trapped in the hideout of a gang of vicious bootleggers. The gang's leader lusts after her, and is determined not to let anything stand in the way of his having her.
