Peeking behind the curtain of 1930s glamour

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, it depends on if you like watching the plumbing of movies. If you get a kick out of seeing how the sausage was made in 1935, you'll be glued to the screen. If you're looking for a narrative, skip it. You will be bored to tears within five minutes.

It feels like stumbling into a secret room at the studio. There’s no music, just these flickering, silent snippets of icons like Carole Lombard or George Raft. They aren't acting, really. They’re just posing.

The Sternberg connection

The stuff from The Devil Is a Woman is the real hook here. You can see why Sternberg was such a nightmare for studios back then. He was obsessed with the way a veil hit a cheekbone. It’s *obsessive*.

There's a moment where a light flickers and the whole mood of the face changes. It makes you realize how much of 'star power' was just a guy with a light meter and a very specific vision of how to hide a chin. 💄

Compared to a standard flick like Murder Will Out, this has zero pretense. It’s just raw visual data.

Odd little details

• Carole Lombard looks like she's waiting for a bus half the time.
• The silence is actually pretty heavy. It makes the clothes feel louder.
• Some of these costumes are just absolute madness. Feathers everywhere.
• There’s a weird, detached quality to the way the camera tracks them. Like they’re specimens.

I found myself wondering if Gail Patrick knew she was being filmed for a technical reel or if she thought she was doing a screen test. The difference is subtle, but it's there in the eyes. 👁️

It’s not as chaotic as Radio Riot, but it has this strange, static beauty. It’s like looking at a photograph that decided to start moving just a little bit.

You can tell they were trying to save money by reusing these clips. It feels like a scrap heap of glamour. But, damn, what a scrap heap.

Don't look for a lesson here. Just watch the way the light catches a sequin. Sometimes that's enough. 🎬