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Well this Film Forum Essential Pre-Code Series is certainly doing wonders for Warren William around the web! At the bottom of this post is a list of a several recent articles centered on Warren William and the Film Forum’s Series.
First though I wanted to mention to Netflix Instant subscribers that you can now see Warren William’s final movie, The Private Affairs of Bel Ami (1947) through Instant. Though Bel Ami had a VHS release I don’t believe it’s ever made it to DVD and a few years ago when I was tracking down every possible Warren William recording it turned out to be one of the last I found!
Warren William and George Sanders
Warren’s part isn’t big, he’s handed off the cad baton to George Sanders, but it’s a big kick to see him interact with both Sanders and Ann Dvorak who had played his wife 15 years earlier in Three on a Match (1932). Based on the Guy De Maupassant novel Bel-Ami, this film adaptation would be worth watching even if Warren William was nowhere to be found. It’s one of a handful of titles I’m very glad my WW-mania pointed me towards, even if I was initially disappointed due to William’s lack of time in it.
Ann Dvorak and Warren William
Netflix is also currently streaming The Wolf Man (1941) and Strange Illusion (1945) can be found free of charge on Hulu.
Leading off the Film Forum related linking is this piece from Jaime N. Christley, whose tweet actually alerted me to the existence of Bel Ami on Netflix. See Christley’s article Essential Pre-Code on Slant Magazine.
Up next is the man who led me, and surely many others, to Warren William in the first place when his face adorned a couple of VHS cases back in the 90’s, Skyscraper Souls (1932) and Employees’ Entrance (1933)*. Leonard Maltin covers the Pre-Code Series in Revisting Pre-Code Hollywood on Leonard Maltin’s Movie Crazy.
*Three on a Match too, but I was more captivated by Ann Dvorak than straitlaced Warren in that one!
15 Years Younger: Ann Dvorak and Warren William in Three on a Match
Warren William, pre-code predator, at Film Forum is by Chris Vognar at The Dallas Morning News
Essential Pre-Code at Film Forum: Week One is by Brynn White at AltScreen.
Warren William: As Titan of Industry, King of Pre-Code is by J. Hoberman at The Village Voice
Finally, this one says it’s from eight months ago, but a link from somewhere led me to it tonight:
Warren William: Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? by Imogen Smith on The Chiseler
Available on Amazon for just $2.99 -
I’ve seen the first Thurs installment (7/21) of the Warren William Thursdays at Film Forum’s Pre-Code Retrospective – a double feature of Employees’ Entrance & The Mind Reader. The theater was about 2/3 full (at my showings), the audience was responsive and seemed to be enjoying it, and I would say that everyone had a grand old time. I hadn’t seen The Mind Reader before and it was a delight – superb WW all the way (also got a kick out of Clarence Muse & Allen Jenkins as his sidekicks). On to the next thursday!
Thanks for the report! Yes, The Mind Reader is a blast!
Great links, Cliff – I saw “Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf” earlier in the year and thought it was outstanding. Glad to hear that the Film Forum audience was solid for our man Warren. A month or so ago I sent some emails to the folks at FF asking if they’d be interested in doing a Q & A, signing, or other WW-centric programming, but nothing came back. I figure they must have those things timed pretty tightly, alas. I guess we disagree (again) on Bel Ami. I find it pretty slow and stagey. George Sanders is okay, but when Warren was younger he would have been an infinitely better Bel-Ami…
John, sorry, I missed this comment. That’s a shame Film Forum didn’t get back to you, man, that would have been a natural no-brainer fit! I think Bel Ami is strong in every aspect except as WW-vehicle. Jeeze, can you imagine if it were a 1932 WB romp starring Warren? Oh man, that would have been a movie!