From March 11-24, Film Forum, in association with the Library of Congress, will present 'IT GIRLS, Flappers, Jazz Babies & Vamps', a festival dedicated to the sex symbols of the 1920s and 1930s, screen sirens like Miriam Hopkins, Marlene Dietrich, Louise Brooks, Joan Crawford and original "It Girl" Clara Bow, who defied censors, and Victorian morals,playing characters who were in complete control of their sexuality. While many mistakenly perceive Pre-Code films as "pornography precursors", the film's raciness was less about their explicit sexual content, and more about refusing to perpetuate a morality that wasn't keeping up with the pace of industrial and technological advancements. Films of the era were reminders of the power of women when it came to making social change, and affecting cultural movements. The program will include over a dozen films, including a screening of Joan Crawford's Private Home Movies (divided into two showings) presented by her grandson Casey LaLonde, and special appearances by Gay City News critic David Noh, and Ron Hutchinson of The Vitaphone Project. Needless to say so, almost every single film in the series is worth watching, but here are five that are absolutely essential:

Safe in Hell

Gilda Carlson (Dorothy Mackail) just can't catch a break. After accidentally killing the man who indirectly forced her into prostitution, she leaves New Orleans for the island of Tortuga. While awaiting her fiance (Donald Cook), she finds herself as the only woman in a hotel full of men, all criminals,  who attempt to seduce her. As if things couldn't get worse, the lecherous man she thought she killed arrives on the scene. As Gilda, Dorothy Mackail shines all the way, holding her own and even showing some bare leg as she suffers events salacious and unpredictable. Arguably this unfortunate turn of events combined with the frankness with which director William Wellman deals with it, is what makes Safe in Hell an intriguing and underrated picture. Nina Mae McKinney is also a welcome supporting player as the hotel manager whose sweet singing tempers the bleak circumstances. - Elissa Suh

Trouble in Paradise

Ernst Lubitsch's delightful caper begins in Venice, where two professional thieves Gaston and Lily (played by Herbert Marshall and Miriam Hopkins) fall in love, and choose to pursue a career in crime together. They pick a target in the shape of Parisian perfumier Colet (Kay Francis) who unexpectedly makes Gaston fall for her. Complications ensue when someone from Gaston's past makes an appearance, threatening to shatter the thieves' plans. Sexy, funny and endlessly quotable ("I have a confession to make to you: you like me. In fact, you're crazy about me.") the film is said to have been the first to establish "the Lubitsch touch", which he will come to perfect in works like Design for Living, Ninotchka and the gorgeous The Shop Around the Corner. - Jose Solis

The Patsy

Mostly remembered for starring the otherwise elusive Marion Davies (very few of her films remain available for public viewing) in a film commissioned by her powerful lover William Randolph Hearst, The Patsy, sees the luminous starlet play the title character, a shy young woman hopelessly in love with her oldest sister's beau. Even though the film features supporting performances from some of the era's greatest actors (Oscar winner Marie Dressler in her big comeback after being away from the screen for a decade) Davies carries the vehicle like a pro. Seeing her go from a wallflower to a powerful romantic heroine by way of other screen sirens (she does spot-on mpressions of Lillian Gish and Pola Negri) is nothing short of miraculous, which is a shame considering Hearst failed to see this quality about her. Desperate to see her become a great dramatic actress, he failed to nurture her natural gift as a comedian and led her to pursue the opposite direction. - Jose Solis

Pandora's Box

Louise Brooks' performance as Lulu in this classic by G.W. Pabst is the epitome of iconic. People who don't even know the film, know the bob, the severe makeup and straight-but-expressive eyebrows, of the actress who inspired countless femme fatales who came after her. While the plot, based on Frank Wedekind's Lulu plays, is straight out of a soap opera - there are everything from trapeze acts, to pimps, and an appearance by Jack the Ripper (!!!) - the assured direction by Pabst and the atmospheric cinematography courtesy of Günther Krampf, not to mention Brooks' astonishingly natural performance, which often seduce viewers despite her seeming lack of interest in anyone but herself, make this one a must-see. Ahead of its time in endless ways, the film shows one of the first portrayals of lesbian attraction in screen history. - Jose Solis

The Blue Angel

In Josef von Sternberg’s The Blue Angel, the prolific Emil Jannings plays Immanuel Rath, an aging professor whose life is turned upside down when he falls in love with Lola Lola, the deceiving nightclub singer played by Marlene Dietrich. Due to Dietrich’s breakout performance as the femme fatale, the film was an international success. The actress then moved to the United States where her stardom grew tremendously, becoming Hollywood’s “It Girl” of the 1930s. Sternberg’s early sound film shows the stern Professor Rath’s vulnerability when he stumbles into a world unknown, only to be intrigued by attention, fooled by affection and misled by the notion of acceptance. The Blue Angel is a sad song played in tune, with songs and laughs along the way. It’s a true rise and fall tale only to question the authenticity of the rise itself. - David Knuckles

For more information on 'IT GIRLS, Flappers, Jazz Babies & Vamps' visit Film Forum.