# Search for Beauty > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Search_for_Beauty > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Search_for_Beauty.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_for_Beauty > Source revision: 1339462397 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1934 film by Erle C. Kenton Search for Beauty Theatrical release poster Directed by Erle C. Kenton Screenplay by Claude Binyon David Boehm Frank Butler Sam Hellman Maurine Dallas Watkins Produced by E. Lloyd Sheldon Starring Buster Crabbe Ida Lupino Robert Armstrong James Gleason Toby Wing Gertrude Michael Cinematography Harry Fischbeck Edited by James Smith Music by John Leipold Production company Paramount Pictures Distributed by Paramount Pictures Release date February 2, 1934 (1934-02-02) Running time 78 minutes Country United States Language English ***Search for Beauty*** is a 1934 American [pre-Code](/source/Pre-Code_Hollywood) [dramedy](/source/Dramedy) film with some musical athletic sequences in the style of [Busby Berkeley](/source/Busby_Berkeley). It was directed by [Erle C. Kenton](/source/Erle_C._Kenton) and stars [Buster Crabbe](/source/Buster_Crabbe) and [Ida Lupino](/source/Ida_Lupino). The film was released shortly before Lupino's 16th birthday. ## Plot Jackson, a swimmer, and Hilton, a diver, are [Olympic](/source/Olympic_Games) champions and a romantic couple who become the face of a sleazy health magazine.[1] A pair of ex-cons team with the magazine's publisher to bring them down. ## Cast - [Buster Crabbe](/source/Buster_Crabbe) as Don Jackson - [Ida Lupino](/source/Ida_Lupino) as Barbara Hilton - [Robert Armstrong](/source/Robert_Armstrong_(actor)) as Larry Williams - [James Gleason](/source/James_Gleason) as Dan Healy, the 'publisher' - [Toby Wing](/source/Toby_Wing) as Sally Palmer, Barbara's cousin - [Gertrude Michael](/source/Gertrude_Michael) as Jean Strange - [Bradley Page](/source/Bradley_Page) as Joe Garrett - [Frank McGlynn, Sr.](/source/Frank_McGlynn%2C_Sr.) as Rev. Rankin - [Nora Cecil](/source/Nora_Cecil) as Miss Pettigrew - [Virginia Hammond](/source/Virginia_Hammond) as Mrs. Archibald Henderson-James - [Eddie Gribbon](/source/Eddie_Gribbon) as Adolph Knockler - James B. 'Pop' Kenton as Caretaker - [Lynn Bari](/source/Lynn_Bari) as Beauty Contest Entrant (uncredited) - [Maurice Costello](/source/Maurice_Costello) as Health Acres Guest (uncredited) - [Joyzelle Joyner](/source/Joyzelle_Joyner) as Beauty Contest Entrant (uncredited) - [Ann Sheridan](/source/Ann_Sheridan) as Texas Beauty Winner (uncredited) [Buster Crabbe](/source/Buster_Crabbe) in a publicity still for the film. ## Production To promote the film and to find some of the cast, [Paramount](/source/Paramount_Pictures) sponsored a worldwide beauty contest. One of the winners, who made her first appearance in the film, was [Ann Sheridan](/source/Ann_Sheridan).[2] Some have considered the magazine publishing company depicted in the film to be a parody of the publishing enterprises owned by [Bernarr Macfadden](/source/Bernarr_Macfadden).[3] ## Reception The film was widely panned. *[New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)* critic [Andre Sennwald](/source/Andre_Sennwald) wrote: "*Search for Beauty* is the film that Paramount manufactured as the climax of an international exploitation stunt in which thirty young men and women from various parts of the world received a free trip to Hollywood and an opportunity to get into one picture. The result is a tribute to the studio's ingenuity but a less than thrilling tidbit for the man in the street."[4] [*Variety*](/source/Variety_(magazine)) agreed: "Story is just so much applesauce ... Miss Lupino, to save her kid cousin from the clutches of a roomful of evil-minded stews, does a snakehips atop a table. She didn't learn that in England."[5] ## See also - [National Recovery Administration](/source/National_Recovery_Administration) (NRA), the logo displayed at start of film ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Search for Beauty](https://web.archive.org/web/20121102185301/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/89346/Search-for-Beauty/), tcm.com, accessed October 12, 2010. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Jarvis, Douglas (1985). *Encyclopedia of Film Stars*. Gallery Books. p. 94. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780831727956](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780831727956). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Erickson, Hal (2017). *Any Resemblance to Actual Persons: The Real People Behind 400+ Fictional Movie Characters*. McFarland. p. 276. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781476629308](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781476629308). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Those Contest Winners"](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1934/02/10/95473488.html?pageNumber=20). *The New York Times*. February 10, 1934. Retrieved June 14, 2023. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Search for Beauty"](https://archive.org/details/variety113-1934-02/page/n97/mode/2up?q=%22search+for+beauty%22+crabbe+armstrong+lupino+1934). *Variety*. February 13, 1934. Retrieved June 14, 2023. ## Sources - Doherty, Thomas Patrick. *Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema 1930-1934*. New York: Columbia University Press 1999. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-231-11094-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-231-11094-4) ## External links - [*Search for Beauty*](https://web.archive.org/web/1/https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/89346/enwp) at the [TCM Movie Database](/source/Turner_Classic_Movies#TCMdb) (archived) - [*Search for Beauty*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025755/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) v t e Films directed by Erle C. Kenton Salome vs. Shenandoah (1919) Down on the Farm (1920) Love, Honor and Behave (1920) A Small Town Idol (1921) A Fool and His Money (1925) The Danger Signal (1925) Red Hot Tires (1925) The Love Toy (1926) Other Women's Husbands (1926) The Sap (1926) The Palm Beach Girl (1926) The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary (1927) The Girl in the Pullman (1927) Bare Knees (1928) Name the Woman (1928) Nothing to Wear (1928) Companionate Marriage (1928) Golf Widows (1928) The Street of Illusion (1928) The Sideshow (1928) The Sporting Age (1928) Trial Marriage (1929) Father and Son (1929) Song of Love (1929) Mexicali Rose (1929) A Royal Romance (1930) X Marks the Spot (1931) Left Over Ladies (1931) The Last Parade (1931) Guilty as Hell (1932) Island of Lost Souls (1932) From Hell to Heaven (1933) Disgraced! (1933) Big Executive (1933) Search for Beauty (1934) You're Telling Me! (1934) Party Wire (1935) The Best Man Wins (1935) The Public Menace (1935) Devil's Squadron (1936) Counterfeit (1936) She Asked for It (1937) The Devil's Playground (1937) Little Tough Guys in Society (1938) The Lady Objects (1938) Everything's on Ice (1939) Escape to Paradise (1939) Remedy for Riches (1940) Petticoat Politics (1941) Melody for Three (1941) Naval Academy (1941) They Meet Again (1941) Flying Cadets (1941) North to the Klondike (1942) The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) Frisco Lil (1942) Pardon My Sarong (1942) Who Done It? (1942) It Ain't Hay (1943) House of Frankenstein (1944) She Gets Her Man (1945) House of Dracula (1945) The Cat Creeps (1946) Little Miss Big (1946) Bob and Sally (1948) One Too Many (1951) Secrets of Beauty (1951) This article about a 1930s comedy-drama film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:1930s-comedy-drama-film-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3A1930s-comedy-drama-film-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:1930s-comedy-drama-film-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Search for Beauty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_for_Beauty) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_for_Beauty?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.