Complicated Women

This film is a wonderful introduction to the women of the so-called "Pre-Code" movies--movies that were made through about the middle of 1935. They were called "Pre-Code" in that they were made before the rigid Production Code was enforced and the films abounded with sexuality, violence and topics of questionable taste for the time. This documentary focuses not on this overall topic, but specifically on women of the films and their smoldering sexuality. Because of this it is NOT indicative of the general topic of Pre-Code films but on a narrow aspect of the movies.

The documentary is great because I was shocked how well-preserved some of these old leading ladies were and listening to their stories about the era was extremely fascinating. I also liked all the old clips, though I felt that many times important films were omitted from discussion or clips. For example, while the very tawdry nude swimming scene from TARZAN AND HIS MATE was mentioned and shown several times (a very spicy scene even by today's standards), very little mention was made of equally famous films with similar content, such as THE BARBARIAN and THE SIGN OF THE CROSS--the two bathing scenes in these films are amazing for the early 1930s. Also, the film seemed to indicate that the Pre-Code era was from the beginning of talkies until 1934, whereas there were MANY films in the silent era that featured copious amounts of nudity or sexually liberated females. Both these quibbles, though, are very minor, as only to film nuts like me will even notice or care!

This is an excellent look at women in the pre-Code films. Narrated by Jane Fonda, it is extremely thought-provoking in this age of wardrobe malfunctions, hue and cry over a sexy Paris Hilton commercial, and Nicole Sheridan dropping a towel during an ad on Super Bowl Sunday.

I found this documentary comforting in a way - 70+ years later, we're still going through all the same stuff we did back then. The way things are going, we'll be back in 1933 before you know it.

Fonda narrates with a lot of expression as she takes the viewer through pre-code movies showing prostitutes, women sleeping their way to the top, menage at trois, bisexuality, abortion, and unfaithful wives. If you're not familiar with movies done before Breen and Hays, this will be a revelation.

Complicated Women (2003)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Wonderful look at the women who made Pre-Code films from 1929-34. The film shows clips from the most popular films of the era and shines a spotlight on the women who brought the sexiness to these films. The film doesn't run too long, which is a shame because this era of Hollywood is so interesting but the movie does a good job of introducing this era to those who might not know too much about it. The discussion about the Catholic Church putting an end to this type of film is an interesting one. Jane Fonda narrates.

Complicated Women is the documentary companion to Mick LaSalle's book about women in the pre-code era. The time from the first talkies through to the enforcement of the Production Code is known as the pre-code era, a great time for movie making. Subjects ranging from marital infidelity, prostitution, abortion, nudity, drug use, and other shocking subjects littered films. The public either loved them or hated them, and thanks to groups like the Catholic Legion of Decency, these subjects were censored. However, this documentary praises these films for their modernity and shows clips from films like The Divorcée, Queen Christina, Downstairs, Torch Singer, Mary Stevens MD, The Smiling Lieutenant, Men in White, Female, A Free Soul, Baby Face, Midnight Mary, The Story of Temple Drake, Red Dust, Faithless, Grand Hotel, Gold Diggers of 1933, Ladies They Talk About, I'm No Angel, Tarzan and His Mate, and more.

The only problem with this documentary is that it skips around a lot. There are headers for each section, but they all begin to blend together.

The film incorporates interviews with many great sources like Mick LaSalle, Molly Haskell, Mark Viera, and several actresses of the era.

Actually, very good clips, and the narrative makes a very good claim to proving its thesis: that the sexy Pre-Code dramas and comedies actually represented a realistic depiction of the 20th century morality until Joseph Breen clamped down, making the Production Code not just voluntary, but mandatory.

There is a good claim in that, but it makes its point by looking at the best of the Pre-Code works and the worst of the movies made under the Code. Nor does it go into the reason that Hollywood made those sexy movies in the first place, and stopped making them later: to sell tickets at the box office. Truth has never been the primary concern of the movie industry; and while these clips demonstrate that Hollywood was interested in selling tickets to men who wanted to look at naked women... well, the underwater swimming sequence from TARZAN AND HIS MATE shows Maureen O'Sullivan's stand-in swimming around in the nude, but Weismuller is wearing a loincloth.