st-shot
William 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..
cfl-1
Bette 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.
blanche-2
"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.
Ron Oliver
A 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.
AD
