Tonight's Movie: Belle of the Nineties (1934) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

The summer of Mae West continues with BELLE OF THE NINETIES (1934), which was recently released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber.

I'm watching West's films for the first time, in chronological order, via Kino Lorber's new Blu-ray releases; links to the previous reviews are at the end of this post.

BELLE OF THE NINETIES was West's fourth film and her first released after enforcement of the Production Code began in July 1934. BELLE OF THE NINETIES was released in September 1934, but it still manages to be somewhat racy despite the tighter restrictions on movie content.

West plays Ruby Carter, a wildly popular St. Louis entertainer who leaves for New Orleans after breaking off a romance with boxer the Tiger Kid (Roger Pryor).

In New Orleans Ruby is a hit at an establishment owned by Ace Carter (John Miljan). Ace is interested in his relationship with Ruby being more than just business, to the dismay of his current mistress, Molly (Katherine DeMille).

Ruby turns down Ace and instead accepts jewels from wealthy young Brooks Claybourne (Johnny Mack Brown). However, their burgeoning relationship is thrown off course when Tiger shows up in New Orleans and is recruited for a boxing match by Ace.

While BELLE OF THE NINETIES isn't on the level of West's prior films, I still enjoyed it quite well.

Getting the negatives out of the way first, the movie has some strange edits, particularly early on, with scenes ending abruptly; I wasn't sure if this was due to censorship or the script simply running out of gas! Perhaps the commentary track by Samm Deighan will shed some light on that.

Another issue is leading man Roger Pryor; I've seen him in a few other films and have frankly never understood his film career, as I find him lacking in both looks and charisma. That's unfortunately the case again here. (I've read that West wanted George Raft for the part.) It's a shame the more appealing Johnny Mack Brown has just a small role despite being billed third.

Now for the positives. First, of course, is West herself; I continue to find her fascinating to watch both in terms of looks and personality. West wrote the story and much of the dialogue, and despite the Production Code she still tosses off a lot of good one-liners, such as "Better to be looked over than overlooked." She's also got a stunning wardrobe designed by the great Travis Banton.

West performs several musical numbers, and what she doesn't have in terms of a voice she makes up for with tons of style. (It reminds me of the description of Ida Lupino in ROAD HOUSE: "She does more without a voice than anybody I've ever heard.") The best part is that Duke Ellington and His Orchestra are on hand for a couple of numbers, with the highlight being "Memphis Blues." Good stuff.

I like the way West balances playing someone who makes a living off men, in various ways, with also being sharp-witted and independent. For instance, at one point she's done out of some jewels; thanks to overhearing a conversation, she figures out what happened and comes up with a plan to get them back. No need for anyone to ride to her rescue, she's got it capably covered.

All in all, it's an enjoyable 73 minutes. While a stronger leading man and smoother editing would have put BELLE OF THE NINETIES closer to the quality level of her prior films, what ended up on screen is still quite fun to watch.

BELLE OF THE NINETIES was directed by Leo McCarey and filmed by Karl Struss.

Like the previously reviewed West releases, the Kino Lorber Blu-ray is of very nice quality. In addition to the aforementioned commentary track, the disc includes the trailer along with five additional trailers for Mae West films which are also available from Kino Lorber.

Previous reviews of Mae West films released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber: NIGHT AFTER NIGHT (1932), SHE DONE HIM WRONG (1933), and I'M NO ANGEL (1933).

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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