The movie was the fourth in the gold diggers series of films, after the now lost silent film the gold diggers 1923, the partially lost film gold diggers of broadway 1929, and gold diggers of 1933 1933. I found 42nd street and gold diggers of 1933 the betterstructured of the stories from this collection. Mar 10, 2020 busby berkeley, american motionpicture director and choreographer who was noted for the elaborate dancinggirl extravaganzas that he created on film. Gold diggers of 1933 is a 1933 precode warner bros. Remember my forgotten man deane janis, vocal duration. But when you see the truly amazing footwork of the dancers in the 1929 gold diggers of broadway fragments of which are included as an extra feature on the busby berkeley collection volume 2, you realize that dixon by comparison was an eager but clumsy beginner. Ginger rogers, who had scored a small hit in fortysecond street, was still freelancing in hollywood when her boyfriend, director mervyn leroy, got her cast in this film and prominently featured her in the opening number. Gold diggers of broadway film by del ruth 1929 britannica. As with many early technicolor films, no complete print survives, although the last.
Burkley may have been a great director of musical numbers, but he was terrible directing complete shows. In this version of avery hopwoods theatrical warhorse the golddiggers of broadway, showgirls joan blondell, ruby keeler, and aline mcmahon attempt to find financial backing for the new show. It was the second film ever to feature both color and voices through its entire running time, the first being. The two films are gold diggers of broadway 29 and convention city 33. Only incomplete copies of the final two reels, plus the complete. Apart from a few more fragments, this is still a lost film. Gold diggers of 1933 1933 gold diggers of 1933 1933. Gold diggers of 1933 holds the alltime bestmovietoworsttitle ratio, as sonicjunk said. Ann pennington in gold diggers of broadway 1929 conway tearle and nancy. Watching gold diggers of 1935, one cant help but wonder how its creators came up with the story line for the lullaby of broadway number a story told in song, dance and documentarystyle film about a girl who sleeps by day and lives a giddy life at night, framed by a cinematic pastiche depicting life on broadway. Gelsey, with additional dialogue by david boehm and ben markson. It stars warren william, joan blondell, aline macmahon, ruby keeler, and dick powell, and features guy kibbee, ned sparks and ginger rogers.
The wedge at the foundation will present a free screening of gold diggers of 1933 on monday, july 17 at 7 p. The ultimate early 1930s film when a movie is described as being a product its time, its often meant in a sort of apologetic way. Gold diggers of 1933 1933 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. That film, gold diggers of broadway, which starred nancy welford and conway tearle, was the biggest box office hit of that year, and gold diggers of 1933 was one of the topgrossing films of 1933. Gold diggers of broadway is a 1929 american precode musical comedy film directed by roy del ruth and starring winnie lightner and nick lucas. Apr 04, 2014 gold diggers of broadway is a 1929 warner bros. Highly unstable, the film usually decomposes to a highly volatile goo or powder. Gold diggers of broadway is a 1929 american precode musical comedy film directed by roy. Featuring an all star cast, a capable director and the genius of busby berkeley gold diggers of 1933 is one of the best musicals to come out of hollywood during the 1930s.
The gold diggers of broadway alfredo and his band youtube. The smiling ghost is a name given to whoever or whatever it is who has killed or maimed each and every one of elinors fiances, three so far. It starred joan blondell, ruby keeler, dick powell, ginger rogers, and. The secret of bear mountain may not have been adapted from an old nancy drew mystery, but thats how it plays, with a touch of the hardy boys. Gold diggers of 1933 gave prominent spots to two women destined for bigger things. Glenda farrell steals every scene that shes in and changes from a wisecracker to a coldhearted cow to the gold digger with a heart of gold. Gold diggers of broadway partially found musical comedy. As in the gold diggers of broadway, the film ends with the show itself, but these are two entirely different shows for two entirely different eras. Only incomplete copies of the final two reels, plus the complete vitaphone soundtrack, still exist. Things get tough for carol joan blondell and her showgirl pals when the great depression kicks in and all the broadway shows close down. I had seen other musicals from 192930 era which all had a cumbersome, boring execution in style and musical presentation before the snap of busby berkeley breathed life into the musical.
Most of the shellac 16 inch discs were returned to warner brothers and destroyed, were broken, or discarded. Gold diggers of broadway is a 1929 american musical comedy film directed by roy del ruth and starring winnie lightner and nick lucas. Gold diggers of broadway was filmed using the vitaphone soundondisc system and released on ten reels of full frame 35mm nitrate film, twocomponent imbibition prints by technicolor, with accompanying vitaphone soundtrack discs. Still working my way through this box set but so far the films i have not seen in a long time, or ever, seem very lame indeed. Seventy five years or more after they were made, it is increasingly difficult to find the surviving elements of vitaphone soundondisk films. Gold diggers of 1933, which was a remake of the earlier film, and the first to feature busby berkeleys extravagant production numbers. I only watched half the movie, and even that half was skipping thru it.
The sets, costumes, and music are so glamorous and beautiful, and they are truly two of the best musical numbers ive ever seen. Winifred shaw, hugh herbert and glenda farrell are also featured. Predstavlja adaptaciju kazalisnog mjuzikla the gold diggers iz 1919. However, she is funny at the beginning of the film when going for a job as a receptionist. Gold diggers of 1935 is an american musical film directed and choreographed by busby berkeley, and starring dick powell, adolphe menjou, gloria stuart and alice brady. When they got through with avery hopwoods play gold diggers, warners. With hope hampton, wyndham standing, louise fazenda, gertrude short.
The gold diggers of broadway with nancy welford, conway tearle, winnie lightner, ann pennington, lillyan tashman, william bakewell, nick lucas, helen foster, albert gran, gertrude short, neely edwards, julia swayne gordon, lee moran and armand kaliz. The entire soundtrack of gold diggers of broadway is now posted online for all to hear for free, and of course ive seen the same two reels everyone else has, which is all that is known to survive from the film and consists of the reconciliation between jerry nancy welford and uncle steve conway tearle and the musical finale. Stephen lee doesnt want his nephew wally sanders to marry chorus girl violet dayne, because he believes all chorus girls to be ruthless gold diggers, always chasing after the mens money. It still exists in a black and white copy that was made for television. Though its first half has numerous wry references to poverty, one chilling line from aline macmahon about the lengths to which outofwork chorus girls might be forced to go, and. Berkeley uses gags and pratfalls as a crutch to hide the fact that the two stories here just arent that interesting. For most of its running time, gold diggers of 1933 is a standard crowdpleaser.
So this late entry in the gold diggers series isnt as bad as one might expect. Gold diggers of 1933 was a smash hit on its initial release, nearly equalingand following hot on the footsteps of42nd street. Both the play and the film were produced by david belasco. Broadwayske kopacice zlata je americki filmski mjuzikl snimljen 1929.
Gold diggers of broadway partially found musical comedy film. But when they survive, they tend not to deteriorate. Burbank studios until 14 january 1935, and was released on 15 march of that year. Gold diggers of broadway under appreciated rock guitarists. Watch it all the way through, its one of the most amazing surrealistic dance numbers ever filmed. The play was made into a silent film in 1923 by david belasco. A tenth disc includes repeats from 42nd street and the gold digger movies, but it also includes choreographies from films not in this collection, such as lady in red, one of my favorite numbers. This version of hopwoods play was written by james seymour and erwin s. This 1929 musical, shot in an early technicolor process, is a mostly lost film. As of this writing, no complete print of either film has been located.
Wealthy songwriter brad dick powell saves the day by funding a new depressionthemed musical for the girls to star in, but when his stuffy highsociety brother finds out and threatens to disown brad, carol and her gold digging friends scheme to keep the. Outside of the pretty incredible lullaby on broadway sequence which is one of the best and most complicated sequences that berkeley ever made, the story didnt hold my attention. One of the extras was of found excerpts of the otherwise lost gold diggers of broadway. I had seen other musicals from 192930 era which all had a cumbersome, boring execution in style and musical presentation before the. Jun, 20 lullaby of broadway classic sequence from busby berkeleys gold diggers of 1935.
Gold diggers in paris was the fifth and last in warner bros. Gold diggers of 1937 marked victor moores return to the screen after a twoyear absence following gift of gab, during which he starred in anything goes on broadway. Sep 20, 2015 here is a rare soundtrackthe opening 18 minutes of gold diggers of broadway, a lost film from 1929. Gold diggers of 1935 warner brothers, 1935, directed by busby berkeley, is a lavish musical set in new englands wentworth plaza, a summer fashionable hotel, featuring a cross section of people working or staying there, many wanting to make some extra money for themselves, hence the title gold diggers. Ive been told that the entire 101 min vitaphone sound discs survive. Lots of color technicolor lots of comedy, girls, songs, music, dancing, production in gold diggers of broadway. We are subjected to that irritating form of spokenword singing a couple of times. The film stars dick powell and joan blondell, who were married at the time, with glenda farrell and victor moore. The film begins with an audience watching a broadway show that depicts a giant gold mine.
The female ballet dancers were very beautiful in it. Just a reminder that two extracts from gold diggers of broadway are included in the new busby berkeley volume 2 collection. Scenes from gold diggers of broadway 1929 lost color. Gold diggers of 1935 was in production at warner bros. The songs were written by harry warren music and al dubin lyrics. Charles and i experienced gold diggers of broadway by listening to the recent cd release of the complete soundtrack and playing the two surviving video clips nick lucas singing tiptoe through the tulips a song actually written for this film by joseph burke and al dubin and performed by lucas with his own accompaniment in a high falsetto tenor quite like the voice of. I also enjoyed the ballet sequence although my guess is that fewer people might appreciate that sequence. Only bits have survived of the twostrip technicolor alltalking featurelength moviemore.
Gold diggers of 1935 movie clip lullaby of broadway. As a bw print exists of on with the show exists and matches, it can be determined that this shot is from that film. I huvudrollerna ses winnie lightner och nick lucas. The discs, including the overture, have survived, but until around 1986 nothing was thought to have survived from the prints. Previously filmed in 1923, avery hopwoods 1920 comedy the gold diggers was resurrected in 1929 as the technicolor musical gold diggers of broadway. Gold diggers restoration history has been the most piecemeal and.
The vitaphone site labelled the clip of the two girls as from gold diggers of broadway. His next dilemma, unknown to him at first, is that he is being used as bait by the bentley family to try to draw the smiling ghost out into the open. Progressive, especially for its time, in its focus on a group of very funny, smart, capable women who conspire to overcome their depressionera troubles by manipulating patriarchal expectations, and the film has a refreshingly collectivist, rather than. The first three films, all financially successful, had all been based on the 1919 play the gold diggers. The story is based on the play the gold diggers by avery hopwood. Gold diggers of broadway 1929 gold diggers of broadway. Gold diggers of broadway is a 1929 musical comedy film starring winnie lightner and nick lucas. Gold diggers of broadway soundtrack lost film of 1929. During production a chorus dancer, jack grieves, died on the set due to acute indigestion.
Mar 24, 2014 the completed man in incompletion stardust communiques 360365. If 42nd street was an agreeable sketch, this one is the sistine chapel, an insanely overproduced extravaganza that gave busby berkeley his first chance to really cut loose. The 1929 film ends with chorus girls parading around in elaborate costumes and decorated by twostrip technicolor while acrobats and tap dancers strut their exhilarated stuff. Desert song, as well as gold diggers of broadway, which established the studios cottage industry of gold diggers pictures and also unveiled the pop standard tiptoe through the tulips. Dunlap books that glued me to the couch on rainy saturdays. In this version of avery hopwoods theatrical warhorse the golddiggers of broadway, showgirls joan blondell, ruby keeler, and aline mcmahon attempt. Its the sort of thing i say about creaky early talkies like the broadway melody or the hollywood revue of 1929. The story is based on the play the gold diggers by avery hopwood, which ran for 282 performances on broadway in 1919 and 1920. I chose the best first i had already seen 42nd street, and gold diggers of 1933its hard not to get charged up right at the beginning listening to were in the money. Starring winnie lightner, william bakewell, conway tearle, and nancy welford.
The quality of these excerpts adds to the tragedy of gold diggers of broadway being a lost film. Dec 05, 2017 the final surviving reel of gold diggers of broadway 1929 in 2color technicolor. Gold diggers of 1933 does offer, in a featured role, the ineffable ned sparks as hypermotivated broadway director barney hopkins, but the film s plotsteering leads are the personably played titular showgirls. Collection of vitaphone soundtracks 19261931 this collection is an attempt to collect as many soundtracks to lost films and lost sequences from as many films from the early talkie period 19261931 as possible to make them available to everyone as they should be.
This is the entire sequence, and well worth the minute investment. Tiptoe through the tulips as tiptoe thru the tulips performed by nick. Ruby keelers dewyeyed polly parker, joan blondells brighteyed carol king, aline macmahons sharpeyed trixie lorraine and. Infobox film name gold diggers of broadway image size 215px caption. I hope that these 2 numbers tip toe thru the tulips and song of the gold diggers will be aired soon and released on dvd as special features. He used innovative camera techniques to show performers moving in precise geometric formations in films such as 42nd street, gold diggers of 1933, and footlight parade. The other big number from the film, painting the clouds with sunshine, served as the title for the 1951 remake of gold diggers of broadway, which in the interim had been filmed as the more famous gold diggers of 1933. The completed man in incompletion stardust communiques 360365. It was the second film ever to feature both color and voices through its entire running time, the first being on with the show. Gold diggers of broadway 1929 hometowns to hollywood. Burbank studio beginning in midjuly 1936, and premiered on 26 december 1936. Scenes from gold diggers of broadway 1929 lost color musical. Writing about them now, i can remember the illustrations, which invariably showed a couple of wideeyed kids holding a.
According to a production directory in the 20 apr 1929 exhibitors heraldworld, the starting date for the gold diggers was 27 mar 1929. Gold diggers of 1937 1936 official trailer dick powell, joan blondell musical movie hd duration. Other articles where gold diggers of broadway is discussed. As with many early technicolor films, no complete print survives, although the last twenty minutes do, but are missing a bridging sequence and. In terms of the plot, gold diggers of broadway is very similar to the plots of its prior silent film and stage play renditions, though musical elements and the technologies of the day impact the story. Here is a rare soundtrackthe opening 18 minutes of gold diggers of broadway, a lost film from 1929. Only bits have survived of the twostrip technicolor al. The stage musical opened at the casino theatre on broadway on november 30, 1926 and ran for a very successful 465 performances.
631 1292 470 1493 975 1520 569 879 1057 1492 1064 60 998 632 1324 1010 687 1432 1397 1019 1255 1306 1493 694 566 854 753 1241 76 813 581 976