Belle of the Nineties

1934

Action / Comedy / Drama / Musical / Sport

4
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 88% · 8 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 56% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.3/10 10 1051 1.1K

old new orleans, louisiana pre-code 19th century

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Plot summary

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

Director

Leo McCarey Photo
Leo McCarey

Top cast

Benny Baker Photo
Benny Baker as Blackie
Mae West Photo
Mae West as Ruby Carter
Frank Mills Photo
Frank Mills as New Orleans Gym Mug
Mike Mazurki Photo
Mike Mazurki as New Orleans Audience Admirer
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
671.56 MB
978*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 13 min
Seeds 1
1.22 GB
1456*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 13 min
Seeds 1

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by springfieldrental 7 / 10

A Sanitized Version of Mae West's Original Story

The movie star most affected by the newly enforced Production Code was Mae West. She was one of the main catalysts why a stricter enforcement from the Hays Office was enacted by mid-1934. West's first movie under the new censorship system, September 1934's "Belle of the Nineties," underwent several laborious revisions before filming was underway as well as being required by the censors to reshoot several scenes after their circumspect review of the movie.West was familiar with uptight censors from her previous stage and early movie works. Thrown in a New York City jail after police shut down her first play in 1927, the now-41-year-old actress wrote a bawdy movie script based on her play, 'It Ain't No Sin,' knowing the Hays Office was going to chop it to shreds. Her low opinion on censors was reflected in her autobiography. "Every person who is not a moron or a mental defective of some sort carries a very effective censor and super-critic of his actions in his cerebral cortex, and in his heart," West wrote. "If that doesn't work, no amount of censorship from the outside will do anybody any good." West was well prepared which passages were going to be sliced, and wrote a backup script with less raunchy lines.The censors at first amazingly left in the original title. Paramount Pictures, as a publicity stunt, gathered 40 parrots and taught them to say the phrase "It Ain't No Sin." Eventually, head censor Jospeh Breen realized the title had to be changed and demanded it be. Since no one wanted parrots who repeatedly shrieking "It Ain't No Sin," they were all transported back to South America where they came from and released into the jungle. The birds could be heard by the natives in the area for years high up in the trees screeching the line over and over again.Before the "Belle of the Nineties" was seen by the censors, the studio previewed the movie before an audience. The viewers howled at Mae West's racy lines and the situations she found herself in. But that was before the censors visually saw it and sliced out some, in their eyes, questionable scenes. The end result was acceptable by contemporary film critics back then as well as the public, although it failed to gain the popularity as her previous movies. Wrote one The New York Times reviewer, "There are gags for every taste and most of them are outrageously funny according to almost any standard of humor." Today's reassessment of "Belle of the Nineties" is not as generous as when it was first released. Modern reviewer Barry Chapman noted her movie "would probably have been a lot funnier if the Hays Office hadn't 'protected' moviegoers." An even harsher review was written by David Nusair, highlighting the movie is "unlikely to please even the most ardent of West's followers, with the almost total absence of positive attributes, aside from West's mere presence." "Belle of the Nineties" does offer several songs from West, backed by the Duke Ellington Orchestra, including what would become the popular hit "My Old Flame."The actress adjusted to the new moral code to deliver first-rate comedy films, but none came close to her 1933 hits "She Done Him Wrong" and "I'm No Angel." The viewing public was looking for more sauce on the screen, and were denied that because of the censors' heavy hand.
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Reviewed by MartinHafer 5 / 10

Surprisingly tame and dull.

As I watched the Mae West film, "Belle of the Nineties", I found myself wishing they'd made the movie six months earlier. This is because the film debuted in September, 1934...a couple months after the new toughened Production Code came into effect. This is because West's shtick was bawdy humor....and in the Code era, nothing even remotely bawdy would be allowed. So, as a result, West's character is pretty dull and the movie mostly forgettable.

Mae stars as Ruby, a woman who sings in the saloon owned by a local baddie, Ace Lamont. Lamont was played by John Miljan...a man who always played disreputable jerks. So, you know from the outset that he's a guy up to no good. But, like EVERY man in a Mae West film, he is drawn to her like a moth to a flame. But because he's bad to the core, he wants Ruby AND he wants to screw her...out of her diamonds. Can Ruby outsmart this conniving jerk?

It's odd, but after the movie was over, I already found myself forgetting it. Sure, a Code picture with West could be good ("My Little Chickadee" and "Go West Young Man" were pretty good Code films), but this one just seemed to be so neutered that it was dull and forgettable. Gone are West's terrific one liners as well as any sense of fun.

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