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List Price: $49.98 | | Label: Warner Home Video
Salesrank: 8630
Released: March 24, 2009 |
| Our Price: $33.99 |
| Used Price: $29.71 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Forbidden Hollywood Collection Vol.3
Description of Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Volume Three (Other Men's Women / The Purchase Price / Frisco Jenny / Midnight Mary / Heroes for Sale / Wild Boys of the Road):
Five more Warner Bros. features produced before the Hollywood Production Code await viewers on the third volume of TCM’s consistently impressive Forbidden Hollywood series. While suggestive content (and by 21st century standards, extremely mild in its suggestiveness) is the overall binding factor of the films in the series, Volume 3 centers around the work of director William Wellman (Wings, The Public Enemy, The Ox-Bow Incident), who helmed each of the pictures in the set. The strongest feature of the set, both in terms of content and message, is perhaps 1933’s Wild Boys of the Road, with pint-sized Frankie Darro as a can-do kid searching for work amidst the urban jungle of Depression-era New York. It, along with Heroes for Sale (1933), with Richard Barthelmess as a World War I hero who battles drug addiction and corporate shenanigans, only to end up among the jobless, paint a fairly dark picture of the American middle class that may resonate in the modern economic landscape. The remaining pictures offer a brighter outlook, inspired, no doubt, by the arrival of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the White House. Midnight Mary (1933), the only picture in the collection from MGM, sees the eternally charming Loretta Young plunging headlong into a life of crime, only to be rescued by wealthy Franchot Tone. Then it’s Barbara Stanwyck in need of salvation in 1932’s The Purchase Price; her unlikely knight in shining armor is farmer George Brent, who offers her stability in the form of hard rural living (all the better to support the agricultural industry, one supposes). Frisco Jenny (1932) and Other Men’s Women (1931) are lighter-weight drama-romances; the former concerns a love triangle between Mary Astor, Grant Withers and Regis Toomey (with James Cagney and Joan Blondell stealing the scene in minor roles) against the backdrop of the Southern Pacific railways in Los Angeles, while the latter is high melodrama about bootlegger (Ruth Chatterton) who comes up against the district attorney, only to discover that he is the son she gave up for adoption. All six features offer an entertaining and intriguing glimpse of how Hollywood managed to address mature themes under its own rigid production code, as well as a reminder of Wellman’s versatility and skill at producing exciting fare in a wide variety of genres. As with previous Forbidden Hollywood releases, Volume 3 includes a wealth of extras; chief among these are two TCM documentaries on Wellman--1995’s Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick, which features interviews with Clint Eastwood, Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck; and 2007’s The Men Who Made the Movies by critic Richard Schickel. There are also several two-reeler mysteries, Bosko cartoons, and a Pete Smith short, as well as commentary on Midnight Mary, Heroes for Sale and Wild Boys of the Road, with the latter including Wellman’s son, actor/author William Wellman Jr. --Paul Gaita
Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Volume Three (Other Men's Women / The Purchase Price / Frisco Jenny / Midnight Mary / Heroes for Sale / Wild Boys of the Road) Reviews:
My list of the 5 best books on Hollywood and Stars scandals 
2009-10-27 - My list of the 5 best books on Hollywood and Stars scandals
After an extensive research and readings, I have compiled a list of the best books on Hollywood and stars scandals.
The best in this rank order:
Number 1: Hollywood Earth Shattering Scandals: The Infamous, Villains, Nymphomaniacs and Shady Characters in Motion Pictures. It is the newest, largest and the most explosive. Lots of new stories and scandals we did not hear about or read in other books. The galleries of photos are impressive. Author, Maximillien de Lafayette. Definitely this is the very best. Rating: 5 stars
Number 2: Hollywood Babylon. Simply because it was the first, the pioneering work that opens the Pandora Box. Author, Kenneth Anger. This book is still interesting. Rating: 5 stars
Number 3: The Hollywood Book of Scandals. Some new stuff, but lots of rehashes. Rating: 3 stars.
Number 4: Sex lives of Hollywood Goddesses. Very very interesting, but little. However, juicy. Author: Nigel Cawthorne. Rating: 3 stars.
Number 5: Dishing Hollywood. Not much stuff but engaging. Author: Laurie Jacobson. Rating: 3 stars.
Gotta Love Loretta!
2009-10-03 - I have long been a fan of classic movies and have seen most of these movies on either TV or video, but I was very glad to have an opportunity to get this collection and to be able to enjoy the high quality recordings and images, as well as the extras.
Loretta Young of course is always a treat to see on the screen, she is perhaps one the most underappreciated of the big 30's stars and in need of rehabilitation.
Support the great of work TCM and get this collection, early 30's pre-code films are worth purchasing because they give a glimpse of the harsh realities of the times, albeit with a little Hollywood varish, and offer a true thrill for nostalgia and movie buffs alike.
Great Pre Code set!
2009-08-16 - I'll not bother you with what is in the DVD set, as you can read that for yourselves. I am a classic movie junkie and can tell you that this set did not disappoint me. Therefore, I would highly recommend this set to anyone interested in "old" Hollywood.
a de facto boxed set for solid director William Wellman 
2009-06-20 - All the movies made in pre-code Hollywood have the allure of being naughty, whether they are or not and studios love to capitalize on that. Forbidden Hollywood Volume Three ($49.98; Warner Bros.) is the latest in a series but it might have been dubbed the William Wellman Collection since all six movies here were directed by him. You get stars like Barbara Stanwyck, Loretta Young and Mary Astor vamping it up. But the real shocker isn't sex: it's the socialist vibe of the Depression Era gem Wild Boys Of The Road. Great fun.
Pre-code Vol 3
2009-06-08 - These early William Wellman pre-code films def worth watching, particularly "Midnight Mary" with Loretta Young whose early film image is at total odds with her reputation later in her career. The youthful Loretta was not only skilled at her craft but beautiful and edgy as well. All of these films touch on racy, realistic and controversial themes. Don't let the fact that they were made in the early part of the last century fool you - the stories are still thought provoking,relatable and often shocking. Life with a capital L! A must-have companion to the other TCM pre-code Hollywood collections for students,lovers of film history or anyone who just wants to watch a good old fashioned motion picture.
