A deep dive into Hollywood's early years
Directed by Leigh Jason, The Mad Miss Manton is a screwball mystery film, starring Barbara Stanwyck as Melsa Manton – a socialite on the hunt for a murderer – and Henry Fonda as Peter Ames, the newspaper editor trailing in her wake.
This post is part of the CMBA Hidden Classics blogathon
Directed by Wesley Ruggles, No Man Of Her Own is a fantastic and often overlooked pre-code about the unlikely romance between Clark Gable’s unscrupulous cardsharp Babe Stewart, and small-town librarian Connie Randall, played by Carole Lombard. It has no relation to the 1950 Barbara Stanwyck film of the same name.
This post is part of the Carole Lombard Memorial Blogathon hosted by In The Good Old Days Of Classic Hollywood and Carole & Co.
Directed by Mark Sandrich, Top Hat is a screwball musical comedy starring Fred Astaire as Jerry Travers, a dancer newly arrived in London to star in a major show, and Ginger Rogers as Dale Tremont, the woman who Jerry falls desperately in love with.
This post is part of The Second Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers Blogathon hosted by Love Letters To Old Hollywood and In The Good Old Days Of Classic Hollywood
Directed by Rouben Mamoulian, Queen Christina is a pre-code historical biopic which stars Greta Garbo as the eponymous monarch, who struggles to balance the wishes of her subjects and advisors with her own desires. John Gilbert plays Antonio, a handsome Spanish envoy who becomes the queen’s great love.
This post is part of The Costume Drama Blogathon hosted by Moon in Gemini
A Bill of Divorcement is a pre-code drama following a day in the life of a dysfunctional English family at Christmastime, starring Katharine Hepburn in her big-screen debut as Sydney Fairfield, Billie Burke as her mother Meg, and John Barrymore as her father Hilary, who escapes the mental hospital he has spent twenty years in due to shell shock.
This post is part of the Fifth Annual Barrymore Trilogy Blogathon, hosted by In The Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood and Pale Writer
Directed by James Tinling, Arizona To Broadway is a pre-code romantic crime drama starring James Dunn as prolific conman Smiley Wells, and Joan Bennett as Lynn Martin, who becomes embroiled in his schemes.
This post is part of the Joan Bennett Blogathon hosted by In The Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood
It’s Love I’m After is a screwball comedy directed by Archie Mayo, starring Leslie Howard and Bette Davis as Basil Underwood and Joyce Arden, the constantly bickering Shakespearean actors with a highly dysfunctional relationship who are starring in Romeo and Juliet, and Olivia de Havilland as Marcia West, a debutante who becomes infatuated with Basil after seeing him perform.
This post is part of the Olivia de Havilland blogathon hosted by In The Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood
Directed by Clarence Brown, Possessed is a romantic drama starring Joan Crawford as Marian Martin, a factory girl determined to make a better life for herself in the big city, and Clark Gable as Mark Whitney, her mentor in high-class living and the object of her affections.
This post is part of the Clark Gable blogathon hosted by Love Letters To Old Hollywood
Directed by Michael Curtiz, Four’s A Crowd is a romantic comedy starring Rosalind Russell as reporter Jean Christy, Errol Flynn as editor-in-chief Robert Lansford, Patric Knowles as the newspaper’s owner Pat Buckley, and Olivia de Havilland as his fiancée Lorri.
This post is part of the Rosalind Russell Blogathon hosted by In The Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood
Directed by Josef von Sternberg, The Blue Angel is a German tragicomedy starring Marlene Dietrich as the beautiful and alluring cabaret singer Lola Lola, and Emil Jannings as Professor Immanuel Rath, whose infatuation with her drives him to ruin.
