Rent Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
3.9 of 5 from 78 ratings
1h 38min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
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 nonmusical 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 ("Shadow Waltz") and soul-searing ("Remember My Forgotten Man"). Solid cinema gold! - Actors:
- Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Guy Kibbee, Ned Sparks, Ginger Rogers, Robert Agnew, Loretta Andrews, Monica Bannister, Bonnie Bannon, Joan Barclay, Billy Barty, Busby Berkeley, Bonnie Blackwood, Eric Blore, Audrene Brier, Tex Brodus, Lynn Browning
- Directors:
- Mervyn LeRoy
- Producers:
- Robert Lord, Jack L. Warner
- Writers:
- Erwin Gelsey, James Seymour, David Boehm, Ben Markson, Avery Hopwood
- Others:
- Nathan Levinson
- Aka:
- High Life / Golddiggers of 1933
- Studio:
- Warner
- Genres:
- Classics, Comedy, Drama, Music & Musicals
- Collections:
- A History of Cinemas in Films, Cinema Paradiso's 2024 Centenary Club: Part 3, Dancing Queens: Guide to the Musical Films That'll, Films & TV by topic, Films by Genre, Films to Watch If You Like..., Fred and Ginger: Duets and Solos, People of the Pictures, Remembering Gena Rowlands, A Brief History of Film..., What to Watch Next If You Liked Nomadland
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- Unknown
- Run Time:
- 98 minutes
- Languages:
- English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Various
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- 4 Featurettes: Cold Diggers: FDR's New Deal...Broadway Bound,The 42nd Street Special, Rambling 'Round Radio Row #2, Seasoned Greetings
- 3 Vintage Cartoons: I've Cot to Sing a Torch Song, Pettin'in the Park, We're in the Money
- Theatrical Trailer
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Reviews (2) of Gold Diggers of 1933
42nd Street II. - Gold Diggers of 1933 review by Steve
With 42nd Street a hit, Warner Brothers made Gold Diggers in its image. Busby Berkley arranges the dance numbers and the brilliant songs are again by Dubin and Warren. There are familiar faces on screen with Dick Powell as a blue-blood composer romancing Broadway showgirl Ruby Keeler, to the outrage of his stuffy Boston family.
If the comedy, script and situations aren't quite to the standard of 42nd Street, Berkley's musical numbers are still sensational and the best part of the film. It opens with Ginger Rogers singing We're in the Money as the rented scenery and costumes are reclaimed. Broadway is feeling the impact of the depression.
There's Shadow Dance and the amazing Pettin' In the Park. This time it's Powell who has to go on at the last minute after the juvenile wrecks his back, and he ends the routine trying to get Keeler out of her steel corset with a tin opener. There's some fizzy, salacious dialogue from Joan Blondell and Aline MacMahan. This is still a year before the production code.
Remember My Forgotten Man is the showstopper with a phenomenal vocal from Etta Moten, mimed by Blondell. Berkley cuts from the stage to scenes of men queuing at a soup kitchens. Warner Brothers supported the New Deal and Roosevelt. Berkley's numbers are usually exquisite confections, but here he shows us how to dance the blues.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Jazz Hands, Hard Times - Gold Diggers of 1933 review by griggs
I was braced for pure froth. Instead, this is a Depression-era pick-me-up with a real pulse — it wants to lift your mood, but it keeps nudging you back to the world outside the theatre.
The cast makes that mix click. Joan Blondell and Aline MacMahon bring the wisecracks and the “we’ll get by” grit, Ruby Keeler has the open-faced sweetness, and Dick Powell is human sunshine. Ginger Rogers only needs one number to grab you: “We’re in the Money” starts as sparkle, then her Pig Latin verse turns from cute to faintly unsettling.
I’m usually a bit meh on Busby Berkeley because the plot can feel like scaffolding between the big routines. Here, the film flips it: the numbers serve the point, and the story doesn’t feel like filler.
Then “Remember My Forgotten Man” lands and it’s sensational — jazz hands with a punch tucked in the glove. I finished it lighter and slightly winded.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.