Collections/February 2026

Gangsters, Gold Diggers, and Grifters: Mervyn LeRoy’s Pre-Code Films

In the early 1930s, when Warner Bros. was the home for gritty, socially conscious dramas ripped from the fabric of working-class life, perhaps no director exemplified the studio’s trademark style—punchy, edgy, slangy, and relentlessly paced—more than the prolific Mervyn LeRoy, who directed a remarkable twenty-five films between 1930 and 1934. Including brutal crime-drama classics like Little Caesar and I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang , hard-hitting stories of urban realism like Five Star Final and Three on a Match , fast-talking comedies like High Pressure and Hard to Handle , and the Busby Berkeley musical extravaganza Gold Diggers of 1933 , these tales of hustlers, chiselers, con men, and chorus girls bring the flinty, make-or-break world of the Depression era to vivid life. Programmed by Bernardo Rondeau

10 films — 0 on the Channel, 10 unavailable