All are very welcome to join us for our first melodrama meeting of 2018. We’ll be screening Female (1933, Michael Curtiz, 60 mins), on Tuesday 16th of January, 5-7pm, in Jarman 6.
The film stars Ruth Chatterton as Alison Drake, the owner-manager of a family business whose casual affairs with men turn serious once she meets Jim Thorne (George Brent). Like Baby Face, a film we screened at towards the end of the Autumn Term, Female is a pre-code film, written by Gene Markey and Kathryn Scola. It too raises many interesting issues regarding film history, audience address, gender and genre. We hope to further explore these by watching and discussing more pre-code films in the Spring Term.
Do join us if you can.
UPDATE: Lies has very kindly posted some wonderful fan magazine material about Female on the NoRMMA blog:
This gives us great insight into the film’s promotion and reception at the time. Thank so much Lies!