Zouzou Directed by Marc Allégret
1934/France
Les Films H. Roussillon/Productions Arys
First viewing
Beautiful? It’s all a question of luck. I was born with good legs. As for the rest… beautiful, no. Amusing, yes. — Josephine Baker
Zouzou (Josephine Baker) and Jean (Jean Gabin) performed in the circus as “twins” as children and grew up as brother and sister. Zouzou is in love with Jean. When he is falsely arrested, she enters show business to get the money to defend him. Will Jean see the light?
This is the French equivalent of a backstage musical and very charming, if not as polished as a Hollywood production. I have read about Josephine Baker for years and was excited to be able to see her in something. Jean Gabin is a major heart throb of mine and it was nice to see him in a different kind of role and singing a bit no less!
The Marines Are Coming Directed by David Howard
1934/USA
Mascot Pictures
First viewing
Lt. William “Wild Bill” Traylor: Anybody can obey orders. It takes genius to win a war![/box]
Poverty row comedy about wise-cracking Marine Corps Officer Bill Traylor (William Haines) who is always in trouble with the brass. When Traylor arrives in San Diego, he assigned to duty under his nemesis Captain Benton (Conrad Nagle). He promptly latches on to Benton’s girlfriend (Esther Walston), while avoiding the advances of Rosita, a stereotypical Latin spitfire who has been following him from post to post insisting he marry her. When Traylor is forced to resign his commission, he returns as an enlisted man and the shenanigans continue in an unnamed Latin American country where the Marines are fighting bandits.
This film is notable mostly for being the last film William Haines ever made. I didn’t like it much. All the principals seem to have been instructed to plaster a big grin on their face and give it their all. Everybody complied but that didn’t make the film amusing to me.
William Haines in 1930
The film, however, did inspire me to look up Haines’s biography. He was a very popular silent star, regularly named #1 male box-office draw at the end of the silent era. He was released by MGM in the early thirties, reportedly due to a fight with Louis B. Mayer, who wanted Haines to end his relationship with his lover Jimmie Shields and marry a woman. Haines and Shields went on to be a couple for over 50 years and Haines had a very successful 40-year career as an interior designer.
Broadway Bill Directed by Frank Capra
1934/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation
First viewing
Dan Brooks: Doesn’t anything ever change in this mausoleum? Alice Higgins: Yes. Bedspreads and underwear.
Frank Capra made this pleasant comedy between It Happened One Night andMr. Deeds Goes to Town. Higginsville is a one-man town; all the business are owned by J.L. Higgins (Walter Connelly) and run by his various sons-in-law. Dan Brooks (Warner Baxter) is married to eldest daughter Margaret (Helen Vinson) and is reluctantly managing a paper box business but his passion is his race horse Broadway Bill. The youngest Higgins daughter, Alice (Myrna Loy), is a free spirit like Dan and is secretly in love with him. Dan, however, treats Alice like a kid. One fine day, Dan decides he can take no more of Higginsville and sets out with no money to enter Broadway Bill in an important Derby race with the support of faithful groom Whitey (Clarence Muse) and Alice. The rest of the picture follows their trials and tribulations on the way to the big race. With Margaret Hamilton in a small role as a landlady and Frankie Darro as a jocky.
Although the ending is weak and the story is a bit sentimental, I enjoyed this a lot. Frank Capra seems to get good performances from all his actors. Warner Baxter, who is generally ultra-intense, is as relaxed as I have ever seen him and even funny at times. Myrna Loy is great as always. I was also pleased with the treatment of the character of the African-American groom. Although there is some stereotyping of course, he is portrayed as a real member of the team. It was so refreshing after a couple of Stepin Fetchin films in a row!
I read that Capra was not a big fan of this film because Warner Baxter was afraid of horses and Capra thought it showed. I didn’t notice. Capra remade the story in 1950 as Riding High with Bing Crosby and Colleen Gray.
Les Misérables Directed by Raymond Bernard
1934/France
Pathé-Natan
First viewing
Jean Valjean to Inspector Javert: Each man has his own notion of duty.
Jean Valjean
“Love is the foolishness of men, and the wisdom of God.” ― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
This excellent four-and-a-half hour adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel, noted as being the most complete rendering of the story, was released as three films. I watched one film a day over three days. Part One: “Une tempête sous un crâne” (Tempest in a Skull) covers Jean Valjean’s release from prison and redemption in the encounter with the Bishop through the death of Fantine. Part Two: “Les Thénardier”(The Thenardiers) covers little Cosette’s treatment at the hands of the Thenardiers and her rescue then flash forwards eight years to Paris to relate Cosette’s romance with Marius and the Thenardiers’ threats against Jean Valjean. Part Three: Liberté, liberté chérie (Freedom, dear Freedom) covers the Uprising of 1832 and the conflict at the barricades through the end of the novel. There is certainly enough plot to justify the long running time!
The highlight of the film is Harry Baur’s portrayal of Jean Valjean. He is a powerful, taciturn, and unassuming man, equally convincing as a convict and as a gentleman. Baur is one of those actors that can express a world of emotion with a glance and is superb. Charles Vanel plays Javert as a relentless enforcer of the law, there is no evil posturing here. The other performances are not quite up to these two but are quite adequate.
The film is filled with beautiful expressionist lighting and interesting camera angels. Little Cosette’s trek to fetch water in the dark is unforgettable and reminiscent of Snow White’s adventures with its scary faces seen in every tree. Although the filming was all done on the back lot, the set design and costuming are lavish and evocative of 19th Century France. Finally, there is a fabulous score by Arthur Honegger. Very highly recommended.
Stand Up and Cheer! Directed by Hamilton MacFadden
1934/USA
Fox Film Corporation
First viewing?
The President decides to improve morale during the Depression by creating a Department of Amusement headed by Secretary Lawrence Cromwell (Warner Baxter). Cromwell selects Mary Adams (Madge Evans) to run the Children’s Division, and they promptly fall in love. Meanwhile, some wicked industrialists are trying to sabotage Cromwell’s efforts to cheer up the nation.
Dig those hats!
The plot is an excuse for a variety review and, aside from the “Baby Take a Bow” number with Shirley Temple and James Dunn, this movie is a godawful mess. The routines progressively grow worse and worse until we are left with “Broadway’s Gone Hill-Billy”, a truly awful sketch involving Stepin Fetchit and a penguin voiced by a Jimmy Durante impersonator (!!!), and the “We’re Out of the Red” finale. Yes, these are every bit as bad as they sound.
The ability of James Dunn to overcome this dreadful material led me to look up his biography. I really thought he was wonderful in 1931’s Bad Girl and was wondering what became of him. It turns out that it was the old story of alcholism rendering a talented actor unemployable. Dunn did have a comeback in 1945’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn which earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar but he retreated again into obscurity.
Born to Be Bad Directed by Lowell Sherman
1934/USA
20th Century Pictures
First viewing
Malcolm Trevor: You’re just a beautiful bad girl.
Loretta Young plays Letty Strong, an unwed mother who works as a “model” and “sales promoter” to support herself and her seven-year-old son, Mickey. Life has made her hard as nails and she is raising her son to be the same. She sees a way to cash in when a dairy truck driven by Malcolm Trevor (Cary Grant) runs into Mickey. They sue and Mickey fakes an injury. When Trevor’s side proves this, the judge takes Mickey away from Lottie and puts him in an institution. Trevor and his wife volunteer to take care of Mickey. Lottie seduces Trevor in hopes of blackmailing him into returning her son.
Henry Travers zips up Loretta Young’s dress
This movie is Pre-Code and how. We don’t even have to look up the date of release to know this. Young is disrobing down to her lacy lingerie within five minutes of the opening and we have a plot featuring illegitimacy, loose living, and adultery. Unfortunately, the film could be better. I have never seen Cary Grant act quite so badly as he does here. To be fair, the script doesn’t do him any favors. Loretta Young is good but not completely convincing as a “bad girl”. I can recommend this mostly for the beautiful gowns and a glimpse at a world that will not appear in Hollywood films for the next 30 years. It is just over an hour long.
The Thin Man
Directed by W. S. Van Dyke
1934/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Umpteenth viewing
#138 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
IMDb Users say 8.0/10; I say 9.0/10
Nick Charles: I’m a hero. I was shot twice in the Tribune. Nora Charles: I read where you were shot 5 times in the tabloids. Nick Charles: It’s not true. He didn’t come anywhere near my tabloids.
An inventor mysteriously disappears and is blamed for the murder of his girlfriend and her possible paramour. His daughter (Margaret O’Sullivan) appeals to retired detective Nick Charles (William Powell). Charles would prefer to enjoy the high life with his rich, beautiful, and witty wife Nora (Myrna Loy) but she thinks it would be exciting for him to pursue the case.
Having a Merry Christmas
I have seen this many times and I always forget who the murderer is. That is because the mystery is just a vehicle to showcase the fantastic repartee of Loy and Powell. They make the perfect married couple, playfully bickering but obviously in love. It is also the ideal escapist fare when one has, say, spent a whole day watching a manhunt in Boston and thinking about people who have lost their lives and limbs.
Kiss and Make-up Directed by Harlan Thompson
1934/USA
Paramount Pictures
First viewing
Tagline: …a racy romance of a famous beauty doctor
Cary Grant plays Dr. Maurice Lamar, a Parisian plastic surgeon and beauty expert in high demand. His efficient secretary Anne (Helen Mack) is in love with him. His “masterpiece” is Eve Caron (Genevieve Tobin), though her husband Marcel (Edward Everett Horton) does not approve of the changes the doctor has wrought and divorces her. Maurice marries Eve but is perfection all it is cracked up to be?
This movie was released just before the Production Code began to be enforced and you can sure tell by the double entendres and the amount of cheesecake on offer. In case there was any doubt, the first scene has the good doctor asking Toby Wing to disrobe and she is down to her scanties in a flash. The film also served as a showcase for the WAMPAS Baby Stars of 1934 so there are multiple parts for the lovely starlets as the doctor’s assistants or patients.
The plot is slender and unremarkable. Good for something light or to see Cary Grant sing and look young and handsome. The art deco sets are also very nice.
The World Moves On Directed by John Ford
1934/USA
Fox Film Corporation
First viewing
This film follows the fortunes of the Girard family and its cotton and textile businesses from 1825 through 1934, similar to the premise of Fox’s 1933 Best Picture Oscar winner Cavalcade. The story starts in New Orleans with the reading of the will of the firm’s founder. The will enjoins his three sons to establish branches in New Orleans, Paris, and Berlin and forms a partnership between the family and Henry Warburton. Oldest son Richard (Franchot Tone) is named executor. Warburton’s wife (Madeleine Carroll) and Richard are quietly and chastely in love but they are soon parted when Warburton leaves for Manchester to start a textile mill there.
The film then segues to 1914 and a wedding between cousins in the French and German branches of the family. Richard Girard (Tone, again) and Mary Warburton (Carroll) attend the wedding. Mary is engaged to one of the German cousins but Richard and Mary feel that they have met before and begin to yearn for one another. Richard is heartbroken that Mary is engaged to another and enlists in the French Foreign Legion when World War I breaks out. The war naturally divides the family but brings Mary and Richard together. We follow the fate of the family through the stock market crash of 1929 and on into 1934. When the family holds its last meeting some suggest that another war is in the cards. This is followed by footage of Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo and their armies.
Mary and Richard in 1825
The film is competently made and very watchable. It suffers from being all over the place. It’s not quite a romance and not quite a war movie. Madeleine Carroll is positively radiant in this film and turns in an excellent performance. Franchot Tone not so much. The film makers also chose to include some unfortunate and unnecessary “comic relief” by Stepin Fetchit during the WWI section.
I got excited about the fantastic combat footage and then realized it looked familiar. It turns out 7 minutes of war footage from Raymond Bernard’s Wooden Crosses, one of my Top 10 for 1932, was included in this film. This was the first film to be granted the production seal of approval under new guidelines set forth by the Production Code Administration Office and the Motion Picture Producers and Directors of America. It received Certificate No. 1.
Evelyn Prentice Directed by William K. Howard
1934/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
First Viewing
Evelyn Prentice: There’s nothing wrong with those letters.They’re innocent. Lawrence Kennard: Then why are you here? Evelyn Prentice: There’s nothing safe with a man like you.
Engaging “women’s picture”/courtroom drama. John Prentice (William Powell) is a high-powered defense attorney whose practice keeps him away from home most of the time. Evelyn Prentice (Myrna Loy) is his long-suffering but adoring wife. Their happy home is threatened when a beautiful client (Rosalind Russell) throws herself at John and an unsavory “poet” insinuates himself into Evelyn’s life. With Una Merkel as Evelyn’s wise-cracking friend and permanent house guest.
I thought this one was a whole lot of fun. It goes to show that Powell and Loy were the perfect screen couple even when the material gets more serious as here. I had never heard of the director but he certainly keeps things moving right along. I adore Una Merkel and she has a meaty part here. This was Rosalind Russell’s screen debut. She was still finding her way. I seem to always get annoyed at courtroom dramas and here neither the judge nor the attorneys ever seem to have heard of concept “conflict of interest”. The film was strong enough that the improbable ending was fine by me.
I’ve been a classic movie fan for many years. My original mission was to see as many movies as I could get my hands on for every year from 1929 to 1970. I have completed that mission.
I then carried on with my chronological journey and and stopped midway through 1978. You can find my reviews of 1934-1978 films and “Top 10” lists for the 1929-1936 and 1944-77 films I saw here. For the past several months I have circled back to view the pre-Code films that were never reviewed here.
I’m a retired Foreign Service Officer living in Indio, California. When I’m not watching movies, I’m probably traveling, watching birds, knitting, or reading.
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