Forbidden Hollywood: Volume 10

Remember to knock five times, as the Cinema Speakeasy is open again with a quintet of controversial pre-Code classics. Lionel Barrymore stars as a DA who commits the perfect crime in W.S. Van Dyke's Guilty Hands, costarring Kay Francis. Next Warren William is crowned the pre-Code King with his breakout performance in James Flood and Elliott Nugent's The Mouthpiece. Then Edward Sutherland spills the Secrets of the French Police as a Surete inspector (Frank Morgan) and a thief (John Warburton) scour the underworld for a waif (Gwili Andre), who may be the Princess Anastasia. Warren William follows with Howard Bretherton and William Keighley's acclaimed biopic The Match King, with Glenda Farrell on hand to deliver the glam. Finally, "Babyface" Barbara Stanwyck sizzles as a spouse torn between love (Otto Kruger) and country in Archie Mayo's Ever in My Heart, with Ralph Bellamy as "the other guy" (naturally!).