Pre-Code Hollywood Collection: Hot Saturday / Torch Singer (Double Feature)
Scandal! Deceit! Violence! Sex! - Shocking Films From the Era Before the Rules
For the first time ever, Universal opens its vaults to bring you classic films from the most decadent era in motion picture history: Pre-Code Hollywood. In 1934, Hollywood was turned upside down by the enforcement of a strict "Production Code" that would change the way movies were made for the next 34 years. During the "pre-code" period (1929 to mid-1934), censorship barely existed in Hollywood and filmmakers had free reign to make the movies they wanted and the public demanded. No subject was taboo including adultery, murder, immorality and sex. Starring screen legends Cary Grant, Fredric March, Claudette Colbert, Tallulah Bankhead, Randolph Scott and Sylvia Sidney, the Pre-Code Hollywood Collection forever captures one of the most influential periods in cinema history.
Included on this disc:
Hot Saturday (1932, 74 mins)
Scandal erupts after a young woman (Nancy Carroll) innocently spends the night with a notorious playboy (Cary Grant) and neglects to tell her fiancé (Randolph Scott).
Torch Singer (1933, 72 mins)
After giving up her illegitimate child for adoption, a notorious nightclub singer (Claudette Colbert) attempts to find her daughter through a children's radio show.
Member Reviews
Hot Saturday / Torch Singer - VeerdiCoquitlam
I'm Puzzled!!!
Both these movies were boring!! What exactly were the "objections" by censors to these movies, even in those days? There was NO sex, there was NO nudity. People just behaved like people do!! Even in those days they must have known that sex often resulted in babies and that relationships go wrong. The lead "seducer" in one of them, I forget his hi-priced name (was it Cary Grant?)is actulally a very poor actor. He obviously suffered from a MASSIVE unrealistic and grossly overblown ego, not as bad as John Wayne, but close!! These type of "actors" always are the same person, talk the same way, just put a diffrent costume on them for every movie they make and that is supposed to make us believe they can actually act!!. Actually, John Wayne was BY FAR the very WORST actor ever celebrated, but Cary Grant is a very close second. What is the obsession with these exteremely poor bloated-ego so-called "stars" ?? They are both an insult to our intelligence. Neither one of them have any kind of acting skills!! Many years ago I once watched a short interview with John Wayne. The man was an obsolute MORON!!!! Good thing he's GONE!!!!Lovely double feature - anonymous_emily
Since The Torch Singer has already been reviewed above, I'll concentrate on Hot Saturday (saying only that The Torch Singer managed to wring a tear or two from this cynical lady). Hot Saturday is a lot of fun to watch, from the infamous scene where Nancy Carroll wrestles a pair of underpants off of her little sister to seeing Cary Grant smarming around town at his charming, raffish best. The story is fascinating too, becoming a kind of metafilmic comment on the dangers of repression. I thought the ending was pretty great, too, but you can make your own judgment on that.Torch Singer - 11Genres
Claudette Colbert plays an unwed mother forced to give up her daughter for adoption because she is penniless. Five years later, after becoming famous and wealthy as a cabaret singer and a radio personality, she tries to find her daughter despite daunting odds. A very interesting and often moving "woman's picture" from the pre-code era (1930-4). Through Colbert, audiences could taste the freedom of a glamorous, if lonely life, before seeing her become a housewife again in a very rushed, "Hollywood" ending. The story as a whole is contrived, but there are emotional moments that lift it above most 30s fantasies designed for women. Enjoyable if you have the patience and imagination to set your values aside momentarily and accept the point of view of Depression-era audiences.
Member Reviews
Read All...
Hot Saturday / Torch Singer - VeerdiCoquitlam
I'm Puzzled!!!
Both these movies were boring!! What exactly were the "objections" by censors to these movies, even in those days? There was NO sex, there was NO nudity. People just behaved like people do!! Even in those days they must have known that ...Lovely double feature - anonymous_emily
Since The Torch Singer has already been reviewed above, I'll concentrate on Hot Saturday (saying only that The Torch Singer managed to wring a tear or two from this cynical lady). Hot Saturday is a lot of fun to watch, from the infamous scene where Nancy Carroll ...Torch Singer - 11Genres
Claudette Colbert plays an unwed mother forced to give up her daughter for adoption because she is penniless. Five years later, after becoming famous and wealthy as a cabaret singer and a radio personality, she tries to find her daughter despite daunting ...