13. A Farewell to Arms (1932)
Ah, sentimental melodrama at its finest.
Although it lacks the sharp edges of Ernest Hemingway’s original 1929 war novel—the coarse brutality of WWI inspired by Hemmingway’s own experience in the Italian campaign—A Farewell to Armsis a beautiful, almost dreamy movie within itself.
Frank Borzage directs Helen Hayes and Gary Cooper as war-torn lovers who meet a much happier end in the Hays Code alternate ending.
Related:The Best War Movies Based on Books
12. Red-Headed Woman (1932)
Jean Harlow was the Marilyn Monroe of the 1930s. (In fact, Harlow was Marilyn Monroe’s biggest idol, and Monroe was even set to play Harlow in a 1953 film that never materialized.)
Being a sex symbol, the Hays Code was unsurprisingly averse to Jean Harlow’s movies, especially this one in which her character uses sex to climb her way to the top of the social ladder!
The red-headed Lillian breaks up marriages and pursues a series of affairs in Jack Conway’s daring and seductive rom-com. And when that’s not enough? She winds up hovering over the trigger of a gun.
Related:The Best Feminist Movies, Ranked (And Why They’re Great)
11. Call Her Savage (1932)
Call Her Savagewas one of the earliest documented movies to openly portray homosexuality, and director John Francis Dillon didn’t stop there. You’ll also see gender-defying outfits, emasculated men, gay bar brawls, skimpy lingerie, and dog fighting.
At the center of all this is a wild and rebellious woman, played by Clara Bow (who was known for her flapper, party-girl roles of the Roaring Twenties) and exuding lesbian undertones. It’s worlds away from the quiet and pristine porcelain beauties of Old Hollywood!
Related:The Best Counterculture Movies That Marked New Generations
10. Red Dust (1932)
Unsurprisingly, Jean Harlow features again. As America’s “bad girl,” she had her hand in over a dozen pre-Code productions.
InRed Dust, she plays a blonde-haired woman (in accordance with her role in the pre-Code classicPlatinum Blondefrom 1931) who also happens to be a prostitute.
Set during monsoon season in French Indochina, the title ofRed Dustrefers to the dust that’s whipped up on the rubber plantation where Harlow’s character is caught in a love triangle.
Related:The Best Romance Drama Movies
9. The Sign of the Cross (1932)
The third installment in Cecil B. DeMille’s biblical trilogy (followingThe Ten CommandmentsandThe King of Kings) was the only one made with sound, making it fall into the pre-Code category.
The Sign of the Crosswas based on Wilson Barrett’s 1895 play where Emperor Nero rules Rome, AD 64.
Gladiator fights, crocodile attacks, erotic dances, and seducing Christian girls were all fine for the original cut ofThe Sign of the Cross, but highly censored in the Hays Code re-release.
We can’t imagine anything named “Dance of the Naked Moon” flying with Joseph Breen, but luckily it was added back in 1993.
Related:The Best Movies About Gladiators
8. Safe in Hell (1931)
Movies made in the 1930s were the pinnacle of melodrama, not having yet learned that cameras require more subtlety than theaters and stages. You can see that inSafe in Hell.
Homicide and prostitution make up the bulk ofSafe in Hell’s plot, which involves a hell made up of pimps, criminals, and runaways, all situated on a lush Caribbean island. Dorothy Mackaill stars as the sexy secretary stereotype, who ends up on trial for murder.
Critics of the time foundSafe in Helltoo depressing, wandering its way to the gallows, but it has since been carefully preserved.
Related:The Best Female Anti-Heroes in Movies
7. 42nd Street (1933)
Okay, enough doom and gloom. How about a musical?
Sexual innuendos, dirty jokes, and drunken parties are what await behind the doors of42nd Street, a backstage musical that somehow makes the Great Depression look like a barrel of laughs!
42nd Streetcenters on an ensemble cast’s rehearsals for their latest Broadway show, earning an Oscar nomination in the process.
In 1980, the real Broadway version of42nd Streetwon two Tony Awards, but it all comes back to Lloyd Bacon, who effectively directed the first modern musical with the film version of42nd Street.
Related:The Best Jukebox Musical Movies
6. Baby Face (1933)
It’s no coincidence thatBaby Facehas so many parallels toRed-Headed Woman, which also centers on a young woman seducing her way up the social ladder. (Barbara Stanwyck wasliterallyposed next to a ladder for the publicity photos.)
It was basically Warner Bros.’s version of the same movie as they tried to claw their way back from the losses of the Great Depression. Even the protagonists' names—Lily and Lillian—are similar!
Alfred E. Green’s Prohibition-defying movie is arguably more famous thanRed-Headed Woman, chiefly because its liberated stance on sex put pressure on the need for the Hays Code the following year.
Related:Male Gaze vs. Female Gaze: Movie Examples, Explained
5. The Divorcee (1930)
The Hays Code promoted all-American family values, which staunchly meant no divorce or infidelity. Based on a novel literally calledEx-Wife(written by Ursula Parrott in 1929),The Divorceewas made at the perfect time before Will H. Hays could squash it.
Norma Shearer won an Oscar for her racy depiction of Jerry Martin, teaching us a lesson in revenge sex when she tries to get back at her cheating husband.
It was a lesson for women, anyway. Men would probably get away with it, as was Robert Z. Leonard’s commentary on society’s double standards.
Related:The Best Movies About Cheating, Affairs, and Infidelity
4. Scarface (1932)
Al Capone has his fair share of movies made about him (including 1959’sAl Capone, 1975’sCapone, and 1987’sThe Untouchables), as he’s the most notorious gangster in American history.
Scarface(which was Capone’s infamous nickname) is an interesting entry in the Capone catalogue because he was still kicking around when it was made—though admittedly in prison!
Without naming names, Howard Hawks overtly based his gangster flick on the reputation of Capone, including a scene on the headline Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre. Even before the Hays Code, the violence ofScarfaceinspired calls for major alterations.
Related:The Best Movies Set in the 1930s (Great Depression)
3. Three on a Match (1932)
Three on a Matchgave us a taste of Humphrey Bogart before he became the iconic noir detective of the 1940s. And we really mean just a taste! Joan Blondell (emblem of Pre-Code Hollywood), Warren William, Ann Dvorak, and Bette Davis are the real stars here.
Viewers initially found the drugs, gangsters, affairs, and suicides inThree on a Match"distasteful," as three friends catch up over seemingly innocent lunchtime cigarettes. We know better these days, and we love the explosive plot twists that were atypical of the decade.
Related:The Best Chill Movies That Feel Like a Hangout With Characters
2. The Public Enemy (1931)
The Public Enemy,Scarface, andLittle Caesarare widely agreed upon as the film trio that invented the gangster genre.
Crime stories had been around since the 19th century—thanks to Edgar Allan Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle—butThe Public Enemywas the prototype for a specific kind of production: the gangster movie.
An Irish-American thief rises through the ranks of Chicago’s underworld, becoming a bootlegging, fist-flying crime boss of Prohibition. Sound familiar? Luckily, William A. Wellman managed to create this genre-pioneering film before the Hays Code hit!
Related:The Best Gangster Movies
1. Frankenstein (1931)
Frankensteinis a story that needs no introduction or explanation. A mad scientist and his hunchback buddy make a monster out of body parts. Lightning strikes. “It’s alive!” Yada, yada, yada.
James Whale’s film wasn’t the first film adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic Gothic tale, but it was the first talkie version and it advanced the use of cinematic sound like never before.
Sci-fi wasn’t a hugely popular genre in early cinema, but Boris Karloff’s ghoulishly tender depiction of Frankenstein’s monster is still the first image that comes to many people’s minds—even for those who haven’t seen the movie! How’s that for iconic?
Related:The Best Classic Monster Movies Still Worth Watching Today
