BABY FACE, 1933, Warner Bros, 76 min. In one of the last gasps of pre-code Hollywood, Barbara Stanwyck plays a prostitute who moves to the big city and uses her skills to climb the corporate ladder. Sharp dialogue (with a story credited to a young Darryl F. Zanuck) and a pervasive atmosphere of sordid eroticism mark this classic of early sound cinema. Look for a then unknown John Wayne in a bit part.
THE BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN, 1933, Sony Repertory, 88 min. One of Frank Capra’s greatest films, this complex love story between an American missionary (Barbara Stanwyck) and her Chinese captor (Nils Asther) is a haunting masterpiece. Subtle and deeply mysterious, it presents Stanwyck at her best and Capra at his most provocative, with an interracial romance that is both moving and challenging.