Mervyn LeRoy’s Pre-Code Films

Mervyn LeRoy’s Pre-Code Films

11 Episodes

In the early 1930s, when Warner Bros. was the home for gritty, socially conscious dramas ripped from the fabric of working-class life, perhaps no director exemplified the studio’s trademark style—punchy, edgy, slangy, and relentlessly paced—more than the prolific Mervyn LeRoy, who directed a remarkable twenty-five films between 1930 and 1934. Including brutal crime-drama classics like LITTLE CAESAR and I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG, hard-hitting stories of urban realism like FIVE STAR FINAL and THREE ON A MATCH, fast-talking comedies like HIGH PRESSURE and HARD TO HANDLE, and the Busby Berkeley musical extravaganza GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933, these tales of hustlers, chiselers, con men, and chorus girls bring the flinty, make-or-break world of the Depression era to vivid life.

Programmed by Bernardo Rondeau

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Mervyn LeRoy’s Pre-Code Films

11 Episodes

  • Mervyn LeRoy's Pre-Code Films Teaser
    01:08
    Mervyn LeRoy's Pre-Code Films Teaser
    Episode 1

    Mervyn LeRoy's Pre-Code Films Teaser

    Episode 1

  • Five Star Final
    1:29:03
    Five Star Final
    Episode 2

    Five Star Final

    Episode 2

    Directed by Mervyn LeRoy • 1931 • United States
    Starring Edward G. Robinson, Marian Marsh, H. B. Warner

    This hard-hitting look at the cynical world of tabloid journalism casts Edward G. Robinson as Joseph Randall, a ruthless newspaper editor who will go to any length, use any means, and destroy ...

  • Little Caesar
    1:19:12
    Little Caesar
    Episode 3

    Little Caesar

    Episode 3

    Directed by Mervyn LeRoy • 1931 • United States
    Starring Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Glenda Farrell

    Edward G. Robinson shot to stardom with his electrifying performance in this landmark gangster drama about a man who ruthlessly murders his way to the top of the mob. Small-time, sm...

  • Big City Blues
    1:02:38
    Big City Blues
    Episode 4

    Big City Blues

    Episode 4

    Directed by Mervyn LeRoy • 1932 • United States
    Starring Joan Blondell, Eric Linden, Jobyna Howland

    Bud Reeves (Eric Linden) does what any young man from a small town would do when he unexpectedly comes into money: he heads to the big city in search of fame and fortune. Amid the bright lights of...

  • High Pressure
    1:13:25
    High Pressure
    Episode 5

    High Pressure

    Episode 5

    Directed by Mervyn LeRoy • 1932 • United States
    Starring William Powell, Evelyn Brent, John Wray

    William Powell (THE THIN MAN) is at his ruthlessly charming best in this breakneck con-man comedy. He stars as Gar Evans, a fast-talking hustler who makes a fortune selling stock in a company with a ...

  • I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
    1:32:38
    I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
    Episode 6

    I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang

    Episode 6

    Directed by Mervyn LeRoy • 1932 • United States
    Starring Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, Noel Francis

    Paul Muni gives a haunting performance in this brutal, startlingly raw exposé of prison conditions based on the autobiography by Robert Elliott Burns. Wrongly convicted of robbery, would-be architect...

  • Three on a Match
    1:03:19
    Three on a Match
    Episode 7

    Three on a Match

    Episode 7

    Directed by Mervyn LeRoy • 1932 • United States
    Starring Bette Davis, Joan Blondell, Warren William

    Bette Davis, Joan Blondell, and Ann Dvorak star as three grammar school friends who remain close even as they grow into very different women in this pre-Code drama. Ten years after graduating, har...

  • Gold Diggers of 1933
    1:37:39
    Gold Diggers of 1933
    Episode 8

    Gold Diggers of 1933

    Episode 8

    Directed by Mervyn LeRoy • 1933 • United States
    Starring Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon

    A Broadway producer has the talent, the tunes, the theater, and everything else he needs to put on a show—except the dough. Not to worry, say Ginger Rogers and the other leggy chorines decked o...

  • Hard to Handle
    1:18:29
    Hard to Handle
    Episode 9

    Hard to Handle

    Episode 9

    Directed by Mervyn LeRoy • 1933 • United States
    Starring James Cagney, Mary Brian, Allen Jenkins

    In this breezy pre-Code comedy, the ever-dynamic James Cagney stars as Lefty Merrill, a motormouthed flimflam artist who has yet to find a scam he won’t run on any hapless sucker he can find to fall ...

  • Heat Lightning
    1:03:27
    Heat Lightning
    Episode 10

    Heat Lightning

    Episode 10

    Directed by Mervyn LeRoy • 1934 • United States
    Starring Aline MacMahon, Ann Dvorak, Preston Foster

    Veteran supporting player Aline MacMahon gets a chance to shine in an all-too-rare starring role in this hard-edged tale of simmering lust and violence in the remote California desert. At her road...

  • Hi, Nellie!
    1:15:25
    Hi, Nellie!
    Episode 11

    Hi, Nellie!

    Episode 11

    Directed by Mervyn LeRoy • 1934 • United States
    Starring Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, Ned Sparks

    One of a string of entertainingly fast-paced newspaper films that proliferated in the 1930s, this whirlwind mix of crime and comedy stars Paul Muni as reporter Brad Bradshaw, who is demoted by his pape...

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