DAMES

(1934, Ray Enright) Dick Powell croons “I Only Have Eyes For You” to Ruby Keeler, Joan Blondell blackmails Babbittesque Guy Kibbee into backing that show, and the eye-popping Berkeley numbers keep coming, in WB’s first post-Code musical. 35mm print preserved by Library of Congress. Approx. 90 mins.
12:30, 4:00, 7:30

“Wondrous production numbers, which are all erotic fantasies…The title number, a balletic day in the life of a showgirl, gives rise to one of Berkeley’s greatest visual inventions, dancers in black arrayed against a white background to yield a flying wedge of pubic rapture—and a performer dressed in baby clothes. It suggests nothing less than ‘The Origin of the World.’”
– Richard Brody, The New Yorker

“Amply eye-filling! The black-and-white effects in the Dames number certainly are as striking as any ever filmed.”
– The New York Times

FASHIONS OF 1934

(1934, William Dieterle) William Powell crashes the Paris fashion world, with a blonde-wigged Bette Davis as his sketch artist partner. Topped by Berkeley’s “Spin a Little Web of Dreams” number. 35mm print preserved by Library of Congress. Approx. 80 mins.
2:20, 5:50, 9:20

“Color, flash, dash, class, girls and plenty of clothes.”
– Variety