I watched Desirable (1934) and I have thoughts about the hats

If you have about seventy minutes to kill and you like watching rich people make really awkward life choices, Desirable is probably worth a look. It’s for anyone who enjoys those early 1930s dramas where everyone lives in a house the size of a museum but nobody seems to have a job. If you hate movies where people whisper dramatically about their 'reputation' while wearing evening gowns, you will definitely want to skip this one. It is very much a product of its time, for better or worse. 🥂

George Brent is the main guy here, playing Mac. He has this very specific way of acting where he looks like he’s perpetually trying to remember if he left the stove on. He’s charming, I guess, but in a very stiff, 'I am a leading man' kind of way. He is dating Helen, played by Verree Teasdale, who is honestly the best part of the whole thing.

Helen is a socialite who is absolutely terrified of getting old. She keeps her daughter, Lois, tucked away at a finishing school because having a grown-up kid makes her feel like an antique. It is a bit mean, but Verree Teasdale plays it with this desperate kind of vanity that makes you almost feel bad for her. She wears these outfits that look incredibly heavy and expensive. One of her hats looked like a giant black pancake was attacking her head. 🥞

Then the daughter, Lois (Jean Muir), comes home. And wow, the vibe changes immediately. Jean Muir plays Lois as if she is about twelve years old, even though she is clearly a grown woman. She’s very bouncy and breathless. Every time she enters a room, she looks like she’s just won the lottery or seen a ghost.

The movie gets weird when Mac sees Lois. He’s been dating the mother for a while, but as soon as he sees the daughter, he’s hooked. There is zero transition. He doesn't even look guilty about it. It’s like he just decided, 'Actually, I prefer the younger version,' and that’s that. It made me feel a little bit greasy watching it, to be honest.

The chemistry between them is... not great. Mac looks like he wants to give her a high-five or a lollipop, not take her on a date. But the movie keeps trying to convince us that this is a grand romance. I wasn't buying it. It reminded me of the stiff acting you see in Man of the Forest, where everyone is just standing in their designated spots waiting for their turn to talk.

There is a scene at a big party that felt like it went on for twenty minutes too long. You can see the extras in the background just pretending to talk. I spotted one guy in the far left corner who was just nodding at a wall. I wonder what he was thinking about. Probably his paycheck. 💸

Small things I noticed:

• George Brent’s mustache is perfectly trimmed. Like, too perfect. It’s distracting.
• The way the maid looks at Lois when she first arrives. It’s like a mix of pity and 'oh no, not another one.'
• There is a lot of smoking. Everyone has a cigarette at all times. The rooms must have been so foggy.
• The sound quality dips whenever someone stands too far from the center of the room. It gets all hollow sounding.

The script was written by Mary C. McCall Jr., and some of the lines are just so clunky. At one point, Mac tells Lois she is like a 'wildflower in a hothouse.' It’s such a cliché that I actually groaned out loud. It’s the kind of writing that makes you appreciate the weirdness of Billboard Girl a bit more, even if that’s a totally different kind of movie.

I did like the scenes between the mother and the daughter, though. There is this underlying tension where they both know they are competing for the same space. Helen wants to be the star, and Lois just wants to exist. It’s a bit sadder than the movie probably intended it to be. 🥀

The lighting in the final act is really dark. I don't know if they were trying to be moody or if they just ran out of lightbulbs that day. I could barely see George Brent’s face during the 'big talk' at the end. Maybe that was a blessing.

I also kept thinking about I Am a Thief while watching this, mostly because it has that same 'Warner Bros. assembly line' feel. It’s polished in some ways but feels very rushed in others. You can tell they made these movies on a very tight schedule. If a scene was mostly okay, they just kept it and moved on to the next one.

"You're just a little girl playing at being a woman," Helen tells Lois at one point. It’s the meanest line in the movie and probably the most honest one.

One weird thing—the music is so LOUD. Whenever anyone says something even remotely emotional, the violins start blaring like a car alarm. It’s very manipulative. It’s like the director didn't trust the actors to show us they were sad, so he had to blast us with strings to make sure we got the point.

Is it a classic? No. Is it a disaster? Also no. It’s just one of those movies that exists in the middle. It’s better than Tongues of Flame because at least something happens here, even if it is a bit creepy. It’s a decent way to see how people in 1934 viewed 'scandalous' behavior.

I think I would have liked it more if it focused on the mother’s career or her social life rather than the weird romance. Verree Teasdale had a lot of energy that the movie didn't know what to do with. She’s just stuck in these scenes where she has to look jealous. She’s capable of much more than that.

Overall, I’d say give it a watch if you're a completist for 1930s cinema. But don't expect it to change your life. It’s like a snack that you forget you ate five minutes later. Just a lot of silk, cigarettes, and George Brent looking confused. 🚬

Oh, and look out for the scene where they go to the nursery. There is a baby that looks extremely unimpressed with the whole production. That baby was my favorite character.

I should probably mention the pacing is a bit off in the middle. It drags when they are at the country house. I found myself checking how much time was left. But then it picks up again for the finale, which is abrupt but sort of satisfying in a 'well, I guess that’s over' kind of way.

Anyway, that’s Desirable. It’s fine. Not great, not terrible. Just... there. 🎬