I recently watched THREE ON A MATCH, which certainly fills the bill as a Pre-Code wonder. There's a little of everything for everyone: alcoholism, gambling, child abuse, racketeering, and of course, kidnapping and extortion.
Since this film was made in 1932, I was wondering if it predated the Lindberg kidnapping, or was released after the fact? Did life imitate art, or vice versa? SETH
Question about THREE ON A MATCH
Question about THREE ON A MATCH
Please don't call the occasional theatrical release of an old movie a "reissue." We do not say "The next time you go to the Louvre, you will see a re-issue of the Mona Lisa.” -- Cecil B. DeMille
Re: Question about THREE ON A MATCH
According to Wikipedia, the abduction took place on 20 March 1932.
Bob
Bob
The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there.
— L.P. Hartley
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aldiboronti
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Re: Question about THREE ON A MATCH
To be precise the release date for Three On A Match was 29th October 1932. IMDB shows the screenplay was from a story by Kubec Glasmon and John Bright. No date for the story. For what it's worth the contemporary reviews for the movie that I've checked, such as the New York Times review, make no mention at all of the Lindbergh kidnapping. The kidnapping of the children of rich men had been a growth industry in the underworld for some years before the Lindbergh case; I'm guessing the film wasn't specifically inspired by it but topicality never hurt a movie!
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Mike Gebert
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Re: Question about THREE ON A MATCH
Right, I don't think the art is really that close to life in this case to be an imitation, but it was certainly a topic in the air at that time generally. There were various high-profile kidnappings around that time (although the only one I can think of offhand is the Hamm's beer heir which was the next year).
Cinema has no voice, but it speaks to us with eyes that mirror the soul. ―Ivan Mosjoukine
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zigguraticus
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Re: Question about THREE ON A MATCH
And don't forget the terrific title song with music by Ted Fiorito (and, for the record, words by Raymond B. Egan, not heard in the film). The tune was also used as underscoring in the shipboard scene in "Blondie of the Follies," same year.
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greta de groat
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Re: Question about THREE ON A MATCH
You forgot cocaine abuse!sethb wrote:I recently watched THREE ON A MATCH, which certainly fills the bill as a Pre-Code wonder. There's a little of everything for everyone: alcoholism, gambling, child abuse, racketeering, and of course, kidnapping and extortion.
Since this film was made in 1932, I was wondering if it predated the Lindberg kidnapping, or was released after the fact? Did life imitate art, or vice versa? SETH
greta