One of the first screen outings for Will Hay. Hay plays the Director General of the National Broadcasting Group (NBG) who hides away in his office unaware that the general feeling about his programming is that it is too high-brow and the public are not happy. However, when he discovers this he decides to take action and promotes Jimmy, his Head of the Complaints Department, to Programme Director. Jimmy decides that a series of variety spectaculars are what the public want and sets about hiring the acts. But obstacles are put in his way and he discovers that the NBG has its own cluster of wannabe variety stars.

Twentieth Century

1934

English

7.2

♡ 11

86%

Howard Hawks Director

Anita Brown as Black Stage Showgirl

Fred 'Snowflake' Toones as George Washington Jones

Walter Connolly as Oliver Webb

Bobby Barber as Sign Painter

A temperamental Broadway producer trains an untutored actress, but when she becomes a star, she proves a match for him.

Sing As We Go!

1934

English

5.7

♡ 2

Basil Dean Director

John Loder as Hugh Phillips

Ben Field as Nobby

Dorothy Hyson as Phyllis Logan

Stanley Holloway as Policeman

When the textile mill closes, putting her out of work, Gracie finds herself experiencing all of the amusements of Blackpool.

Cleopatra

1934

English

6.8

♡ 14

83%

Cecil B. DeMille Director

Juanita Moore as Dancer / Slave Girl

Marjorie Bonner as Roman Girl

John Roy as Roman Soldier

Kenneth Gibson as Scribe

The queen of Egypt barges the Nile and flirts with Mark Antony and Julius Caesar.

Of Human Bondage

1934

English

7.0

♡ 7

87%

John Cromwell Director

Reginald Owen as Athelny

Frank Mills as Chimneysweep

Bette Davis as Mildred

Alan Hale as Miller

A young man finds himself attracted to a cold and unfeeling waitress who may ultimately destroy them both.

Belle of the Nineties

1934

English

6.3

♡ 4

88%

new orleans, louisiana

old

pre-code

Sport

Leo McCarey Director

Frank Rice as Best Man at Wedding

Edward Hearn as Croupier

Sam Flint as Fire Chief

William A. Boardway as Nightclub Patron

Cabaret entertainer Ruby Carter shifts her operations to New Orleans and becomes exceedingly popular with the local men.

The Wise Little Hen

1934

English

6.9

♡ 9

Wilfred Jackson Director

Clarence Nash as Donald Duck / Peter Pig

Lester Dorr as Singer

Jack Mower as Singer

Florence Gill as Wise Little Hen

Join Donald Duck in his debut in the classic animated short The Wise Little Hen. The Little Hen is planting corn and would like to have help from Peter Pig and Donald Duck, but they refuse stating they each have a "tummy ache." When it comes time to harvest the corn, Peter Pig and Donald still refuse to help the Hen, so she and her chicks do the harvest by themselves. Finally, the hen cooks the corn and offers some to Donald and Peter Pig, but when they look more carefully they discover a surprise.

The Big Bad Wolf

1934

English

6.9

♡ 10

little red riding hood

Musical

short

short film

Burt Gillett Director

Billy Bletcher as Big Bad Wolf

Mary Moder as Fiddler Pig

Sara Berner as Little Red Riding Hood / Grandma

Vance Colvig Jr. as Practical Pig

The Big Bad Wolf torments Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs.

Housewife

1934

English

6.1

♡ 3

11%

Alfred E. Green Director

Bill Elliott as Clerk

Bette Davis as Patricia Berkeley

John T. Murray as Salesman

Harrison Greene as Sambo

Nan Reynolds encourages her copywriter husband Bill to open his own agency. Nearly out of business, he finally gets a client. Former girlfriend Patricia Berkeley writes a very successful commercial for the client and neats up their old romance. Wife and girlfriend struggle over Bill.

Midnight

1934

English

5.5

♡ 2

43%

Chester Erskine Director

Helen Flint as Ethel Saxton

Humphrey Bogart as Gar Boni

Margaret Wycherly as Mrs. Weldon

Henry Hull as Nolan

Jury foreman Edward Weldon's questioning leads to the death sentence for Ethel Saxon. His daughter Stella claims to have killed her lover, the gangster Garboni, just as Saxon was to sit in the electric chair.

The Scarlet Pimpernel

1934

English

7.3

♡ 5

90%

husband wife relationship

secret identity

Harold Young Director

Arthur Hambling as Captain of the Guard

Melville Cooper as Romney

Joan Gardner as Suzanne de Tournay

Bramwell Fletcher as The Priest

18th century English aristocrat Sir Percy Blakeney leads a double life. He appears to be merely the effete aristocrat, but in reality is part of an underground effort to free French nobles from Robespierre's Reign of Terror.

It's a Gift

1934

English

7.1

♡ 2

94%

husband wife relationship

inheritance

molasses

Norman Z. McLeod Director

Chill Wills as Campfire Singer

Spencer Charters as Gate Guard

T. Roy Barnes as Insurance Salesman

Jane Withers as Little Girl Playing Hopscotch

After he inherits some money, Harold Bissonette ("pronounced bis-on-ay") decides to give up the grocery business, move to California and run an orange grove. Despite his family's objections and the news that the land he bought is worthless, Bissonette packs up and drives out to California with his nagging wife Amelia and children.

The Old Fashioned Way

1934

English

7.3

♡ 2

83%

William Beaudine Director

Georgie Billings as Kid in Railroad Car

Sam Flint as Kid's Father

Richard Carle as Sheriff of Barnesville

Florence Lawrence as Undetermined Role

The Great McGonigle and his troupe of third-rate vaudevillians manage to stay one step ahead of the bill collectors and the sheriff.

Four Frightened People

1934

English

6.1

♡ 4

36%

Cecil B. DeMille Director

Herbert Marshall as Arnold Ainger

Claudette Colbert as Judy Jones

Nella Walker as Mrs. Ainger

Tetsu Komai as Native Chief

Malaya tropical island romantic love triangle adventure thriller, about a cruise ship where Bubonic plague breaks out. Four people are able to leave the ship in a tiny boat and make it to a desert island, where many adventures ensue and, of course, the two men fight over the beautiful young schoolteacher who is with them.

Double Door

1934

English

6.8

♡ 3

95%

Charles Vidor Director

Evelyn Venable as Anne Darrow

Anne Revere as Caroline Van Brett

Burr Caruth as Rev. Dr. Loring

Mary Morris as Victoria Van Brett

In 1910 Manhattan, Victoria Van Brett, a bitter spinster heiress lives an isolated life with her sister Caroline. Her domineering urges go into overdrive when their half-brother Rip brings a new bride home to the family’s gloomy Fifth Avenue mansion, built by their late industrialist father. The title refers to a secret soundproofed chamber that the villainess uses to entrap her enemies.

The Scarlet Empress

1934

English

7.5

♡ 9

86%

85%

Action

based on novel or book

Josef von Sternberg Director

Sam Jaffe as Grand Duke Peter

Edward Van Sloan as Herr Wagner

Olive Tell as Princess Johanna Elizabeth

Marlene Dietrich as Princess Sophia Frederica / Catherine II

During the 18th century, German noblewoman Sophia Frederica, who would later become Catherine the Great, travels to Moscow to marry the dimwitted Grand Duke Peter, the heir to the Russian throne. Their arranged marriage proves to be loveless, and Catherine takes many lovers, including the handsome Count Alexei, and bears a son. When the unstable Peter eventually ascends to the throne, Catherine plots to oust him from power.

Zou Zou

1934

French

6.3

♡ 3

64%

Marc Allégret Director

Yvette Lebon as Claire

Robert Seller as Le commanditaire

Roger Blin as Le témoin du meurtre

Josephine Baker as Zouzou

Zou Zou tries to help her childhood friend prove his innocence after he's accused of murder.

You're Telling Me!

1934

English

7.4

♡ 1

Erle C. Kenton Director

Buster Crabbe as Bob Murchison

George MacQuarrie as Crabbe

Adrienne Ames as Princess Lescaboura

W.C. Fields as Sam Bisbee

Sam Bisbee is an inventor whose works (e.g., a keyhole finder for drunks) have brought him only poverty. His daughter is in love with the son of the town snob. Events conspire to ruin his bullet-proof tire just as success seems near. Another of his inventions prohibits him from committing suicide, so Sam decides to go on living.