00:07Hey there, Ben Mankiewicz with you. Welcome back to TCM and more of our Night of Movies
00:11starring Warren William. Up next, a second straight pre-code film, the kind of movie
00:16that made Warren William one of Hollywood's preeminent actors. He was known as the King
00:21of Pre-Code. He starred in 23 films released in 1932, 33, or 34. But after the censors of
00:28the Production Code Administration started flexing their muscle in the middle of 1934,
00:33the kind of character Warren William played so effectively—handsome but cunning, charming but
00:39destructively selfish—immediately became less nuanced and therefore less interesting,
00:46bringing Warren William's run on Hollywood's A-list to an end. But our next film came during the heart
00:52of the pre-code era when movies were replete with provocative and salacious content, a perfect
01:00atmosphere for a Warren William character. This one's from Warner Brothers in 1933, Employees Entrance.
01:07William is Kurt Anderson, the ruthless manager of a big New York department store that's taken a
01:12serious hit during the Depression. He has no time for excuses and won't hesitate to fire anyone,
01:18even long-term employees. He's also scruple-free when it comes to seducing the women who work for
01:25him, including a young salesgirl played by Loretta Young. He gives her a job at the store after
01:30coercing her into spending the night with him. Then, when she tries to avoid him and take up with
01:36another employee, he does everything in his power to block her. Like I said, this was a movie produced
01:42before the production code was enforced, also apparently before human resources departments
01:47started cracking down on characters like that. Even for a pre-code film, this is a rather untamed
01:54story. It's fairly shocking even by today's standards. It was a natural fit for Warren William,
02:01the kind of role he played often in these pre-code pictures. Kurt Anderson is a thoroughly deplorable man,
02:08but Warren William infuses the character with just enough pathos to make him a little charming.
02:15By the way, by all accounts, Warren William was nothing like his characters off-screen. He was kind,
02:22shy even, and he was happily married to the same woman, Helen, all his adult life. From 1933,
02:29directed by Roy Delruth, also with Wallace Ford and Alice White. Employees entrance.
02:44.
02:46.
