Sarah Cook returns for another look back at Hayes Code-era Hollywood. Here’s a pick of some truly cracking 1934 movies.
Happy New Year and welcome to 2024! Once again, there’s an incredible year of movies on the horizon. From Yorgos Lanthimos’ stunning Victorian sci-fi Poor Things to Ridley Scott’s sequel to Gladiator, another smorgasbord of movie delights awaits us.
Yet here I am once again asking for you to head back into the past – this time to enjoy a feast of films from 1934. It was an intriguing time for movies, since the Hays Code, having been established a few years earlier, began to be more rigorously enforced from July that year. This meant that films from that point on were far less racy, contained fewer murderous gangsters, while even kisses were closely monitored for duration and sauciness. This doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of enjoyable films from either side of The Hays Code enforcement, though. So, let’s celebrate the new year – 1930s style!
Now, it wouldn’t be my column without mention of a Fredric March film, so let’s kick things off with one of my favourite movies from his body of work. Directed by Mitchell Leisen, and based on an Italian play by Alberto Casella, Death Takes A Holiday sees the eponymous grim reaper, played here by March, taking a few days off from soul collecting so he can enjoy what mortal life has to offer. Along the way, he falls in love with the beautiful and poetically Gothic Grazia, played by Evelyn Venables (who went on to voice the Blue Fairy in Disney’s Pinocchio). It’s a striking ode to life and death that was remade in the 90s as the (unexpectedly hilarious) Meet Joe Black (1998).
Claudette Colbert had a rather superb 1934, winning an Academy Award for her performance in Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night. It’s a charming screwball comedy precursor which sees Ellen, a young heiress, run away from her father and elope across the country. While on a Greyhound bus, she meets a loutish reporter (Clark Gable) who promises to help her if he can scope the story. Through all sorts of shenanigans, the pair fall in love. The film’s famed for being the first to win all the big categories at the Oscars, as well as its iconic scene where Colbert stops traffic with her silken leg.
Post-Code Cecil B DeMille epic Cleopatra saw a sultry Colbert star as the famed Egyptian queen in an incredible biopic. Not only does it boast an immense (and hot) performance by Colbert, but it also has one of the most opulent cut-away sequences when our two protagonists – Cleopatra and Mark Antony (Henry Wilcoxon) – get it on. Lavish and brilliant, this is a gorgeous historical romp.
Speaking of historical romps, 1934 saw director Josef von Sternberg team up with star Marlene Dietrich for a moody and masterful film about Catherine the Great. The Scarlett Empress sees the life of the once-idealistic Russian queen who, after being betrothed to her childish and churlish husband Grand Duke Peter, mount a coup with the help of a handful of trusted advisors. The movie’s famed for Sternberg’s shadowy style as well as being one of the last films to be shot before the Hays Code’s enforcement, which is made clear in both the discussions of torture and sight of exposed breasts.
Alexandra Dumas’ novel The Count Of Monte Cristo was adapted by director and co-writer Rowland V Lee in 1934, and was the first screen version of the story to employ the use of sound. Robert Donat stars as Edmond Dantes, an officer imprisoned for decades for delivering a letter (oh, and oodles of jealousy was also involved). When he returns, Dantes vows revenge on the men who put him there. This insanely popular action-adventure spawned two sequels, including The Son Of Monte Cristo in 1940 and The Return Of Monte Cristo in 1946.
Another fantastic book adaptation (they pay me for these segues, don’t you know?) is John Cromwell’s Of Human Bondage. Often cited as the film that launched Bette Davies into the stratosphere, its drama revolves around a twisting love affair between a man and a cold-hearted waitress. Starring opposite Leslie Howard, Davis’ – shall we say – unique take on the English accent doesn’t dampen an otherwise stirring performance.
Speaking of great lead performances, Greta Garbo is phenomenal in the drama The Painted Veil. Starring alongside Herbert Marshall, and based on a book by W Somerset Maugham, it sees a young woman follow her doctor husband to China as he battles a cholera outbreak. Left alone for most of her time, the woman eventually falls for a diplomat. Though the film itself is a somewhat an average affair, Garbo’s immense performance elevates it to a higher level.
One of the greatest cinematic pairings to ever grace our screens is that of William Powell and Myrna Loy. The Thin Man sees Powell and Loy play a cracking detective team on the search for a missing inventor. By turns suspenseful and hilarious, charm positively oozes from director WS Van Dyke’s mystery.
Also in 1934, dancing duo Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers paired for The Gay Divorcee. Rogers plays Mimi Glossop, who is seeking divorce from her husband Cyril (William Austin) but winds up falling for a dancer, Guy (you can probably guess who plays Guy). Astaire and Rogers’ usual screen chemistry is on display, both in their fancy flitting footwork and their boisterous banter. Though the story’s light, the film will soon have you feeling lighter than air.
Finally, Dames! It’s a Ray Enright and Busby Berkeley musical starring all your favourites, including Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, and Ruby Keeler. It sees a reformer’s daughter wish to make it big in a musical, despite the fact that her father loathes them all. The story’s loose, but it nevertheless contains some of the most brilliant dance sequences you’ll ever see on the big screen thanks to Berkeley’s iconic choreography.
There’s plenty more 1934 films in store. If you have any of your own, why not share them in the comments?
