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| TCM Archives - Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Vol. 1 (Waterloo Bridge [1931] / Baby Face / Red-Headed Woman) | ![TCM Archives - Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Vol. 1 (Waterloo Bridge [1931] / Baby Face / Red-Headed Woman)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51MBOPSGxwL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Directors: Alfred E. Green, Jack Conway, James Whale
Actors: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Donald Cook, Alphonse Ethier, Henry Kolker
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $39.98
Buy New: $18.98
You Save: $21.00 (53%)
New (51) Used (7) Collectible (1) from $18.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  39 reviews
Sales Rank: 3178
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: Unrated
Number Of Items: 2
Running Time: 308
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: WARD67964D
UPC: 012569679641
EAN: 0012569679641
ASIN: B000I2JDF8
Theatrical Release Date: July 1, 1933
Release Date: December 5, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Great films, good choices, poor execution December 17, 2006
19 out of 22 found this review helpful
I too have waited a long time to see the Pre-Code films on DVD, but this Warners release is part of the continuing saga from this company to shortchange its fans. The quality of Red-Headed Woman is lousy, worse than the prints I've seen and taped from TCM. Apparently there's someone new overseeing the vaults for TCM/Warners because there's no real attempt to remaster these films properly. The mislabeling of discs also shows poor quality control.
The pluses are the very good prints of Waterloo Bridge and Baby Face, especially the newly-discovered "pre-release" version, which makes more sense than the second version, especially considering the fairly ambiguous ending that doesn't include the obligatory punishment scene censors demanded.
For any of you who are not yet initiated into the fan club of scholars who love the Pre-Code era, this is still a must-have set. The era was really the only one in the history of film that gave women the Nietsche-like "Power" Barbara Stanwyck's friend in Baby Face told her she owns over men. The period from 1930-1934 was rare in that it featured radical stories with women leads who subverted the patriarchal society by using their sexuality one skyscraper floor at a time. The pretense was the exhibitors' desire for as many "women's pictures" as possible; box office was down significantly at the start of the Depression and theatre managers rightfully claimed that 75% of their audience was female. In downtown cities they shopped whenever they could, met each other for lunch, and sometimes hopped from one theater to the other. Hollywood responded by taking advantage of the lax censorship at the time, but when the industry's greatest fear faced them in 1934--the threat of censorship from the New Deal--the studios caved. (See the publication Variety from this era.) No wonder feminist theorists have written so much about this era.
Now, two more negatives before I end this basically downbeat review: No extras--where's the documentary "Complicated Women" or other commentaries? How about the price, $39.95 for just three films with a short running time, when the box set would have been more reasonably priced at $30 list. Come on, folks, let's rally for better quality, more films, extras, and reasonable prices for future box sets. Otherwise we should reconsider our purchases and give a higher priority to companies like Criterion, Paramount, and usually Fox and Universal, who seem to give a damn about our best interests instead of taking for granted the addicts who will give up food for DVDs!
A Fascinating Trio of Pre-Code Hollywood Films Highlighted by Stanwyck's Blazing Performance December 7, 2006
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
Before the Hays Code neutralized the sexually oriented behavior that could be shown in Hollywood movies for three decades, there was a crop of movies that reflected a more laissez-faire attitude toward risque subjects like promiscuity, homosexuality and drug use. In what looks to be the first volume of an intriguing series, this two-disc DVD set from Turner Classic Movies contains three epochal works from that brief period that started with the talkie revolution and ended abruptly in 1934.
The oldest of the trio, 1931's "Waterloo Bridge", is fairly typical of the pre-code genre and has only a fleeting similarity to the glamorous 1940 MGM version with Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor. Directed by James Whale before he peaked with "Frankenstein" and "Showboat", this film is set in WWI London and stars the long-forgotten Mae Clarke, an actress best known for being the recipient of James Cagney's grapefruit attack in "The Public Enemy". She plays Myra, an American chorus girl who turns to prostitution when her show closes. Unlike Leigh's ethereal ballerina in the later film, Clarke's Myra is all bitterness with a shaft of hope in the form of an American soldier named Roy, whom she accidentally meets during an air raid. He comes from a wealthy family who find out about her profession, which leads to the inevitable consequences. Clarke is solid as Myra, though she does go overboard in her breakdown scene. Kent Douglass is rather wooden as Roy, though he certainly captures the soldier's callow nature. Done on the cheap by Universal and at only 81 minutes, it's an interesting and sometimes poignant curio thanks mostly to Whale's dexterity with melodrama. A freshly scrubbed, 23-year old Bette Davis shows up in the inconsequential role of Roy's sister.
In full hellcat mode even without her platinum blonde tresses, Jean Harlow has her breakthrough role starring in 1932's more comically oriented "Red-Headed Woman", an obvious MGM product given its high production values. She plays Lil Andrews, an unapologetic gold-digger who seduces her boss Bill Legendre and steals him away from his staid fiancee Irene. Bored and tried of being looked down upon once they are married, she moves on to an older, wealthier man to ensnare but not before she tries to shoot her husband. But Lil's amoral behavior finds her being further rejected, especially when she is caught with a French chauffeur, played by a very young Charles Boyer with his trademark continental flair already established. For all the pain Lil causes to the other characters in the story, she ends up happily unrepentant in Paris, a fact which really defines this as a pre-code movie. At only 21, Harlow is already confident and brassy, even though Anita Loos' script has her teetering precariously between comedy and melodrama. Chester Morris is rather stiff as Bill, but Una Merkel shines as Lil's best friend Sally. Take note of the forthright way the camera lingers on Lil and Sally as they change in and out of their negligees.
By far, the most interesting of the three films is 1933's "Baby Face", a hard-boiled Warner Brothers film starring a very young Barbara Stanwyck. A consummate master at portraying Machiavellian cool, a technique she perfected eleven years later in Billy Wilder's "Double Indemnity", Stanwyck plays Lily Powers, the well-worn daughter of a violent speakeasy owner in a suffocating steel-town. She has been rendered cynical and numb by years of being offered up as a sexual favor to her father's customers. Once her father dies in a distillery explosion, she hops a freight train to New York and literally sleeps her way up the corporate ladder of a bank. This would come across as preposterous were it not for Stanwyck's blazing work here. With her dead-eyed stare and amoral seduction methods, it is easy to see why men become addicted to her aggressive carnality. One of the young men she seduces along the way is a fresh-faced John Wayne as of all things, an accountant named Jimmy McCoy. The melodrama gets heavy-handed toward the last third of the film with a murder-suicide, a hush-hush job in Paris to keep Lily quiet and the new bank president who is so addicted to Lily that he embezzles company funds to keep her in luxury. A tacked-on ending is somewhat disappointing but not before Stanwyck sears the screen. The film has curious touches like Lily's bonding friendship with an African-American woman named Chico and the German immigrant who teaches Lily about Nietzsche philosophy regarding the importance of avoiding sentimentality.
The first disc contains "Waterloo Bridge and "Red Headed Woman" with an introduction by Turner Classic Movies' Robert Osborne. The second disc has two versions of "Baby Face" - the original theatrical release version and the newly found, uncensored version, which includes seemingly minor edits and scene extensions that really make this an even more fascinating movie.
 Cover Your Eyes! December 31, 2006
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
The Forbidden Hollywood series on VHS was one of the most exciting for pre-code Hollywood fans. The series featured movies made before there were strict rules placed on what was and was not considered decent in movies, many of them with shocking and very modern subjects including sex, drugs, and crime. This is the first DVD release of that series, two previously released films and a new one.
Let us start with Baby Face, perhaps the most shocking of all pre-code films. We have two versions here, the uncut version and the one that was released to the public. The uncut version features less than ten minutes of new footage throughout the film. It is difficult to recognize all of it because none of it disrupts the flow of the film. The story is about Barbara Stanwyck, a woman who was pimped out by her father to the drunken men who visited their illegal saloon. She has hardened herself to men, and when her father dies, she sets her sights on a large office building and sleeps her way to the top. This might sound dull, especially since this subject is not uncommon in modern films, but Stanwyck's likability and boldness make for a wonderful movie, one you can watch over and over. Watch for an early appearance by John Wayne.
Next we have Red Headed Woman, a film starring platinum blonde Jean Harlow with a dye job. Her character is similar to that in Baby Face, but she's much classier in a beautiful wardrobe. Lil schemes her way into the arms of a married man and does all she can to turn his life upside down. She moves from man to man with no regard for her reputation or the dignity of the men she ruins. Although she's an evil character, we somehow enjoy the ride anyway. Also appearing is Una Merkel as Lil's loyal friend.
Last is a new release, Waterloo Bridge. Mae Clarke plays a chorus girl turned prostitute who meets up with an innocent soldier on leave (Kent Douglass). The two fall in love but she cannot marry him because of her previous life. Clarke's acting is brilliant, subtle, but incredibly telling of her abilities. She seems much more beautiful here than in any other film. This version is vastly different from subsequent re-makes and stands tall on its own. Also appearing is a young Bette Davis in an early role.
Unfortunately, manufacturers made a mistake when labeling the disks. Disk one has photos of Harlow and Clarke but features both versions of Baby Face. Disk two has a photo of Stanwyck but holds the other two movies and the introduction by Robert Osbourne.
All in all, this DVD release is fantastic. Each film looks incredible; the images are clear and beautiful. Each provide a glimpse into an era that was cut short but which still glows with intensity.
No virgins here. It's neck & neck April 20, 2007
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
between the two tramps most likely to "sleep" their way to the top. There's Jean Harlow as Lil in Red Headed Women & Barbara Stanwyck as Lily in Baby-Face, the movie with the famous song of the same name. Mae Clark as Myra, trolling for men off of Waterloo Bridge, completes this trio of trollops. She is out of the running simply because she's lovable & sympathetic as a World War I hooker in London, trying to keep it together. She actually falls in love with a GI. I give it by a lovely nose to Barbara. The movie is simply better & made better. At this point, she is a better actress that Jean. Lily's been damaged by her barkeep father who pimps her out in steel town. He dies in a fire that burns the saloon down & she heads for NYC. There she selects a high rise bank & goes to work. She has a plan. It's simple. Use sex to work her way up the corporate ladder. She disposes of a young, love-struck John Wayne early on. There is a long list of leading men & I'm sorry I lost count & track. But she works her way thru lots of men discarding each as she moves up the hierarchy. Men die & kill for her. She doesn't appear to like sex that much, only to use it. Rich & notorious, she reaches the top & marries the CEO. But the company is headed for the rocks & her husband is broke & in trouble with the law. She is rich & at first refuses to help. He shoots himself. At this point, she suddenly realizes that she loves this man. That should be the end of the movie, Lily wallowing in the grief she deserves. But the brains at Warner couldn't leave it alone. They tagged another ending on it. Lily's husband recovers from a bullet in the head & they return to poverty & happiness in steeltown. Stanwyck did not appear in that scene. which was obviously shot later. There's a little S&M in Red Headed Women if that's your taste but Baby-Face is still slightly better. You can get all three together, & you should. Together they are *****.
Wouldn't it be nice if they found CONVENTION CITY and put on Vol. 2? December 11, 2006
10 out of 13 found this review helpful
This DVD set is absolutely perfect! Three of the most notorious pre-codes on DVD, all restored! I think that it would be AH-MAZING if someone found the fabled smuggled prints of the pre-code of ALL pre-codes: CONVENTION CITY. I heard thet what really made the movie people make the Hays Code was this movie. It made all the people protest. It was supposed to be SOOOO bad that the Warner Brothers ordered all prints of the movie burned, and the negative, too. How sad. But it's said that some people smuggled prints of this movie out of the country for showings. These are films that I think should be on Vol. 2: Red Dust, Goldiggers of Broadway, and Road to Reno. Red Dust especially, because it has been long awaited to be on DVD by Gable/Harlow film fams, and also because it's the one of the best acted and pre-codeish pre-code movie. Ever heard of Harlow's famous rain-barrel scene where Clark Gable trys to pull her out of her bath? Well, it's in here, this movie. For now, let's be grateful that we have these great and rare movies on DVD for us to enjoy. Try Red-Headed Woman first. It's very funny, and showcases the comedic talent of the imcomparable Jean Harlow.
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