Sex on celluloid in the good old days before the Hays Code might not have been as blatantly graphic as some contemporary works we see today, but one shouldn't discount the steamy scenes, indecent propositions and wicked repartee that made sex on the screen a sin to be reckoned with in the early 1930's.
Case in point: a wickedly fun little collection from Turner Classic Movies entitled, Forbidden Hollywood: Collection Vol. 1, serving up three amoral dames willing to sell their souls (and everything else) to get a hold of what they want. The cream of the collection's crop includes the never-before seen pre-release of Barbara Stanwyck's, Baby Face (1933).
Counting over seven lovers in her climb to the top of the corporate world only 20 minutes into the film, this doll-face has no problem using and abusing any number of men in her rise from the slums to the top. Watching for boy-toy number five will get you a good giggle as a youthful, slightly tenor John Wayne adds himself to the conquest list.
Other collection titles include, Waterloo Bridge (1931) with Mae Clark and Bette Davis, and Jean Harlow's, Red-Headed Woman (1932), a favorite with audiences at the time for the famous slap-in-the-face scene, where her surprised look of giddy shock and lusty, “Do it again, I liked it!” line delivery makes an otherwise straight abusive scene into a role reversal masochistic power trip.
While Forbidden Hollywood isn't packed with extras, and contains no legit “behind the scene” play-by-plays, it offers up a cultural identity which despite all William Hays' efforts is not to be forgotten. If this set teaches anything it's that the “good old days” weren't as innocent as some would have us believe. They had their own fair share of booze and pills, money laundering, sexual scandals and women of ill repute walking the streets. And unlike the post production code era of balancing the scales of morality, sometimes the bad girls do get away with it, and sometimes that happens to be exactly what you wanna see!
