Book Reviewed: Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood, by Mick LaSalle
This is a fascinating book that discusses the movies produced during pre code period of 1929-1934 and evaluates the impact it had on the careers of Hollywood's leading ladies. The movies of Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo are extensively discussed along with many other leading ladies and how it impacted the studios and the Hollywood culture. Shearer was a smiling subversive and her most characteristic film is the Divorcee and Riptide in which she portrays as woman of questionable morals in spite of being married. In Divorcee (1930) she has an affair with her husband's best friend after she finds out that he cheated on her. Her roles explored women's feelings about love, and sex with honesty. Greta Garbo's Mata Hari, Camille, and Two Faced woman were also similar in character and spirit. Garbo's Queen Christina explored bisexuality; that was the most daring examination of gender and sex the studio system ever produced. The author observes, despite some daring stuff and no matter how far off from the societal values, Garbo's movies had touching Christian allegories to assert divine faith that enriches the power of love and passion
Dorothy Mackaill, a hard drinking Ziegfeld Follies girl turned actress, was a strong contender of the roles of Jean Harlow in early 1930s, analyzed the effect of war on Hollywood and its portrayal women's sexual freedom as a logical change in values and none of the old taboos can affect them. Shearer began working with director Monta Bell; he shaped her career like Josef Von Sternberg did for Marlene Dietrich, and G.W. Pabst for Louise Brooks. Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow, Marlene Dietrich, were also in top of the pack. They were like Lindberg for speed. From New York stage, came ladies like Claudette Colbert, Barbara Stanwyck, Ann Harding, Bette Davis, and Kathryn Hepburn. Marlene Dietrich was imported from Germany by Paramount Studios as an answer to MGM's Greta Garbo.
Ruth Chatterton in the movie Female, hires young men for her firm, uses them for sexual pleasure, and then let them go. Constance Bennett played a poor girl who slept her way through to become rich in the movie, Easiest Way; she gives birth to a baby out of wedlock in Born to Love; and in Bed of Roses, she slides into the oldest profession. The most outrageous movie is the Common Law where she leaves her live in lover and becomes a nude model. Carole Lombard becomes a kept woman in Summer in the Sun to lead a luxurious life style. In Faithless, Tallulah Bankhead turns to the oldest profession when her husband becomes ill and incapable of supporting the family. All movies produced at the height of Great Depression. Ironically, some of these examples were the real life stories of the 1920's stars like Barbara La Marr and Louise Brooks who lurked into poverty. Cecil DeMill's Sign of Cross breached the boundaries of faith which annoyed the Catholic Church and Christian conservatives where in Claudette Colbert plays Nero's wife Poppeae and losses her lover to a Christian woman (Elisa Landi), and she is humiliated by pagans and aroused in a dance that contains lesbian like overtures.
In many pre-code movies women got away with murder. Most notorious example is the Ricardo Cortez. Loretta Young shoots Cortez in Midnight Glory; Kay Frances does the same in 56th Street, and poisons Cortez in Mandalay; and Dolores Del Rio stabbed Cortez in Wonder Bar. He also gets shot by Helen Twelvetrees in Bad Company and by Anita Louise in The Firebrand. Marjorie Rambeau kills blackmailer Arthur Hohl in A Man's Castle and Sally Eilers kills gigolo Ivan Lebedoff in cold blood. Ruth Chatterton kills a woman, Clair Dodd, a Broadway star for stealing her husband.
The code had significant effect on the work of many stars who built their career around uninhibited and honest portrayal of love, marriage, and womanhood. But this was not tolerated in the code era, consequently Ruth Chatterton, Constance Bennett, Miriam Hopkins, Ann Dvorak, Madge Evans, Glenda Farrell and Kay Frances faded. The code damaged stateside popularity and made Joan Blondell less important. Mae West also faded into the horizon. Ann Harding left Hollywood and triumphed on stage in London. Bernard Shaw, a caustic critique of marriage, said that Harding was the best for the role of Candida. By the end of 1942, Garbo was 36 and Shearer 40 had passed their final phase of movie business.
This book is brilliantly written and contains well researched materials. There are some rare pictures of 1930s stars, and I especially liked the pictures of Greta Garbo, Mae Clarke and Dorothy Mackaill; they are simply gorgeous.
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