Review of Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) by Devon B — 20 May 2010

Opening with the musical number "We're in the Money" (as sung by a young and sexy Ginger Rogers) and closing with the distinctly downtrodden downer "Forgotten Man", Gold Diggers of 1933 manages to encapsulate the era of Great Depression Hollywood all in one swoop.

Producer Barney Hopkins (Ned Sparks) has a great idea for a musical: a celebration of the Great Depression. There's just one problem, and it's a small problem really, all he needs is the money to put on the show, and someone to write it and star in it.

Of course, living next door to his troupe of showgirls is the most amazing song-writer (Dick Powell) who is also a great singer and a millionaire in disguise, and he solves all the above problems with a snap of his fingers.

Of course, this exposes the millionaire song-writer to the world, and his snobby, snootish brother is subsequently able to track him down. He discovers he's engaged to be married to one of the show girls, and, suspecting her of being a gold digger, he goes to confront her and "buy out" her brother's obligation to marry her.

When he confronts the wrong show girl, they decide to teach him a lesson. Gold Diggers of 1933 is a lot of fun, and features some great musical numbers. The aforementioned Ginger Rogers plays a character named Fay Fortune, and of course is referred to often as "Miss Fortune", tee hee.

One of the main numbers in the film, "Pettin' in the Park" seemed so corny at first, but as the production progressed, it grew on me considerably. Plus, like all the songs here, it's quite catchy and memorable.

There's a lot that's corny in this film, but there's just as much that's genuine. Either way, it's a great time capsule-piece of entertainment.