Monday, June 6, 2011

GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933

Gold Diggers of 1933
Warner Bros. / Vitaphone, 1933, B/W, 94 minutes, ***
Released May, 1933

A Broadway producer has the talent, the tunes, the theater and everything else he needs to put on a show - except the dough. Not to worry, say Ginger Rogers and the other leggy chorines decked out in giant coins. Everyone will soon be singing "We're in the Money."

Soon after 42nd Street, the brothers Warner again kicked the Depression blues out the stage door and into a back alley. Mervyn Le Roy directs the snappy non-musical portions involving three wonderfully silly love matches (including Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler). And Busby Berkeley brings his peerless magic to the production numbers, his camera swooping and gliding to showstoppers that are naughty ("Pettin' in the Park"), neon-lit ("The Shadow Waltz") and soul-searing ("Remember My Forgotten Man"). Solid cinema gold.

Producer: Robert Lord
Directed by: Mervyn LeRoy
Screen Play by: Erwin Gelsey and James Seymour
Dialogue by: David Boehm and Ben Markson
Based on a Play by Avery Hopwood ("Gold Diggers of Broadway")
Music and Lyrics by: Harry Warren and Al Dubin
Numbers Created and Directed by: Busby Berkeley
Vitaphone Orchestra Conducted by: Leo F. Forbstein
Art Director: Anton Grot
Gowns by: Orry-Kelly
Photography by: Sol Polito
Edited by: George Amy

Awards: Academy Award Nomination for Best Sound Recording (Nathan Levinson)

Cast: Warren William [Lawrence], Joan Blondell [Carol], Aline MacMahon [Trixie], Ruby Keeler [Polly], Dick Powell [Brad], Guy Kibbee [Peabody], Ned Sparks [Barney], Ginger Rogers [Fay], Additional Cast: Clarence Nordstrom [Gordon], Robert Agnew [Dance Director], Sterling Holloway [Messenger Boy], Tammany Young [Gigolo Eddie], Ferdinand Gottschalk [Clubman], Lynn Browning [Gold Digger Girl], Charles Wilson [Deputy], Billy Barty ["Pettin' in the Park" Baby], Fred "Snowflake" Toones, Theresa Harris [Black Couple], Joan Barclay [Chorus Girl], Wallace MacDonald [Stage Manager], Charles Lane [Society Reporter], Wilbur Mack [Society Reporter], Grace Hayle [Society Reporter], Hobart Cavanaugh [Dog Salesman], Bill Elliott [Dance Extra], Dennis O'Keefe [Extra During Intermission], Busby Berkeley [Call Boy], Fred Kelsey [Detective Jones], Frank Mills [First Forgotten Man], Etta Moten ["Forgotten Man" Singer], Billy West [Medal of Honor Winner], Eddie Foster [Zipky's Kentucky Hill Billies Second Man], Loretta Andrews, Adrien Brier, Monica Bannister, Maxine Cantway, Bonnie Bannon, Margaret Carthew, Kitty Cunningham, Gloria Faythe, Muriel Gordon, June Glory, Ebba Hally, Amo Ingraham, Lorena Layson, Alice Jans, Jayne Shadduck, Bee Stevens, Anita Thompson, Pat Wing, Renee Whitney, Ann Hovey, Dorothy Coonan [Gold Diggers]

Musical Program: [0:00] Main Title: "We're in the Money" (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:01] We're in the Money (aka "The Gold Digger's Song") (sung by Ginger Rogers and Chorus, portion sung by Ginger Rogers in "Pig Latin"); [0:10] Shadow Waltz (sung by Dick Powell); [0:16] I've Got to Sing a Torch Song (sung by Dick Powell at the piano); [0:26] Pettin' in the Park (excerpt sung by Clarence Nordstrom, Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell in rehearsal); [0:34] Pettin' in the Park (sung and danced by by Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler, then sung and danced by Chorus; Billy Barty plays the baby); [0:56] Pettin' in the Park (played by Orchestra in background at speakeasy); [1:02] We're in the Money (instrumental arrangement danced by Warren William, Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, Aline MacMahon, Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler and speakeasy patrons); [1:21] Shadow Waltz (performed by Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell and Chorus); [1:30] Remember My Forgotten Man (spoken by Joan Blondell, sung by Etta Moten and Chorus)

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