By Movie StarAlfred HitchcockAudrey HepburnAva GardnerBarbara StanwyckBasil RathboneBette DavisBetty GrableBilly WilderBob HopeBoris KarloffBurt LancasterBuster KeatonCarole LombardCary GrantCharlie ChaplinClara BowClark GableClaudette ColbertDana AndrewsDeanna DurbinDebbie ReynoldsDoris DayElizabeth TaylorErnst LubitschErrol FlynnEsther WilliamsFranchot ToneFred AstaireFred MacMurrayGary CooperGene KellyGinger RogersGloria SwansonGrace KellyGreer GarsonGregory PeckGreta GarboHarold LloydHedy LamarrHenry FondaHoward HawksHumphrey BogartIda LupinoIngrid BergmanIrene DunneJack BennyJack LemmonJames CagneyJames StewartJane RussellJean ArthurJean HarlowJeanette MacDonaldJeanne CrainJoan CrawfordJoan FontaineJohn FordJohn WayneJudy GarlandKatharine HepburnKay FrancisKirk DouglasLana TurnerLauren BacallLillian GishLon ChaneyLoretta YoungLouise BrooksLucille BallMae WestMarilyn MonroeMarion DaviesMarlene DietrichMary AstorMary PickfordMickey RooneyMiriam HopkinsMyrna LoyNatalie WoodNorma ShearerOlivia de HavillandOrson WellesPaul NewmanPreston SturgesRichard WidmarkRita HayworthRobert MitchumRudolph ValentinoShirley TempleSidney PoitierSpencer TracySteve McQueenTeresa WrightTyrone PowerVincent PriceVivien LeighWilliam HoldenWilliam PowellWilliam WylerWoody Allen By HolidayNew Year's DayPresident's DayValentine's DayEasterMother's DayFather's DayMemorial DayJuly 4thLabor DayColumbus DayHalloweenThanksgivingChristmasBlack History MonthWomen's History Month All Blogs4 Star Films (3471)50 Most Influential Disney Animators (58)A Person in the Dark (364)All Good Things (815)Backlots (412)Caf? Muscato (572)Caftan Woman (904)Carole & Co. (3081)Cary Grant Won't Eat You (486)Christy Putnam (78)Cinema Crossroads (42)Cinematic Catharsis (888)Cinematically Insane (268)CineMaven's Essays from the Couch (152)Classic Cinema Gold (319)Classic Film & TV Cafe (1258)Classic Film Freak (367)Classic Film Review (14)Classic Horror Campaign (257)Classic Movie Hub Blog (1889)Classic Movie Man (920)Classic Movies (3247)Classic Reel Girl (95)Comet Over Hollywood (1284)Creme de la Creme (31)Criterion Blues (770)Critica Retro (1428)Curtains (58)Durnmoose Movie Musings (1105)Film Reviews and Anything Else I Get Inspired by (5)Finding Franchot: Exploring the Life and Career of Franchot Tone (161)Flickers in Time (2221)GlamAmor (587)Hitchcock Master (131)Hollywood Revue (532)Hometowns to Hollywood (775)How Sweet It Was (86)In The Good Old Days Of Classic Hollywood (154)Journeys in Classic Film (1765)Lady Eve's Reel Life (733)Le Mot du Cinephiliaque (945)Love Letters to Old Hollywood (150)MacGuffin Movies (362)Margaret Perry (165)Mildred's Fatburgers (201)Movie Classics (287)Movies Silently (1029)Noir and Chick Flicks (1998)Noirish (1273)Old Hollywood Films (651)Once Upon a Screen (420)Out of the Past - A Classic Film Blog (2148)Outspoken and Freckled (140)Phantom Empires (60)Please Go Away: A Katharine Hepburn Blog (456)Pop Culture ImagineMDD (103)Pretty Clever Films (1413)Reel Distracted (20)ScribeHard on Film (162)Serendipitous Anachronisms (82)Shadows and Satin (922)Silver Scenes - A Blog for Classic Film Lovers (1860)Smitten Kitten Vintage (48)Smum County (115)Stardust and Shadows (120)Studies in Cinema (118)Sunset Blvd (39)The Baz (159)The Best Picture Project (905)The Blonde At The Film (319)The Bogie Film Blog (147)The Cinema Dilettante (110)The Giddy Blog (152)The Great Katharine Hepburn (240)The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog (1662)The Jeanette MacDonald Blog (94)The Man on the Flying Trapeze (643)The Motion Pictures (791)The Movie Rat (746)The Old Hollywood Garden (443)The Stop Button (3203)The Timothy Carey Experience (1181)The Vintage Cameo (134)The Wonderful World of Cinema (589)Timeless Hollywood (73)True Classics (573)Virtual Virago (1623)Where Danger Lives (136)Wolffianclassicmoviesdigest (638)

Hollywood studios during the Precode era were some of the best at promoting films. On some occasions the films publicity posters, advertisements and promotional events were more interesting than the films themselves. Footlights Parade (1933), a movie filled dozens of chorus girls in skimpy outfits p read more

One of the first all-black films by a major studio, it is an understatement to say Hallelujah! (1929) is a controversial film. Seen by contemporary audiences and critics as a triumph for race relations by director King Vidor; today it can be viewed as dated and somewhat racist depicting some charact read more

Finally (as in three years late!) here is the final installment of my trilogy on the tragic love story between Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy and the lengths MGM boss, Louis B. Mayer went to cover up the adulterous affair. I know, I know, this is massively late but better late than never, h read more

It's hard to imagine that an actress with such obvious radiance and allure as Jean Harlow, had to battle it out with thousands of other starlets and chorus girls for extra and bit roles. It seems her star quality was not as clear to film moguls of the late 1920s as it is to contemporary viewers.&nbs read more

It's hard to imagine that an actress with such obvious radiance and allure as Jean Harlow, had to battle it out with thousands of other starlets and chorus girls for extra and bit roles. It seems her star quality was not as clear to film moguls of the late 1920s as it is to contemporary viewers.&nbs read more

Despite any inference or inclusion of LGBT people or 'sex perversion' - as it was called - being a fundamental no-no in the 1930 Motion Picture Production Code, Precode films are full of references to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual people both to increase dramatic tension and for comedic eff read more

Despite any inference or inclusion of LGBT people or 'sex perversion' - as it was called - being a fundamental no-no in the 1930 Motion Picture Production Code, Precode films are full of references to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual people both to increase dramatic tension and for comedic eff read more

Nothing gives a 21st Century girl more of an insight into the real ins-and-outs of Precode Hollywood than behind the scene images. Sometimes just promotional shots put out by studio publicity departments or perhaps something more telling, backstage photos are always amongst my favourite images of Pr read more

Nothing gives a 21st Century girl more of an insight into the real ins-and-outs of Precode Hollywood than behind the scene images. Sometimes just promotional shots put out by studio publicity departments or perhaps something more telling, backstage photos are always amongst my favourite images of Pr read more

Probably the hardest working actor of the Pre-code era, Joan Blondell, appeared in about 40 films and took thousands of other press photos during that five years. To me she will always be the queen of the 'Cheescake’ photo. In almost every photo I see of Joan she is either in a swimsuit or sho read more

Probably the hardest working actor of the Pre-code era, Joan Blondell, appeared in about 40 films and took thousands of other press photos during that five years. To me she will always be the queen of the 'Cheescake’ photo. In almost every photo I see of Joan she is either in a swimsuit or sho read more

                The second in what I hope will be several posts on lost and, now, forgotten films of the Pre-code era. For more information on lost films and film preservation go to the National Film Preservation Foundation Although he was initially b read more

                The second in what I hope will be several posts on lost and, now, forgotten films of the Pre-code era. For more information on lost films and film preservation go to the National Film Preservation Foundation Although he was initially b read more

There was nothing more studio publicity machines liked more than match-making for a bit of public attention. Even Paramount’s youngest star, Baby LeRoy, had the chance to find love with the equally famous pint-sized Shirley Temple. Photoplay magazine in 1934 took the opportunity of documenting read more

There was nothing more studio publicity machines liked more than match-making for a bit of public attention. Even Paramount’s youngest star, Baby LeRoy, had the chance to find love with the equally famous pint-sized Shirley Temple. Photoplay magazine in 1934 took the opportunity of documenting read more

Despite being mostly forgotten today, actress Lilyan Tashman was a powerful figure in Precode era America. Her popular film and stage performances were eclipsed only by her fabulous lifestyle and reputation as the "best dressed woman in Hollywood".  She was the reigning Queen of Glamour in t read more

Despite being mostly forgotten today, actress Lilyan Tashman was a powerful figure in Precode era America. Her popular film and stage performances were eclipsed only by her fabulous lifestyle and reputation as the "best dressed woman in Hollywood".  She was the reigning Queen of Glamour in t read more

Where is Edna Mae Cooper? It was a headline grabbing mystery that caught the public's attention and imagination decades before the famous disappearance of Agatha Christie and infamous kidnappings of Patty Hearst and Frank Sinatra Jr dominated newspaper headlines. It happened late February 1931 aroun read more

Where is Edna Mae Cooper? It was a headline grabbing mystery that caught the public's attention and imagination decades before the famous disappearance of Agatha Christie and infamous kidnappings of Patty Hearst and Frank Sinatra Jr dominated newspaper headlines. It happened late February 1931 aroun read more

Ever since Marlene Dietrich’s controversial and breathtaking appearance in a tailored black tuxedo and top hat in Morocco (1930), dressing in typically masculine clothing became the rage for film actresses in the early thirties. From the distinctly feminine (Myrna Loy, Constance Cummings) to t read more