FASHIONS OF 1934 (1934)

Given the title and the fact that this came from Warner Brothers in the pre-Code era, I was expecting an elaborate, vaguely risque musical with peppy fashion models standing in for the peppy chorus girls of the "Gold Diggers" series. Seeing the names of William Powell, Bette Davis, Frank McHugh, and Busby Berkeley in the opening credits was also encouraging. However, the film itself was a huge letdown. Powell is a con-man whose latest front, an investment company, has just gone under. He and sidekick McHugh meet up with unemployed dress designer Davis and they decide to go into business in Paris bootlegging the latest fashion designs and selling them to American companies. After they're caught, they discover that one of the biggest of the French designers (Reginald Owen) gets his best ideas by copying clothing sketches out of old books, so they do the same thing and go into business for themselves (backed partly by American ostrich-feather salesman Hugh Herbert). When Powell finds out that Owen's current mistress, a Russian countess, is actually an ex-girl friend of his pulling her own con job, he gets her to get Owen to help back them, and they put on a stage-show revue to highlight their fashions (most of which involve lots of ostrich feathers). After the show, there are more snags and cons before Owen buys Powell's shop and Powell and Davis head off into the sunset.

The high point here is definitely the Berkeley number, "Spin a Little Web of Dreams," which features semi-nude girls as human harps. Unfortunately, that is all Berkeley is given to do, though there is also a more traditional fashion show sequence which stops the action briefly. Powell seems to be trying hard, but he's just not up to his usual deadpan frothiness. Davis is hardly trying at all; her part might as well have been done by some second- or third-string Warners contract player. McHugh is reliably strong and Verree Teasdale shines in the limited role of the mistress (a part very much like Norma Shearer played in IDIOT'S DELIGHT); Philip Reed is a handsome songwriter who briefly flirts with Davis; other supporting players of note include Henry O'Neill, Gordon Westcott, Jane Darwell, and Arthur Treacher (as, what else, a butler). There are a few bawdy lines of dialogue, such as a patron asking Powell, "You handle lingerie, don't you?" to which he replies, "Yes, I take care of that personally." I realize that some of my problems with this film are due to unrealistic expectations, but it's still hard to recommend this one except to fans of the actors involved. [TCM]