Pre-Code Hollywood - The Risque Years (1934)

In the years before Hollywood submitted to the self-imposed censorship of the Production Code, filmmakers were free to use adultery, prohibition drinking, and sexual double standards to explore the moral complexity of the modern age. Of Human Bondage, John Cromwell's adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's novel, is the best-known but perhaps least interesting example in this triple-feature set. Leslie Howard stars as the sensitive would-be artist turned medical student who falls in love with a slutty waitress (Bette Davis, who steals the film with her cold-hearted manipulations and shrill cockney accent), allowing his desire for this vicious little tart to control and almost destroy his life. At a brief 80 minutes, the picture leaves little nourishment between the narrative peaks but is always well-acted and handsomely staged.

Stalwart Joel McCrea is the working-class engineer who marries a spoiled society girl in Kept Husbands. "Dad, I want him more than anything in the world. Can't I have him?" pleads kittenish Dorothy Mackaill, but the tug of war between his work and her play soon tears them apart. Though the plot is sometimes slow, sparkling society wit and humorous working-class platitudes (croaked out by an always entertaining Ned Sparks) add dimension to the familiar story.

Millie, the jewel of the collection, represents everything great about the pre-code era. Sweetly sexy Helen Twelvetrees is Millie, a small-town girl turned big-city woman disillusioned with love, but while she lets the good times roll she never sacrifices her ideals: "I pay my own way," she insists. When a former beau plots to seduce her 16-year-old daughter, however, the worn, sad woman becomes an avenging angel, ready to sacrifice all for the girl. Though highly melodramatic, with adultery and sex to spare, the film drives ahead with wild abandon, with the dynamic Millie centering the drama. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

Only one of the three films herein, objectively, could be characterized as well-done, pre-code, and worthy of watching.

"Thank God for simple pleasures; a good appetite, roast beef, and beer." that's the moral of "Of Human Bondage." Too bad one has to whether 100+ minutes of one woman playing one man for a fool before the lesson is acknowledged. The Mildred character couldn't be more manipulative herein. Kudos to Bette Davis for the portrayal and Somerset Maugham for writing the book upon which this film is based. It's almost a truism that no film can best its novelistic heritage. One shouldn't be surprised by this. To squeze 300-400 pages of character development into 80-100 minutes of film is almost a task beyond the possible ("The Remains of the Day" comes to mind as both an exceptional book and film; and "Frankenstein" was a fabulous film, but only because it left out half the book).

Somerset Maugham's book "Of Human Bondage" is a ultimately positive parable of how a lack of self-worth sets one up for putting up with too much nonsense. "You're free," one tells Phillip. "Yes," he responds, "but suddenly, suddenly there is nowhere to go. I had to be free to realize that. I had to be free to understand that all those years that I dreamed of escape was because I was limping through life." But even then the character played ably by Leslie Howard betrays the notion that at the end he's not for embracing life's simple pleasures---that which makes life really enjoyable, but for settling for peace and tranquility---not one and the same thing. "I'll see the film because I'll never read the book" may seem logical, but is one that oughtn't be indulged in, I'd posit. If such is your predilection I'd say ignore the book as well as the film. Or see the film if such is your inclination, but certainly don't go out of your way to see it; and if you buy this 3 film set keep in mind that you won't wind up watching "Of Human Bondage" more than once.

Of the collection "Millie" works best as a film. Its story is told from the opposite viewpoint from"Of Human Bondage," by which I mean from the viewpoint of the woman who is endlessly courted by men. Where we see things through the eyes of the sap as played by Leslie Howard in "Of Human Bondage" as Bette Davis manipulates his feelings for her, in "Millie" we have a woman who plays independence in a different manner; not taking anything for anyone...until she winds up losing almost everything. "Millie" is a film that can be re-viewed, but that's not to say it is great cinema.

Then finally we have "Kept Husbands;" the plodding simple story of a rich man's daughter who decides she is going to lasso Joel McCrea's character within a month of meeting him. Soon he becomes a vice-president of 'daddy's' company and a "yes, dear" man to his pampered wife...until he declares that he just can't take it anymore and walks out. Then the wife tries to track him down at his mother's house. "Can you blame him? Who'd stand for being called a---" the spoiled wife bemoans to her mother-in-law . To which the mother-in-law responds: "All husbands are kept. Some of them are kept with money, but most of them with love, devotion, and sacrifice. Why, it's every woman's mission in life, keeping her husband." And having tried keeping him with money ultimately decides it's worth another attempt trying with love. Cheers May 12, 2007

Cool movies, but "Of Human Bondage" isn't pre-code

The Production Code was official on July 1st, 1934. Of Human Bondage came out later that month. August 13, 2006

Dazzling Trip Into our Pre-Code Past!

"Millie" and "Kept Husbands," both made in the very early 30s, are both a delight--a journey into America's past when movies were amazingly frank and frisky. "Millie" is the dramatic show-stopper with the legendary Helen Twelvetrees delivering a powerhouse performance. She's Millie, a weepy, naive young woman who marries a jerk and then she falls for another, bigger jerk. She has a baby who grows up to be a beautiful young woman. You watch Millie being used and dumped by more heels and she becomes increasingly bitter and gradually becomes an alcoholic. By this time, Millie has become a bitter, haggard woman who murders the sleazy heel who tries to seduce her daughter. In the courtroom scenes, Twelvetrees looks amazinly like Susan Hayward in her later years and the movie ends rather abruptly. But the scenes of Twelvetrees defending her daughter will stay in your mind, long after the movie has ended. "Kept Husbands,' is a risque, sophisticated drama, beautifully scripted and acted by Joel McCrae and Dorothy Mackail. Both are delightful as the beautiful young couple who marry for all the wrong reasons. Dorothy wants to "keep" her handsome architect all to herself and arranges a In-Name-Only high priced job with her father's construction empire. Joel is finally repulsed of being a kept husband and flees. The two stars are totally delightful. This is the first time I've seen Mackail and in some scenes, she looks exactly like Marion Davies, a close friend. You can't go wrong visiting the past in these two gems of a by-gone era where women were always beautifully gowned and everyone sat around having cocktails, flirting madly with each other and then slinking off into the boudoir. May 3, 2005

For the Fans of Pre-Code Hollywood

It's refreshing to see some of the pre-code movies make it on to DVD. Granted, if you're looking for high quality sound and resolution, you may be sorely disappointed. "Of Human Bondage" (1934) is taken from W. Somerset Maugham's novel and is directed by John Cromwell. If you have never seen this movie, you have a treat in store for you. Watch as Bette Davis rockets into the spotlight with her immortal line to Leslie Howard "I'd like to kiss ya, but I just washed my hair." "Millie" (1931) is a the story of a romance that leads to murder. Starring Helen Twelvetrees and a very young Joan Blondell."Kept Husbands" (1931) had the ads that blazed "Every Inch a Man-Bought Body and Soul by His Wife!" Dorothy Mackaill and Joel McCrea star.They don't call these "The Risque Years" without good reason. October 9, 2000

An alright video

This video is an "alright" compilation of three pre code films, the video quality is nothing to brag about, though understandable due to the age of the films and the wear on the source material. The sound is acceptable once again with relation to the age of the film. If you are a fan of these films this will probably be the best presentation of them available. If your not a particular fan and just looking for good movies to watch from the thirties I would probably recomend against this one. July 10, 2000

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