The Pre-Code Companion, Issue #1: Baby Face, Waterloo Bridge, & Red-Headed Woman

by Kim Luperi, Clint Worthington, Cliff Aliperti

pre-Code Hollywood is the term often used to refer to the era between the demise of silent film in the late 1920s and the encroachment of mandatory self-censorship by conservative forces in mid-1934. During this period, creativity in Hollywood was at its peak, with films like Grand Hotel (1932), The Thin Man (1934), and King Kong (1933) emerging from this turbulent time where movie studios were the biggest businesses in the country just as the economy crashed and the world became mired in the Great Depression. Where do you start when you’re exploring the world of pre-Code Hollywood? If Baby Face and Red-Headed Woman aren’t at the top of the list, try again. This issue looks at two of the key movies of the time, both scandalous for showcasing two women who shun the sex norms that governed the times, but the brazen and still playful attitude they take towards doing so. Also mixed in is a discussion of Waterloo Bridge, the weapie starring Mae Clarke as a prostitute who has to make a choice between love or shame during the First World War. Each movie and a respective star is covered with a mix of in-depth research and enthusiasm in this first issue of The Pre-Code Companion. Includes discussion of Baby Face (1933), Barbara Stanwyck, Waterloo Bridge (1931), Mae Clarke, Red-Headed Woman (1932), and Jean Harlow.

Genres: Film

89 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 27, 2015

About the author

Kim Luperi was born and raised in New Jersey but has since migrated west to Los Angeles. She wrote her undergraduate thesis on the censorship battle of BABY FACE (1933) and never looked back. Currently, she curates the @precodedotcom Instagram account and is a freelance writer for TCM. She’s written for AFI Fest, the American Cinematheque, and MovieMaker Magazine and covers classic film screenings at ISeeADarkTheater.com.

Reviews

[David Keep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

A good selection of articles written by people who have a clear love of this fascinating and overlooked part of Hollywood history

[Magnus Stanke · Rating 5 out of 5]

if you like Pre-Code film this is indispensible. It's the first volume of so far 6 little ebooklets that discuss, celebrate and review films that were released on dvd under the Pre-Code moniker. The quality of the writing varies somewhat as it the pieces are written by different authors, but the enthusiasm never waivers.