Crime Without Passion - 1934 - USA

Crime Without Passion - 1934 - 6/10

 
Lee Gentry is the rare sort: an unscrupulous attorney.
Who gets clients acquitted by trickery, chicanery, outright dishonesty.
Sheesh, the sort of lawyer who will make you lose faith in the courts.
Meanwhile, relationship troubles.
He wants to dump passionate Carmen for a blonde iceberg.
Claude Rains delicious as the conniving cheat, while 17-year-old Margo is dazzling.
Strange Pre-Code, nevertheless.

Smarty - 1934 - USA

Smarty - 1934 - 5/10

The Thorpes are happily married, although Vicki likes to push the passive aggressive teasing.
Tony, past his limit, slaps her one evening, whereupon she wants a divorce.
Just as abruptly, she marries her divorce attorney and soon pushes his buttons.
Pre-Code drawing room comedy feels forced, with everyone trying to make something from air.
Joan Blondell, in particular, is unbearable as Vicki, mugging and flirting.
Feels and looks quite stagebound.
Perhaps relished by audiences observing the well-heeled misbehave.

The Case Of The Howling Dog - 1934 - USA

The Case Of The Howling Dog - 1934 - 6/10

 
Perry Mason receives an impetuous client, who hands him $10,000 to draw up a will and deal with a dog.
Then the rich client disappears.  The owner of the dog?  Murdered.  Dog, too!
Main suspect, the attractive woman with the gun.
Fast moving film plays fair clues and twists.
William Warren adroit as slick, cool professional.
Perhaps a bit unethical, too, as one will see.

Picture Brides - 1934 - USA

Picture Brides - 1934 - 6/10

 
Brazil.  The women ride the steamer into the jungle where the diamond mine is.
And the men.  Who ordered brides  Specifying blondes..   
They warn one that her peroxide will eventually run out.  “Too late then,”  she laughs.
The men are a mixed lot, from a crafty, brutal overseer to an embezzler on the run.
Pre-Code film is missing eight minutes.  Attempted rape, rape aftermath, and innuendo dialogue.
Alan Hale and Dorothy Mackaill overshadow the others as the wicked boss and sharp-tongued hussy.
If puzzled, consider 1932 was still Depression era, leading many to desperate choices.

The Black Cat - 1934 - USA

The Black Cat - 1934 - 7/10

 
Following a bus accident, a young American couple and Hungarian psychiatrist are stranded in remote Austria.
Not to worry, nearby is the home of a famous architect, and friend of the psychiatrist.
Actually, the men are old and bitter adversaries.  In war and in love.
The young couple become sideshow pawns, as the long curdling revenge plays out.
Exceptional set design and atmosphere fully support this dark tale.
The leads, Bela and Boris, probably their finest pairing together.
This just ducked under the Production Code, and likely would not have been released afterward.

The Return Of Chandu - 1934 - USA

The Return Of Chandu - 1934 - 5/10  

 
The Egyptian princess flees her foes and hides in a Beverly Hills mansion.
Thank her lucky stars, this is the home of Chandu a powerful magician (sorcerer) who may be able to protect her.
“May” being the operative word, as this is a serial.
Every installment threatens death and danger to the princess, Chandu, friends and followers.
Occasional action, hokey script, yet this has an innocent charm for those with a taste for cliffhangers.
Bonus:  Rare chance to watch Bela Lugosi as the hero of the adventure.

Black Moon - 1934 - USA

Black Moon - 1934 - 6/10

 
Juanita, answering the summons of the drums, returns to the family plantation in Haiti.
Where, as a child, she was indoctrinated into the voodoo cult after her parents were massacred.
Steamy tropic film, thick with atmosphere and a backstory of slavery and uprisings.
Fay Wray and Dorothy Burgess solid as loyal secretary and feckless mother.
Pace languishes for modern audiences, and the white master carries a foul taste.
English subtitles = https://subsource.net/subtitle/black-moon-1934/english/10094911

Double Door - 1934 - USA

Double Door - 1934 - 6/10

 
Even though it was just downstairs, Aunt Victoria disregarded the wedding.
She had hated her nephew’s gold-digging girlfriend from the onset.
Nor was she accustomed to not getting her way.
Victoria was the spiteful, hateful, abusive force in the gloomy family.
Her sister, terrified of her.  The nephew, spineless.
As for the new bride, Victoria bided her time.
Old-fashioned chiller, full bore Gothic.  Fabulous, stark photography.

Of Human Bondage - 1934 - USA

Of Human Bondage - 1934 - 6/10

 
Aspiring artist Philip is advised he lacks talent, imagination.
Disappointed, he returns to London and eventually becomes a doctor.
Well and good, until he meet, and becomes smitten with, trashy waitress Mildred.
From this point, this becomes a soapy melodrama.
Why would a doctor …?  And why would a waitress spurn advances from a rich physician?
Leslie Howard well cast as the human doormat, Bette Davis as the disdainful idol.
Although everyone knows characters like this is real life, the lengthy attraction here seems incomprehensible.

Kiss And Make Up - 1934 - USA

Kiss And Make Up - 1934 - 6/10

 
Dr. Maurice owns and operates the highly successful Temple Of Beauty in Paris.
Females engage in his expensive treatments, buy his creams, and, of course, adore him.
So much so, he suffers “women problems”, while failing to notice his loyal right hand, Annie.
Broad satire of beauty cures, and the chasing thereof, is timeless.
At this point, a discerning viewer can easily see the transformation of Archie into Cary.
The charm, the self-depreciating humor, the grace with females.
Echoes of the Music Hall lingers, as well, with Archie playing piano and singing “Love Divided By Two”.

Search For Beauty - 1934 - USA

Search For Beauty - 1934 - 6/10

 
Pre-Code satire of the fitness craze of the 1930’s.
I suppose every generation goes through healthy diets and exercising before succumbing to second portions and lethargy.
A viral Buster Crabbe plays an Olympic swimmer (Crabbe medaled twice), Ida Lupino an Olympic high diver.
Swindlers convince them to promote their “fitness” magazine, which is little more than cheesecake and beefcake.
Along with very lurid stories and testimonials.
Beauty may be valued, but sex sells.
Naughty film, laced with innuendo, scanty clothes, male & female objectification.

Sex Madness - 1934 - USA

Sex Madness - 1934 - 3/10

 
This winner will ofttimes be found in el cheapo, early exploitation box sets along with Reefer Madness, Cocaine Fiends, Marijuana, etc …
Beach parties, encounters with burlesque dancers, lesbians, even a quick bounce with a casting agent results in -
Yes, Syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, crotch crickets.
Leading right quick to blindness and insanity.  Stop scratching already.
Unlike the films mentioned earlier, this is not over-the-top, but educational, preachy, and dullsville.
♪ VD is for everybody, not just for the few ♫
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdA2Z4Qt2K0

Wharf Angel - 1934 - USA

Wharf Angel - 1934 - 6/10

 
On the run from the coppers, he dashes into a saloon / brothel.
He is hidden, and spends the night with one of “the girls”.
Next day, he ships out for China, as stevedore.
He and shipmate Turk become fast friends and discuss the girl back home.
Not knowing, it’s the same girl.
Pre-Code boiler of drinking, fights, murder and sex.
Worthwhile if only to see Dorothy Dell, of whom Fate proved unkind.
The hard faced doll, masking the yearning soul.

Born To Be Bad - 1934 - USA

Born To Be Bad - 1934 - 5/10

 
Cynical Pre-Code film about 22 year old unwed mother and her 7 year old son.
Mom earns money as an escort (figure it out) while junior runs with gangs and drinks mugs of beer at the house.
When he runs under a delivery truck, they exaggerate the injury and try to hustle the company.
Ought to be more fun, but mother and son play unpleasant to perfection.
One of the films the Legion Of Decency likely pointed at when wanting to tighten the Production Code.
Very young Cary Grant as naive company president, Loretta Young (before she became Miss Wholesome) as call girl.
Short - bitter tasting - with preposterous finale.

The Gay Bride - 1934

The Gay Bride - 1934 - 6/10

 
Carole Lombard plays a gold-digger showgirl who targets loaded racketeers.
She is so focused on the prize she fails to see “business” is failing.
Chester Morris plays the Boss’s go-to guy, detail keeper, etc …
He has the best lines and is cynical to the core.  His banter with the digger is deadly.
Lombard, however, overacts and is more than annoying with her schtick.
Aspects were likely adjusted after the Production Code was enforced, yet this remains a sour piece of candy.

Mandalay - 1934 - USA

Mandalay - 1934 - 6/10

 
Smuggler, con man, in debt to Rangoon crime boss, offers his girlfriend in exchange.
Kay Francis becomes - ahem - “hostess” in shady casino, and very popular with men.
She earns a lot of money, hops a freighter to Mandalay, meets alcoholic doctor.
Glossy trash that somehow slipped under the new Production Code net.

Ladies Should Listen - 1934 - USA

Ladies Should Listen - 1934 - 6/10

Julian spends his last francs acquiring mineral rights in Chile.
If nothing comes from this in the next few weeks, he will be broke.
Not to fear, two lovelies cast their gaze at him.
One is the daughter of a millionaire, the other is poor but honest.
Both admire him because, well, he is a young Cary Grant.
Stuffy drawing room comedy is barely an hour long.
Better gags and jokes in the second half, but mawkish direction and ill pacing hurt this film. 

Gold - 1934 - Germany

Gold - 1934 - 6/10

The brilliant professor and his assistant attempt to transform iron into gold.
Word has leaked, however, to the press, and to a rival laboratory.
Fatal disaster strikes, yet the assistant survives. The other group makes an offer.
Early Reichsfilme of treachery, sabotage, revenge.
Brigitte Helm plays the unscrupulous tycoon’s daughter; the chief draw here is Hans Albers who enjoyed a solid career before, during and after the Reich.

Although the scheming industrialist is English, so too are the dependable workcrew.
As far as propaganda goes, this is balanced.
The laboratory effects are a highlight, equaling classic Universal stagings.

Woman In The Shadows - 1934 - USA

Woman In The Shadows - 1934 - 5/10

Vintage clunker wheezes worse than an asthmatic in foggy weather.
A fallen woman (luminous Fay Wray) escapes clutches of her sugar daddy mentor.
She finds shelter in the cabin of newly released convict (who served three years for manslaughter).
Talky adaptation of Dashiell Hammett work unfolds on a few sets.
Camera work is static, the narrative is dull. I watched to see Wray, who is beautiful in this.
Trivia: Filmed at Biograph Studios.

Giallo - 1934 - Italy

Giallo - 1934 - 6/10

Wow! Early signpost of the Giallo genre.
This, however, is an Italian comedy based on Edgar Wallace, better known to Krimi buffs.
Reaction above is of wife and lover discovering her husband had changed his name before she knew him.
Because he was suspected of murdering his mother-in-law and his wife back in the States.
Frantically, the couple wonder, how much does the husband know?
Then her lover, the Count, is invited to a hunting party.
As the storm rolls in.
Sets and costumes rival US productions of the early 1930’s. Audio is better.
More amusing, rather than laugh out loud funny.