Search for Beauty is a 1934 Pre-Code dramedy film, with some musical Busby Berkeley-esque athletic sequences, directed by Erle C. Kenton and starring Buster Crabbe and Ida Lupino. They play a pair of lovers and aquatic champion Olympians (he a swimmer, she a diver) who become the face of a health magazine, which over their objections is turned into a “skin” rag.  Armstrong and Michael portray ex-cons with the ‘scheme’ (and both have designs to break up the loving couple for themselves), and Gleason is their cohort. In his first few scenes Crabbe promotes exercise: “Get off your (pause) ‘feet’ and get on them!”

Not only are the dialog and situations pretty risqué for 1939 but there are plenty of suggestive visuals. Michaels enthusiastically ogles Crabbe’s crotch through binoculars; plus there’s a shower scene below with bare-assed young men flitting about.

Today if sent to the stick-up-the ass, prusish MPAA they would certainly rate this movie PG-13