Pre-Code Columbia: Virtue / Cocktail Hour May 21, 2009

A pair of intriguing films from Columbia Pictures offer a taste of Hollywood's racy fare from before the self-censorship of the Production Code came into full swing in 1934.

Virtue stars Carole Lombard as savvy streetwalker who finds love with a cabbie (Pat O'Brien) who is oblivious to her past. Once married, O'Brien's character learns the truth and struggles to keep his faith in her. Penned by Robert Riskin, a frequent collaborator with Frank Capra. (68 mins., 35mm)

In Cocktail Hour, Bebe Daniels plays a successful artist; Randolph Scott is the chauvinist boss who wants her to ditch her career and marry him. Fed up, Daniels splits for Europe only to get into hot water on the transatlantic cruise. (73 mins., 35mm)

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