Coming to DVD: Forbidden Hollywood, Vol. 3

March 24th is the release date for one of this year's most exciting DVD sets, Volume 3 in Warners' Forbidden Hollywood Series.

The set includes six pre-Code movies directed by William Wellman: MIDNIGHT MARY, THE PURCHASE PRICE, HEROES FOR SALE, OTHER MEN'S WOMEN, FRISCO JENNY, and WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD.

The impressive casts and extras are detailed at DVD Times. Extras include three commentary tracks, two documentaries, trailers, shorts, and cartoons.

MIDNIGHT MARY (1933), starring Loretta Young and Franchot Tone, is one of my favorite film discoveries of the last couple years; my review is here. (I recently obtained a copy of the 1936 Young-Tone film THE UNGUARDED HOUR, which I'm looking forward to seeing.) The commentary track for MIDNIGHT MARY is by Jeffrey Vance and Tony Maietta, who did excellent work on THE DIVORCEE and NIGHT NURSE in Volume 2.

I also enjoyed the Barbara Stanwyck film THE PURCHASE PRICE (1932), reviewed here.

I have recorded most of the other titles from TCM, but I'll happily be erasing my tapes and "upgrading" to this terrific DVD set.

Viewers who are new to the term "pre-Code" can read more about it in my post on the 1932 film MAN WANTED. MIDNIGHT MARY and the other titles in this set would be an excellent place to begin watching pre-Code movies for the first time.

On my wish list for a future Forbidden Hollywood set: 1932's TAXI!, another terrific Loretta Young film, which teams her with James Cagney. The teenaged Loretta's work in the early '30s is a fascinating contrast to her equally enjoyable but very different roles of the mid '30s through '50s.