That handsome enough fellow there went by the name Phillip Reed; he was an actor mainly in the 30s and 40s. I watched this documentary this weekend called Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood which was about exactly what that long title says it was about, and they talked about this 1933 film called Female starring Ruth Chatterton as a man-bagging business woman whose daily itinerary included mergers, acquisitions, and boffing every himbo in sight - surprising none of you I knew I had to see this movie right quick. Anyway as I looked up info about it I stumbled upon these pictures of Mr. Reed, who plays one of the himbos she gets her boffing business-lady paws upon...
... and I felt the need to tell Ruth Chatterton, where ever you are lady, you done good. Has anybody seen this movie? I was watching the doc mainly because it had a lot of info on early Barbara Stanwyck films, but it gave me all sorts of early talkies to toss onto my Must List - like who knew what a tart early Norma Shearer was?
Although... sorry to tell you but you're not gonna
get anywhere with Ramon Novarro, toots.
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get anywhere with Ramon Novarro, toots.
.
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8 comments:
I hope you have seen "Sign of the Cross"! If not, you must, instantly!
I have not! I will put it on my list, thanks Benji
Claudette Colbert boob peek, Lesbian dance, and arena fights, including gorillas raping virgins and amazons fighting and impaling pygmies. Yes, it all happens!
I saw the picture a couple of years ago. Do I remember correctly that this lad is one she doesn't bag because he's gay--so she sends him to Paris for 2 years of Art studies? That struck me as an amazing bit of story line, for at least a couple of reasons.
benji - That's like a rewritten version of "My Favorite Things" - I am so there!
gregorybrown - I actually have not watched Female yet, it took me some time to find a copy. 've only seen the clips they showed in the doc. So I don't know, but that sounds terrific!
I always thought the guy with Ruth by the pool was Johnny Mack Brown. Johnny is in Female as well. Apparently Ruth's beaus look alike. I've seen Female and it's very much worth checking out: it's available on the TCM DVD Forbidden Hollywood Volume 2, which is worth getting for all the films on it. By the way, Johnny Mack Brown was apparently, according to some rumors, the regular fuck-buddy to gay silent screen star William Haines, just in case you wanted a little fuel to your old timey film star erotic fantasy life.
Female is incredible except for the annoying tacked on ending. But I would say it is essential viewing regardless. I would also recommend Baby Face, Red-Headed Woman and Three on a Match for naughty precode fun.
Female is quite enjoyable in parts. Ruth definitely lives her life on man's terms plus she has a male organist in her vestibule!!
The three Brad mentioned are excellent examples of pre-code and a good variety of classic actress sampling, Baby Face is Stanwyck at her most sexual. Red Headed Woman has Jean Harlow without her signature hair color but her rampant sexuality fully intact. In Three on a Match the one to watch is Ann Dvorak, she is simply amazing while suffering the tortures of the damned.
Two others to seek out are Search for Beauty,dozens of men in abbreviated bathing suits, including an absolutely luscious Buster Crabbe, and a couple of bare bums running through the locker room near the beginning.
The other is tough to find but so totally worth it. It's the incredible Call Her Savage starring Clara Bow. It's one of her few sound films and if she hadn't had such a train wreck of a private life and suffered from mike fright she could have easily given Jean, Norma and the other pre-code girls a run for their money. The film has every possible tribulation stuffed into it that they could cram in during its running time. Insanity, prostitution, illegitimacy, a visit to what is unmistakably a gay bar and that's just for starters!!
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