"Razzmatazz and realism." That is how British writer and theatre historian Ronald Harwood described American musicals in his 1984 documentary television series All the World’s a Stage. This description could easily be applied to Hollywood musicals, at least the earliest classics of the genre. One of those is Gold Diggers of 1933, a 1933 film directed by Mervyn LeRoy.
The film is based on The Gold Diggers, a 1919 stage play by Avery Hopwood, which was adapted to the screen twice before – in 1923 as a silent film and in 1928 as an early sound film. The third version is the first one that was transformed into a musical. The film begins with “We’re in the Money,” a spectacular musical number in which singer Fay Fortune (played by Ginger Rogers) sings about the Great Depression being over and financial problems being a thing of the past. These lyrics become ironic when it is revealed that the number is part of a rehearsal, interrupted when sheriffs invade the theatre and start impounding stage equipment over unpaid bills by the show’s producer, Barney Hopkins (played by Ned Sparks). Fay Fortune, now without work, has to return to the apartment she shares with three of her colleagues, also unemployed – torch singer Carol King (played by Joan Blondell), beautiful showgirl Polly Parker (played by Ruby Keeler), and comedienne Trixie Lorraine (played by Aline MacMahon). All four are happy to learn that Hopkins is going to start a new show dedicated to the Depression and that they are going to be cast in it. However, Hopkins has problems because he lacks proper music and funds for productions. Both problems are solved by Brad Roberts (played by Dick Powell), a young and talented songwriter who lives in the next building and who becomes Polly’s love interest. When Brad is forced to replace the lead singer in the show, it is revealed that he is actually Robert Treat Bradford, the son of a wealthy and respected Boston family, and that he lived and worked under an alias. His older brother, J. Lawrence Bradford (played by Warner William), arrives in New York to make him leave the “unsuitable” theatre business and, more importantly, prevent his marriage to a showgirl which is beneath his station. He, however, mistakes Carol for Polly, while his family lawyer, Faneuil H. Peabody (played by Guy Kibbee), is easily seduced by Trixie.
Gold Diggers of 1933 was made by Warner Bros. shortly after 42nd Street, a major box office hit that had proven the audience’s taste for film musicals. The two films actually have plenty in common – they share many of the cast members (Keeler, Powell, Rogers, Sparks, Kibbee), dance director and famous choreographer Busby Berkeley, music composer Harry Warren, and lyricist Al Dubin (both are actually mentioned in the film as an in-joke by Hopkins). But the most important element both films share is the theme of the Great Depression, which was still ongoing. Its shadow is cast all over the film, starting with the ironic opening number, continuing with the depiction of closing theatres, references to unemployment, and various comical ways in which showgirls try to avoid paying rent or obtain food and clothes. Probably the most notable reference to the Depression is the closing number “Forgotten Man,” brilliantly conceived and choreographed with production design inspired by German Expressionism and powerful lyrics, matched with images of American soldiers experiencing the horrors of the First World War only to fifteen years later experience another, more challenging struggle for survival while waiting in breadlines and sleeping on the streets. This enormously effective combination of Hollywood craftsmanship and an unapologetically explicit social message, characteristic of Warner Bros. films in the 1930s, became legendary and now serves as a powerful illustration of the unemployment, poverty, and other issues America and the world experienced in those dark times.
Gold Diggers of 1933, despite its uncharacteristically sombre ending, is also an effective example of escapist entertainment. The script cleverly mixes social engagement with effective comedy, with a simple mixed identity plot serving as the basis for some social commentary and mischievous farce in which showgirls from the lower strata of American society take snobbish aristocrats for a ride before providing something of a happy ending for all the characters. Comedy benefits a lot from the infamous MPAA Production Code still not being enforced, which allowed for somewhat “naughtier” material to slip through – like references to bootlegging, hints of marijuana and sexual activity, protagonists in skimpy clothing, and even the scene in which one of the showgirls gets patted on the back. But the best part of the film is the music and dance numbers, brilliantly devised and directed by Busby Berkeley, who again shows how seemingly banal geometric patterns can be turned into images of pure beauty. This is evident in the “Shadow Waltz,” but also in the “Pettin’ in the Park” sequence that features mild eroticism and “naughty” lyrics, resulting in a kind of classy but playful entertainment that would soon be snuffed out by MPAA censors and not seen in Hollywood for decades to come. Viewers who watch Gold Diggers of 1933 now would be rewarded not only with a classic but also with a rare combination of stylish entertainment and a valuable history lesson about the world ninety years ago.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
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