Yes! One hundred percent yes; while I love some of the style and banter and understatement that we got out of the careful limitations of the Hayes Code, and I sympathize with whichever actress it was who made the argument that once it became OK for filmmakers to put women back in the bedroom they stopped putting them anywhere else, I'm often just genuinely stunned -- in a good way -- by the kinds of stories that are told in pre-Code films.

(Oh, it's SO EASY to ship Lily and Chico. I actually remember reading that the clear relationship-of-equals and genuine friendship with Chico was one of the reasons the film was so heavily censored. I can't really think of anything else like it in any of the films I've seen from that era.)

Wild Boys of the Road sounds fascinating!