“The dictator craze,” they called it. In the worst of the Great Depression, a time of 25% unemployment, some called for an American-style dictatorship. Democracy wasn’t working very well, time for a ...

Despite only lasting four short years from 1930 to 1934, the pre-code era of Hollywood’s Golden Age produced films that pushed the boundaries of cinema and storytelling, even by today’s standards.

About 20 years ago I was in a kind of partnership with another film historian who told me that, no, there wasn’t a market for a book on pre-code movies. I can only wonder what he thinks today after ...