Pre-Code Soundies
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- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsWilliam PowellEvelyn BrentGeorge SidneyGar Evans is a "high pressure" promoter who tends to be unrealistically optimistic about his projects and exaggerates the chance of success. He sets up the "Golden Gate Artificial Rubber Company", and persuades a lot of people to invest. He believes that the process to produce artificial rubber exists, but does it?
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsJames CagneyLoretta YoungGeorge E. StoneIndependent cabbie Matt Nolan is primed to let his fists and handgun deliver payback after a big taxi firm uses intimidation and violence to squeeze out small-timers.
- DirectorJ. Walter RubenStarsRichard DixElizabeth AllanDoris KenyonAlcoholic reporter Bruce Foster is on the road to ruin when he partners with advertising man "Perk" Perkins to form a successful advertising agency. Foster makes the business a success, but his personal life suffers.
- DirectorThornton FreelandStarsDolores Del RíoGene RaymondRaul RoulienA bandleader woos a Latin flame who is already engaged to his employer.
- DirectorHoward BrethertonWilliam KeighleyStarsBarbara StanwyckPreston FosterLyle TalbotAttractive Nan, member of a bank-robbery gang, goes to prison thanks to evangelist Dave Slade...who loves her.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsBarbara StanwyckAdolphe MenjouRalph BellamyA librarian takes a cruise and falls for an unobtainable man, a district attorney married to an invalid.
- DirectorLionel BarrymoreEdward BuzzellStarsBarbara StanwyckRicardo CortezMonroe OwsleyMen pay a dime to dance with Barbara and her fellow taxi dancers. She marries Eddie and plans to quit dancing. Before she does, she meets a handsome and rich gentleman.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsBarbara StanwyckGeorge BrentLyle TalbotA torch singer becomes a farmer's mail-order bride.
- DirectorRalph MurphyTay GarnettStarsHelen TwelvetreesRobert ArmstrongCharles BickfordA New York chorus girl is coerced into keeping house for an oil man in South America to pay off a debt. Her boyfriend comes to get her but she finds out that he is only out for the oil man's money.
- DirectorAlbert S. RogellStarsRalph BellamyFay WrayFrederik VogedingA wealthy woman funds an underwater expedition to explore for marine life, but what she doesn't know is that her "colleagues" have other intentions.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsPhillips HolmesWalter HustonAnita PageJudge and his mistress are investigated on suspicions of corruption.
- DirectorLowell ShermanStarsMae WestCary GrantOwen MooreIn the Gay Nineties, a seductive nightclub singer contends with several suitors, including a jealous escaped convict and a handsome temperance league member.
- DirectorRussell MackStarsEdward Everett HortonEsther RalstonLaura La PlanteA lonely husband whose wife has been away hires a lookalike impersonator to fill his place and fool his mother-in-law while he plays around with a pretty coquette. Confusion prevails when his wife returns that evening.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsJoan CrawfordRobert ArmstrongMarie PrevostMary Turner goes up for three years on a crime she didn't commit. Once out she and former prison mates plan a scam in which old men can be sued for breach of promise - the "heart balm" racket. After plotting verious ways to get back at the men who set her up initially, she softens and settles down.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsRudolf Klein-RoggeOtto WernickeThomy BourdelleA criminal mastermind uses hypnosis to rule the rackets after death.
- DirectorMelville W. BrownStarsMary AstorRobert AmesRicardo CortezMary Linden is the secretary who is the unheralded power behind successful executive James Duneen. He takes her for granted until rival Wales tries to take her away from him.
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenStarsAline MacMahonPaul KellyAnn DvorakA destitute sailor secures a job with a spinster who runs a small fur trimming shop. They marry, and soon have a child, but he cheats on her with serious consequences.
- DirectorJack ConwaySam WoodStarsJean HarlowFranchot ToneLionel BarrymoreChorus girl Eadie is determined to marry a millionaire without sacrificing her virtue.
- DirectorWillard MackStarsRobert AmesWillard MackSylvia FieldAn escaped convict and the detective tasked with hunting him down end up working in parallel to clear the convict's name and nab the gangsters that framed him.
- DirectorGeorge W. HillStarsWallace BeeryLewis StoneJohnny Mack BrownAfter rising bootlegger Slaughterhouse Scorpio eliminates his gangland competition, two reporters and a cabal of six businessmen work to expose him.
- DirectorLloyd BaconMichael CurtizStarsDorothy MackaillLewis StoneNatalie MoorheadLarry Fellowes of Fellowes Publishing wants Kate to write her next book about the 'Office Wife'. The personal secretary/stenographer spends more time with the busy executive and makes more decisions than his wife ever will. This creates a bond between the secretary and boss that the wife cannot hope to equal. What Larry doesn't know is that sometimes literature mirrors life.
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenStarsDouglas Fairbanks Jr.Bette DavisFrank McHughTo share expenses, unemployed Alabama moves in with also unemployed Bill and Toodles. Bill is hired by a gangster's mistress and ultimately becomes the gangster's bodyguard. Alabama unknowingly applies for a stenographer's job at Mr. Weber's (the gangster's) business. Bill is forced to fly a plane carrying narcotics into the U.S. but fights back.
- DirectorRobert FloreyStarsBette DavisGene RaymondFrank McHughAlthough free spirit Helen Bauer does not believe in marriage, she consents to marry Don, but his infidelities cause her to also take on a lover.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsGary CooperSylvia SidneyPaul LukasMan joins a gang to free his girlfriend from prison.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsMarlene DietrichCary GrantHerbert MarshallA cabaret singer takes up with a millionaire to pay for her gravely-ill husband's operation.
- DirectorMark SandrichStarsCharles FarrellWynne GibsonWilliam GarganWhen Aggie's boyfriend Red is sent to jail, she meets a mild-mannered man and decides to turn him into a real man.
- DirectorRobert Z. LeonardStarsMarion DaviesLeslie HowardRichard BennettAfter her businessman father moves her family from Kansas City to New York, a woman falls in love with an engaged man.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsGinger RogersNorman FosterGeorge SidneyA man and a woman share an apartment on a shift basis, never seeing each other; she dislikes him until they actually meet.
- DirectorHoward BrethertonWilliam KeighleyStarsWarren WilliamLili DamitaGlenda FarrellUnscrupulous Paul Kroll, starting as a Chicago janitor, uses graft to finance a trip to Sweden where by trickery he gains control of his uncle's small match factory. By expert manipulation of everyone and employment of femmes-fatale, he parlays this into a match monopoly, expanding over many countries. Finally he meets a woman so gorgeous she turns his head away from a business that needs constant financial manipulation to survive. Based on the real career of Ivar Kreuger.
- DirectorHarry BeaumontStarsJoan CrawfordCliff EdwardsLester VailAfter the death of her father and loss of the family fortune, Bonnie (Joan Crawford) gets a job as a cub reporter while her brother (William Bakewell) becomes involved in bootlegging.
- DirectorHarry BeaumontStarsJoan CrawfordClark GableNeil HamiltonCabaret performer Ivy Stevens in an affair with a low-rent traveling salesman is dumped in a 'Dear Jane' letter and finds solace in joining the Salvation Army.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsRamon NovarroMadge EvansUna MerkelTony, the son of Italian immigrants, works in a smoky steel mill in Gary, Indiana. He wins a company scholarship which will enable him to attend Yale college. Over the four years of his college career he learns about football, love, and class prejudice.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsConstance BennettLowell ShermanNeil HamiltonThe career of a waitress takes off when she meets an amiable drunken Hollywood director.
- DirectorVictor SchertzingerStarsAdolphe MenjouLili DamitaLaurence OlivierBritish Army Captain Geoff Roberts carries on an affair with Alva, the wife of the cruel Victor Sangrito. Sangrito, however, is well aware of the affair, as he uses his beautiful wife to lure men into romance with her, then blackmailing them to save their careers. When Roberts falls into Sangrito's trap, he pays the blackmail and leaves for India, hoping to forget Alva, whom he loved, but now believes betrayed him. After some time in India, he is joined by his young friend and bosom companion Lieutenant Ned Nichols. Nichols, too, is in love with the same woman back in England. Though the two friends nearly come to blows over Alva, they eventually realize that she has been false to them both, and that their friendship far outweighs their feelings for a mendacious woman. But when the two are invalided home, they encounter Alva again, and learn that she may not have betrayed them after all.
- DirectorClyde BruckmanStarsRobert WoolseyAnita LouiseJohn DarrowA carnival huckster and his 17-year-old foster daughter try to be accepted by the townspeople when she and a handsome lad fall in love.
- DirectorArchie MayoStarsKay FrancisRoland YoungAlan DinehartA married architect, stuck in a loveless marriage, due to his daughter, has an an affair with a dress designer (Natalie). Just when he's ready to ask his wife for a divorce, his daughter falls in love with Natalie's brother.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsKay FrancisDavid MannersUna MerkelA female editor of a magazine falls in love with her male secretary.
- DirectorGeorge ArchainbaudStarsJohn BarrymoreHelen TwelvetreesJill EsmondAttorney Tom Cardigan is the discontented "mouthpiece" for Vanny Powers' mob. When Tom takes sweet June Perry as his mistress, she tries in vain to redeem him. But Powers decides Tom would be even more useful to him as District Attorney, which he arranges with surprising ease...despite Tom's warning that "if I go on the other side, I'll stay there." Soon, Tom's ambition leads him to ditch June for the daughter of political boss Ulric. The crisis arrives when Powers goes on trial for a killing...witnessed by June.
- DirectorHarry BeaumontStarsWilliam HainesMadge EvansAnita PageA radio writer/producer accidentally kills his wife, then attempts to escape the on-air hunt for him.
- DirectorHarry BeaumontStarsHelen TwelvetreesRobert YoungLewis StoneDick will do anything to protect his sister Jean as would her father. But she is in love with sleazy Harry Swift who has his eye on her money. When Harry has her stay with him at a hotel all night, her father still will not give his permission for a wedding. Harry threatens to tell everyone about Jean, and Dick shoots him dead. Jean cannot forgive either her father or her brother and will testify against Dick even if it means the electric chair for her brother.
- DirectorCharles ReisnerChristy CabanneNorman HoustonStarsConrad NagelJack BennyJohn GilbertAn all-star revue featuring MGM contract players.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsMarie DresslerRichard CromwellJean HersholtAfter decades of raising the motherless Smith children, housekeeper Emma Thatcher is faced with resentment when she marries their father.
- DirectorTay GarnettStarsWilliam PowellKay FrancisFrank McHughA terminally ill woman and a debonair murderer facing execution meet and fall in love on a trans-Pacific crossing, each without knowing the other's secret.
- DirectorMichael CurtizWilliam DieterleWilliam A. WellmanStarsRuth ChattertonGeorge BrentLois WilsonAlison Drake, the tough-minded executive of an automobile factory, succeeds in the man's world of business until she meets an independent design engineer.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsGreta GarboJohn GilbertIan KeithQueen Christina of Sweden is a popular monarch who is loyal to her country. However, when she falls in love with a Spanish envoy, she must choose between the throne and the man she loves.
- DirectorRay EnrightLucien HubbardStarsJoan BlondellChester MorrisAllen JenkinsThe story of a Depression-downtrodden waif who uses her brains instead of her body to rise from tyro con artist to crime boss.
- DirectorEdgar SelwynStarsRobert MontgomeryAnita PageJune WalkerWomen from various backgrounds volunteer as nurses in France at the outbreak of World War I.
- DirectorGeorge ArchainbaudStarsEvelyn BrentLouis WolheimJean ArthurA salmon fisherman has to choose between a bad girl and a society doll.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsJohn GilbertLouis WolheimLeila HyamsJack lives the high life and wants to make Marjorie his one and only. He then learns that his deceased father is alive--but dying of lead poisoning. His father had sent him away 20 years before, to keep him out of the rackets. But now that he is dying, he wants to split the business between Giacomo (Jack) and Frank, his other son. The business includes running booze down from Canada.
- DirectorJames FloodElliott NugentStarsLoretta YoungEric LindenAline MacMahonAt a maternity hospital, future fathers pace the corridors while their wives wait for their babies either anxiously or happily. Efficient and compassionate nurse Miss Bowers keeps the ward running smoothly. Things liven up when Grace Sutton is transferred from the prison where she is being held for murder. Most agree that the man she killed deserved to die, and Nurse Bowers sympathetically allows Grace's concerned husband Jed unlimited time with his wife. On the ward, the women have varied feelings about motherhood. Mrs. West, mother of six children, thinks babies are what give meaning to women's lives. In contrast, Florette, a showgirl, just wants to get rid of her twins as soon as possible. Miss Layton has decided opinions about child rearing and has no intention of being a doting mother. While the women debate their various theories, a woman who wants a baby so much that she has become demented wanders in from another ward. An Italian woman quietly sobs when she learns that her newborn has died. After a touching farewell with Jed, Grace, whose health has suffered from prison conditions, is taken into the labor room. While Jed waits anxiously, Florette is appalled by the plans that the prospective adoptive mother of her twins has concocted. She cradles one baby herself and discovers mother love. Miss Layton has also given up on her progressive plans for her baby. Down the hall, things are going badly for Grace. When the doctors ask Jed to choose between saving Grace or the baby, he chooses Grace, but she herself insists that the doctors operate and save the baby. After she dies, Jed refuses to see the baby girl, but wise Nurse Bowers places the child in his arms, and as with the mothers, he cannot resist her charms.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsJoan BlondellStuart ErwinZasu PittsMerton Gill is longing to become a cowboy actor and leaves his hometown to try his luck in Hollywood, but there his acting ability is regarded as non-existent. Actress Flips gives him a chance in a bit part, but he fails in that; however, the way he fails makes her think that he could be a good comedian. She persuades the studio to put him in a western parody, not telling him what they're really planning, because they know that he does not like comedies. Rather than ending tragic-comically, the movie becomes a brilliant coda to art and its servants, the artists, in this case the magniloquent Joan Blondell and Stuart Erwin.
- DirectorFrank LloydStarsRichard BarthelmessBetty CompsonWilliam HoldenA gangster is put in prison, but finds salvation through music while serving his time. Again on the outside, he finds success elusive and temptations abound.
- DirectorGeorge B. SeitzStarsLouis WolheimJean ArthurRobert ArmstrongThe tough boss of a railroad yard befriends a young hobo, and unwittingly places in jeopardy his relationship with the woman he loves.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsHarry CareyEdwina BoothDuncan RenaldoTwo white traders in the darkest Africa of the 1870s find a missionary's daughter, who was captured as a child by a savage tribe and now worshiped as a goddess.
- DirectorLouis WolheimStarsLouis WolheimMary AstorIan KeithA lecherous ship captain becomes spiritually changed by a female passenger, not realizing she and her "minister" husband are really bank robbers.
- DirectorOtto BrowerStarsWilliam GarganFrances DeeRalph BellamyThe adventures of a wayward newsreel cameraman.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsJames CagneyRalph BellamyPatricia EllisEx-convict Danny Kean decides to become honest as a photographer for a paper. He falls in love with Patricia, the daughter of the policeman who arrested him. Mr Nolan, her father, doesn't like that relation at first, but McLean, Kean's boss, convinces him of Kean's good nature. But Kean uses his relation to Patricia to make a photo of an execution. Due to this, Nolan loses his stripes and Kean isn't allowed to see Patricia any longer. But when one of his former friends kills two policemen, Kean sees his chance....
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsRobert MontgomeryWalter HustonMadge EvansIn 1918, U.S. Navy Lt. Tommy Knowlton participates in dangerous submarine missions, disobeys orders, gets court-martialed and romances a married woman who happens to be his C.O.'s daughter.
- DirectorA. Edward SutherlandStarsGwili AndreGregory RatoffFrank MorganA burglar is recruited to aid the police in finding his kidnapped girlfriend, a lovely but impoverished flower girl. Meanwhile, a deranged Russian emigre has been claiming that his ward is actually Princess Anastasia, last survivor of the Tsar's family--but she seems to behave strangely in the presence of flowers.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsAlice WhiteChester MorrisWilliam BakewellA New York girl has a dull boyfriend and seems destined for a dull marriage when she meets a rich playboy who has money to burn and places to go. She gets involved with the playboy and never seems to notice that he might be shady and untrustworthy.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsAlexander GranachFritz KampersErnst BuschPlea against war and for friendship between peoples, through the story of French miners rescued by German colleagues after a firedamp explosion.
- DirectorAllan DwanStarsPhillips HolmesGrant MitchellLucille PowersAn ex-convict comes home to a collegiate son who wants nothing to do with him.
- DirectorEdmund GouldingStarsNorma ShearerRobert MontgomeryHerbert MarshallMary is an impetuous romantic who marries British aristocrat Lord Philip Rexford on a whim. Their marriage is successful, though, and they grow closer over the years.
- DirectorAlbert S. RogellStarsEddie QuillanRobert ArmstrongGinger RogersEddie Quillan falls in love with a gangster's girlfriend but avoids trouble when he becomes friends with Robert Armstrong and his girlfriend
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsRichard BarthelmessDavid MannersJohnny Mack BrownWorld War I veterans roam Paris, drinking and admiring a woman they recently met.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsDolores Del RíoRalph ForbesKarl DaneFortune hunters from all over the country rush to the Klondike in 1897 to seek their fortunes in the gold are tested by hardships of the journey.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsDouglas Fairbanks Jr.Ann DvorakFrances DeeA gossip columnist helps a Broadway ingenue beholden to a penthouse gangster.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsAnn DvorakLee TracyRichard CromwellMolly Louvain's plans for a respectable marriage with her sweetheart Ralph fall through so she takes to the road with a two-bit crook and becomes wanted by the police in connection with a high-profile crime.
- DirectorJean de LimurStarsJeanne EagelsReginald OwenHerbert MarshallJeanne Eagels plays the bored and restless Leslie Crosbie who turns to another man, Geoffrey Hammond (Herbert Marshall) for attention when neglected by her husband Robert (Reginald Owen). Robert decides to go out for the evening to pick up a new rifle. Leslie's calm vanishes as she awaits an answer to a letter she has written Hammond. He has found a new love - a beautiful unscrupulous native woman Li Ti (Lady Tsei Mei) and has discarded Leslie.
- DirectorJohn Francis DillonStarsCharles FarrellBette DavisRicardo CortezRacketeers flood the market with counterfeit cosmetics and drugs, causing some tragedies.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsAline MacMahonAnn DvorakPreston FosterA lady gas station attendant gets mixed up with escaped murderers.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsWilliam HainesIrene PurcellC. Aubrey SmithHaines plays the role of a festive British nobleman whose relatives have arranged a marriage for him. He goes to a European summer resort and poses as a gigolo to meet the girl they have chosen, learn what she is like, and apply the "acid test."
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsJames CagneyJoan BlondellLouis CalhernThe adventures of an egoistic con man and his glamorous accomplice.
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenStarsDouglas Fairbanks Jr.Joan BlondellGuy KibbeeTravelers of different and varied backgrounds meet and interact on one night in a metropolitan train station and its environs.
- DirectorMonta BellStarsJohn GilbertPaul LukasVirginia BruceAn amoral chauffeur seeks to seduce a young bride.
- DirectorThornton FreelandStarsLoretta YoungGeorge BrentUna MerkelMarian moves to New York to make it big in the chorus and becomes involved in a love triangle.
- DirectorWesley RugglesStarsMae WestCary GrantGregory RatoffCircus performer Tira seeks a better life pursuing the company of wealthy New York men with improbable comic complications along the way.
- DirectorGregory La CavaStarsLupe VelezLee TracyEugene PalletteA barker at a down-at-the-heels carnival becomes a powerhouse New York publicity man as he transforms a sideshow dancer into a Broadway sensation.
- DirectorJohn Francis DillonStarsRichard BarthelmessFay WrayRegis ToomeyA rookie reporter receives bribes from gangsters to suspend negative press.
- DirectorEdward H. GriffithStarsConstance BennettBen LyonDavid MannersA wealthy, proper society girl finds that she's much more popular with men when she pretends to be a "bad" girl.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsEdward G. RobinsonLoretta YoungDudley DiggesA hatchet man is ordered to kill his close friend for the sake of Tong.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsJohn BarrymoreLionel BarrymoreKaren MorleyA detective is tasked to capture an elusive thief called Arsene Lupin.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsBebe DanielsLewis StoneBen LyonYoung man and an older man fall for a stage actress.
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenStarsWarren WilliamBette DavisGuy KibbeeJailbird is hired to lead a dimwitted candidate's campaign for governor.
- DirectorGeorge AmyBusby BerkeleyStarsLoretta YoungWinnie LightnerLyle TalbotIn the depth of the Depression, Sol Glass has the idea that the girls in the stenographic department should be used to entertain the clients. It seems that the clients are tiring of the regular hard-and-fast women, and this would be a change that would allow the girls to go out to dinners and see shows. Tom does not want his fiancée Flo, to go out with clients--until he needs her to close a contract with Daniel. After that, she finds that Tom is two-timing her with Birdie, so she goes out again with Daniel. Everything is going well for a time until Daniel needs her to close a contract with Haines.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsWarren WilliamLoretta YoungWallace FordA working girl is menaced by her tyrannical employer.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsBebe DanielsRicardo CortezDudley DiggesA lovely dame with dangerous lies employs the services of a private detective, who is quickly caught up in the mystery and intrigue of a statuette known as the Maltese Falcon.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsJoan BlondellEric LindenJobyna HowlandYoung man from small town moves to New York City looking for better life.
- DirectorEdgar SelwynStarsHelen HayesLewis StoneNeil HamiltonOut of jail for a crime she did not commit, Madelon turns to prostitution and thievery to send her illegitimate son to medical school.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsBette DavisLewis StonePat O'BrienA sweet blonde goes to the police looking for her missing husband. When it turns out her husband is both a murder victim and a bachelor - and that the blonde is suspect #1, tough cop Butch Saunders comes up with a scheme to crack the case.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsJoan BlondellGrant MitchellVivienne OsborneReporters at a scandal sheet dwell on a murder case, with tragic results.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsDavid MannersAnn DvorakKen MurrayStory of a saxophonist and his rise to fame as a singing star.
- DirectorArchie MayoStarsBarbara StanwyckOtto KrugerRalph BellamyWorld War I brings tribulations to an American woman married to a German.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJames CagneyBette DavisAllen JenkinsAn unpolished racketeer, whose racket is finding heirs for unclaimed fortunes, affects ethics and tea-drinking manners to win back the sweetheart who now works for his seemingly upright competitor.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsJames CagneyMary BrianAllen JenkinsSmall time con artist Lefty Merrill has co-organized a crooked dance marathon and set up his girlfriend to win the prize money. When his partner disappears with money before the contest is over, he's forced to come up with a series of cons to help pay it back.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsNorma ShearerLeslie HowardLionel BarrymoreAn alcoholic lawyer who successfully defended a notorious gambler on a murder charge objects when his free-spirited daughter becomes romantically involved with him.