This caused a five-year run of films all centering around controversial and taboo themes.
Some reviews from the film include:
"...All of the women contained are either shallow, stupid, or so manipulative, while all the men are helpless bores. And while there’s a lot to be said for nobility, where the Pre-Code films shine is in the arena of tantalizing and vivacious debauchery, usual with a nice tidy moral to send the audience home with. But, hell, Red Headed Woman doesn’t even have that!...." -Pre-Code.com
They also add reasons why it is so very much part of the pre-code Hollywood film family:
- The sequence in which Bill beats Lillian silly… probably would be a no-go after the code.
- Gold digging is always a big theme during the Pre-Code era, and this has it in earnest.
- And the ease in which different characters are divorced and the obviousness of these characters sex lives are indulged in makes it especially scandalous.
"...The comedy allows the film a rather nastier edge
than if it had been straight melodrama with some scenes still disturbing (a
frustrated Bill knocks Lil around the room with his fists while she screams “I
like it!, Hit me again!”, with the comedy coming in the form of her roommate
listening at the door getting an entirely different idea of what’s happening in
the room)..."- monstersandcritics.com
"Jean Harlow and Una Merkel are at each other’s throats and at their wicked best"-veritefilmmag.com
"Jean Harlow and Una Merkel are at each other’s throats and at their wicked best"-veritefilmmag.com
Another qoute from veritefilmmag.com concerns a particular scene (in which I am using as part of my textual analysis) where Jean Harlow's breast is seen in a half-second shot, which has been referred to time and time again as an example of typical pre-code obscenity and questionable censorship.
The scene and quote is as follows:
"...Harlow and Merkel are at their wicked best in Red-Headed Woman, at each other’s throats and throwing insults at a rapid fire pace. Despite their seeming animosity towards each other, these gals have been best friends their whole lives and theirs is a relationship filled with heart – so much so, Sally even tries to share the same pair of silk pajamas between them. Be sure to watch out for a quick flash of Harlow’s naked chest in this scene. It’s quite unbelievable that the shot made it into the final film print..."
The
comedy allows the film a rather nastier edge than if it had been
straight melodrama with some scenes still disturbing (a frustrated Bill
knocks Lil around the room with his fists while she screams “I like it!,
Hit me again!”, with the comedy coming in the form of her roommate
listening at the door getting an entirely different idea of what’s
happening in the room). - See more at:
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/dvd/reviews/article_1231810.php/DVD_Review_TCM_Archives_-_Forbidden_Hollywood_Collection_Vol._1#sthash.uLliY4QB.dpuf
The
comedy allows the film a rather nastier edge than if it had been
straight melodrama with some scenes still disturbing (a frustrated Bill
knocks Lil around the room with his fists while she screams “I like it!,
Hit me again!”, with the comedy coming in the form of her roommate
listening at the door getting an entirely different idea of what’s
happening in the room). - See more at:
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/dvd/reviews/article_1231810.php/DVD_Review_TCM_Archives_-_Forbidden_Hollywood_Collection_Vol._1#sthash.uLliY4QB.dpuf
The
comedy allows the film a rather nastier edge than if it had been
straight melodrama with some scenes still disturbing (a frustrated Bill
knocks Lil around the room with his fists while she screams “I like it!,
Hit me again!”, with the comedy coming in the form of her roommate
listening at the door getting an entirely different idea of what’s
happening in the room). - See more at:
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/dvd/reviews/article_1231810.php/DVD_Review_TCM_Archives_-_Forbidden_Hollywood_Collection_Vol._1#sthash.uLliY4QB.dpuf
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