The Thin Man (1934)

I saw this probably 40 years ago and remembered it as delightful, so I was eager to see it again. What I'd obviously forgotten was just how long it takes to get to the good stuff! Powell and Loy are in top form, but we don't see them for nearly the first half-hour. We were introduced to so many characters before we got to Mr. and Mrs. Charles that I was starting to have trouble keeping them straight AND I began to wonder if something had gone wrong and we were somehow streaming a movie other than the one we'd rented.

Seriously, once Nick and Nora show up, things improve dramatically, but dedicating so much time to the rather "meh" mystery up front was a mistake.

C+

It Happened One Night (1934)

Colbert is a famous "poor little rich girl" who eloped against her father's wishes and is now being pressured -- on the family yacht in Miami -- to annul. Instead, she jumps overboard with no other plan other than to get to New York to reunite with her husband. Though her father has dispatched dozens of men to find her, she's savvy enough to stay on the downlow while pawning what she had on her to get travel clothes and a little bit of cash for a bus ticket. Clark Gable is a newspaper man who stumbles across this naive and entitled traveler and only realizes who she is after they've antagonized each other. It becomes a sort of "Planes Trains and Automobiles"-type story with everything possible going wrong, which gets them at each others' throats and hearts. 

It's impossible not to root for these two: they are clearly having fun on the road together even while grappling with problem after problem. Colbert goes from "I don't need you" to a grudging realization that she'd be in over her head without him while Gable is surprised at how capable and savvy this sheltered heiress actually is.

This is one of those movies that could probably still please a crowded theater.

B+

The Affairs of Cellini (1934)

Cellini is the court goldsmith, but works a lot harder at wooing every pretty woman he sees than at his craft. He's also well-known as an indiscriminate murderer, but somehow he always manages to wrangle a pardon for his crimes. When the duchess sets her eyes on him, his good luck finally takes a turn.

This is just a lot of fun. Frank Morgan as the Duke is particularly funny as a wanna-be philanderer who can't manage to put anything past his wife.

B

The House of Rothschild (1934)

Five Jewish brothers start a successful banking empire across Europe while combating anti-semitism. If it could've held my attention for more than 20 minutes at a time (I think it took me close to two months to slog through this), I would've felt as though I'd been banged over the head with its message.

Even the B-plot romance was a lazy nothing.

D-

Hide-Out (1934)

Mob “protection” guy/womanizer extraordinaire gets shot by cops and speeds off down the road. A nice farmer finds him and takes him home to recuperate...and to fall in love with his daughter. The “before the farm” scenes were necessary, but they didn’t give an accurate picture of the worthwhile charm that was to come.

B

Imitation of Life (1934)

This one's a great melodrama that’s better than its remake (a film I saw a few times growing up since it happened to be one of my mother's favorite movies).  Colbert plays a young widow with a toddler who has a chance meeting with Delilah, a black woman with a young daughter of her own, looking for work. Turns out her new maid can cook a mean pancake and they’re soon in the restaurant business.

All that’s fine and good, but the real meat of the story is how mothers give up happiness for their children. The black daughter passes easily for white and doesn’t like it when her mom ruins the charade.  The white daughter falls in love with her mother's fiancee, so mom gives him up so as not to rub salt in her girl's wound.

I’d like it a lot better if Delilah weren’t such a doormat martyr, but the power of both mother-love stories is undeniable.

B+

Viva Villa! (1934)

Inept portrayal of a Mexican freedom fighter. He came off as a womanizing ignoramus who was only good at fighting...but not at honor.

Blech.

D

Here Comes the Navy (1934)

A "street-tough" type of guy gets into it with a Navy man who steals his girl -- so he decides to join the Navy to catch up to him and give him what-for. Well, somehow, he succeeds in becoming a hero twice over despite flouting all of the rules he can. I probably would've put him in the brig rather than decorating him, but whatever.

Watchable but dumb.

C-

One Night of Love (1934)

One of those movies centering on music I hate. Even if a film had a great script, likable actors, and beautiful set design, my lack of enthusiasm for sopranos singing opera would kill it for me -- so the fact that this movie possesses none of the above means it's already fighting a losing battle for my affections.

Story in a nutshell: poor girl with good voice is "discovered" by a demanding teacher with a reputation for falling in love with his female protégés. He's had enough of that and she's not interested anyway, so they make a deal to keep things strictly professional. You don't have to be a psychic to see where this is going to end up...

The film also makes the huge mistake of assuming their lead is charming when she's actually pretty full of herself and rather annoying. It's difficult to care much about the petty slights this prima donna "suffers" when I believed she'd earned every bit of heartache (however short-lived) she experienced.

D+

The Richest Girl in the World (1934)

Titular girl wants to find a guy who loves her for herself, not her money. She decides to test a potential suitor by pretending to be her secretary (and vice versa) and actively encouraging him to woo the supposed richie. I wish it had been a bit lighter as the emotional mindgame felt kind of impossible to put in the past - regardless of whether or not he successfully negotiated the test.

B-

The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)

Laughton does his Captain Bligh routine…didactic father keeps his children under lock and key and makes everyone generally miserable. Shearer is fine as the weak poetess, but March is simply adorable as the poet who comes a'courting, despite the difficulties posed by Elizabeth's health and her father's insanity. Stirred an interest in me for the "real story."

C+

Cleopatra (1934)

Static, pedestrian film that gets downright silly during the initial seduction of Antony scene and then a tiny bit interesting near the end. But a slightly interesting finish does not a recommendation make.

C-

Flirtation Walk (1934)

It's just not worth the hour and a half you have to give up to see this movie. The two leads fall predictably in love within the first 15 minutes and, for reasons unclear, decide to pretend not to love each other until the last 10 minutes.

Not excruciatingly bad, but nowhere near good. Just kinda ambles across the screen and bores everyone in its path. I'm pretty sure it's a comedy, but don't hold me to that.

D+