TCM Archives: Forbidden Hollywood Collection - Volume One (Waterloo Bridge (1931) / Baby Face / Red-Headed Woman)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alphonse Ethier, Barbara Stanwyck, Donald Cook, George Brent, Henry KolkerBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 308 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-12-05
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: 67964
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- Black & White; Closed-captioned; DVD; NTSC
Movie Reviews of TCM Archives: Forbidden Hollywood Collection - Volume One (Waterloo Bridge (1931) / Baby Face / Red-Headed Woman)
Movie Review: Three great films that typify pre-code Hollywood
Summary: 5 Stars
When Turner Classic Movies first came into existence they cleaned out Warner Brothers' vault of 1930's and 40's era classics. It's about time some of them came out in boxed sets such as this one. The theme of this particular box set is pre-code Hollywood, and includes three films that illustrate why the decency code came into existence.
Film industry censorship began in 1922 following a trio of scandals that rocked Hollywood: the Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle murder trial, the never-solved murder of director William Desmond Taylor, and the drug-related death of matinee idol Wallace Reid. In 1930, a new version of the Production Code was drafted to standardize the censorship requirements of various states, since the inception of talking films made it difficult to arbitrarily cut offending scenes. However, the studios merely paid lip-service to the Code since they were more interested in finding ways to lure dwindling Depression era audiences into theatres. The pre-code era came to an abrupt close beginning July 1,1934, when watchdog groups threatened boycotts of all films and the Legion of Decency was established to monitor movies. Studio heads finally bowed to the public pressure and the era of censorship began, lasting until the establishment of the industry's rating system in 1968.
In "Baby Face" Lily Powers (Barbara Stanwyck), hardened by growing up in a speakeasy, leaves her blue-collar town for New York determined to get ahead by any means necessary. Thanks to some sage advice from a local cobbler (Alphonse Ethier) she has taken to heart the teachings of Nietzsche and has decided to sleep her way to the top, floor by floor. In the end, she's gone through seven men, ruined lives, and lost what little bit of compassion and humanity she may have started out with in the beginning. She's married to the president of a bank and has a suitcase with over a half a million dollars in it, given to her by her husband during good times. However, her husband now is in trouble with the bank over business decisions he has made, and he needs the money that he once gave her to get the bank and himself out of trouble. Will Lily start over in poverty with the man she loves, or will she set sail with the money in her suitcase? It seems funny now, but one of the things that the censors had trouble with in this film and actually cut were some scenes with Lily discussing Nietzche's philosophy of turning situations where one is a victim into where you are in control. I guess this was a dangerous idea during the depths of the depression.
In "A Red Headed Woman", Jean Harlow has her trademark platinum hair dyed an unlikely shade of red. Jean plays Lil, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who's determined to climb the business and social ladder in the same way that Stanwyck's character did in "Baby Face". Likewise, Jean sets her sights on her boss Bill and refuses to take "no" for an answer. In this film, though, her boss is already married. This doesn't bother or slow down Lil one bit. The shameless homewrecker uses every trick in the book to snag him until her behavior borders on what would be considered "stalking" in today's lexicon. Red Headed Woman wavers wildly between comedy and weighty melodrama, with Harlow showing great comic flair as well as pathos in her portrayal of Lil. More significant, though, is the plot. It is more than a little risqué, and is an example of the type of film that simply couldn't be made a few years later. With marital infidelity, innuendos, violence, and sadism (when Bill finally slaps Lil out of frustration, she says, "Hit me again! I like it!") this is thoroughly adult fare, even by today's standards. Chester Morris was usually cast as a rather boring hero type, which makes him a perfect contrast opposite the amoral Harlow. Once Lil gets what she wants - married to Bill - society and her family do not accept her as such, and continue to side with Bill's cast-off first wife. Lil soon becomes bored with life as an executive's wife and goes back to her old ways. Will Bill see the light or will even more tragedy result for all involved?
While the 1940 remake of the final film "Waterloo Bridge" starring Vivien Leigh might be better known, this 1931 original version of the acclaimed wartime romance stars Mae Clarke, who transcends the tawdry material with a luminous performance that should have assured her of a bigger career. Unfortunately, Waterloo Bridge remained out of the public eye for more than 50 years, leaving Clarke to be best remembered as the woman into whose face James Cagney smashes a grapefruit in "The Public Enemy". Her career never took off the way Harlow's and Stanwyck's did. In Waterloo Bridge, Mae Clarke is an American chorus girl who marries an officer in London during World War I. After he's reported missing, his family cruelly rejects her and, desperate to survive, she drifts into prostitution. However, remember that "reported missing", especially in the chaos of World War I battlefields, does not necessarily mean definitely dead. The heroine in this film, unlike the other two, is a somewhat sympathetic character. This is the one movie I had not previously seen, and it was quite good. It probably would be more remembered if it was not for the remake of nine years later that involved bigger stars.
These are all excellent films especially with the restored footage, I found the video quality to be quite good even considering the age of the films, and the insightful commentary by Robert Osborne is always a welcome treat. The only bad thing I can say about the set is the somewhat high price which works out to about ten dollars a film, which is pretty pricey for three older movies, even if they are classics.
More TCM Archives: Forbidden Hollywood Collection - Volume One (Waterloo Bridge (1931) / Baby Face / Red-Headed Woman) reviews:
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Summary of TCM Archives: Forbidden Hollywood Collection - Volume One (Waterloo Bridge (1931) / Baby Face / Red-Headed Woman)
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