Forbidden Hollywood Collection Volume Three

Last Minute Sales & Specials

Wild Times: Pre-Code Films of "Wild Bill" Wellman. He flew World War I's Lafayette Escadrille. Later made his Hollywood introduction by landing a plane on Douglas Fairbank's property. And went on to a remarkable 40-year career that includes these six snappy pre-Code works. Disc 1 of this William A. Wellman movie collection features burly railroad men vying for Mary Astor in "Other Men's Women" and Barbara Stanwyck proving she's a mail-order bride worth "The Purchase Price". Stepping out of the shadows for Disc 2 are Ruth Chatterton as brothel madam "Frisco Jenny" and Loretta Young as a desperate moll in the dazzlingly stylistic "Midnight Mary" (made at Metro but very much in the Warner mode). Wellman flexes Depression-era social-conscience muscle in Disc 3, using "Heroes For Sale" (starring Richard Barthelmess) to focus on the plight of war veterans and championing the wandering youths turned into "Wild Boys On The Road". Go where the excitement is with Hollywood's "Wild Bill". "Other Men's Women" (1931): This is the story of a love triangle between two burly railroad men and the one woman they both desire (Mary Astor). Jack, an engineer (Regis Toomey) and Lily's husband, is more solid and reliable. Bill (Grant Withers) is a carefree ladies' man with an irresponsible streak. Directed with his signature virile style, Wellman balances scenes of fraying domesticity with vigorous vignettes of tough railroad life. "The Purchase Price" (1932): This film is a brisk Wellman mix of comedy and melodrama about torch singer Joan Gordon (Barbara Stanwyck), who tiring of her relationship with small-time hood Eddie Fields (Lyle Talbot), flees to North Dakota and becomes the mail-order bride of down-to-earth farmer Jim Gilson (George Brent). Their wedded bliss is threatened by Gilson's own stubbornness, a lecherous neighbor and the reappearance of Fields.