Review of Trouble in Paradise (1932) by Michael S — 19 Aug 2008

What?s interesting about this movie is that it could have never been made at any other time than it was. As a pre-code film it was able to use a lot of sexual innuendos that could have never been used a few years later, and it wouldn?t have worked today as most of its humor is rooted in the way it gets around the standards of 1930s decency.

Of course censoring this movie would be silly, all the innuendos would have gone straight over the heads of any children watching, and that?s a big part of why this is so innovative, it?s a Hollywood movie from the early 30s with distinctly adult sensibilities.

This is one of the first screwball comedies, even pre-dating It Happened One Night, and its status as a pre-code film means it could go a lot further than the movies it inspired. I can?t say I personally found the movie all that funny, but I can appreciate the way this was comically put together, looked at in the context of its time, this is a real achievement.