The Silver Screen Oasis

Terrific piece in this morning's San Francisco Bay Guardian about the Precode Fest!
The countdown is on...
http://www.sfbg.com/2012/02/28/dame-good-fun

Tonight marks the opening of our big PRE-CODE HOLLYWOOD extravaganza, "Nasty-Ass
Films for a Nasty-Ass World!" On screen will be a potent double bill consisting of the original
SCARFACE with Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, and George Raft along with the incredible THREE
ON A MATCH with Bette Davis, Joan Blondell, and Ann Dvorak. Wish all of the Oasis pre-
code fans could be here in San Francisco for this!!
SCARFACE (1932)
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THREE ON A MATCH (1932)
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Wish I could be there. Best wishes for the event!

Elliot,

Marco and I are coordinating our schedules. At this point, we plan to be there Monday and Tuesday, I think you may see Marco on Sunday as well.

Last night, for the opening of our precode Hollywood series at the Roxie, we had
a packed house for the amazingly scandalous double bill of SCARFACE and
THREE ON A MATCH. A whole bunch of new Ann Dvorak fans walking around
San Francisco now! Today we feature two of the most powerful and disturbing
horror pictures of the precode era!!
FREAKS
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ISLAND OF LOST SOULS
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"We accept her. We accept her."

I'm so glad to hear ISLAND OF LOST SOULS acknowledged. That is truly a creepy, disturbing, unique horror film. If ever there was a one-of-a-kind...

[re Island of Lost Souls] What print are you showing? When I tried to get a copy of that film a few years back, I had to get a bootleg. It looks about like it did when I saw it as a kid on late night TV. I wasn't sure if it was a bad copy or just extra "atmospheric." I read with great interest recently about a new DVD release of a restored version with oodles of extras, and plan to get it when I'm back in the dough. Dewey?

Hi intothenitrate....I have two copies of Island on DVD, one Spanish and the other British....one is better than the other, but I can't remember which. Now I bought the KINO Blu Ray release of "Island..." and I'm anxious to see it. I'll let you know about its quality (it was also released on DVD by KINO).

The print of ISLAND OF LOST SOULS that we ran was a 35mm studio vault print directly
from Universal. Criterion has just issued a beautiful DVD of the film and it's quite
possible it was made from this print. On a small screen this is a brutally powerful
film; on the big screen, in a pristine print, in front of a couple hundred enthusiastic
people, it becomes a transcendental experience! Yesterday's screenings of FREAKS
and ISLAND OF LOST SOULS was incredible! Packed crowds through the afternoon
into the dead of night! Folks who had never seen these films before were dazed
and bewildered when they stepped out onto 16th Street last night. Simply amazing!
Today we feature a pair of provocative dramas that take miscegenation as their themes; one
overtly the other covertly. Frank Capra's BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN starring
Barbara Stanwyck, offers a side of the director we would never see again and THE CHEAT
is a rare opportunity to see Tallulah Bankhead in one of her most interesting roles.
BITTER TEA of GENERAL YEN
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THE CHEAT
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Another terrific, enthusiastic crowd for our double bill of BITTER TEA OF
GENERAL YEN and THE CHEAT. The Capra film had the edge as far
as the audience was concerned, but when the hot iron was applied to
Miss Bankhead's flesh in THE CHEAT, audible gasps were heard…
Tonight the tone changes somewhat (although the raunch level remains
fairly high) as we present a pair of musically frisky romps. The main
attraction is Mitchell Leisen's MURDER AT THE VANITIES. Many choice
scenes propel this one; here's the fun "Sweet Marijuana" number:
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Sharing the bill will be the very obscure poverty row Monogram precoder
SENSATION HUNTERS. It's really exciting to be able to feature a rarity like this
one! Here are a couple of musical numbers from it:
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Sounds like it sizzled.

That's hilarious!! Yes, it sizzled!

Just passing through and happened to see this...

I recently saw some of Sylvia Sidney's precoders, including Ladies of the Big House, and thought they were quite enjoyable (the other one of note that I remember is Confessions of a Co-Ed). And both also managed to address serious issues of the time.

And I'd have loved to have seen Island of Lost Souls and Freaks on a big screen. Maybe someday...

Marco and I traveled to the Roxie on Tuesday evening to see Blondie Johnson, a great little pre-code starring Joan Blondell and most of the Warner Brothers stock company except Frank McHugh. Also on the double bill was Ladies of the Big House with Sylvia Sydney (and her incredibly expressive face) and a cast that included an uncredited Jane Darwell as the matron of the Big House.

Blondie Johnson was the better of the two and we missed seeing Dewey.