Forbidden Hollywood is a monthly series hosted by STL film critic Katie Carter celebrating the Pre-Code films of the early 1930s, when movies were wild, racy, transgressive, and tons of fun.

Considered one of the first— if not the first— women in prison movies, 1933’s Ladies They Talk About stars a perfectly cast Barbara Stanwyck as Nan Taylor, the hardboiled member of a gang of bank robbers who ends up taking the rap for a job and ending up serving time in San Quentin. While her will they/won’t they romance with radio evangelist David Slade (Preston Foster) is contrived, the interactions between the female inmates provide a wildly entertaining and illuminating glimpse at clashing feminine emotions. Based on a play by Dorothy Mackaye, inspired by her own stint in San Quentin for conspiring to coverup the death of her husband, Ladies They Talk About contains all the ingredients to make it a prototype of what would become a popular exploitation subgenre once the Production Code disintegrated in the 1960s, from cat fights and queer overtones to offbeat musical interludes and frank discussions of sex and the inmates’ misdemeanors.

Arkadin does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. However, we encourage researching titles to determine if a screening may contain content that could be upsetting to you. Please feel free to contact us for guidance on specific films. Information about content can also be found on Common Sense Media, IMDB and DoesTheDogDie.com, as well as through general internet searches.