THIRTEEN WOMEN (1932)

Thirteen sorority sisters receive letters from a clairvoyant foretelling their demise.  Unbeknownst to the ladies, Ursula Georgi, a half Javanese* Eurasian woman with strong powers of persuasion, is the one behind those doomsday oracles. An outcast because of her mixed-race origins (yeah, this one is pretty racist too), Ursula seeks revenge on the girls whose torment forced her to leave school. Using mind control, Ursula exacts her retaliation by manipulating them to kill themselves and each other.

THIRTEEN WOMEN was one of the first films to feature an almost entirely female ensemble cast. It was also the only film to feature Peg Entwistle, a young starlet who committed suicide by throwing herself from the top of the Hollywood sign.

*Javanese refers to someone from the island of Java.

THE MAD GENIUS (1931)

Ivan Tsarakov, wishing to vicariously live out his dreams of being a dancer, adopts Fedor Ivanoff in order to mold him into the greatest dancer of all time. Along the way, Fedor falls in love with Nana Calova, much to the chagrin of Ivan. Fearful that it will ruin his dance career, Ivan forbids the love affair forcing the pair to run away together.Enraged by his protégé’s betrayal, Ivan does whatever he can to ruin any chance of happiness Fedor and Nana may attempt to have.

This John Barrymore classic was green lit by Warner Brothers after the success of John’s previous film, SVENGALI.  It even featured his SVEN costar Marian Marsh.

THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (1932)

While sailing past an island off of the coast of South America, a big game hunting party hits a reef and sinks. The only survivor, famous hunter and author Bob Rainsford, stumbles upon a fortress. There he meets Eve and Martin, a brother and sister who have also shipwrecked on the island. He also meets the Zaroff, a Russian Count who escaped to the island after the revolution. Zaroff, a big game hunter like Bob, laments on how he had become bored with hunting until he came to this island where he hunts “the most dangerous game.” The next morning, he discovers what exactly Zaroff is hunting when he is shown Martin’s slain body. Bob and Eve thus become the prey on the twisted Zaroff’s game preserve.

Not only was THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME shot on the same set as KING KONG, but it also features KING KONG cast members Robert Armstrong and pre-code staple Fay Wray.

MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1932)

Mad scientist Dr. Mirakle played by Bela Lugosi, has been abducting young women for the purposes of finding a mate for his talking ape, Erik. While displaying Erik as part of a sideshow, Mirakle crosses paths with the Camille, a beautiful woman whom ape-man Erik is immediately attracted to.

Even before the code, Universal felt the urge to censor themselves by removing several of the most violent scenes from the final cut of the film. In addition to several violent scenes still in the film, there are many bawdy ones as well including some suggestive language and some suggestive displays of flesh. Although spawning from the Edgar Allan Poe short story of the same name, this one is a very loose interpretation of the source material.

ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (1932)

Shipwreck victim Edward Parker finds himself on a strange South Seas’ island.  He is taken in and enjoys the hospitality of the island’s owner Dr. Moreau. There he also meets the exotic and strangely affectionate Lota.  Hearing screams in the middle of the night, Edward quickly discovers the Doctor’s horrible experiments on animals, accelerating their evolution into human-like creatures. Even Lota was once a panther. Based on H.G. Wells THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, the movie was actually reviled by the author because of its excessive use of gore and violence.  The film was also banned in England because of scenes featuring cruelty towards animals.