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Customer Reviews
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lots of fun
This is a great movie set for those of us who like movies from the 30s. I own both Forbidden Hollywood I and II. My boyfriend and I watched all the movies together. Each time we watched one, we couldn't wait to see the next one. Both sets are great fun to watch. Interesting stories and interesting to see what was considered "taboo" back then. Highly recommend the set.
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PRE-CODE FILMS THAT MAKE FOR A FUN-FILLED ORGY
It may not have exactly been a time of innocence, but it was a time of some pretty good flicks that have, until now, been pretty much forgotten. Turner Classic Movies has changed that. Again. The five films in their second collection push the boundaries of morality---a sex, sin-filled orgy of flimsy nighties, politically incorrect situations, extraordinary frankness, nudity, adultery, premarital sex and prostitution. Some things never change. The best of the bunch is The Divorcee, the film that is considered the official kick-off of the pre-Code era. Norma Shearer won an Oscar for Best Actress as a woman who decides to match her cheating husband tryst for tryst after catching him husband in a compromising position. The phenomenal critical and financial success of the picture led other studios to try topping it, and soon almost every actress in Hollywood was required to sin. And repent. The sensational series of films that emerged helped Hollywood survive its economic crisis and moviegoers enjoy the vicarious thrills the films provided. The era came to an abrupt close beginning July 1, 1934, when Catholic watchdog groups threatened boycotts of all films and the Church established the Legion of Decency to monitor movies. Studio heads bowed to the pressure and the era of censorship began, lasting until the establishment of the industry's rating system in 1968.
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Forbidden Hollywood-Volume 2
Excellent movies from the 1930's. Excellent sound and clarity. Shipping was fast and secure. Highly recommended to all.
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Verboten Tinseltown
This was an enjoyable set overall and an interesting look at the short films churned out by Hollywood in the heydey (meaning talkies) of its pre-code era. "Three on a Match" was the strongest of this set (though not without its problems), "Night Nurse" the weakest (I just never could figure out what the heck was going on), not to mention Clark Gable and George Brent look ridiculous without their moustaches (and I hate moustaches, but the absence of facial hair didn't hinder these early talkies).
CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD!
**½ The Divorcee (with Norma Shearer): I will never understand the stupidity of people who will get into a car with a drunk person. I felt terribly sorry for the woman whose face was disfigured from the accident (we only see her wearing a black hat that totally covers her face, how she sees where she`s going, I don`t know) and who the driver married out of duty and because he couldn't have Norma Shearer.
I didn't have any respect for Norma's cheating husband in this, who says it shouldn't matter [to his wife] because it didn't mean a thing, but when Norma sleeps with said admirer, her husband can't take it.
I say, she is better off without him, though I was disappointed in her that she slept with her admirer that night out of revenge. It made me less sympathetic to her character. She should have just let her husband believe she had let another man touch her--she would have gotten the same result without debasing herself.
One thing I hated (or rather three things) were the close-ups of Miss Shearer's and her various suitors' hands (not to mention the men had laughably bad foreign accents) to show how Miss Shearer was getting around after her divorce (though it is implied that she doesn't sleep with any of them because one of the men calls the ring he has just given her platonic--I get the impression these are rich old geezers who just want a young chick on their arm to take to shows, etc.).
Miss Shearer is a tease who cannot bring herself to have casual sex. Sleeping with the DUI guy was a mistake (for she did regret it the morning after) she made when she vulnerable and her sorrow was still raw.
Norma's husband did apologize at the end when she tracks him down in Paris (why she can't find someone else, I don't know--I say start fresh), realizing he is the only man she has ever really loved, and they get back together. I was annoyed when she said she should have fought harder for her marriage when he was the one who cheated on her. He was the one who should have bent down and begged for her forgiveness instead of saying she was being silly because "it didn't mean a thing".
But, these kinds of films were a product of the times and it's funny because this kind of thinking would never go over today. Unlike many people my age (I'm twenty-six), it's interesting to go back and watch these films and appreciate them, even if we do not agree with them. It's sickening most people today have probably not even watched a movie pre-dating the Hippie Movement and think all silent films are boring because they have to actually read something.
** A Free Soul (with Norma Shearer, Clark Gable and Lionel Barrymore): Either Norma Shearer's character had dual personalities or her part wasn't well written, but she acted like a totally different girl with Gable than she did around her father (and she did act pretty amorous toward her pop, calling him darling, dear, and ruffling his hair--Ick!).
Ashley Wilkes, I mean Leslie Howard, is given another thankless role (I would never kill anyone just to save some trollop's reputation, but then, his doing that finally made her love him, so I guess he got what he wanted in the end, not to mention his freedom...with Lionel's help).
I really don't think Miss Shearer was all that much in love with Gable if she was willing to give him up (her idea) to get her father to stop drinking, but then maybe my perception is skewed--perhaps that shows just how much she cared for her father.
"Free Soul" is father/daughter love story until the end, and the moral of this story? Father really does know best.
*** Three on a Match (with Ann Dvorak, a dark, mysterious beauty, a pudgy Joan Blondell and platinum-haired (a la Jean Harlow) Bette Davis when she was still young and lovely; also Anne Shirley (billed as Dawn O'Day), who had not yet developed her understated beauty):
The three leading ladies were excellent, and though the little moppet playing Dvorak's son is cute as can be, he's just too cutesy (he's the little boy version of Shirley Temple) for this film. His talents would have been better suited to a movie like "National Velvet" playing one of Elizabeth Taylor's rambunctious brothers.
I also found indicating the passage of time using newspapers hackneyed. Sometimes just flashing the year in the next frame will suffice.
I never really understood Ann Dvorak's motivations (why did she want to take the kid along?)--I am guessing she was just one of those people who is never satisfied (and they`re usually the ones who have everything, as Dvorak did in this case). I didn't have any sympathy for her character till the end, and you'll see why when you see it. It would have made more sense for Bette Davis to have taken Dvorak's place than for Joan Blondell, as Bette was slim and youthful-looking whereas Joan looks worn-down and is slightly overweight, but then, I guess Dvorak's husband was looking for something different than his ex-wife.
The ending was totally unexpected and really quite shocking. The only thing I'll say is that Dvorak managed to redeem herself in the end, and it was only then I felt sympathetic to her character.
As for Bette Davis, she really isn't given much to do except show some leg (which she does well), but this is really Dvorak's vehicle, who really could have been Miss Anne Shirley all grown up.
*** Female (with Ruth Chatterton and George Brent): This was going good until Mrs. George Brent in real life (at least for a couple of years--Miss Chatterton divorced her first husband and married Brent the next day) decides she's just a woman. I could see her really falling in love with the one man who won't bed her at her whim, but to totally change character was jarring--to go from career woman who sleeps around to submissively sweet and wanting nine children shifted too suddenly, but then perhaps the moral of this story is that true love changes us.
* Night Nurse (with Barbara Stanwyck, Clark Gable and Joan Blondell): Watch the documentary on this disc instead, which is excellent, as it discusses each vice (people getting away with murder, homosexuality, etc.) with examples from those early films. (Though I do think post-code Hollywood went overboard at times--like in "Arsenic and Old Lace" when Cary Grant had to say he was the son of a sea cook instead of a bastard--I think it takes a much more creative person to work with subtlety rather than brashness, and better films are made. Look at the garbage Hollywood peddles now).
Anyway, had this extra not been included with this last film, I would say sell "Night Nurse" separately from the rest of the pack and keep the rest.
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TCM Archives - Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Vol. 2
This is an excellant collection. A must for any movie buff. I have both Forbidden Hollywood Collection's I & II. I am looking forward to the next addition to this collection. I Hope You will enjoy them as much as I do.
