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Very engrossing film. I know I'll watch this one at least three times! The other films were equally intriguing. I definitely recommend it!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
So far I have tried to watch the 1st 2 discs. Each disc played the 1st film fine. However each disc can’t play the 2nd film. I’m very disappointed. This package was still factory sealed. I’ve tried cleaning the discs. Made no difference. That’s why I had to give this product only 3 stars.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Being a Norma Shearer fan I bought the collection adding "The Divorcee" to my personal dvds of Norma Shearer.The film actually ended the age of "The Real Woman" in bold capitals unfortunately.There are some other wonderful films in the collection including "A Free Soul","3 on a Match" and "Night Nurse",I am undecided about "Female".In an age of freedom of the Press film was about to be curtailed of free women.Later female characters erring from feminine socially acceptable norms of sobriety, beliefs, dress and work practices were bad whilst love and sexuality meant only one thing for women- marriage.I suppose less people could read back then than watch a film so film may have presented a major threat to what the USA establishment regarded as normal morality. In these films rather than women going to jail for behaving as they do in the plots(and real life) they were punished by lust, alcoholism, drug addiction with loss of children,love and marriage, not unlike what men deal with when their lives run into ruin. The Hay's code often saw such women dying or going to jail if they "misbehaved". Historically these black and white films are a must to see.Norma looks devine with her dresses barely on her in "The Divorcee" and "A Free Soul".The plots of the two films are similar but highly viewable for different reasons although Norma runs the gauntlet of emotions in both films. The former film shows Norma in a role where her character blossoms into womanhood, via the long road of many men,into a woman her former husband would never bother to cheat on again.In the latter film Norma effaces herself for lust that she thinks is love.Norma is rescued by her own love of her alcohol addicted father.Its good to see the girl does figure out the difference between love and lust but she learns by the greatest teacher of all...Experience and she doesn't go to jail for that! Barbara Stanwyck,always a powerful role model,is excellent as the young girl bettering herself through Nursing in "Night Nurse". Any one who is a nurse will relate to Barbara's character trying to prove the unethical medical practices she witnesses. This female nurse isn't wiping any male surgeon's brow(as seen in many movies showing nurses and doctors in the 40s, 50s and 60s), she's got greater interests-her patients and their well being. "Female" is about a female predatory executive who gets her come-up-ons from a man pretending to be disinterested in her.She falls for the same ol' treatment and I think she gets what she deserves,the spider, until the end but you make up your own mind. The plot is good although the female lead had acquired some unsavoury ways of procuring men.The dialogue in parts was almost post Hays Code "you're only a woman" etc. The screenwriter needed a history lesson, Women at the front office were unheard of(?)but successful female absolute monarchs have ie Elizabeth I, so why should the character have been so alarming? "3 on a Match" was a lot of wife swopping but shows what drugs and alcohol can do to any body if they are vulnerable.Somehow I think swiping someone's husband when they are down is a lousy thing to do.Bette Davis had a very small role fore running her land mark in "Of Human Bondage". The film is mild by comparison with the others, its very "fire and brimstone" in parts. The remarkable last point about these films is that they even still exist, Amen for that.Watch out for Clark Gable as the bad boy in places!Read full review
Just because they're black and white, doesn't mean they're prim and proper. In FORBIDDEN HOLLYWOOD, Turner Classic Movies opens up its archives to showcase films that are startling in their modern values and explicit sexuality. Love affairs, alcoholics, and sexual liberation all figure in this collection of films from the pre-Code 1930s: THE DIVORCEE, a sordid tale of infidelity; A FREE SOUL, starring Lionel Barrymore and Clark Gable; THREE ON A MATCH, the story of three childhood friends; FEMALE, directed by Michael Curtiz; and NIGHT NURSE, directed by William Wellman. Also included here is the documentary THOU SHALT NOT: SEX, SIN AND CENSORSHIP IN PRE-CODE HOLLYWOOD, a fascinating exploration of pre-Code films, their art, and unique place in film history. Please see individual titles for detailed synopsis information.Read full review
I have to admit that I was not a fan of the "old black and white" movies. I really thought they were dry, unentertaining, and just plain dull with an equally dull soundtrack that lasted hours. That really changed when I watched "Baby Face" on TCM. I began looking at movies from the Pre-Code era, and it's more daring and risque that most of the current movies. The Forbidden Hollywood collection really has movies that raise the bar, even by today's standards. All movies give you an entertaining, can't-turn-away storyline without becoming a three-hour saga.
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