Supelice
Dreadfully Boring
Comwayon
A Disappointing Continuation
CrawlerChunky
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
JohnHowardReid
Director: MERVYN LeROY. Screenplay by Erwin Gelsey and James Seymour. Dialogue by David Boehm and Ben Markson. Based on a play by Avery Hopwood. Photography by Sol Polito. Film editor: George Amy. Art director: Anton Grot. Gowns by Orry-Kelly. Numbers created and staged by Busby Berkeley. Vitaphone orchestra conducted by Leo F. Forbstein. Music and lyrics by Harry Warren and Al Dubin.Songs: "We're in the Money" (Rogers and chorus), "I've Got To Sing a Torch Song" (Powell), "Pettin' in the Park" (Powell, Keeler, chorus), "Remember My Forgotten Man" (Moten, Blondell dubbed by Marian Anderson, chorus), "The Shadow Waltz" (Keeler, chorus). Associate producer: Lucien Hubbard. Producers: Robert Lord, Darryl F. Zanuck.Copyright 17 June 1933 by Warner Brothers Pictures Inc. Presented by First National Pictures in conjunction with The Vitaphone Corp. New York opening at the Strand: 7 June 1933 (ran a record-breaking 10 weeks). U.S. release: June 1933. U.K. release: 5 August 1933. 11 reels. 96 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Showgirls help a producer put on a show.NOTES: Hopwood's play The Gold Diggers opened on Broadway at the Lyceum on 30 September 1919 and ran a most impressive 720 performances with Ina Claire as the leader of a trio of money- chasing chorus-girls eager to land rich millionaires. David Belasco produced and directed. After its ninety weeks season on Broadway, the play went on tour where it clocked up another 528 performances. When it finally closed in 1923 it had grossed close to $2 million (a colossal sum in those days, equivalent to around $400 million today — and this from a single stage show, not from a multi-release movie. Of course, ticket prices for a stage show were at least five times higher).The play has been filmed so many times, it's impossible to keep track of its various incarnations including The Greeks Had a Word for It (1932) starring Ina Claire herself, Three Blind Mice (1938) and How To Marry a Millionaire (1953). However, David Belasco himself made the first film version back in 1923 for Warner Brothers. The star was Hope Hampton and the director Harry Beaumont. Warners remade the film as a Technicolor talkie in 1929 with songs by Al Dubin and Joe Burke. The stars this time were Nancy Welford, Winnie Lightner, Ann Pennington, Conway Tearle and Lilyan Tashman, with Gertrude Short reprising her role of Topsy from the earlier film.Although this film received only one prestigious Hollywood award nomination (for Best Sound, losing to A Farewell To Arms) and garnered few critical accolades, it became Warners number two box- office attraction of the year with initial U.S. rentals exceeding $1.7 million (plus $800,000 from Canada and $1.3 million overseas) and inspired a series of follow-ups: Gold Diggers of 1935, Gold Diggers of 1937 and Gold Diggers in Paris. Warners officially re- made this film in 1951 as Painting the Clouds with Sunshine.COMMENT: A fine cast, a peppy story, LeRoy at his lively best, and Berkeley at his most imaginatively spectacular zenith, plus top- notch sound recording and production values — what more could a devoted moviegoer ask? To see Berkeley himself? Well, there he is, making a brief appearance as one of the door-knockers for the finale. And what a finale!
atlasmb
"Gold Diggers of 1933) opens with Ginger Rogers singing as part of a bevy of chorus girls. Then it switches to an apartment shared by three others in that show, bemoaning how tough it is to get a job. It's the depression, and it colors every aspect of the story. (Another film about the backstage lives of actresses will follow in 1937--"Stage Door", also starring Ginger Rogers, is a better film, but both are worth watching.)The three women are played by Ruby Keeler, Joan Blondell, and Aline MacMahon. Just when they are at their lowest, there is hope of a new revue--if only they can find financing. The funding finally comes from a surprising source, and the film launches into a number of parallel love stories that develop as the show gets off the ground.The rest of the cast is talented, including Dick Powell, who is well suited for the revue format. A large portion of the film is consumed by Busby Berkley extravaganza pieces that deserve to be seen for their own historical significance. The final number is driven by a beautiful piece of music, "My Forgotten Man", a lament for the victims of the economy, especially those who served as doughboys in WWI. It's a jazz march with gospel overtones--a very powerful piece of music, accompanied by scenes of soup lines filled with former heroes."Gold Diggers" is also notable for its pre-Code titillations, like the obligatory stocking shots and the racy implications of nudity, in silhouette.
tomgillespie2002
This masterpiece from 1933 is one of the best examples I've seen of early Hollywood exploitation, although by today's standards if you didn't already know it was controversial at the time you probably wouldn't notice. With the introduction of the talkies in the late 1920's, Hollywood seemed unable to control various movies using subtle innuendos, and actresses displaying a bit more skin than they should until the Hays Code came into full force in 1934, which enforced the boundaries as to what was deemed acceptable on screen. Gangsters profited from crime, women displayed their legs, and in the case of Gold Diggers Of 1933, women used their sexuality to conquer men and gain what they wanted.Set during the Depression, it follows a quartet of stage dancers after their show is stopped due to the creative director failing to pay the bills. Things look on the up when the girls are asked to return for a brand new show, which would tackle the effects of the Depression on the common man and the state of the country. The enthusiastic director Barney (Ned Sparks) overhears the girls' neighbour Brad (Dick Powell) crooning a tune playing his piano, and invites him to play more tunes and eventually write the score for the upcoming musical. Barney also needs a lot of money to fund, something that Brad is happy to pay in case, much to the girls' suspicion.It comes across as a film with two halves - the first focusing on the development of the musical, the relationship between Brad and dancer Polly (Ruby Keeler), and the confusion surrounding the shady Brad's situation. The second seeing fellow dancers Carol (Joan Blondell) and Trixie's (Aline MacMahon) attempts to squeeze as much cash as possible out of Barney's upper-class brother Lawrence (a brilliant Warren William) and bumbling Peabody (Guy Kibbee). The first is a masterclass of beautiful stage numbers, fantastic songs, and good old-fashioned escapism. The second is where the film hits full stride, providing laugh out loud situations and some verbal comedy that wouldn't look out place today, as the girls flirt with and tease the old men as we cheer them on. It's the kind of thing that Sex And The City wishes it could pull off when it isn't being so materialistic and soulless.When you think it's over it pulls off one last masterstroke in the highly effective 'Remember My Forgotten Man' musical number, as Joan Blondell sings about how her man fought for her country and now begs for food and resorts to picking up discarded cigarette butts, as bloody soldiers march through the street. It's a beautiful moment and really sums up the era. It offers an insight into the whole Pre-Code Hollywood movement, where people would go to the cinema to escape their everyday struggles to see an actress like Blondell revealing a bit more leg than she should, or a Pre-Code veteran such as Warren William sneer his way through some juicy lines and villainous roles. It gave the general public that little something extra to get excited about.This is a film that has everything, and if you can track it down I would urge you to see it. It's a fascinating time capsule, and even has a very early role for Ginger Rogers as the flirty Fay. It has also been entered into the National Film Registry for preservation by the Library of Congress. A must-see.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
Steffi_P
In Hollywood's most successful collaborative era, sometimes the best things happened by accident. Gold Diggers of 1933 was set to be a routine backstage romantic comedy, but after the runaway success of 42nd street with its spectacular dance numbers choreographed by Busby Berkely, studio heads decided to make a few changes and shoehorn in some Berkely routines. What should have been a mess, turned out to be a masterpiece. You see, it happened by accident, but not without overwhelming creative genius from all corners.First of all let's disregard Berkely for a moment and consider the bones of the picture. This was a golden age for Warner Brothers, and even their potboilers tended to be meaty offerings. The broad plot may be a simple comedy of errors, but the minutiae and the dialogue are unashamedly frank about the depression, then at its very worst point. The fact that the comic escapades are backed by very real and harsh truths gives an unexpected layer of poignancy to the proceedings. Yes, the man-baiting escapades of three money-hungry chorus girls makes for riotous entertainment, but we are never allowed to forget how they became money-hungry.The director is Mervyn LeRoy, who despite his youth was one of the most competent and professional filmmakers on the Warners payroll. He directs Gold Diggers with pace and punch, never allowing the action to slow down and become dull, but still keeping everything in clarity. A neat little trick of his is using depth to keep certain characters on display. For example, in the scene where Don Gordon (the perpetual juvenile lead) is doubled up with lumbago, Gordon and Ned Sparks are in the foreground, but Dick Powell is prominently placed in the background. Gordon is the most important character at that precise moment, so it is logical to have him up front, but Powell is more important in the long run as he will soon replace Gordon, so it is necessary for us to remember him at that time.The cast is one to die for, or at the very least, go to prison for. Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler are ostensibly the leads, but the show really belongs to Joan Blondell and Aline MacMahon. Powell was a great singer, and Keeler a wonderful dancer, but neither of them could act well. And thankfully, while they are prominent in the song and dance numbers, they are really supporting players in the drama. Blondell was prolific in both musicals and melodramas of this time, but tended to play "best friend" type roles rather than leading ladies. Gold Diggers is her chance to shine, and show what a terrific actress she is. She plays things at a fairly muted level, but there is a lot of emotion going on under the surface. When she appears in the Forgotten Man number she not only becomes a singer, she carries on being an actress. MacMahon at first looks a little out of place amongst all the sweet and delicate chorines, but as soon as she gets to work her magic on Guy Kibbee she dominates the screen and you know exactly why she was cast. A young Ginger Rogers is here too, still getting villainous roles thanks to her mean-looking face, but nevertheless proving herself to be a superb performer. Ned Sparks gives perhaps his deepest and most heartfelt performance, without ever once breaking out of his trademark character. Amid all these sparkling jewels, there are some memorable bit parts by the likes Ferdinand Gottschalk and Sterling Holloway, yet more pearls in the Gold Diggers crown.And at last we come to the music. Of course, the melodies of Harry Warren are simply divine, the lyrics of Al Dubin cheeky and incisive as ever, and the choreography of Busby Berkely absolutely breathtaking, but it's how the whole thing is fitted together that puts Gold Diggers so far ahead of its peers. Most of the Berkely musicals "stacked" the numbers - that is, put them all together at the end as a grand finale. That worked fine for 42nd Street and Footlight Parade, but for Gold Diggers of 1933 the structure is geared to awesome effect. We open with "We're in the Money", a lively slice of irony casually wishing the depression away. "Pettin' in the Park" gives us a little comical boost in the middle of the picture. "Shadow Waltz" is pure Berkely indulgence, lovely to look at but with nothing that will unbalance the end of the picture emotionally. And finally, "Remember My Forgotten Man" drops us right into the realities of the depression. It is a bitter counterpoint to "We're in the Money" and its impact is utterly devastating.Gold Diggers of 1933 is not only the finest of the Busby Berkely musicals, not only the pinnacle of Warner Brothers' pre-code licentiousness, it is the very heart of depression-era America. "Can't you hear that wailing?" Ned Sparks asks us, as Dick Powell hammers out a rough version of "Forgotten Man". You'll hear it alright.
