Pre-Code Crazy for August 2026

Pre-Code Crazy is the monthly series here at Shadows and Satin and over at the blog of my pal Kristina, Speakeasy, where each month we recommend a pre-Code film for you to watch on TCM – we never know what the other has selected until we post, and we try to never pick the same movie! How many times can I say that a movie is one of my favorites? I really have to come up with another descriptor. But, in the meantime, my Pre-Code Crazy recommendation for the month of August is one of my favorites: Ten Cents a Dance (1931) starring – of course – one of my favorite actresses, Barbara Stanwyck. Clocking in at an economical 75 minutes, this one packs a punch, serving up everything from extramarital attraction and class hypocrisy to financial desperation, embezzlement, and suicide. Stanwyck with Sally Blane. Stanwyck plays Barbara O’Neill, who works in a dance hall – where patrons are charged a dime for every twirl around the floor with the dancers. She catches the eye of wealthy businessman…