The Top Films Starring the Top Lesbians and Bisexuals of Old Hollywood

Ten years ago, Autostraddle first published a piece about the top ten most sexually prolific lesbians and bisexuals of Old Hollywood. We are revisiting this well-loved piece, with an updated chart and this new companion list featuring movie recommendations! Read on for some recommendations of movies to watch that starred, were directed by, or written by lesbian and bisexual women.

Dorothy Arzner

Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)

Maureen O’Sullivan as a ballerina who tells off an audience full of men? Lucille Ball playing a brassy burlesque dancer? Absolutely. Two ambitious dancers fight for success, although their approaches and willingness to compromise alter their unique courses.

Merrily We Go to Hell (1932)

In this brilliant precode film that eases gracefully from romantic comedy to drama, a charming writer marries an idealistic heiress, but his alcohol addiction eventually erodes her determination to stand by him. This movie has everything: biting cynicism, gorgeous costumes, sparkling banter, cute-as-pie Sylvia Sydney, and women embracing their sexuality as only precode dames can. The cast is excellent and the portrayal of addiction is handled well. 

The Bride Wore Red (1937)

Here’s a fun comedy-drama starring fellow list-er, Joan Crawford. It’s a romance but honestly the friendship between Joan’s character Anni and her friend, the hotel maid, Maria, is the most interesting relationship.

Bonus: Billie Burke, another woman on the chart of Old Hollywood’s queer women, is in this one too.

Barbara Stanwyck

Ball of Fire (1941)

Stanwyck plays a streetsmart singer who has to hide out when her gangster boyfriend is caught by the police. She seeks refuge with a group of professors writing an encyclopedia. She’s intelligent, she’s seductive, she makes Gary Cooper’s character hold her foot, and she throws a punch so well that she actually cracked the other actress’s jaw. This movie is hilarious, and Stanwyck absolutely shines in it.

Double Indemnity (1944)

Stanwyck is magnetic as a femme fatale who persuades insurance man Fred MacMurray to murder her husband for her (he does it because he can’t get over how hot she is in an anklet which is, frankly, fair). She is iconic in her bleach blonde hair and cat eye sunglasses. 

The Mad Miss Manton (1938)

A fairly obscure choice here, but I stand by it because Stanwyck is delightful as a socialite-turned-detective in this mystery film. The romance between her character and Henry Fonda’s is contrived at best. But seeing her friends all huddle on her bed to watch her put on makeup and later the whole group brilliantly invading the crime scene will make you wish there was an entire series dedicated to these hilarious babes.

Joan Crawford

The Women (1939)

This comedy is a must-see. It features an all-female cast playing a variety of messy characters who trade delicious barbs. Crawford is a gold-digging shopgirl, stealing the main character’s husband. Her parting line is easily one of the best a character ever got to dole out.

Bonus: Marjorie Main is also in this, and she had a long-term relationship with Spring Byington.

When Ladies Meet (1941)

This movie starts with Joan Crawford fending off a man trying to kiss her, greeting heart-eyed female fans begging her to sign their autograph books intimately—and it only gets gayer from there. The male love interests are both pretty terrible, but Crawford and Greer Garson have incredible chemistry. Crawford admiringly tells Garson how beautiful her fingers are and, after it ends, you won’t be the only one writing a head canon that the two women dump their loser men and find each other instead.

Bonus: Spring Byington, Marjorie Main’s long-term partner, is in this one, too.

Eva Le Gallienne

The Devil’s Disciple (1959)

Admittedly, Le Gallienne is barely in this odd little movie. Unfortunately the bulk of her work was on television and the stage, which makes finding examples of her acting pretty difficult. However, if you want to see her as a mother whose final words to her son are to curse him, then this is for you. Also of note: Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas sporting the ittiest bittiest ponytail queues you ever saw in your life.

Greta Garbo

Queen Christina (1933)

This precode drama is a favorite on queer film lists for a reason. Garbo kisses her lady-in-waiting on the lips with promises of time alone together; she wears men’s clothes so much better than any of the other men in the movie that she is mistaken for a man; and she declares that she will always be a bachelor. Perfection. Even though you’ll have to suffer through a hetero love story, you’ll end the film pledging your allegiance to Queen Garbo, as is only right.

Grand Hotel (1932)

Here’s another precode classic, and this one features not one but two women from the chart: Garbo and Joan Crawford. It’s a star-studded drama with interconnected plotlines. Garbo plays a depressed and dramatic ballerina who famously wants to be alone. Crawford plays a stenographer who begrudgingly accepts the advances of her lecherous employer.

Ninotchka (1939)

Hear me out. This movie is far from feminist. But Garbo is sensational in one of her few comedic roles. She’s a Russian official sent to rein in her wayward compatriots in Paris. She is ultimately seduced by a dashing Frenchman and, sadly, capitalism. But hearing her tell Melvyn Douglas to suppress his urge to flirt will make it worth it.

Katharine Hepburn

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

This ranks in my top ten favorite movies of all time, and it’s easily one of Hepburn’s best. She plays socialite Tracy Samantha Lord, who is blackmailed into letting two reporters cover her wedding. The highly quotable romantic comedy covers such themes as forgiveness, social class, and the inevitability of human flaws. Hepburn bought the rights and sold it to MGM on the condition that she play the lead role and pick her co-stars. Such a power move. 

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

One of screwball comedy’s finest, Hepburn plays a madcap heiress who forces a befuddled Cary Grant to help her transport a leopard, Baby, to her farm in Connecticut. Hilarity ensues. She is so perfect in this role that it’s truly shocking that it was her first comedic turn. Side note: This movie is credited as the first to use the word “gay” in its current context.

Stage Door (1937)

A women’s boarding house for Broadway hopefuls? Check. Eve Arden wandering around with a cat? Check. Ginger Rogers and Katharine Hepburn bantering their way into delicious sexual tension? Check and check. This is one of those movies where I press play and proceed to hang onto every word. It’s a fantastic ensemble cast. 

Sylvia Scarlett (1935)

Okay, I’m putting this on the list because it is so queer it would be a crime not to include it. It was so queer, in fact, that it caused Hepburn to be labelled “Box Office Poison,” but it now has a cult classic status. I found this movie very odd, personally, so prepare yourself accordingly. It doesn’t entirely know whether it’s a romantic comedy or a tragic melodrama. But Hepburn plays a woman who masquerades as a boy when she and her embezzling father escape France together. She’s stuck in the role when they join up with conman Cary Grant. Hepburn’s look is sexy as fuck and she attracts men and women throughout the movie.

Alla Nazimova

Salome (1922)

I’m obsessed with this fever dream of a film. Rumored to have an entirely queer cast as an homage to Oscar Wilde, and with on-screen queerness, it’s a must-see. Nazimova is entrancing in this and every single shot looks like a piece of art.

Camille (1921)

Nazimova is simply a dream to watch. She poses dramatically like a dancer. Her eyebrows are fantastically expressive. I can never take my eyes off of her when she is on screen. She plays the titular tragic heroine in this silent adaptation. Nazimova’s (alleged) lover—Natasha Rambova’s lavender marriage husband, Rudolph Valentino—co-stars as the naively earnest Armand.

Marlene Dietrich

Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

Dietrich is fucking iconic in this hilarious courtroom thriller. Playing a woman whose husband is convicted of murder yet adamantly claims he’s innocent, Dietrich’s cold Christine is a perfect foil to Tyrone Power’s charismatic Leonard Vole. The movie will draw you in down to the very final minute. Plus we get to see Dietrich sing in her sexy husky voice and play the accordion in a jumper. What’s not to love?

Morocco (1930)

Marlene Dietrich sauntering around in a tuxedo and top hat while seductively smoking a cigarette and kissing women on the lips is what cinema was made for, actually. This is absolutely Dietrich’s film and she is superb in it.

Tallulah Bankhead

Lifeboat (1944)

I know I keep saying iconic, but what says iconic more than Bankhead playing a sophisticated reporter, sitting on a lifeboat after a U-boat attack, wearing a mink coat and diamond bracelet, surrounded by luggage and a typewriter? She is amazingly out of place in this gripping survival film, and she steals the show flawlessly.

A Royal Scandal (1945)

This was one of my favorite movies I watched for this assignment. It’s very funny and silly, and Bankhead plays the thirstiest bitch you ever saw. Admittedly, she’s thirsty in a very hetero way, but she does threaten to spank Anne Baxter, so there’s that. Unfortunately, it is not streaming anywhere, and I had to watch it on DVD.

Faithless (1932)

This one was streaming on Max but it fell off their catalog in July. Hopefully it’ll pop up somewhere again soon. It is a well constructed precode fall-from-grace drama with a solid character arc. Bankhead is flawless in this role. Fair warning: You will be expected to empathize with a guy who takes a job as a strike breaker. We are pro union in this household and did not approve. Otherwise, this was a great movie.

Mercedes De Acosta

Rasputin and the Empress (1932)

Sadly, De Acosta’s work is pretty limited when it comes to Hollywood films. However, she was a writer, albeit an uncredited one, for this movie. After reading up on it a little bit, I learned she was fired from her role as the writer because she refused to write a scene that she knew was historically inaccurate. The producer fired her, proceeded to have the scene written by someone else, and then was promptly sued as De Acosta predicted. The lawsuit resulted in the first “fictitious persons” disclaimer, which is why it plays at the front of films today. This was also the only movie to star all three Barrymore siblings.

Claudette Colbert

Note: While Claudette Colbert does not appear on the top 10 actresses list, she is featured in the chart.

It Happened One Night (1934)

A classic screwball comedy. This one is hilarious, Colbert gives the perfect blend of wit, sophistication, and sexiness to the role. It’s one of my favorites, and it made history in many ways. Notably, Colbert didn’t expect to win the Oscar for Best Actress, so she didn’t even plan to attend the ceremony. She was persuaded to go just before leaving town and wound up accepting the award in a travel suit. 

The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)

This delightful little precode musical comedy is stuffed to the brim with sexual innuendo. The singing is not particularly great and one wonders how the hero is attracting two women who could easily do better. In fact, as if to show what could have been, Colbert and Miriam Hopkins have fantastic chemistry, an on-screen kiss, and the best number in the film (“Jazz Up Your Lingerie”).