Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Warren William and Loretta Young in Employees' Entrance (1933)

George Brent and Loretta Young in They Call It Sin (1932)

Lili Damita and Warren William in The Match King (1932)

Joyce Compton, Norman Foster, Marian Marsh, Anita Page, Regis Toomey, and Warren William in Under Eighteen (1931)

Jean Harlow and Wallace Ford in The Beast of the City (1932)

Zita Johann in The Sin of Nora Moran (1933)

Fredric March and Sylvia Sidney in Merrily We Go to Hell (1932)

James Cagney, Mae Clarke, Roy Del Ruth, Leslie Fenton, Margaret Lindsay, and Henry O'Neill in Lady Killer (1933)

Lionel Barrymore and Kay Francis in Guilty Hands (1931)

Robert Young and Betsy Drake in The Second Woman (1950)

Maureen O'Sullivan and Warren William in Skyscraper Souls (1932)

Splendid. She's in Egypt, digging up ruins.

Reginald Barlow and Purnell Pratt in Skyscraper Souls (1932)

Helen Coburn and Wallace Ford in Skyscraper Souls (1932)

George Barbier and Tom Kennedy in Skyscraper Souls (1932)

Wallace Ford and Norman Foster in Skyscraper Souls (1932)

Richard Alexander and Norman Foster in Skyscraper Souls (1932)

Jean Hersholt and Henry Roquemore in Skyscraper Souls (1932)

Maureen O'Sullivan and Norman Foster in Skyscraper Souls (1932)

Warren William

Maureen O&apos;Sullivan

Gregory Ratoff

Faith Baldwin

C. Gardner Sullivan

An entrepreneur will let nothing stand in his way of acquiring a 100-story office building.

Edgar Selwyn

Skyscraper Souls

High-Rise Drama In Neglected Film

Utterly ruthless &amp; immoral, the owner of New York&apos;s tallest building plots &amp; schemes to keep control of his creation, trampling upon anyone who gets in his way. Others working in the great colossus also live lives of drama &amp; everyday excitement. All these SKYSCRAPER SOULS will soon find themselves bound together by greed, lust, betrayal, suicide &amp; murder.

Practically screaming its pre-Production Code status, this neglected film is rather fascinating in the risqué development of its plot. Sex, both leering &amp; suggested, plays an important role in the story. By making its hero a man both charming &amp; completely treacherous, open to any underhand suggestion, it makes a lie out of Louis B. Mayer&apos;s assertion that all of MGM&apos;s product was family friendly. Even today, this is potent, powerful material. And absolutely engaging.

Warren William is almost distressingly good as the unscrupulous building owner, around whom much of the action revolves. His blunt dishonesty almost makes chicanery respectable.

The rest of the cast is equally proficient:

Maureen O&apos;Sullivan as a naive young secretary lusted over by William &amp; loved by brash bank clerk Norman Foster.

Gregory Ratoff, hilarious as a harried dressmaker.

Anita Page as a brash prostitute/model beloved by noble jeweler Jean Hersholt.

Verree Teasdale, William&apos;s mistress for 12 years, finally pushed to the breaking point.

Wallace Ford as a radio announcer, tragically driven to desperation by his love of unhappily married Helen Coburn.

George Barbier as a jolly fat debauchee, one of William&apos;s eventual financial victims.

And Hedda Hopper, William&apos;s absent, knowing wife - very content with his money, but not his company.

Movie mavens will also recognize Billy Gilbert as a lobby cigarette stand owner, Edward Brophy &amp; Doris Lloyd as the man &amp; woman in the elevator.

Official Trailer

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMDdhODFlYmYtZmFlOC00ZGM4LWI1NGMtMDU0MDE3NWQ4NDFmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXRyYW5zY29kZS13b3JrZmxvdw@@._V1_.jpg

Utterly ruthless & immoral, the owner of New York's tallest building plots & schemes to keep control of his creation, trampling upon anyone who gets in his way. Others working in the great colossus also live lives of drama & everyday excitement. All these SKYSCRAPER SOULS will soon find themselves bound together by greed, lust, betrayal, suicide & murder.

Practically screaming its pre-Production Code status, this neglected film is rather fascinating in the risqué development of its plot. Sex, both leering & suggested, plays an important role in the story. By making its hero a man both charming & completely treacherous, open to any underhand suggestion, it makes a lie out of Louis B. Mayer's assertion that all of MGM's product was family friendly. Even today, this is potent, powerful material. And absolutely engaging.

Warren William is almost distressingly good as the unscrupulous building owner, around whom much of the action revolves. His blunt dishonesty almost makes chicanery respectable.

The rest of the cast is equally proficient:

Maureen O'Sullivan as a naive young secretary lusted over by William & loved by brash bank clerk Norman Foster.

Gregory Ratoff, hilarious as a harried dressmaker.

Anita Page as a brash prostitute/model beloved by noble jeweler Jean Hersholt.

Verree Teasdale, William's mistress for 12 years, finally pushed to the breaking point.

Wallace Ford as a radio announcer, tragically driven to desperation by his love of unhappily married Helen Coburn.

George Barbier as a jolly fat debauchee, one of William's eventual financial victims.

And Hedda Hopper, William's absent, knowing wife - very content with his money, but not his company.

Movie mavens will also recognize Billy Gilbert as a lobby cigarette stand owner, Edward Brophy & Doris Lloyd as the man & woman in the elevator.

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