When Ladies Meet (1933)

(On Cable TV, September 2022) The most interesting aspect of pre-Code films is not necessarily the violence or the scantily-clad ladies, but the way they tackle adult, intelligent issues with wit and crackling dialogue. The Hollywood style that developed during that time, fuelled by snarky sophisticated young writers imported from Manhattan and the best that Broadway had to offer, still feels unusually modern, as films of that time cleverly wrestled with independent women, relationships, infidelity, sexual ethics and other topics that would disappear from American cinema until the 1960s (and even then, re-emerging as reactionary bursts rather than more even-keeled subject matters). When Ladies Meet is an exemplary example of pre-Code cinema, as it studies women becoming friends without knowing that one is trying to seduce the other’s husband. Ironies abound, as do snappy dialogue lines and good character work by actors such as Myrna Loy (of course!), Ann Harding and Robert Montgomery. It makes for surprisingly grown-up viewing despite its age—even today, I’m not sure contemporary films can tackle that material without being tempted to score morality points. Pre-Code cinema, in some ways, hasn’t quite been surpassed yet…