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Female (1933)
Ruth Chatterton stars as the high-powered and sexually liberated CEO of an automobile company who is romantically waylaid by straight-arrow George Brent. One of the more explicit of the pre-Code films was assigned to three different directors (William Dieterle, William Wellman and Curtiz) and would be denied a reissue certificate by the MPAA due to its lurid content. This seldom-seen gem co-stars Lois Wilson, Johnny Mack Brown and Ruth Donnelly.
35mm, b/w, 60 min. Production/Distribution: First National Pictures, Inc. Producer: Robert Presnell Sr. Director: Michael Curtiz. Screenwriter: Gene Markey, Kathryn Scola. Cinematographer: Sid Hickox. Editor: Jack Killifer. Cast: Ruth Chatterton, George Brent, Lois Wilson, Johnny Mack Brown, Ruth Donnelly.
The Strange Love of Molly Louvain (1932)
Pre-Code siren Ann Dvorak owns the title role in this quintessential period parable about a woman being forced into bad choices. A pregnant Molly is jilted by her upper-class boyfriend and hits the road with a low-life grifter (Leslie Fenton). It all goes downhill from there. Based on the play Tinsel Girl by Maurine Watkins (Libeled Lady, Chicago), Curtiz instills a rapid-fire tempo that is complemented by saucy dialogue between Dvorak and avian-voiced newspaper reporter Lee Tracy. The film co-stars Richard Cromwell, Guy Kibbee, Frank McHugh and Charles Middleton.
35mm, b/w, 73 min. Production/Distribution: First National Pictures, Inc. Director: Michael Curtiz. Cinematographer: Robert Kurrle. Editor: James Morley. Production Designer: Robert Haas. Cast: Ann Dvorak, Lee Tracy, Richard Cromwell, Leslie Fenton, Guy Kibbee.
Print courtesy of the Library of Congress.
