Review of Fashions of 1934

"Fashions of 1934" is an amusing light comedy starring William Powell and Bette Davis. Davis looks much more sophisticated than she did in "The Man Who Played God." She's very glamorous and also very good in a film that's mainly fueled by Powell's performance as a con man. The Powell character goes from con to con, sometimes a con within a con - he can't resist. One of his schemes is to copy fashion sketches from Paris and pass them off as originals. Another is to sell a surplus of ostrich plumes by featuring them in a musical revue. This gives rise to a great musical number, "Spin a Little Web of Dreams." It's a Busby Berkeley kaleidoscope production. The audience at the musical revue, however, didn't see it as moviegoers did - from above.

This is a fun movie and notable for the actual fashions shown, a good performance by Powell, a spectacular number and early Davis before she established her screen persona.