Gold Diggers of 1933

source: Gold Diggers of 1933

While certainly not the most riveting movie to come out of Hollywood during it's golden era, it certainly is one of the most fun ones. My favorite of the Busby Berkeley/Warner Bros. musicals it is the quintessential backstage musical. While the story is secondary to Berkeley's numbers, the movie's premise is about four chorus girls trying to find work during the height of the depression. Show after show gets canceled when the girls finally get a rich financier posing as a poor song writer, played by Dick Powell, to back a new production. Warren William does an excellent job as always playing the brother and benefactor of Dick Powell's character. Ruby Keeler has always been much maligned but I she is not as bad as advertised. And Dick Powell while an excellent singer, is no Spencer Tracy. The four major numbers include the cheery "We're in the Money" with Ginger Rogers proclaiming that "old man depression is through". However the depression rears it's ugly head when the police have to interrupt the rehearsal and shutdown production due to debt. "Pettin in the Park" is a racy number by 1933 standards (you can definitely tell this movie is pre-code Hollywood), featuring Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler this song preaches that getting affectionate with your loved one in public ain't so bad. "The Shadow Waltz" is a visually pleasing masterpiece to say the least. Featuring Powell and Keeler again and a countless number of chorines with neon violins, it is more spectacular then anything modern day special effects can produce. "Remember my Forgotten Man" with the lovely Joan Blondell is a change of pace. More serious, more subdued it is a powerful reminder of how important our dough boys were just 15 years or so earlier. Featuring an all star cast, a capable director and the genius of Busby Berkeley Gold Diggers of 1933 is one of the best musicals to come out of Hollywood during the 1930's.

It's difficult to choose the most revolting scene in this story of showgirls fleecing decent men in order to put on a "show," but if one were forced to pick, probably the most qualified scene involves a depraved midget playing a six-month-old infant peeking up a girl's skirt. In the course of this musical number, in which salivating young men, their eyes alight with lust, pursue coy but equally libidinous pretty young girls, the girls strip off their wet "things" (ie., clothing) in silhouette and emerge encased each in her individual tin girdle. The "boys" are uniformly disappointed by this gesture towards what any ordinary viewer must construe as a decent chastity. But then the "infant" appears and hands out CAN OPENERS. I have a simple question to ask. I've forgotten it but it was profound. When they are not bound up in tin or showing off their limbs, these showgirls run around with their body parts half tumbling out of loose casual dresses and so-called teddies. And there isn't a girl here who isn't between the age of eighteen. Talk about your pedophilia. There are also allusions to -- well, to inversions. A plump man delivering a hat speaks with a lisp. And the juvenile lead in a musical develops a severe case of lumbago and can't straighten up. The producer shouts at him, "You can't sing a love song all bent over like that! What kind of love song do you think this IS?" Some of the more vulgar among you might find that amusing. The filthy film endorses not only inversion and lust but outright crime. There is a joyful scene set in a "speakeasy," an establishment in which spiritous liquors are sold illegally. Why not bring in the maryjane "reefers" too? Then we come to what I'm pleased to call the sociological aspects of this stomach-turning tract of socialist propaganda. All people of means, except for one who is a traitor to his class, are treated as unfeeling dolts. Yes, it's true. And they have names like Bradford, Treat, Peabody, and Fenueil. I can only imagine how the cultivated and morally upright people of Back Bay Boston must have felt, seeing themselves so skewered. And the so-called showgirls. Whining and complaining that they have no money -- as if it weren't their own fault. It happens to be a scientifically established fact, of which these connivers are conveniently ignorant, that people are poor because they are averse to work. And they are averse to work because they are lazy. Isn't it enough that by 1933 one third of America's labor force became too lazy to bother going to work? Do they deserve our SYMPATHY as well? I don't mean to suggest that there is no talent on display. On the contrary, the stunning grace and delicacy of Ruby Keeler's tap dancing, evoking images of gliding swans, of leaping gazelles, of swooping fairies, of more than usually adroit armadillos, deserves all the more praise in view of her psychomotor deficit. She suffers further from the disadvantage of being an alien immigrant (Canadian) and should be applauded for having shed the typical foreigner's baggage of politesse and punctilio that she must have brought with her across the border. In sum, only those inclined to enjoy themselves should suffer exposure to this suppurating and subversive piece of meretricious trash.

This wasn't as entertaining as I had hoped it would be, simply because there wasn't enough music in here. It starts off with a bang with "We're In The Money," but then doesn't offer much else - musically - until the end of the story with three Busby Berkeley extravaganzas. One of those was very good (I liked the neon violins!) while the other two didn't do much for me. One had Joan Blondell talking-and-singing and the other was a work-march. Guy Kibbe and Ned Sparks provide some good humor to the film but I didn't think Aline MacMahon did. She was unappealing and took away from the enjoyment of watching this film. Overall, it's a very dated but still fun to watch movie. I always enjoy hearing the expressions of the day in these early 1930 films, and also always enjoy those fabulous Berkeley sets.

Even better than the splendid "42nd Street," this first of the many "Gold Diggers" films is hitting on all its cylinders. When you have Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, and Ginger Rogers in the cast, the music of Harry Warren and Al Dubin, AND the choreography of Busby Berkley at his best, how can it be otherwise. Okay, so Ruby Keeler still can't sing on key and her stomping dance style leaves many cold. She does still have that aura of innocence that helped her so much in "42nd Street" and which makes her performance tolerable. She does have the magnificent Joan Blondell and the soon-to-be-legendary Ginger Rogers to fall back on and, believe me, both ladies are more than equal to the task. (I have long believed that Blondell was one of the finest comic actresses in Hollywood history and Ginger Rogers - well, there was a reason Fred Astaire partnered with her more than with any other. No one could do musical comedy and dance better than Rogers at her peak.) Yes, Berkley is an acquired taste. I find much of his later work a bit too precious for my tastes. Here, however, where he was still developing his style, it comes across as fresh and invigorating. Some of the numbers could have used a bit more rehearsal (low budget and a short shooting schedule probably nixed that) but they still all work and some are astonishingly good. Dick Powell is, as usual, splendid and in great voice. Those of us who remember his later career as an award winning dramatic actor and director may not be aware that he was originally a singer - and a damned fine one until cigarette smoking and age took its toll. Many might be a bit shocked by the bawdiness (naughtiness?) of some of the numbers. This was one of the pre-Hayes code films and it one of the reasons why certain groups of viewers were upset. None of it is dirty but some certainly disturbing to the sensitive. (See "Flying Down to Rio" or "Footlight Parade" for other examples of pre-code examples.) I find it all pretty tame but, in 1933, some considered this scandalous and nearly pornographic. We are talking skimpy clothing and innuendo, nothing more, but this was the 1930s and censorship was getting ready to rear its ugly heads. (See Chaplin's masterful "Monsieur Verdoux" for his not-so-subtle jabs at censorship.) "Gold Diggers of 1933" is a certified classic and should not be missed by fans of the musical or early Hollywood. Just remember that its a product of its time and not the present age and enjoy it for what it is.

Mervyn LeRoy directs this irresistible and touching depression-era musical. Busby Berkeley's choreography is as breath-taking as ever, as are the bevy of beautiful women in the elaborate productions. Many great musical numbers highlight this film including "We're in the Money" in which a then unknown, Ginger Rogers sings in Pig Latin. A host of other oddities can be found as always when Mr. Berkeley is involved. Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell are sensational as dancing and singing lovebirds and all works out well in the end. The show does close on a noticeably strange note with the very powerful protest number regarding the depression called "Forgotten Man" masterfully delivered by bombshell, Joan Blondell. A truly original and memorable musical.

Chorus girls Carol (Joan Blondell), Pollu (Ruby Keeler) and Trixie (Aline McMahon) all room together but can't find a job. Because of the Depression nobody can afford to put on a musical. However piano player Brad (Dick Powell) can help someone put on a musical and that leads to a big hit show. There's more to the plot than that but who really cares? This movie was done to show some incredibly elaborate Busby Berkley numbers and it DOES give you that! Right from the slam-bang opening of Ginger Rogers singing "We're in the Money" (with one entire verse in Pig Latin!) this movie never stops. It moves VERY quickly, there's tons of overlapping dialogue and there are plenty of wisecracks and risqué jokes (mostly from McMahon). This is also an odd musical that uses the Depression as a main plot focus--back in 1933 people went to see musicals to FORGET about the Depression! The elaborate Berkley musical numbers are incredible to watch--especially "Pettin in the Park" and the one with all the chorus girls having glow in the dark violins! Also it ends on a downbeat note with the depressing "Remember My Forgotten Man" number. Still this isn't TOO depressing---just very interesting. Easily one of the best musical from the 1930s. Highly recommended.

This is supposed to be a pseudo-remake of 1929's "Gold Diggers of Broadway", except in the four year interim the Great Depression is in full swing and our gold diggers have hit on bad times like everyone else. The second Berkeley film in the Warner series of musicals starts off with Ginger Rogers singing "We're in the Money" in an outrageous number in which the chorus girls are all dressed in over-sized coins. As Ginger sings part of the number in pig-Latin, the whole thing seems surreal, and in a way it is. The sheriff breaks in on the number to repossess everything on the set to settle the debts of the show's producer, and the gold diggers are out of work again. I don't know why I keep calling them gold diggers, because this cadre of chorines are just looking for steady work. They have abandoned all hope of getting millionaire husbands to take them away from all of this. Brad Roberts (Dick Powell) comes to their rescue when he comes up with both the money and the songs for a new show that broke but creative producer Barney Hopkins (Ned Sparks) has in mind. Thinking that Brad is penniless like the rest of them, the girls at first think Brad is playing a tasteless joke before he produces the 15K, and that he is a bank robber on the run afterwards. This is reinforced by his refusal to make any personal appearance in the show. In fact Brad is a young man from a wealthy New England family who is hiding his work in the theatre from his snobbish old-money relatives who soon surface to reclaim him in the person of his brother, Lawrence (Warren William), and the family lawyer (Guy Kibbee). When they find out Brad is planning to marry one of the girls (Ruby Keeler), Brad's brother decides to find the girl, flash his cash, and thus romance her himself, since he presumes she is a gold digger. He figures this will prove to Brad just what kind of girl he has fallen for. Unfortunately, Brad's brother doesn't know what she looks like. And that's where the fun starts. There's some great pre-code comedy here particularly from Joan Blondell, not to mention her stirring performance of "Forgotten Man" about World War I soldiers who are now marching in Depression Era bread lines. Also not to be missed is "Shadow Waltz" with the chorus girls playing fake fluorescent violins that would occasionally short out and shock the girls. Guy Kibbee and Aline McMahon are both terrifically funny and touching in one of the film's subplots as two people who find genuine love later in life than they may have wanted and originally planned. They are basically reprising the roles played by Albert Gran and Winnie Lightner in Gold Diggers of Broadway. However, Aline MacMahon has a subtle even homespun brand of humor versus Lightner's brash style. As in The Gold Diggers of Broadway, the film ends with the show itself, but these are two entirely different shows for two entirely different eras. The 1929 film ends with chorus girls parading around in elaborate costumes and decorated by two-strip Technicolor while acrobats and tap dancers strut their exhilarated stuff. The 1933 film ends with a number about forgotten men marching both off to war and back to bread lines in spartan black and white. A powerful ending for a great piece of entertainment.

This, the first in the series of Gold Diggers films still in existence, is the best, the sparkiest, the funniest, and the strongest. Ruby Keeler, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Dick Powell, Guy Kibbee, Warren William, Ginger Rogers, and then some ... what a great cast! Wonderful musical numbers with that distinctive Berkeley choreography. A crackling script which still packs a punch now. And, best of all, that wonderful finale 'Forgotten Man', where Great War veterans shuffle through a world that doesn't care while the women left behind remember their happier days ...

"Golddiggers of 1933" is a fun movie to watch because all the right elements that went into the making of this motion picture. Mervyn Leroy was truly inspired, and his direction clearly shows he was in total command. The contribution made by the incomparable Busby Berkeley is one of the best things in the film. His choreography for the big production numbers is one of the most impressive thing he did for the movies. The film is a sweet story about young hopefuls in New York trying to make it in the musical theater. Thus, we find the impoverished room mates, Carol, Trixie and Polly, who are so poor they have to steal their neighbor's milk! These young women are at the end of their rope when Barney, the Broadway impresario comes by to tell them about the new show he is working on. The only trouble, he has no money for it. How naive and wonderful those movies that came during the great depression were! Everything was possible, in spite of what was happening in the country at the time. In fact, this film, as well as others of that era, served as an excuse for people that were facing a hard time making ends meet for escaping it all when watching a movie like this one. The cast is excellent. Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline McMahon, Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Ned Sparks, Ginger Rogers, and Guy Kibbee giving performances that endeared them to the American public of the time. The production number of "Shadow Waltz" has to be one of the best ones in this musical genre ever produced. The number is an amazing one and a tribute to the man who staged it, Busby Berkley. It also help the chorus girls were dressed by Orry-Kelly and the music was by Harry Warren and Al Dubin. "Golddiggers of 1933" is one of the best movies to come out of the Hollywood of those years.