Pre-Code and Early Talkie Films on Blu-Ray

[revgen]

Pre-code films are Hollywood film productions that defied a loose set of moral do's and don'ts called the Hays Code during 1930 to 1934. In July 1934, Joseph Breen took over the MPAA and strictly enforced the code. Hollywood producers during the Great Depression ignored the code almost entirely in order to sell tickets to cash-strapped consumers. Taboo subjects such as adultery, sex out of wedlock, interracial love, abortion, suicide, drugs, and other taboo subjects were explored that were later banned by the Breen office.

Below are early talkies that were produced before the Breen office took over in July of 1934. Some films defy the code outright (Bird of Paradise) while others are relatively tame (Abraham Lincoln).

A-Z

[Show spoiler]Abraham Lincoln (1930)
Alice in Wonderland (1933)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
American Madness (1932)
An American Tragedy (1931)
Animal Crackers (1930)
Anna Christie (1930)
Back Page (1934)
Bad Girl (1931)
Bat Whispers, The (1930)
Behind the Mask (1932)
Benson Murder Case, The (1930)
Big Trail, The (1930)
Bill of Divorcement, A (1932)
Bird of Paradise (1932)
Bitter Tea of General Yen, The (1933)
Black Cat, The (1934)
Black Moon (1934)
Blonde Venus (1932)
Broadway (1929) - Available on the Lonesome (1928) Blu-Ray.
Broadway Melody, The (1929)
Broken Lullaby (1932)
By Candlelight (1933)
Canary Murder Case, The (1929)
Cavalcade (1933)
Chandu the Magician (1932)
Cheat, The (1931)
Christopher Strong (1933)
Cimarron (1931)
City Streets (1931)
Cocoanuts, The (1929)
Cocktail Hour (1933)
Counsellor at Law (1933)
Crime of the Century, The (1933)
Criminal Code, The (1931)
Dance, Fools, Dance (1931)
Death Kiss, The (1932)
Death Takes a Holiday (1934)
Deluge (1933)
Design For Living (1933)
Devil and the Deep (1932)
Dinner at Eight (1933)
Dirigible (1931)
Dishonored (1931)
Doctor X (1932)
Double Door (1934)
Dracula (1931)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Duck Soup (1933)
Eagle and the Hawk, The (1933)
Elysia (1933)
Faithless (1932)
Farewell to Arms, A (1932)
Fast and Loose (1930)
Flight (1929)
Footlight Parade (1933)
Forbidden (1932)
42nd Street (1933)
Four Frightened People (1934)
Frankenstein (1931)
Freaks (1932)
Front Page, The (1931) - Kino Lorber (European Release) - Criterion Collection: His Girl Friday Bonus Feature (American Release)
Glorifying the American Girl (1929)
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
Gordon of Ghost City (1933)
Grand Hotel (1932)
Great Gabbo, The (1929)
Greene Murder Case, The (1929)
Guilty Parents (1934)
Hell's Angels (1930)
Hell's House (1932)
Holiday (1930) - Available as an extra on the Holiday (1938) Criterion Blu-Ray.
Honor Among Lovers (1931)
Horse Feathers (1932)
Hot Saturday (1932)
If I Had a Million (1932)
I'm No Angel (1933)
Ingagi (1933)
In Old Arizona (1929)
Invisible Man, The (1933)
Island of Lost Souls (1932)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Jazz Singer, The (1927)
Kept Husbands (1931)
King Kong (1933)
King of Jazz (1930)
Kiss Before the Mirror, The (1933)
Ladies of Leisure (1930)
Ladies They Talk About (1933)
Lady For a Day (1933)
Lady Refuses, The (1931)
Law and Order (1932)
Little Caesar (1931)
Little Man, What Now? (1934)
Little Miss Marker (1934)
Little Women (1933)
Love Me Tonight (1932)
Mamba (1930)
Man of the World (1931)
Man's Castle (1933)
Mary Stevens, M.D. (1933)
Mask of Fu Manchu, The (1932)
Midnight (1934)
Millie (1931)
Miracle Woman, The (1931)
Merrily We Go to Hell (1932)
Monkey Business (1931)
Morocco (1930)
Most Dangerous Game, The (1932)
Murder at the Vanities (1934)
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)
Murders in the Zoo (1933)
Mummy, The (1932)
Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu, The (1929)
Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)
Narcotic (1933)
Night After Night (1932)
No Man of Her Own (1932)
Old Dark House, The (1932)
Old Fashioned Way, The (1934)
Once to Every Woman (1934)
One Hour With You (1932)
One Way Passage (1932)
Painted Desert, The (1931)
Pardon Us (1931)
Pay-Off, The (1930)
Phantom of the Air, The (1933)
Pirate Treasure (1934)
Platinum Blonde (1931)
Public Enemy, The (1931)
Queen Christina (1933)
Rain (1932)
Rain or Shine (1930)
Red Rider, The (1934)
Return of Dr. Fu Manchu, The (1930)
Road to Ruin (1934)
Safe in Hell (1931)
Scarface (1932)
Scarlet Empress, The (1934)
Search For Beauty (1934)
Secret of the Blue Room, The (1933)
Shanghai Express (1932)
She Done Him Wrong (1933)
Sign of the Cross, The (1932)
Silver Horde, The (1930)
Sin of Nora Moran, The (1933)
Sin Takes a Holiday (1930)
Son of Kong (1933)
Song of Songs, The (1933)
Sons of the Desert (1933)
Stingaree (1934)
Story of Temple Drake, The (1933)
Street Scene (1931)
Study in Scarlet, A (1933)
Supernatural (1933)
Tarzan, the Ape Man (1932)
Thin Man, The (1934)
Thunderbolt (1929)
Tonight or Never (1931)
Topaze (1933)
Torch Singer (1933)
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
Twentieth Century (1934)
Vampire Bat, The (1933)
Vanishing Shadow, The (1934)
White Woman (1933)
White Zombie (1932)
Woman Between, The (1931)
Woman in the Dark (1934)
Younger Generation, The (1929)
You're Telling Me! (1934)

USA Silent Films Released During the Pre-Code Era

[Show spoiler]City Girl (1930)
City Lights (1931)
Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931)

Foreign Early Talkies with English Dialogue

[Show spoiler]
Blackmail (1929)
The Blue Angel (1930)
The Ghoul (1933)
Looking on the Bright Side (1932)
Love, Life, & Laughter (1934)
Money Talks (1932)
Murder! (1930)
Number Seventeen (1932)
On Secret Service (1933)
Perfect Understanding (1933)
Rich and Strange (1931)
Romance of Seville, A (1929)
Rome Express (1932)
Sally in Our Alley (1931)
Skin Game, The (1931) - included in the Hitchcock: British International Pictures Collection boxset.
You Made Me Love You (1933)

USA Silent Films Released During the Pre-Code Era



Foreign Early Talkies with English Dialogue





Post-Code Films Popular With Pre-Code Film Enthusiasts