LADIES OF LEISURE / BABY FACE | American Cinematheque

Egyptian Theatre

6712 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, CA 90028

Sun, Jun 30, 2019
1:00pm

TICKETS

THE STYLE OF SIN: PRE-CODE FILM WITH KIMBERLY TRUHLER

Barbara Stanwyck Double Feature!

LADIES OF LEISURE / BABY FACE

Made between 1930, when the restrictive Production Code was adopted, and 1934, when it was in full effect, “pre-Code” films are beloved for their provocative content and rather risqué style. This six-part series introduces viewers to some of the most popular actresses of the pre-Code era through double features of their films – Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Harlow, Kay Francis, Carole Lombard, Marlene Dietrich, Joan Blondell and Joan Crawford.

Program begins with an illustrated presentation by historian Kimberly Truhler.

35 mm!

LADIES OF LEISURE

1930, Sony Repertory, 99 min, USA, Dir: Frank Capra

This pre-Code romance captures both director Frank Capra and star Barbara Stanwyck on the cusp of fame. Wealthy, aspiring painter Ralph Graves falls in love with a model (Stanwyck), but her past leads the artist’s parents to suspect she’s a gold-digging party girl. With Lowell Sherman and Marie Prevost.

35 mm!

BABY FACE

1933, Warner Bros., 70 min, USA, Dir: Alfred E. Green

“She climbed the ladder of success - wrong by wrong!” Barbara Stanwyck stars as Lily “Baby Face” Powers, a tough woman of unusual beauty who learned how to handle herself around tough men while working as a barmaid in her father's factory-town saloon. When her father dies, Baby Face takes her maid and moves to New York, where she marries young office boy John Wayne - the first in a series of husbands and lovers as she sleeps her way to the top of a banking empire, leaving behind a trail of broken hearts in her headstrong quest for fame and fortune. Originally withdrawn from distribution following protests by theater owners and local censorship boards over the film's sexual innuendo.

Trailer