In essence, Turner Classics Movies’ research department has obtained the rights to air six RKO films that have been lost in copyright hell for decades (another example of copyright gone wrong, like unto so many others). Three of the films are pre-Code: "One Man’s Journey, Double Harness and Rafter Romance, all from 1933. In addition, there’s “Stingaree, Living on Love” and “A Man To Remember,” from 1936-38.
The films will air April 4 and 11
They look like respectable films, but hey, those movie people were getting pretty raunchy before the iron boot of the Catholic Church landed on Hollywood in 1935.
That “Double Harness” title intrigues me … could it be? … nawwwwww.
Thanks for the heads up. I really want to check these films out, especially the pre code ones. And TCM is great about showing lesser known pre code movies.
Personally I am more excited by ‘new’ movies starring William Powell or Ginger Rogers plus Garson Kanin’s directorial debut. But I just like old movies.
Wow, that is pretty awesome. I saw the film titles on the DVR but they didn’t ring a bell; don’t know when I’ll get a chance to watch them, but I’ll see about taping them now. Thanks!
Pre-code films are fun, and the hyperbole makes for good publicity.
However, I and many others saw Rafter Romance on Friday evening, July 7, 1995, at The Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto, California. It was on a triple bill with Queen High and The Thirteenth Guest. I assume that other Straight Dopers have seen at least some of the other films too.
Rafter Romance will not be a rediscovered lost classic. It’s low budget and fun, particularly when Robert Benchley is on screen, practicing (as I recall, so to speak) the art of telephone solicitation during the depths of the depression. Part of the film is shot outdoors. For the indoor scenes, two words – Ginger Rogers. Yes, 22-year-old Ginger Rogers, in and out of the shower.
Oh, yeah, Rafter Romance had Ginger Rogers in the shower, naked from the knees down AND the shoulders up! Saucy! And I believe she performed the whole film in the nude … underneath her clothes, of course!
With the kind of massive promotion that TCM did of these debuts, how, how is it possible that it was too much for their programming staff to get the movies ended within their time slots?
The slots were 1:15. The movies ran 1:17. The DVR cut off the endings unless you watched them live.
I tried watching Double Harness but got bored by it pretty quick. William Powell being rich and saying witty things to a blonde … where have I seen that before? Oh, yes, all those Thin Man movies …
Just watched Rafter Romance. Wow, what a stinkeroo!
Double Harness was a filmed stage play, so the dialog was first rate. And William Powell was being exceptionally William Powellish.
Rafter Romance was incomprehensibly bad. Bad dialog, bad acting, and ridiculous plotting. I kept waiting for someone to ask: but what happens on Sundays when neither of us work?
Yeah, I know. It’s the movies. And the several zillion earlier plays and musicals that used the same plot device got away with it. Still.
