Fashions of 1934 Full Movie Fashions of 1934 Movie Stream Links Davis

Fashions of 1934 is a musical comedy movie from, yep, 1934, directed by William Dieterle.

William Powell is Sherwood Nash, a rather shady businessman who, at the very start of the film, is watching people repossess the piece of furniture in his failed investment firm. (Information technology was 1934.). Equally he is leaving his shuttered office, he chats up aggressive but frustrated way designer Lynn Stonemason (Bette Davis). One wait at Lynn's sketchbook and Nash gets an thought. Presently, he is running a scam in which he copies the latest fashions coming over on the boats from Europe, and sells inexpensive knockoffs in department stores.

Incensed New York fashion store owners threaten Nash with arrest, only he points out that they'd be better off enlisting him to steal for them. Then Nash and a reluctant Lynn are off to Paris to rip off the elite designers. They get caught doing that, however, then Nash comes upward with however a different scam: Lynn will forge the works of leading fashion designers, coming up with her ain drawings merely signing the names of improve-known people.

Made toward the terminate of The Pre-Code Era, the motion-picture show basically uses its plot as an excuse for sex jokes, fanservice, and a Busby Berkeley Number choreographed past Busby Berkeley himself. The only fourth dimension William Powell and Bette Davis starred in a moving picture together, mainly because right after making this movie Powell left Warner Bros. for MGM.

Tropes:

Alcohol Hic: Joe Ward, the ostrich feather salesman—Information technology Makes Sense in Context, sort of—whom Nash goes into business organisation with. He's an alcoholic who hiccups more than once when he gets drunk.
The Alcoholic: Joe Ward, Nash'southward concern partner. He's boozer all the fourth dimension. In one scene he says that they tin talk business organisation, but not until later he's "had a drop of lunch."
Bare Your Midriff: Since all the women in the Busby Berkeley Number are wearing nothing but bra and panties, blank midriffs grow. This is notable because inside a matter of weeks afterward product was completed on this movie The Hays Code and its censorship slammed down on Hollywood, and navels—female navels, anyhow—wouldn't be seen again for decades.
Baroque Musical instrument: The surreal Busby Berkeley Number has gorgeous women playing harps... with the pillars of the harps being made out of other bikini-clad gorgeous women.
Bribery: Nash gets Mabel to dorsum his show by threatening to reveal that she's an impostor. And at the end he manages to escape prison house by threatening to reveal that Oscar Bizarre married an impostor, which gets Oscar to drop the charges.
Busby Berkeley Number: What does Nash do to publicize his new style business organization in Paris? He puts on a prove, of course! Since this picture show isn't really a musical we see only one number, but they actually made it count. The "Spinning Web of Dreams" number is essence of Berkeley, with dozens and dozens of scantily clad dancers moving in sequence. 1 scene has gorgeous women playing harps, which are made of other gorgeous women. At that place's a Slave Galley scene in which half-naked women are manning the oars of a slave galley. Another shot has one-half-naked women looking down at the camera from atop a skylight. Yet another scene has dancers moving feathers back and forth to demonstrate a flower opening and closing. All of it has innumerable chorus girls in intricate geometric patterns in typical Berkeley style, with the dancers being fifty-fifty more scantily clad than usual, wearing nothing but glorified bra and panties for most of the routine. (And as always with Berkeley the number is far too elaborate to be office of an bodily phase show even though information technology's supposed to be In-Universe.)
Eiffel Tower Outcome: The Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe evidence that Nash, Lynn, and Snap have made it to Paris.
Verbal Eavesdropping: Mabel comes into the office at the exact instant that Nash is telling Lynn that she's the 1 he loves and Mabel is nothing to him. She stalks out again, and gets her hubby to have Nash arrested.
Fake Aristocrat: "Chiliad Duchess Alix", supposedly a White Russian refugee in Paris, and lover of Oscar Bizarre the hoity-toity mode designer. She's really Mabel from Hoboken and an old girlfriend of Nash's. When Nash discovers this he potent-arms Mabel into cooperating with his schemes.
Fashion Testify: More than ane. 1 fashion testify has a serial of sometime paintings that Lynn has used for inspiration. Each painting in turn is lifted up and away, showing the model behind it, who strolls out modeling the dress that was inspired by the painting.
Fanservice: Loads and loads and loads. Besides the whole Busby Berkeley Number which is basically a boatload of hot women in their underwear, there are scads of mode models wearing slinky dresses. There's also a whole scene in which three models are lounging around Nash'southward function in their underwear, waiting for stolen dresses, so they tin can model them while Nash'southward partner snaps photos and then they can re-create the designs.
Hypocritical Humor: Nash brazenly walks into a meeting of the New York section shop owners, tells them that he's the one who's been undercutting them, and then offers to go to Paris and steal designs on their behalf. They all indignantly reject him and tell him they'll send him to prison. Then, afterwards, each department shop possessor secretly calls Nash and engages him to steal designs.
Lovable Rogue: Nash. He's a criminal, really, stealing the work of upscale way designers and selling knockoff products for cheap. Merely he'due south a charming rascal, and the only people he's pain are snobby way designers and obnoxious high-cease store owners. (And making expensive products available to the masses on the cheap would have played differently in the depths of the Great Depression, anyway.)
Lovable Sex activity Maniac: Nash'south comic relief sidekick Snap (Frank McHugh), who is a lustful petty horn dog, but is so cheerful and happy almost it. He's well-nigh to put his paw on Lynn's butt when Nash shows up and Snap jerks his hand away. He near slaps a lingerie-clad model on her butt, only Nash catches his arm mid-swing with a cane. He giggles like a schoolboy when a Paris street vendor shows him "filthy pictures". Later in the picture he is constantly interrupted in multiple attempts to have sex with a hot chorus girl.
Love Dodecahedron: Well, there's Nash and Lynn, who autumn for each other. There'south Mabel, Nash'due south sometime girlfriend, whom he starts to put the moves on because he needs her assistance to showtime his fashion business. There's Mabel's fiancé, the designer Oscar Baroque. So in that location'due south Jimmy, the pianist/composer for the musical show, who falls in dearest with Lynn and tries to get her to get away with him. Roughly, a beloved pentagon.
Match Cut: A cutting from the smooth, lovely legs of a chorus girl as she stands on a platform, to the spindly legs of an ostrich. (Nash has turned ostrich feathers into a fashionable accessory for dresses.)
Phoney Telephone call: A man comes into the office of Nash'south investment business firm. As the man sits and waits patiently, Nash clutches two telephone receivers, one to each ear, barking orders nearly selling and ownership stocks. After Nash hangs up the phones the man smirks and says he's there to take back the phones, which were asunder three days ago.
Poor Man's Porn: In a scene that would never in a million years take gotten by the censors just a few months subsequently, Snap is approached by a Paris street vendor selling "filthy pictures". Snap giggles like a schoolboy as the vendor shows off his collection of pornographic postcards.
Sexy Backless Outfit: Lynn designs more than one of these, and both Lynn and Nash'due south other love involvement Mabel wear them.
Shoddy Knockoff Product: Nash makes cut-charge per unit copies of fashionable dresses. One snooty social club lady pays $375 in 1934 coin for a dress and is then appalled to run across her secretary wearing the aforementioned dress, which she bought for $16.95.
Sitting Sexy on a Piano: Jimmy the chorus girl tells Lynn to sit on the piano, maxim "Practice a Helen Morgan and inspire me." Helen Morgan was a Real Life torch vocalist known for perching on pianos.
Slave Galley: Ane of the trippier moments in the very trippy Busby Berkeley Number comes when a bunch of virtually naked women in platinum blonde wigs are manning the oars of a slave galley on the stage, all smiling blissfully.
Spy Cam: Snap has one hidden in a cane which he uses to surreptitiously accept pictures of Paris models showing off dresses, with the aim of copying said dresses. Unfortunately for the gang, they are defenseless and Snap's picture show is confiscated.
Video Credits: All the primary players at the start of the film, which was Warner Brothers house style of the era.
Zip Me Up: Mabel has to get Nash to help her into a tight dress. It's actually innocent, but he'due south withal on his hands and knees snapping the dress together when Lynn comes in the room and gets the wrong idea.