The Plot. Sherwood Nash is a swindler who bootlegs Paris fashions for sale at cut-rate prices. His assistant Lynn poses as An American interested in a dress and Snap conceals a camera in his cane. When they try to steal the latest Baroque designs hidden cameras capture them. Threat and counter threat lead to the suggestion of putting on a legitimate show.I am completely confounded by the 7 plus rating. There is the thinnest of plots. The only thing worth waiting for (or fast forwarding to) is the Busby Berkeley number about half way thru. It features a ton of half naked babes that are hot even by today's standards. Any red blooded 12 year old male will be wanking to these babes left and right. Other than that, it's a ho hum movie. And think think Bette Davis is gonna save the movie. She's barely in it and rather out of place.

. . . of (The Then) Far Future about the Fraud of the Millennium. Though nearly everyone in Tinseltown subsequently plagiarized FASHIONS OF 1934, from Astaire & Rogers (ROBERTA) to Robert Altman (PRET A PORTER, aka READY TO WEAR), none of these Wannabes could see the Forest through Warner's Feathers. Though Warner provoked the Pope to impose a Century of American Film Censorship over these feathers (or lack thereof), Warner's Faithful Prognosticators of the USA's upcoming Calamities, Catastrophes, Cataclysms, and Apocalypti thought that it was worth this risk to reveal that this Once Respectable Nation's Future Emperor Caligula was wearing no clothes at all. Our Endangered Homeland's Modern Day "Little Boots," aka that feather-brained Red Commie Tool Don Juan Rump, is perfectly predicted long in advance by FASHIION's "Sherwood Nash." Mr. Nash even has a Russian Connection through "Countess Mabel," a clear reference to Rump's KGB handler, Vlad "The Mad Russian" Putin. (That is, "Countess Mabel" is the KGB's Code Name for Rump, as in "Countess Mabel is meeting with the Big Boss this week, so order more of the cheap baloney.") As this story ends, all the feathers turn out to be diseased, which serves as a final Warner warning of Putin's Plot to liquidate millions of U.S. Citizens by curtailing ObamaCare and transferring the billions "saved" by this Genocidal Mass Murder to the Russian Oligarch "investors" who have a stranglehold now on the American Economy, thanks to the Rump\Kushner Money-Laundering Crime Syndicate.

Fashions of 1934 (1934) ** 1/2 (out of 4)This Warner Musical has William Powell, Bette Davis and Busby Berkely teaming up this one time and the film's reputation has been pretty low ever since. The movie has Powell playing a con man who decides to rip off Paris fashions and sell them to New York big shots so that he can get some fast cash. With the help of Davis the two start ripping off fashions and selling them across the pond but soon a fashion show might really put them on the map. This isn't a bad film as some reviews would have you believe but at the same time it is rather uneven. There are many strange things in this film with Davis getting the top honor. Warner was trying to sell her as a sex symbol so they have a ton of make up on her face, a different hair style as well as an alternate hair color. While looking at her you'll forget she's Bette Davis so I guess you can applaud the studio for their make up work but thankfully the actress refused this type of "work" in future films. Powell is extremely good in the film as he manages to be quite funny and keeps the entertainment going. The opening joke involving a phone is perfectly played as are various other sequences where Powell has to use his charm. Davis doesn't come off as well because it appears she's trying to be someone other than herself. Frank McHugh, Hugh Herbert, Regionald Owen and Henry O'Neill round out the supporting players. The big musical number featuring tons and tons of feathers is pretty good but it really doesn't mix too well with the rest of the film. The pre-code bra and panties, as well as various other sexual innuendos, give the film an extra bump.

A previous reviewer called this film "dated". I'm always rather amused by such a comment. Of course it's dated--the film was made in 1933! That's precisely what makes it so charming. It's a slice of Americana, circa 1933, that you are unlikely to find in any other way. The music, the fashions, the decor, even Busby Berkely's over-the-top, wonderful production number all add up to a fantastic glimpse of our past. The art deco sets alone are worth the price of admission (which on TCM is free!). Throw in some marvelously talented actors who may not have been doing their best work--but they were entertaining just the same--and you have a simply marvelous little piece of cinematic magic. And that tune--"Spin a Little Web of Dreams"--I can't get it out of my head!