Night Nurse (1931)
 

You are welcome, krashcdm, and thanks for the video link. It's remarkable what films they made back then, and you do wonder how it would of turned out had cinema been allowed to be uninhibited creatively. Have to say the guy interviewing her in the video clip you linked was a bit of a moron, and him and Woody basically behaved like two sniggering schoolboys. She must of wondered what she'd let herself in for going on their show, but what was more remarkable was that she was 56 there and still didn't look older than her 30's!

As for gym, I have a treat for you regarding Joan Blondell and Barbara Stanwyck, as here is a video of the two of them together in a very early film called Night Nurse from 1931. There is no nudity, sadly, but they appear in their underwear a number of times, which incurred the wrath of the censors, who considered it risqué. In this scene I've uploaded for you it that has the two of them sneaking back into their bedroom and getting undressed. Barbara gets pranked by one of the male students, who leaves a skeleton in her bed, and it ends with the two girls getting into bed with each other. Interpret that as you please! The censors certainly did, though I didn't interpret it myself that way.

And I have an extra treat for you regarding Miss Stanwyck in the next post that I think many on here will be surprised about...

Barbara Stanwyck (aka Ruby Stevens)
 

Before Barbara Stanwyck came into movies in 1927 in Broadway Nights (as a fan dancer), she took on many jobs just to survive, becoming a dancer, performing in cabaret, and even becoming an artist's model. Back then she was known by the sweet name of Ruby Stevens, and for all those jobs it meant she had to perform nude or in scantily clad costumes. As you have already seen Miss Stanwyck in her underwear in the video, I thought you might appreciate seeing the photos she posed for as an artist's model, as I don't think she ever appeared nude on screen, as well as an interview she actually did for a magazine around 1927.

In one snippet about the cabaret shows she does she said "To some girls it is embarrassing to do their turn in scanty wardrobe so close to the spectators. But I am always so interested in my work I never think of that. I am only interested in making the audience happy. There is enough sorrow in the world, and if I make people forget it I really think I am doing something worthwhile. Another thing that makes me indifferent to whatever I may be wearing or not wearing is that before I took up dancing I used to be an artist's model. If a good form is not to be seen, why is it? The perfume of flowers was meant to be smelled, delicious fruits should be eaten, for the same reason a beautiful body was meant to be seen."

Wise words indeed. If only Hollywood censors had heeded that advice.

Night Nurse: Charlotte Merriam (1931)
 

One more video from Night Nurse (1931) before I go to bed, this is a brief scene during the film when a party is thrown while Barbara Stanwyck's nurse is looking after her child patients. She goes looking for the child's mother (played by Charlotte Merriam), inadvertently bumping into her smooching with another man in the corridor. The reason I decided to upload it is that Merriam's dress is somewhat transparent and it is clear she isn't wearing any underwear under that frock. I've slowed it down at the end for you, but it leaves no doubt as to what Charlotte Merriam's bottom looks like under that dress, whether she realized it or not! Fans of Pre-Code will no doubt enjoy the glimpse. I certainly did!

Thank you so much! I've seen Night Nurse several years ago, and loved that scene with them. Yes, lots ofundressing.

And super thank you for the nudes of Barbara Stanwyck! I had no idea there were any! If you've seen Ball of Fire you know she has great legs.

Smarty (1934)
 

Yes, I've seen Ball of Fire. It's a great film and earned Barbara one of 4 Oscar nominations (although she never won). Obviously she wasn't able to display her technique of "Yum Yum" on them to influence the decision. As for super legs, judging by those nudes she had a super figure all over!

And for an extra treat for you, I've come across a film of Joan Blondell that reveals far more than what was doubtless originally intended. It's an obscure film called Smarty (1934), and rather masochistic in it's theme of a flighty woman (Blondell) who divorces her husband (Warren William) and marries her divorce lawyer (Edward Everett Horton), while sexually teasing her ex and new hubby. The jist is that Joan wants to provoke a rise in her ex, who she considers weak, and wants him to assert himself with her and discipline her, including slapping her!

Somewhat dubious, but even more amazing is the revealing clothing and nip slips that seems to of passed the censors by! The two scenes bookend the film with the first, opening scene showing the couple dressing for dinner and William asking Joan to help him with his cufflinks (no, that isn't a youtherism). Joan is only dressed in a skimpy negligee and as her hubby passes by, her loose top falls open and you see not one boob but two within a few seconds! I have used slow mo for these scenes, as there is another moment while she is at the table with her loose fitting negligee. But the 2nd scene at the end of the film shows Joan Blondell undressing and her negligee is so transparent you can clearly see Joan Blondell's bottom! The video ends with her hubby showing the sort of assertive 'discipline' that Blondell's character asked of him, tearing off part of her dress and slapping her. Although it is somewhat startling, there is no doubt that Joan actually wants it. "Show me, dear," she tells him. Whatever your views on the film's message, you certainly get to see a lot more of Joan that I expected!

Gold Diggers of 1933 Shower Scene
 

As it's getting towards Christmas (not that it feels like it here), I thought I'd post a scene from one of the best Pre-Code musicals of the 1930's, Gold Diggers of 1933. There were many musicals during the era of the Depression that came out to cheer people up during hard times (something today's cinema seems to of forgotten), but this one musical is remarkable in the fact that it is able to combine both escapism and reflect the real hardship of the times, and it's musical finale "The Forgotten Man" packs a real punch that is still potent today. If you can, check out the full movie at ok.ru, but the song itself can also be found on that You tubey thing, sung by Etta Moten and Joan Blondell (yes, her again).

Anyway, onto this scene and it is from the musical number Pettin' in the Park, which involved Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler, and is as suggestive as the title implies. It also involves a bevy of dancing girls who get caught in a rainstorm in the park, so naturally have to go inside and get out of those wet clothes. The only thing preventing the audience from seeing full nudity on the screen is a transparent curtain that the girls pull down, but even then you can clearly see boobs and bums through it, and I've naturally used slo-mo for those moments. I've had to edit out a couple of parts which involve a young Billy Barty as a kid sneaking out and pulling up the curtain again, just to comply with OCC rules, but hopefully it won't spoil your enjoyment of this scene, which was composed by Busby Berkley in one of his many famous numbers. Enjoy.

A young Ginger Rogers was also in Golddiggers of 1933.

Ginger Rogers
 

I love the story about David Niven in Word War II. Having been a junior officer in the pre-war British Army, rather than stay safe in the USA where doors to success were beginning to open for him, he re-joined the Queen's forces (Royal Marine commandos I think) when WWII broke out.

Late in WWII, his unit were tasked with attacking a well defended enemy position. Well liked by his troops, Niven was very conscious of the challenge to life & limb that the assignment could present, Niven apparently tried to sell the plan to his subordinates only to be confronted with reluctance on their part.

His response (recounted by one of the men rather than Niven who preferred not to speak about his part in the war) showed the kind of officer, leader and man Niven was,. was along the lines of :-

"lads, the job needs to be done and it's our responsibility to carry it out. All in all I'd prefer yo be back in Hollywood tickling Ginger Rogers' tits, but I'm not and there you have it"

While that story is not told in either of Niven's auto biographies, for anyone who is a Niven fan or even remotely interested in the behind the scenes side of Hollywood you never heard about in those days, his books are a very good read and I wholeheartedly recommend them to you.

Flying Down To Rio (1933)
 

Hadn't heard about the David Niven story, arnoldziffel, but had read a couple of his autobiographies, and yes they are good, as well as amusing. He was a thoroughly decent bloke too. I did know that Ginger Rogers was in Gold Diggers of 1933, as she is the first face you see in the "We're in the Money" number right at the start of the film. I did have that sequence, but didn't include it as it didn't have much revealing flesh in the number. Maybe I should of done just to show off that musical number, as Ginger is a knockout in it.

As it is, Ginger does appear in this next video in what was the first film she and Fred Astaire did together, Flying Down to Rio (1933). They were only support cast in the film, but their dance of the Carioca in the film shot both to stardom and in numerous films together. It also features a famous sequence towards the end of the film where several dancers perform on top of aeroplanes, which surprisingly enough was not choreographed by Busby Berkley, and culminates in some of the girls having their clothes ripped off by the breeze leaving them in the altogether. I have naturally done that in slo mo for you, but this time I've put it at the end of the video, as I've discovered that the music cuts out when I add slo mo in the middle of a video. It also becomes apparent that the girls' tops are somewhat see through when the wind blows, which proves an added bonus to an already memorable sequence. Anyway, enjoy, and if you can't get into the Xmas feeling, try watching some of these dance numbers and just wallow in them.

I've read both Niven's books, he was quite a randy fellow.

Ginger's best dress was in Swing Time with her nips clearly poking through the dress.

https://live.staticflickr.com/904/42...96ca1373_c.jpgGinger Rogers in Swing Time by poncho5820001, on Flickr