#pre-code films

ASK EDDIE returns Thursday, July 10, 7:00 PM PT to our Facebook page.

FNF prez Eddie Muller responds to film noir fan questions fielded by the Foundation's Director of Communications Anne Hockens. In this edition, we discuss why studios don’t restore silent films, contemporary artist who use film noir images in their work, Sterling Hayden’s memoir “Wanderer”, noirish Pre-Code films, finding enjoyment in “art drenched with heartache”, and more. We wrap up with Eddie’s thoughts on piquing young people’s interest in film noir. On the cat front, Emily says hello.

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Can’t join us on Thursday? No problem! A recording will drop on our YouTube channel, @NoirCity, on Friday, July 11.

Easy to Love is a 1934 American Pre-Code romantic comedy film starring Genevieve Tobin, Adolphe Menjou, Mary Astor, and Edward Everett Horton.

Here's our TCM picks for the week of March 8, 2020:

1. Calamity Jane (1953) at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT Monday, March 8: Star-of-the-month Doris Day has a lot of fun as the Wild West legend in this '50s musical; Day's soaring rendition of the Oscar-winning song "Secret Love" is the undisputed highlight of the film.

2. Bed of Roses (1933) at 12:30 pm ET/9:30 am PT Wednesday, March 10: This risque comedy about a beautiful reform-school refugee (Constance Bennett) who is on the make is a must for pre-code fans (get ready for the pig-Latin phrase "umpchays with ashcay" to enter your classic-movie vocabulary). Pert Kelton is a hoot as Bennett's sassy best friend.

Bed of Roses is part of a birthday tribute to director Gregory La Cava, who was born March 10, 1892, in Towanda, Pa. La Cava was a great comedic director. He is best known for My Man Godfrey (1936), which isn't airing on Wednesday, but we're also fond of the Ginger Rogers-comedy Fifth Avenue Girl (1939), which is on at 6:30 pm ET.

3. The Maltese Falcon (1941) at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT Friday, March 12: Director John Huston's definitive version of Dashiell Hammett's detective novel is one of the seminal films noir AND it contains perhaps the best movie MacGuffin of all time.

BTW, this is a good week for Huston fans. His exceptional adaptation of Flannery O'Connor's novel, Wise Blood (1979), is airing at 8 pm ET Wednesday.

4. My Favorite Brunette (1947) at 2 pm ET/11 am ET Sunday, March 14: This funny Bob Hope-Dorothy Lamour vehicle works as both a film noir parody and a fairly suspenseful film noir. The excellent supporting cast includes Lon Chaney, Jr., and Peter Lorre.

5. Diary of a Country Priest (1951) at 2 am ET/11 pm PT Sunday night/Monday morning: French director Robert Bresson's moving, intimate film about the struggles of a young minister (Claude Laydu) is permeated with sadness and grace as director Martin Scorsese writes in this month's Scorsese Screens column: https://www.tcm.com/.../020935/scorsese-screens-march-2021

Nancy Carroll and Buck Jones in