A previous reviewer called this film "dated". I'm always rather amused by such a comment. Of course it's dated--the film was made in 1933! That's precisely what makes it so charming. It's a slice of Americana, circa 1933, that you are unlikely to find in any other way. The music, the fashions, the decor, even Busby Berkely's over-the-top, wonderful production number all add up to a fantastic glimpse of our past. The art deco sets alone are worth the price of admission (which on TCM is free!). Throw in some marvelously talented actors who may not have been doing their best work--but they were entertaining just the same--and you have a simply marvelous little piece of cinematic magic. And that tune--"Spin a Little Web of Dreams"--I can't get it out of my head!
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timshome20530 December 2008
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Lenny Nero7 June 2000Despite its garish title, "Fashions of 1934" is actually a pretty decent movie, certainly better than the bad reputation it's stuck with. Armed with a snappy script and fast paced direction, the actors in "Fashions" shine, showing off their abilities, whether they be comedic, dramatic or both. William Powell makes a good old rascal, the decent "un decent" man that was a virtual staple at Warner Bros. (the studio who produced this film) at the time. Bette Davis, all glammed up in red lipstick and classy dresses, shows off a rare ability for humor, fitting right in to the film's light hearted tone. As Powell's sidekick, Frank McHugh almost steals the show, mastering and even rising above the script's punchlines by exaggerated facial expressions and crude but effective slapstick. "Fashions of 1934" isn't a comedy classic nor does it aim to be one. It simply wants to entertain the audience with good humor, effective acting and direction that moves things along at a quick pace. By all accounts, it has succeeded.
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blanche-223 September 2005"Fashions of 1934" is an amusing light comedy starring William Powell and Bette Davis. Davis looks much more sophisticated than she did in "The Man Who Played God." She's very glamorous and also very good in a film that's mainly fueled by Powell's performance as a con man. The Powell character goes from con to con, sometimes a con within a con - he can't resist. One of his schemes is to copy fashion sketches from Paris and pass them off as originals. Another is to sell a surplus of ostrich plumes by featuring them in a musical revue. This gives rise to a great musical number, "Spin a Little Web of Dreams." It's a Busby Berkeley kaleidoscope production. The audience at the musical revue, however, didn't see it as moviegoers did - from above.
This is a fun movie and notable for the actual fashions shown, a good performance by Powell, a spectacular number and early Davis before she established her screen persona. -
lugonian31 August 2001FASHIONS OF 1934 (Warner Brothers, 1934), directed by William Dieterle, is a light comedy that pairs debonair William Powell for the one and only time opposite the very young but unrecognizable Bette Davis. Although an unlikely pair, there isn't much chemistry between them. It is also surprising for a first time viewer to find Bette in platinum blonde shoulder length hair supported with heavy eye lashes and lipstick. One can only imagine Davis detesting such an assignment having her look more like a department store mannequin than herself, but it was one of many such "nothing" film roles before the studio would know what to do with her. In spite of it being labeled a musical, Davis does not sing a note nor dance, but the movie itself does consist of one lavish production number, choreographed by Busby Berkeley, which needs to be seen to be believed, but otherwise, worth the price of admission. On and all, FASHIONS OF 1934 (TV and video title: FASHIONS), solely relies on comedy and its presentation of the latest fashions, which were probably never seen again after this movie finished its theatrical run.
The story opens with Sherwood Nash (Powell), a smooth operator who can talk his way in and out of anything, being evicted from his Golden Harvest Investment Corporation for back payment of rent. While his furniture is being moved out, Nash encounters Lynn Mason (Bette Davis), a fashion designer seeking employment. Looking over her drawn sketches, Nash, finding Lynn to be very talented, decides to pursue another kind of racket, that as a fashion swindler. He uses theatrical methods to steal dress designs from famous designers and presenting them to potential buyers at cut-rate prices. After getting caught, Lynn, Nash and Snap (Frank McHugh), Nash's girl-chasing partner, shipboard their way to Paris to get the latest designs. Trying to come up with new and original ideas, Nash meets and befriends Joe Ward (Hugh Herbert), a California feather merchant hoping to interest designers into using more ostrich feathers on their creations. With the help of his former girlfriend, Mabel Maguire (Verree Teasdale), posing as the Grand Duchess Alix, a Russian noblewoman, presently engaged to designer Oscar Baroque (Reginald Owen), Nash arranges to get revue and fashion show together featuring the Grand Duchess Alix. Nash meets further complications when there is a possibility that Lynn might walk out on him, and of he being exposed by Baroque, who wants to ruin him.
FASHIONS OF 1934 very much belongs to Powell, quite amusing and self-confident man. His performance itself never disappoints. The fashion show is preceded by a Busby Berkeley number, "Spin a Little Web of Dreams" (music and lyrics by Irving Kahal and Sammy Fain), as sung by Verree Teasdale. It highlights several chorus girls as human harps and others in pre-production code bikinis, exposing more skin of the female body than any other Berkeley number has up to that time. However, the heavy blonde wigs the semi-nude girls wear make them appear older than their actual youthful ages. And of course, in true Berkeley tradition, the girls in ostrich feather gowns form themselves into one large blooming rose.
In the supporting cast are Philip Reed as Jimmy Blake, a struggling songwriter in love with Lynn; Gordon Westcott and Dorothy Burgess as a couple of swindlers working for Nash in the early portion of the story; Henry O'Neill, Etienne Girardot and George Humbert as famous fashion designers who have their designs stolen by Nash; Hobart Cavanaugh as a man with a box of dancing worms; and Jane Darwell in a small role as a patron during the fashion show sequence. And then there is that Frank McHugh laugh, especially while either looking at some "naughty girlie photographs" or encountering them in the flesh.
FASHIONS OF 1934 is enjoyable fluff from the Golden Age of Hollywood, and would be recommended to those who enjoy watching pre-code production movies. Formerly presented on commercial television's WPHL, Channel 17, in Philadelphia prior to 1974, and available on video cassette in the mid 1980s from Matinée Classics, it can be seen occasionally on late night Turner Classic Movies.(***) -
LEKKipp14 May 2006Don't let the title fool you. Fashions or Fashions of 1934 is just inocently fun to watch. Considering that it was made in the middle of the depression, it gave American's what they were looking for--humor, a love story and a considerable amount of extremely sexy costumes (pre-censor). As always, William Powell is at his best and Bette Davis, is well, Bette Davis--younger and more innocent but absolutely stunningly beautiful. Powell's performance is always enhanced by supporting actors--in this case Frank McHugh who has played his comedic side kick in several other movies. The direction is excellent--good continuity tells an simple but excellent story. Fun to watch--in 1934 or today.
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Powell operates as shady as he'll get and since he's a conniver on the order of Lee Tracy in "Half-Naked Truth", I can't help but like him. He's hustling to survive in Depression America and my goodness, do the rich have it coming to them to be defrauded? This film says yes.
Davis looks fine in her new 'do and I can believe she's a designer of clothing. What's harder to take is her love for Powell because it springs from nowhere, naturally a common feature in a short running time. Maybe she wanted to compare "funny walks" with him, because her hip sashay stride and his lope are certainly distinctive!
The human harp number and in particular, the use of ostrich feathers, stood out for me by being just the sort of dizzy devices to hang a plot on: Hugh Herbert had his work cut out for him selling those plumes. This could have been a commentary on how plumes decorated fashions in the teens and '20s but by 1930s were out of fashion?
What made me LOL was McHugh and his cheery pursuit of ladies and the way he was flummoxed by one darn thing after another spoiling his rendezvous with a willing girl. His distinctive laugh over the French postcards was better, I guess, than him leering and panting. He did well for comic relief in a larger part than usual. I read in Pat O'Brien's autobiography that O'Brien and McHugh would get together in the 40's and 50s to wonder why they received fewer and fewer offers of film work, well this is why. Delightful as they are in the 30's, they seemed to be in hundreds of films courtesy Warners and folks just got tired of them.
In conclusion, Powell makes the movie watchable. -
dougdoepke19 August 2020Old time Hollywood doesn't come much slicker than this- a fast talking Powell, a fast moving screenplay, lots of scantily clad girls, and plenty of snappy dialogue. All add up to a WB topper, and catch that Busby Berkeley choreographed show stopper. Have ostrich plumes ever been used to greater dance effect than with Berkeley's artistic eye. Then too, guys, the chorines are about as near-nude as even pre-Code would allow. And that's along with parades of statuesque ladies modeling the year's high fashions. It's also Bette Davis as a near ingenue in her pre-feisty phase. Still, I could have done without two gag men (McHugh & Herbert) furnishing what amounts to unnecessary comedy relief, the snappy dialogue already supplying as much as needed.
Overall, Powell dominates the speedy proceedings showing his rare talent for charm and presence. Then too, the plot's an engaging one as Powell moves effortlessly from one slick fashion scam to the next. But you may need a scorecard to keep up. Also, check out IMDB's trivia for interesting production facts, like what Davis objected to in her part.
All in all, it's pre-Code Hollywood at its most liberated and engaging, so don't pass it up. Plus, the colorful results are a can't-miss for fans of Powell like me. -
gbill-748776 October 2019The plot of this film wanders all over the place, from various schemes of a con man in the fashion world (William Powell) to a few melodramatic romantic interests. The highlight worth waiting for is the ostrich feather musical number choreographed by Busby Berkeley, as well as a smaller number showing fashion designs inspired from historical figures. Until then, Powell is reasonably engaging in pursuing a young woman he's hired to sketch fashions (Bette Davis) as well as an old lover masquerading as an aristocrat in Paris (Verree Teasdale). To the latter, he says he never forgets her "personality" after swatting her behind, which reminded me of the playful euphemism in the 1946 song of the same name by Johnny Mercer. Davis is pretty and very chic, though she's unfortunately underused. It's great to see the fashion elements which appear throughout the film, but the rest of the cast and their various subplots don't add much. Frank McHugh plays a guy who laughs in a silly way in response to anything, including seeing the "filthy" postcards a bookseller is trying to push, and Hugh Herbert is sedate as an ostrich feather supplier who drinks too much. Of course, right? The film was released early enough in 1934 to beat the enforcement of the Production Code, and as a result there are lots of revealing outfits on display, including ostrich feather bikinis which predate the modern bikini by over a decade. Worth watching for the stars, fashion designs, and the musical numbers, but don't expect much more.
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Ron Oliver26 November 2002A genial racketeer and his assorted companions hope to become very rich by stealing the FASHIONS OF 1934.
Here is another example of the Pre-Code comedy crime caper film which Warner Bros. seemed to produce so effortlessly in the early 1930's. Featuring good production values, witty dialogue, slick acting & utterly inconsequential in actual value, these movies were sure to be crowd pleasers and theater fillers.
Affably sophisticated, William Powell is a fine crook, a rogue the movie audience can feel comfortable rooting for. He makes his life of larceny seem almost casual. Playing his artistic associate, Bette Davis not only scores in the acting department (admittedly not very demanding), but she also looks fabulous, an instant refutation to anyone who ever thought she never looked glamorous on the screen. Through all the fluff & feathers she drops a few hints to the talent she would eventually unleash.
The supporting cast is very commendable. Whimsical Hugh Herbert, as the California Ostrich King, gets to showcase his quirky humor. Frank McHugh scores as Powell's haplessly lecherous gofer. Lovely Verree Teasdale stirs up the plot as a Russian noblewoman who is not all she seems. Blustery Reginald Owen is a French couturier who runs afoul of Powell; Henry O'Neill and chittering little Etienne Girardot are New York fashion designers who also are confronted by the gang's duplicitous dealings. Handsome Philip Reed is the talented musician who is Powell's romantic rival for Bette's affections.
Movie mavens will spot Arthur Treacher as Miss Teasdale's butler, Jane Darwell as an enthusiastic Parisian customer & Hobart Cavanaugh, hilarious in the film's final moments as a desperate worm breeder; all appear uncredited.
One of the film's greatest assets is a musical production number created by the legendary Busby Berkeley. Meant to showcase ostrich feathers, 'Spin A Little Web Of Dreams' is a dazzler with Busby's trademark identical blonde showgirls whirling through complicated circular movements & patterns. It is one of his most charming successes.
Mention should be made of Orry-Kelly's fashions, which really are quite special. -
AlsExGal31 July 2021... who actually only directs one number, because William Powell is the whole show. Powell really only did the fast talking hustler routine at Warner Brothers, and this was one of those films. Here he plays Sherwood Nash, initially a stock broker. You find out all you need to know in the first scene where he is on the phone selling and buying stock as somebody comes in his office. Only to find out the guy is there to take the phones. They were cut off three days ago.
So with Nash and his buddy Snap (Frank McHugh) out of an office and furniture and phones, they go looking for a new racket. Meeting up with down and out yet talented fashion designer Lynn Mason (Bette Davis) whose designs are great but can't get her foot in the door because she is unknown, Nash gets an idea. He steals shipments of garments coming from Paris to New York and produces cheap knockoffs. Naturally the big name dress stores are annoyed to get phone calls from irate socialites whose nannies are parading around in the same dresses that they have. So then Nash goes to the fashion houses and makes an offer - Why spend all of this money on fashions from Paris when Nash can supply them at a fraction of the cost.
So everybody is in on the grift. Some reviewers are saying - "Who cares about fashion, this is boring!". But the high fashion is just a McGuffin. William Powell's Nash could be swindling anything. It's how he confidently maneuvers any obstacle that is the delight. Plus, remember this is still the height of the Depression. Most people felt they had been swindled to some extent. It was probably fun for movie goers to see rich people swindled for a change. 30s Warner Brothers got that.
The one number that Berkeley directs is supposed to be a fashion show towards the end that nobody sitting in a room with the chorines could appreciate due to all of the camera angles and close ups involved. This is still the precode era so the girls are revealing more than their doctors probably got to see. The tune "Spin A Little Web of Dreams" is very melodious and memorable. It will get stuck in your head.
Watch it for Powell and those great Warner Brothers contract players, watch it for the Berkeley number, and watch it for Bette Davis, who decades later still talked about how she seethed at being made up like a clothes horse during this film. -
mukava9914 January 2009This mildly amusing confection is worth a look because of two blondes and one over-the-top musical number. Blonde #1 is a bleached Bette Davis as a fashion artist smitten with suave crook William Powell. Davis frequently shrugged off this period of her career as a routine and unavoidable part of her basic training and definitely did not like being dolled up to the extent we see here. She handles herself as well as one can expect, though the sprayed hair, thick makeup and ridiculously overdone outfits conspire to smother her. Blonde #2 is Verree Teasdale who has fun playing a phony Russian duchess. Her fruity delivery of the lyric to the Sammy Fain-Irving Kahal song "Spin a Little Web of Dreams" is a singular vintage movie treasure. The sequence itself, directed by Busby Berkeley, is the chief highlight of the film (a still from it is featured in the opening pages of Kenneth Anger's book Hollywood BABYLON), displaying platinum blondes festooned with varying arrangements of white ostrich feathers, including an overhead shot of rippling white-on-white layers unfolding sensuously to reveal a smiling chorine at the center and a barque rowed by beautiful girls over a "sea" of silken, spangled cloth that undulates like waves.
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ksf-218 March 2019It's a caper in the fashion industry. The awesome, charming William Powell, as the forger and faker who moves from one scheme to another, and one country to another. Bette Davis is Lynn, his sidekick. Davis was just getting going in show biz, and would quickly move into some bigger roles. The hilarious Frank McHugh and Hugh Herbert are both along for comedic laughs. and of course... Busby Berkeley directing some huge, gigantic song and dance routine involving TONS of dancers ( as usual). there's a love (triangle) story in amonst the goings on in the fashion world. Which gir will end up with which guy? and which guy will end up with which business? shenanigans that wouldn't be allowed for much longer, under that dreaded stronger film code that would be installed pretty soon after this. it's pretty good. Director Dieterle has an interesting story on wikipedia.
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st-shot14 December 2011William Powell's at his most self assured while Bette Davis makes for a just as sharp worthy partner in this mildly entertaining con game involving Paris fashion rip offs. Powell plays a scheming grifter always looking for a way to make fast cash and finds one bootlegging the latest ladies fashions with the help of graphic artist Davis. When the jig is up in NY they head to Paris and cook up another scheme involving a phony countess and ostrich feathers.
Were it not for the charm of William Powell, Fashions of 1934 might well be a cynical mean spirited film of dishonest and disreputable impostors greedily out to make a buck, screw partners, associates and in the case of a character played by Frank McHugh every model he lays eyes on. Powell with his healthy rapid fire audacity though manages to win you over to his side with his enthusiasm for the journey. The well tailored Davis rather than moon over Powell instead shows independence and an option that demands he play his hand with her on equal footing. Reginald Owen as a bombastic adversary and especially Veree Teasdale as the counterfeit countess ably support while McHugh and Hugh Herbert do their standard mugging.
William Dieterle's direction lacks subtlety and racy innuendo and the film's rhythm sometimes flags but it does have some dazzling sets ( a house of fashion with full orchestra ) and a couple of impressive Busby Berkeley numbers to make Fashions of 1934 a decent enough entertainment, if not exactly haute couture.. -
bkoganbing29 December 2008The next to last film in William Powell's hiatus at Warner Brothers between his long stints at Paramount and MGM was Fashions of 1934. He got to work with two Warner Brothers institutions for the one and only time, Bette Davis and Busby Berkeley.
Powell probably knew he would be leaving shortly and plays his part in his usual charming manner. Davis had the trapped look of a wild animal who wanted desperately not to be where she was. Things would drop into place for her later in the year with Of Human Bondage.
Powell had to do a lot to make his character likable, quite frankly he's an out and out crook. He moves from one racket to another in the fashion business, from stealing designs to then working for the folks he's stealing from. He cons and blackmails people into partnership, all and all, a despicable figure. But it's William Powell so you almost forget to hate him.
One who doesn't is Davis who would dearly like to see him give up his evil ways, but you certainly would think the odds were against that even at the end of the film.
Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal wrote the theme for Fashions of 1934 which was Spin a Little Web of Dreams. It was used as the background for one of Busby Berkeley's more opulent numbers from the cinema. It was Berkeley's contribution to the film.
The fashion industry would have seemed a natural for a Berkeley type extravaganza. I'm surprised that so mediocre a film resulted from the idea. But a pair of bored and mismatched stars didn't help the proceedings.
Best in the film is Frank McHugh as Powell's assistant in scheme and Hugh Herbert the ostrich feather magnate. -
lvovacampos21 September 2021A user before called it dated, a user after that said of course it's dated it's from 1933. I am always amused by those comments.
I think some people don't understand what 'dated' means. Dated means it's tired, old, boring and has no teeth. Which is exactly the OPPOSITE from this kind of film!
It's PRE CODE : the dancing is provocative, the gals are prostitutes and guys are gangsters + the music numbers are fresh young loud and simply alive! So what on earth are you talking about people??
This movie is glamour and sleaze and that's what you want from a 30s!
You want to watch something dated? Try a Von Sternberg/Dietrich film.
This a great one. -
1930s_Time_Machine30 September 2023Is this a rom-com or a musical or a comedy? It's all of these, it's a wonderful example of exactly what Warner Brothers used to do. It's absolutely formulaic but also absolutely delightful.
Although not actually a musical, the crazy plot enables a fantastic Busby Berkeley sequence to be shoe-horned into its joyous nonsense. That choreographed sequence doesn't involve any dancing, it's designed to be "A celebration of the beauty of the girl's face" and it certainly fulfils that ambition. Essentially it's fifty gorgeous blonde girls in tiny bikinis waving fans of ostrich feathers around. Whilst not p.c. These days, it's done so beautifully that even the most fervent feminists would abandon their 21st century sensibilities and just gaze at this loveliness in complete awe. Only the presence of Toby Wing could have made this even better but we mustn't be greedy!
The plot itself is very different to the 'real' Busby Berkeley films. Here we're not struggling to make ends meet in the Depression, we're in Paris but those stock WB characters are still there. For example, everyone who's wealthy in Warner World (except the WB executives of course) is a pompous top-hatted idiot who deserves to be fleeced. This makes it easier to justify our heroes' criminal activities - they're actually stealing from hard working designers but let's not dwell on that. William Powell is just too nice to be bad.... I'm sure even if he'd murdered FDR he'd still get off because his defence in court would simply be: but I'm William Powell.
Everyone else in the cast gels together perfectly too. Frank McHugh has never been funnier and ...I can't believe I'm saying this.....Hugh Herbert is also really funny too. And although the role was crying out to be played by Joan Blondell, Bette Davis is pretty good. She famously hated this, preferring to play 'serious' roles like miserable Mildred in OF HUMAN BONDAGE where she demonstrated the worst English accent ever done in a motion picture. She's much more fun and indeed credible in this.
Director William Dieterle keeps the lively plot buzzing along so fast that you don't question the silliness of it - it's pure fun. The plot is actually quite secondary to the feel of this. Creating that warm, optimistic and joyful feel is something WB had honed over the past few years so it is guaranteed to make you feel happy. This is a film you don't need to have your brain switched on to watch. Indeed, you could have been smoking the cigarettes William Powell was distributing in JEWEL ROBBERY and still enjoy it. It lives only in the present, only at the moment - no past plot points to remember, it's just what's happening now that is important. That reassurance of easy viewing lets the part of your brain that does criticism and credibility switch off allowing the rest of you to be taken on tried and tested emotional railway tracks. -
journeygal5 October 2019This is a busy, over the top, campy movie... Sherwood Nash (William Powell) is a nice criminal who realizes there's money to be made selling knock-offs of high fashion garments. Bette Davis plays Lynn Mason, the designer Sherwood employs to help him pull off the caper and Frank McHugh plays his hapless sidekick who was hilarious in the role. There's a huge dance extravaganza (and it is very risque, showing belly buttons and whatnot!) and a fashion show, plus witty and quick repartee. Didn't think I'd like it but it was fun, fun, fun
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TheLittleSongbird18 March 2020Despite being a little put off by the cheap-sounding title that didn't seem to fit with the plot summary, there were more than enough ingredients to 'Fashions of 1934' to still want to see it. William Powell and Bette Davis were great actors, having such an innovative choreographer like Busby Berkeley on board sounded even more fun and William Dieterle did do some great films, such as one of the best film versions of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'.
'Fashions of 1934' as an overall film was nowhere near as cheap as the title made it sound and is more interesting than the not completely interesting plot summary indicates. Like others have said, don't be fooled. 'Fashions of 1934' may not be a great film, but it was better than expected and it was interesting to see Powell and Davis in their only pairing and to see Powell in his last Warner Bros film before the move to MGM. All the film's interest points are well served.
Sure 'Fashions of 1934' could have been better. The story is paper thin and can be very silly, even when taking it for what it is, and contrived. Also starting off a little slow.
Have always found Hugh Herbert an acquired taste, sometimes he's fun and at other times he irritated. For me here he mugs too much to annoyance and some of the comedy feels forced as a result.
A lot is good though. Powell somehow manages to bring likeability to a character that sounds on paper the opposite of likeable. As well as sophistication, witty comic timing and urbane charm. Davis' role isn't as interesting and wouldn't have said no to her having more to do, but she is also sharp and glamorous to watch. Personally think that she looks good as a blond. Frank McHugh is hilarious in support, and the comedy is great fun with him delivering it. Nice to see Reginald Owen as well. Dieterle's direction is adept in depicting a setting that may be artificial but also elegant.
The unforgettable big musical number is the other reason to see 'Fashions of 1934' other than the cast. There is nothing quite like it out there and Berkeley's distinctively innovative, in a way that's extravagant without being over the top, choreography style is on display. The music itself is not as memorable but a lovely and entertaining listen. The main theme particularly. 'Fashions of 1934' is well made, especially those gleefully glamorous but frivolous fashions and the photography in the musical number which uses the choreography to full advantage. The script is good natured and witty and there is enough energy when the film gets going.
Concluding, enjoyable if not great. 7/10 -
lnoft9714 September 2020Sometimes, I would rather watch a creaky old black and white pre-code movie than just about any of the stuff they turn out now. This one has it all, notable actors, elaborate musical numbers, and drop-dead gorgeous 30's fashions. It has one big, glaring flaw: with all those elegant fashions, the whole movie is in black and white. I realize color films were rare or non-existent then, but if the fashion show part at least was colorized, this movie would have been so much more enjoyable. As it is, it's like looking through a box of black and white postcards, wondering what colors those wonderful old pictures might have been.
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cfl-131 October 2005Bette Davis looks so beautiful in this confection of a film that celebrates the glorious fashions of the early 1930's. This film will start a love affair for life with the clothes here. If only we could look as lovely every day.
William Powell and Bette Davis are mere side lines in this film that was made in the height of the Great Depression. The story of a conman in the fashion world of the 1930's is an usual storyline but it gives opportunity for an insiders look at this world that we really know and understand very little especially at this time. There are some unusual scenes that include
a walking stick that is a camera. The main musical scene has girls as harps. It is absolutely enchanting. -
boblipton4 April 2023William Powell is a promoter with a non-existent code of ethics. Starting-out dress designer Bette Davis and general factotum Frank McHugh help him fake designer dresses for the New York rag trade, then it's on to Paris, where they expect to do the same for the Parisian couturiers.
Powell's last movie for Warner Brothers has the air of being cobbled together from a bunch of stuff that worked before -- Powell as a con man, Busby Berkeley production number -- yet it's all handled so smoothly under the direction of William Dieterle that I had a great time. Miss Davis demonstrates she can actually wear designer dresses -- according to the IMDb, she was on good behavior because she wanted the boss to lend her to RKO for OF HUMAN BONDAGE.
It's really a movie for Orry-Kelly to demonstrate his ability to design clothing in black and white, and he takes advantage of the opportunity. With Verree Teasdale, Hugh Herbert, and the inexplicable Reginald Owen. -
preppy-33 January 2012Swindler Shewood Nash (William Powell) is stealing fashions from Paris under the designers noses. Lynn Mason (Bette Davis!) helps him and falls for him. There's more to the plot but I was basically so bored I could have cared less!
The plot is silly with stupid dialogue and painfully unfunny comedy. This would be totally unwatchable if it weren't for a few things. Powell is great in his role. It's a nothing role but he pulls it off. Davis (this was made before she hit it big) is great despite having nothing to work with. Also she looks interesting in peroxide hair! The fashions by Orry-Kelly are actually pretty interesting. I don't think they'd ever work in reality but they're fun to look at. And then there's a beautiful elaborate ballet worked out by Busby Berkeley that is just incredible to watch. These elements make this worth catching...but it's still just a minor little musical. I give it a 4. -
NYLux31 July 2009This amusing concoction is worth the money because of two dyed blonds and one extravagant, divine musical number. The bleached Bette Davis as a fashion designer smitten with the antics of professional crook William Powell, who appears too well dressed and polite to be totally believable in the job. Bette actually manages to look great as an ornamental sidekick to Powell, but underneath the determined designer girl we can detect the power house that will culminate in her unsurpassed rendition of Queen Elizabeth with Errol Fllynn years later.
The second bleached blonde is Verree Teasdale who plays a fake Russian grand-duchess from Newark, NJ, who not only manages a phony accent and some extraordinary clothes and jewels for every scene, but has also managed to convince "Baroque" the king of Parisian fashion that she is the real thing and worth marrying, this feat alone deserves an Oscar, at the very least.
Drag-Queens beware: This is an undiscovered treasure performance,that can give enough material for a national tour show, including her musical name itself which is a cocktail of sound effects: How many Es can you squeeze in one word? Her off-key, fluffy delivery of the lyric to the song "Spin a Little Web of Dreams" has all the components for a drag anthem, in any language, and huge cross over potential as impromptu cabaret number. The 'Broadway Follies" sequence itself, directed by Busby Berkeley, is the other real reason to watch this film. For one thing, this scene has illustrated the cover of that most necessary book on film : "Holywood Babylon" and although there is absolutely nothing Babylonian about it, except perhaps the excess of ostrich feathers, there is a horde of platinum blonds festooned with endless variations on the 'white ostrich feathers fan motif' moving and dancing in hypnotic coordination. Some are actually part of the harps that others play, they curve at the harp's end like the wooden sculptures of sail vessels for a fetish-furniture look that is perfection. The scene includes an overhead shot that demonstrates the complex flower patterns that can be achieved with all this female trouble.
There is also a fashion show. This one obviously influenced Cukor's in "The Women" when all those nice ladies go to 'Fraks', but is actually much better. For one thing we see a painting before the model comes out wearing an adaptation of the design. The first one is Cardinal Richelieu, followed by a model wearing an evening gown inspired on his cape, but the others are more generic of different periods, the adaptations are all very 30's and all considerably better than that weird stuff out of Halloween that comes out in "The Women" as supposedly 'haute couture'. In the movie itself, Bette had discovered that Baroque was buying old books on fashion to inspire his designs, so we know it was her idea to develop that into a fashion- show-extravaganza, and she watches it approvingly from what looks like an opera box, opera glasses in hand. That shot catches her in a more regal pose than the grand-duchess could muster through the film in its entirety, and the impact of that image puts all those ostrich-fan bearers in perspective too: this woman is no one's ornament and she sure could be a queen anytime she wanted to.
This movie is a most for Bette Davis fans, musical comedy lovers and all those interested in the historical development of camp. Highly recommended! -
This is not the best movie I've ever seen, but it's also not the worst (far from it).
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Bette Davis before she "Bette Davis". One reviewer mentioned that she was 'unrecognizable' and I don't understand that at all. The first time she's on screen is in profile and I recognized her immediately. Yes, she's blonde in this movie but her eyes and voice are unmistakable.
The whole plot of this movie was (for me) just a sideshow to the wonderful 1930's fashion (both hair and dresses). I loved the Busby Berkeley ostrich feather extravaganza. That number cannot be explained. It must be seen to be appreciated.
While I'm happy this movie wasn't longer than it was, I'm also not sorry that I spent 70+ minutes of my life watching. It was an enjoyable piece of fluff. -
mark.waltz25 February 2013William Powell heads a house of fashion known for its knock-offs of Parisian gowns, and utilizes the assistance of a former lover turned phony duchess (Veree Teasdale), whom he immediately recognizes upon their meeting. This upsets his "Girl Friday" and current love interest (Bette Davis), but they reach their goal of putting on a fantastic fashion show where threats of a lawsuit ensue for fraud.
This intended follow-up to the success of "Gold Diggers of 1933" is basically a second string romantic comedy with one huge Busby Berkley musical number, "Spin a Little Web of Dreams", an outlandish combination of feathers, human harps and a set that goes on forever. (In other words, clothes that every woman would probably drool over but never find an opportunity to wear). It is worth seeing entirely for that and its fantastic cast-in addition to Powell, Davis and Teasdale (an almost forgotten clothes horse who was quite an adept scene-stealer), there's also Hugh Herbert, Frank McHugh and Reginald Owen (truly droll as Teasdale's stuffy husband), lots of witty pre-code wisecracks and innuendos, and a romantic view of the world that probably never existed yet is still fun to dream about.
McHugh is very funny as he keeps trying to find places to have "private" time with different chorus girls and keeps getting caught as sets fall over, move or are lifted. While mothers of young girls complained about not wanting their daughter to grow up to be a "human harp", you can't help but wonder if it is because they secretly desired to be the ones covered in the feathers themselves.