Gold Diggers Of 1935

Gold Diggers of 1935 (Yep, 1935)

Runtime: 95 minutes

Directed by: Busby Berkeley

Starring: Dick Powell, Adolphe Menjou, Gloria Stuart, Alice Bradley, Hugh Herbert

From: Warner Bros.

And now for something completely different... long ago I saw some films that featured legendary song-and-dance numbers from Busby Berkeley (42nd Street, Footlight Parade, and Gold Diggers of 1933) and while those plots weren't always great, the still impressive hoofing around was. As this recently played on TCM and was able to be DVR'ed by myself, it served as entertainment for last night. Unlike the previous films, Berkeley directed the entire film instead of the dance numbers.

Instead of on Broadway, the setting was a posh New England resort; the employees at this resort seem to have a hankerin' for trying to earn some coin from the wealthy guests. There are love entanglements as an uber-wealthy family visit-of course the matriarch is a real skinflint. That was as complicated as the plot was. Sure there are some chuckles and cute moments & this is light fluffy entertainment—it's just a shame that the mom is a real wet blanket of a character who is quite annoying-and speaking of annoying, the musical score that plays through practically the entire picture & the character played by Adolphe Menjou...

Thank heaven then that the two musical numbers are of high quality and help make the entire movie good overall. The Words Are in My Heart is a delight as it involves giant pianos moving all about but it is Lullaby of Broadway that is a must-see if you were like me and had seen some Berkeley yet hadn't viewed it yet. It may be the best thing he ever did-for certain, Busby named it as his favorite. Some of the famous faces that appeared in previous installments weren't here-at least there's still the likes of Dick Powell and Gloria Stuart. Even if this was the law of diminishing returns and the other movies of its type are better, at least the final act made this picture worth seeing.