movie world

Illicit sex. Glorified vice. Crime that pays. You can’t do that said the film industry’s Production Code. But in the pre-Code era, Hollywood could – and did – with lots of classic style.

Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Volume 2 is an irresistibly lurid selection of pre-Code yarns that had moviegoers flocking to theaters during the Great Depression. While none of these five flicks quite has the trashy appeal of 1933's "Baby Face", which appeared on Volume 1, this collection boasts at least two dynamite potboilers in "Three on a Match" and "Night Nurse", as well as a first-rate comedy with "Female".

3xDVD9 | NTSC 4:3 | 449 Minutes | 18 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English
Subtitles: English, Francais
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance

DISC ONE

• The Divorcee (1930)
The Divorcee is a remarkably feminist film -- up to a point, anyway. In its saga of a wife reacting to her husband's infidelity, the picture has the temerity to examine society's double-standard about how men and women are judged for promiscuity. While the movie ultimately retreats for safer, more conventional ground, it still delivers some daring moments and a compelling lead performance by Norma Shearer.

• Commentary on The Divorcee by Jeffrey Vance and Tony Maietta

• A Free Soul (1931)
Shearer again turns up in A Free Soul, a heavyhanded melodrama about a negligent father and his free-spirited daughter. The actress portrays Jan, the rebellious daughter of hot-shot San Francisco defense attorney Stephen Ashe (Lionel Barrymore). It's an unconventional relationship. He's an alcoholic shunned by his blue-blooded family. She's a goodtime party gal who adores dad.

DISC TWO

• Night Nurse (1931)
Barbara Stanwyck stars as Lora Hart, a dedicated young nurse who lands work in a city hospital. There's not much else we need to know about Lora. She's pretty, she's strong-willed and she often needs to change into and out of clothes. She cares for two fatherless children and uncovers a plot to kill them for their inheritance hatched by their drunken mother and her chauffeur lover (Gable).

• Commentary on Night Nurse by Jeffrey Vance and Tony Maietta

• Documentary: Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood (1:07:52)

• Trailer

DISC THREE

• 3 on a Match (1932)
Three on a Match is a blast, a fast-paced melodrama packed with promiscuity, alcoholism, implied drug use, crime and even an apple-cheeked little boy in peril.
With a flurry of cheesy but effective montages showing the passage of time, 3 on a Match follows three young women who attended the same grade school but take very different paths in life.

• Female (1933)
Having inherited the Drake Motor Car Company from her father, Alison Drake is a strong-willed, independent businesswoman who commands the boardroom. She proves equally adept in the bedroom. Come evening, Alison lures handsome male employees to her mansion under the auspices of discussing business, only to turn them into her playthings -- with the help of her feminine wiles and copious amounts of vodka.

• Trailers