In his prime in the late ’20s and early ’30s, Gregory La Cava was an amazingly versatile and restless director of comedies. When he was assigned to direct The Affairs of Cellini by RKO he had made some of W.C. Fields’s best silents (and according to Fields, invented his lasting screen persona), as well asContinue reading “The Affairs of Cellini (1934)”
Category Archives: 1934
The Thin Man (1934) – 2. Novel vs. Movie
One shouldn’t spend too much time comparing an original story with its film adaptation. All writers know that as soon as the options are picked up and the payments deposited, the film version is out of their hands. It’s lucky that they aren’t forced to sign non-disclosure agreements enjoining them from claiming that they actuallyContinue reading “The Thin Man (1934) – 2. Novel vs. Movie”
Little Miss Marker (1934)
Little Miss Marker was Shirley Temple’s breakthrough film. She was five years old when she made it. Watching her in it is an unnerving experience in more ways than one. The whole film is a weird experience. Directed by Alexander Hall, some of it is so bad, so poorly paced and edited, and so oldContinue reading “Little Miss Marker (1934)”
The Merry Widow (1934)
The Merry Widow is probably my favorite of Lubitsch’s film. Until recently it didn’t get much love from film critics and historians, compared with many other Lubitsch comedies. I suspect that was because it appeared to many folks to be just the final sigh of the Jeanette Macdonald-Maurice Chevalier Ruritanian frou-frou musical farces, and itContinue reading “The Merry Widow (1934)”
The Thin Man (1934)
The Thin Man is one of the most influential films that Hollywood ever produced. It’s included in the American Film Institute’s list of 100 funniest films (in a list made in 2000 the film comes in at #32); IMDB users have given it a stratospheric score of 8 of 10 (only three films have scoredContinue reading “The Thin Man (1934)”
Twenty Million Sweethearts (1934)
I obviously have a soft spot for the Dick Powell comedies of the Thirties. I have no explanation for it. I didn’t see any of them until I was middle aged. Twenty Million Sweethearts is a generic Dick Powell movie, other than that his female lead is Ginger Rogers, not the animatronic Ruby Keeler —Continue reading “Twenty Million Sweethearts (1934)”
The Gay Divorcee (1934)
The Gay Divorcee was the first true Astaire-Rogers film. Impressed by the way they had stolen the show in Flying Down to Rio the year before, RKO Studios hired them to be marquee stars. They also hired Mark Sandrich, who had directed the dance sequences of Rio, to helm the pictures. Folks differ in theirContinue reading “The Gay Divorcee (1934)”
The Good Fairy (1934) – 1.
The Good Fairy is one of the great film comedies of the period. And an anomaly. It’s perfect on its own terms – hilarious, warm, with fantastically good performances. It stars Margaret Sullavan at her most luminous in her best comic role. It was directed by William Wyler, who did not direct a lot ofContinue reading “The Good Fairy (1934) – 1.”
Dames (1934)
I adore the early Warner studio Busby Berkeley movies, all of them. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but for now I’ll go with Dames. The films now all go under Berkeley’s name, but until Gold Diggers of 1935, Berkeley (hence BB) directed only the production numbers. Spectacular as they were, the four great filmsContinue reading “Dames (1934)”