Pre-Code Hollywood

[jblackmon]

Small clip of a well-intentioned, but naïve, rich girl ending up in wet lingerie after "saving" a supposedly drowning sailor. Madge Evans is the actress.

[Bounci]

This clip from the Pre Code era of films comes from Red Dust in 1932, and is the famous "Niagara Falls" scene involving Jean Harlow taking a bath in the water tank, before getting into a barrel. Although you don't get to really see anything, I thought I'd include it here after uploading another clip from the film in the Pat of Appreciation thread here: https://forum.oneclickchicks.com/sho...&postcount=114. However, according to legend, after they finished filming the scene Harlow stood up naked from her barrel in front of the cameramen and famously said "Here's one for the boys in the lab." Let's just hope they have the footage lying about somewhere!

[Bounci]

This is one of 4 videos (yes, four!) from the film Murder at the Vanities from 1934, which pushed the limit of what it could show back then and is said to of hastened the introduction of the Hayes Code because of it. A unusual murder mystery set during the opening night of a burlesque theme show, this 1st video sees Kitty Carlisle singing "Where Do They Go To?" while she goes about showing off a bevy of near naked lovelies posing on stage representing various themes, such as Cigarette Girls, Cowboys, and Compact Girls, with only pasties or strategically placed clothing sparing their modesty. The song can be a bit wearing at times, but the girls keep on coming, and the acts to follow would get even more revealing. The hardest part of doing this? Trying to pick which screenshots to upload on here - there are so many to choose from!

[Bounci]

The 2nd video from Murder at the Vanities (1934) this time has Carl Brisson stranded on a desert island while the showgirls are dressed as water nymphs and waves. Even better, Kitty Carlisle pops up as Eve, complete with barely there fig leaves covering all the girls modesties as best it can - though they obviously weren't bothered about covering up the girls bare bottoms, which can be clearly seen at times. Apparently among the showgirls in the film (whether this act or one or the others) are Lucille Ball and Ann Sheridan, and although I didn't spot either of them, you can spot Toby Wing in some of the acts, playing a giggling blonde in the film desperate to tell the director something but continually being ignored. As it is, she has the clue to the whole murder mystery. Oh, didn't I say it was a murder mystery? You may begin to wonder that when watching this!

[Bounci]

The 3rd video and stage show from Murder at the Vanities (1934) is the one that caused the most rumpus among the Hayes Code brigade. As well as showing a bevy of nude girls in flowers, with only their hands to cover their modesty (and it's quite disconcerting that the 4th girl in the flowers looks like Gracie Fields!), the song being sung by Gertrude Michael during the act is a song called "Sweet Marijuana!" Among all this is a police investigation into murder attempts (led by Victor McLaglen), but he is more interested in checking out the showgirls. "Why don't you take your lamps off those dames and do some police work?" says stage manager Jack Oakie. "This IS police work," grins McLaglen. "Those babies look like they've got clues or something." And on spotting one girl he adds "Now there's a baby over there that looks suspicious and ought to be followed," before going over to one girl climbing up the steps just to ogle her backside! You also get to see Toby Wing in this video, while at the end of the act it even shows us the moment when one of the girls discovers a dead body. It's quite effective...

[Bounci]

The 4th and final video from Murder at the Vanities (1934) (not including the video I posted in A Pat of Appreciation thread, that is) sees a jazz act involving none other than Duke Ellington playing the piano, while Gertrude Michael and a host of black girls among the showgirls dance about in see through costumes and thongs! You can clearly see the breasts of some of the girls in this act, which also includes another murder during the act! That happens to the unfortunate Miss Michael, whose backside you see when she hits the floor during a machine gun finale that is part of the act. Unfortunately a live bullet was not, and Gertrude ends up hitting the deck. In real life, Gertrude Michael - best known for the Mae West film I'm No Angel (1933) - died herself aged just 53, at the stroke of midnight on the final day of 1964 of 'natural causes.' Now that's spooky!

[Lotfw]

Might be worth searching more of this down

abctps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7DB9prWrcg

[Bounci]

Originally Posted by Lotfw

Might be worth searching more of this down

abctps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7DB9prWrcg

Here is the clips from the film you mentioned. It's called The Half Naked Truth, and stars Lee Tracy as a conman always looking to make a quick buck. In one scam he spots a chambermaid (ironically called Shirley Chambers) and hits upon a publicity stunt of a Nudist camp founded by a young woman in the heart of the city. The look of Chambers' face when he first spots her is a picture as she realizes he has something in mind, but she is a wannabe actress, so realizes that to get her break she will have to submit to his idea. Sadly, despite featuring a nudist camp, and later a scene where she rides in a car naked through the street, this has no nudity in it, from what I can tell. But I thought I would upload it as it was requested just so you can see the "revealing" scenes. For Shirley Chambers, this was probably her biggest role, as she only really had small roles in films in the 1930's and retired in 1939. However, remarkably she lived to be nearly 98, dying in 2011 just 3 months short of her birthday.

[Bounci]

This video is from The Bowery (1933), which was about two rival bar owners and firemen (yes, really!), played by Wallace Beery and George Raft, and would likely not see the light of day in this day and age. The casual violence, gangsters, illegal booze, cabaret showgirls in skimpy costumes and a scene where innocent Fay Wray is chatted up by two blokes clearly looking to put her into prostitution would of had the Hayes code in a fit back then, but today it would be the casual racism that would see this barred. The very first thing you see in this film is an eye opener, while the farcical scene where the rivals fight each other to be the first to put out a fire where Chinamen are stuck in a burning building is surreal.

As it is, this video concerns the two cabaret acts that perform in Wallace Beery's bar, headed by the unlikely named Pert Kelton as head showgirl. The 1st act features the girls dressed as Can Can Dancers, the 2nd as Sailor Girls, with the girls wearing skimpy knickers barely covering their bums, while their tops barely contained their bosoms. But the one you can't take your eyes off is Pert herself, who is probably the best thing in the film. Pert really WAS her real name - named after a character in a play by her grandma - and she livened up many a film in the 1930's (check her out in Sing and Like It from 1934). Here she throws herself into the role with gusto, but the most memorable thing in this is her singing. Let's just say I had never heard anything like it - and after this, neither will you! Memorable is an understatement...

[Bounci]

This is a short from 1928, and is one of the most explicit uses of nudity of that time. No mere suggestion or skimpy costumes, these girls in this don't wear ANY costumes! The plot involves a fireman come out of viewing showgirls at the Follies Bergere and enjoy a few drinks at a bar, but soon begins to visualize all the women around him stark naked! That begins at the bar, but as he leaves to go to work he continues to see either women without their clothes on - such as on a bus - or men turn into naked women (such as when viewing his colleagues on a fire engine). The fact that it mentions Josephine Baker in the cast should of given a clue to viewers what to expect, as she was the burlesque queen of the era and all round class act. Surprisingly she doesn't appear nude, (unless she's one of the fire girls at the end) but plenty of other women do, and it's fascinating to see women of that era naked like that. Enjoy.