During the Great Depression four poor actresses and a Broadway show unexpectedly get financial support from a young and aspiring musician. But from where did he get that much money?
Joan Blondell and Dick Powell (who were married from 1936-1944), Ruby Keeler, Warren William and a young Ginger Rogers (famous for her later partnership with Fred Astaire) are starring in this highly entertaining musical film directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Filmed on a budget of estimated 433,000 US $, the movie features four gorgeous dance sequences by legendary choreographer Busby Berkeley (1895-1974). All songs are composed by Harry Warren, who gained three Oscars and eight nominations in his career and wrote many standards like “Jeepers Creepers”, “Chattanooga Choo Choo” or “Lullaby of Broadway”.
Gold Diggers of 1933 gained great commercial success, but was actually one of the first American films being altered before distribution in order to avoid state censorship. In 2003, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024069/?ref_=sr_2
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American Film 
Although we have only begun the first half of the film, there are a number of interesting details that I felt I could point out:
The cast, as in the previous film, are all white. Although this time, they consist of very attractive women and more stereotypical American men of that time (hustling middle-aged man and a young, mysterious, and attractive man).
There are religious symbols in the film as well. During the opening scene, the words, “In God We Trust” which could be a reference to the Christian beliefs in America at that time.
Unlike the last film, the women in this film are seen as more independent than the crying and vulnerable wife. “Don’t you dare,” one woman exclaimed as a man said something she didn’t like. “I beg your pardon?” another woman says.
This film is obviously critical of the government and of the financial crisis that most Americans were experiencing at that time during the Great Depression. “I remember the good ol’ days” one man stated. This is likely a reference to the better financial times before the the stock market crash in 1929. One of the women jokes that she’s a wolf, and another says, “if you were, I would eat you.” This is an example of how hungry and desperate some people were at that time.
One thing I did notice was that the sound effects are not well-integrated into the film. For example, when the women poke their head out of the apartment window and all of a sudden we are confronted with a loud busy street. Once, they go back inside, without closing the window, the sound of the street completely disappears.
I did like the shots that the director chose to take. I particularly enjoyed the shots when the man in the other apartment is singing to one of the ladies. First, the camera is from her perspective watching him, then it switches to his perspective. This gives the audience a more intimate experience within the scene.
Something is fishy about this piano player though… His ability to come up with so much cash in such a short time during the Great Depression, as well as his refusal to be on stage in the public eye leads me to believe there are some skeletons in his closet.
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musical movie is the one of my favorite type of movies. I watched The sound of music, Chicago, phantoms of opera, and Les Miserables. They are all my favorite movies.
I really like this movie a lot. This movie opens with very interesting dancing and singing, and the pretty woman wears fancy money costume. The music goes very well with the scene. And the opening song is quiet brainwashing, “we are the friend of money” the melody always flows in my mind. Even we only watched the half part of the movie, I feel like there should have something to do with the mystery and talented musician man, who support the production with the cash come from nowhere. And also there will be relationship issue between the musician guy and the girl he likes, but with a happy ending. That was all my prediction.
The plot is quiet interesting to me because there are some comedy factors throughout the movie. It attracts my attention. I feel like this movie pays a lot of effort on the stage design, I believe the stage arrangement is even better than watch the real performance in the real theater.
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To continue with my first part, I made a prediction after I watched the first part of the movie, I thought it was a happy ending, but it turned out the ending quite surprised me. The movie ended with a new stage about the war. I think it because the movie was produced during the lowest economic point in American history. The great depression starts around 1930 and lasts about 10 years. There were so many people lost their job, and went through a long nightmare from rich to poor, from poor to homeless. this film spent so much money on the production. So, I started to think why the producer wants to add this ending to a movie, what does he want to express to the audience, and what is the purpose. First, I think the film definitely reflected Depression reality, made people to remember. At first, the show girls cannot find job, and they steal milk from neighbors. To the middle part, they asked the men to buy expensive clothes to them, and eat in the high-class restaurant. The producer showed his hope that the economic can rebirth, people can have the life better. And the whole movie was linked with “money”, it is also a symbol that to express the producer’s wishes. But after all the fun and romantic story, there was this ending, seems to drag people to reality, it seems all the story was people’s fantasy. And remind people that we were in depression, our people go to war. And maybe remind the people who still can afford the movie ticket, to remind them our people and our country was in depression.
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As an American, I have a deep cultural memory of the opening number “We’re in the Money”. This song is an absolute classic. I have a background in music and I have played the Real Book Jazz Standard version of this song many times. I never knew the origin of this tune or the extended lyrics heard in this movie, but the clear allusions to the Great Depression were an interesting revelation for me. It’s in interesting artistic twist to have the opening scene be so focused on money (and the title of the film implies this as well), only to have the sheriff bust into the stage production demanding that Barney pay his debts. Clearly, no one is “in the money” (or are they?), and the contrast between the song and reality sets up a central struggle of the film: the need for and the desire for money. We have yet to watch the rest of the film, but I am sensing that given the title, there is a character that is “in the money” and wishes this to remain a secret. This character is obviously Brad, a “struggling” musician and the object of Polly’s affection. What will happen as a result of this secret (the main dramatic plot device of the film) remains unclear.
All this being said, I rather enjoy the female characters in the film so far. The independent city girl of the 1930’s in charge of her own life and her own romantic endeavors tells us a lot about the social climate at the time. I’m interested to see how this all fits into what Karl mentioned about the pre-moralization of Hollywood and what the rest of the film has in store.
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I agree with the “we’e in the money” is has been in many things while growing up in America, to include many cartoons from the 50’s and 60’s. Like Hankersore, I did not know of the origin of the song, but knew the tune well. However I would have to disagree on the “twist.” A twist would be an unexpected change and the film is in the fallout of the great depression. The audience would know that the average person was going through a hard time. The opening as it is, is a context of the media and how they use dreams and fear of people to sell an experience. It captured the essence of what movies or in this case live shows need to garner the audience. If a movie filmed at that time just showed poor and starving people no one would have gone to seen it and be reminded of their very real life.
Personally Hankersore, I have to again disagree with the reality of the depression being reflected in this film. There is no way they would have been able to be self sufficient in a big city with no work. The musician was able to survive based on the money he came from, not what money he earned. This is like the show Friends, they have an apartment that even together could not be afforded. It is a pipe dream to smooth over the real reality that people want to avoid with entertainment.
For the ending and its very anti-war message. The message is very real and shows the entertainment industry’s adverse look at war. To place it at the end, your audience has had their time with the happy movie and its normal suspension of disbelief, they had their experience and you can slap them in the face with a personal message. If it was in the beginning or middle, you would have to deal with people leaving or not being happy. At the end they can leave and your movie did not suffer from it.
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First of all I want to say that I really liked the intro music, it was catchy and the calligraphy for it was funny and good at the same time. Although we’ve only watched the first half of the film, I got some points I want to talk about. To me I enjoyed this film much more than Sunset, however comparing this film to Sunset would not be fair since they were made in different times. What made it really surprising to me is finding out that Gold Diggers was made only 6 years after Sunset! While watching Gold Diggers I thought the movie was made after many years of Sunset, so when Karl told us when it was made, I was really shocked. This shows how the industry of film making was growing rapidly at that time. In my opinion, the editing, camera techniques, and even the acting developed a lot. What also surprised me is how the girls were strong, independent, and portrayed differently from Sunset. From what we watched until now, it seems that the 5 girls are the main characters of the story, which I think it was something not that common before this film. One of the things I liked about this film is the humor, although there were many references I didn’t get, I had a few giggles. The funniest scene I remember is when one of the girls asked the neighbor to come to their apartment, he just replied with “okay” and came over even though they never talked. Overall I really liked the first half of the film, and can’t wait to see the rest of it in class.
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Musical movie is always famous even today. Movie like Sweeny Todd, La La Land and many more and I do think they get the ideas from this kind of movies. But what this movie reminds me the most would be Sweeny Todd because it is somewhat resembles the same thing. The characters as well are almost the same. Both men are kind of mysterious, In Gold digger, the guy does not want to appear on stage and come up with a lot of money in just short amount of time. In Sweeny Todd, he is a mysterious barber and somewhat similar. The movie was more on a Broadway Musical thing.
The first thing that I notice is the portrayal of the women. Despite being 6 years apart from the Sunshine movie, you can tell that the way the women act and portray is different. In Sunshine, women are often shown as fragile, innocent and easily giving in. However, in Gold Digger they are aggressive and open minded. By just looking at them, you can tell the type of person they are comparing with the other lady in Sunshine. I feel like this would be the start of some sort of revolution for the woman. This would show that woman is very important to movie and they have variety of way to act and not just innocent type of women who lives at the farm.
I see that the director of the play, (I forgot his name) is often shown with a cigar in his mouth. I believe this symbolism shows that men are often portray to look manlier with a cigar in their mouth. It gives vibes on how aggressive and manly they are. I remember there are a few movies who does this and one of the example would be Spiderman (The first ever movie) One of the character is often seen with cigar in his mouth and their style of talking and acting is similar.
I felt something were a little off with a particular scene. When the director of the play/show was offered the 15k money, his expression was expressionless. Following suit with the others assuming it was a cruel joke and all but if you look at it, if anyway is offered 15k in any case, the expression of the receiver would change and at least be happy about it or thankful. Often I sense that they do close up shots or mid-range shots. You don’t often see they take with a wide angel lens. Maybe because it is only the first part of the movie, I can’t be too sure on this.
Between the 6 years apart, I actually wondered what had happened and I went to research a little bit. I found a pdf file about Hollywood film music in the early sound era,1926-1934 by the Iowa University and I find it interesting.
http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6521&context=etd
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For the 2nd part of the movie, I was not expecting on how it would turned out. Firstly, I feel like they are no main characters that they were focusing on which is something i feel that is different compare to any movie past or present. However at the same time, i feel like they were lost with the plot of the movie and forgot about the actual point. Towards the ending of the movie, it was something that i couldnt understand at all and the purpose of the ending.
Here are my guesses, since the ending had to do something with war i feel like men were obligated to go to the army and leave their loved ones behind and they may not see each other again. Perhaps that right after they found someone they were force to be sent away to WW1/2?
My 2nd guess would be, the whole movie is just a stage play, on and off the stage. I feel the movie is what “life” or “happiness” is supposed to be however at the end, the truth is they did not get what they wanted in life but they were forced into the army? I think that the story of Great Depression is that they arent able to get and live their own life as anything they want and force to do other things. Life is unfair to everybody at that era.
One thing i actually talked to Karl about, Im sure many people may not notice but there is this one scene where they were showing couples and a black couple also however they made it seemed natural. Which I find a little bit different from other movies where they like to point it out. While researching on this i found an article about Blacks and the Great Depression
https://socialistworker.org/2012/06/28/blacks-and-the-great-depression
Im curious if this has to do anything with the movie we have watched.
I always realised that only one of the character fulfilled the role “Gold Digger” and if im not mistaken its Trixie. I might be wrong but I feel like the only reason that the director made it that way because it is partly true and wants to show the “truth” maybe? I may be wrong on this.
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The opening of this film was very strong in terms of the visuals, but also the music and its lyrics. You see women wearing nothing else but coins on the stage with huge coins and dollar sign in the background. Despite being black and white, you can feel how bright and flashy it is. I feel like this was reflecting the culture of sex appeals as a source of income.
The way how the show is suddenly interrupted and eventually stops show the reality outside of the glamorous looking show. In the story, Barnie probably made the show for the people dealing with the great depression to be able to escape from and forget the reality they have to face. I feel that the interruption was also a way of saying that great success can be ended from a very simple reason (in this case, the debt Barnie had) and once you mess up, there is no excuse you can give.
I liked how the characters were very different from each other. Especially the 4 girls who share the house. I feel like it made the conversations and interactions within the characters very funny and enjoyable.
Also, how the main characters are not wealthy and even fight over who wears the fancy outfit made the characters likable and makes us want to wish them luck.
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I like your idea about reflecting the culture of sex appeal as a source of income.
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The “Pettin in the Park” number was interesting because they showed couples from varying backgrounds such as skin tone and age. It stood out because this is the only part where you see this. The baby in the last part was pretty surprising because in modern films or musicals, we don’t really see children so young doing stunts like roller skating and dunking under other people. I thought the changing scene used the light and shade very well and it brings out the most in black and white. It was perfect to express the sexy and tantalizing situation. I was surprised to know that this song was supposed to be at the end, but moved to an earlier part and switched by “Remember my Forgotten Man.” The impression of the film will completely change if this scene were at the end. I feel that it would seem like an ordinary happy ending film that would not be memorable whereas the real ending shocks the audience and gives them something to talk about after watching the film.
The last musical scene was very memorable. In “The Shadow Waltz,” I was especially surprised by the violins in the dark. It was very pretty but also creative of them to place the actors in positions so that it creates a pattern from above. I have experienced a little moving orchestra where you move positions while playing the instruments, but it is really hard and I felt the time and effort they took to get everyone in their exact positions. In an interview, the director said that during the filming of this scene, an earthquake hit los angeles, and some of the violins short-circuited. I cannot imagine how stressful it was to put the set back together again. The dancers with the twirly skirts were very elegant and cute as well. The stage was also unique with the twisted stairs, but it fit the outfit of the dancers. I did enjoy the dancing, but I was also worried about the dancers that they were going to misplace their feet and trip on the stairs while twirling…..
The very last song, “Remember my Forgotten Man” was very different from the other parts. It reflects how at that time, men were coming back from war, but couldn’t get jobs. It shows how women were dependent on men to survive and since Carol’s husband cannot support her, she ends up on the streets in the story. It sounds strong because in the song, it keeps saying “you” as if the person listening is being blamed of what is happening. I felt the anger and uncertainty of the future through this song which might have likely been the impression of the directors towards the society.
This film received an Oscars for Best Sound which I am not surprised at all since the musical numbers were all fun and enjoyable throughout the film. One thing I would say is that the beginning of each song is slightly awkward or unnatural. The songs just start so sudden. But this may be said to all musicals maybe.
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Watching what happened in the second half of the film surprised me. There were a lot of unexpected events happening in the film, which made it more interesting. The show they did at the start of the second half was really amazing, I love how they calligraphed it. The scenes where they added snow and rain were incredible. It was surprising to see how rich families at that time didn’t allow their son to marry a woman because of her statue, they preferred to them as “showgirls”. To Lawrence “showgirls” are always bad and gold diggers. Sadly in my home country, the idea of rich people marrying only each other is still happening, but the percentage is really low. It was funny and sad at the same time to see the brother of Roberts falling in love with Carol which he thought is the love of Roberts. But it was good to know that Carol really loved him back. I thought Trixy was representing the idea of the “showgirl” Fanny and Lawrence had. She was manipulating them and spending all their money. The other show they did with violins, was really amazing and I think it was really advanced for that time. What I liked most about it is the calligraphy, costumes shown, and how they used lights to create an amazing picture.
While checking the actors’ list on IMDB I noticed that there were no black actors in this film. This made me realize that, even though women were getting stronger at that time, racial segregation was still an issue. On the other hand, each play they did in the film was better than the one before, so if I was to choose one favorite play it would be really difficult. The plot twists of the movie also made it great to watch, because you didn’t know what was going to happen next. And this made the film more thrilling and fun. The ending of the movie was surprising to me because they end it with a play about depression, but I think this play represented the real society at the time and how they were dealing with difficult times. To conclude, I really liked this movie and it made me interested to watch more films like this.
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I want to contrast the movie Sunrise and Gold diggers of 1933. In my opinion, I feel women are described as more powerful in the 1933.But, in Sunrise one of the main characters is an evil city lady who tricks a man and has a bad ending, in contrast the movie1933, two women trick two men, but women have happy ending.
In the movie 1933, the main characters have both good and bad personality. The movie tries to show them as natural human beings.
Another difference between the two movies are when characters are talking. In Sunrise, when the main characters are talking, others are not moving. but in the movie 1933, for example, when the show director was talking to a lady about the show, the other characters makes some actions such as joining her hands. I think in Sunrise, the characters over use of some reaction is because Sunrise need to express characters feeling without voice. However, in the movie 1933, it uses audio and tell the audience about the characters personality and feeling easily, so I think the directors can show the brother’s human kindness with less face emotion. If this movie is a silent film, I think the brother’s personality become shallower because there are not enough opportunity to show the character’s personality. The characters need to express themselves by nonverbal communication. One of the characters shows less face emotion and does not over reacted. From this, I think using audio in the movie has an advantage to show people’s personality deeper more than silent films. Also, I feel that camera shaking become less than Sunrise.
Also, there are many of scenes that sexually depict women. I though this is negative image for women, but I heard that in the past time, women cannot show sexuality or they did not have the right to express themselves. This is an interesting point for me that showing sexually in this movie is not only negative, but it also shows that women’s freedom has increased more.
I think in the Sunrise, the main characters are only a few characters, such as a man, his wife and the city lady. However, in the movie 1933, there are about six major characters. All of the character have different personalities and show how each characters fall in love. Also, problems are changing. In the beginning, they are concerned about money to hold show, but after the man come up, the problem changed to love between the main man and woman. The last half, the main problem changed to his brother. Sunrise consistently shows the man and his wife’s problem, so I felt changing main problem is interesting.
At the beginning of part, the show director got inspiration of depression and said、” men marching, marching in the rain…jobs,jobs..”. This movie ending in show, and in the show, there are soldiers marching in the rain. I thought the last part is only telling about the war, especially about soldiers, so I feel strange to put in this scene in the last. Later, I watched this movie again and found what the director says in the beginning, I think may be the last part include meaning of the real world. People are still looking for jobs, even the war is over, and people have depression same as during the war to find jobs especially for men. I did not remember well about 1990s history, so I wonder why in the last show, men did not have job but has medal under his jacket. Actually, after WWⅠ, soldiers have difficult time to have jobs. In the class, someone mentioned that the show parts and the movie characters life parts are switching, and the show tends to pictured what actually real world happening. I felt this idea is very interesting.
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I agree that women in this movie are described as stronger women than women in Sunrise. The good woman in Sunrise is more depending on her husband and doesn’t really show her angry emotion against her husband . The bad woman in Sunrise are a bit more powerful than the good woman, but still she is depending on the man. However, women in Gold Digger look more independent women. They want to make some actions to get what they want. They don’t wait for guys’ opinions. They act like they are controlling men. So, it was interesting to see the differences in two movie in terms of how women are described.
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The movie we watched, Gold Digger was really interesting for me. First of all, there were huge technological developments since last movie we watched, Sun Rise. There were voice dialogs, better camera, and better sounds. This movie was musical movie. Musical movie is one of my favorite movies. However, I really didn’t understand what their point of view of their ending scenes. The movie was ended happy ending, but suddenly one woman who is not really main character started singing the song of “Remember My forgotten Man.” Especially, this song was started with woman’s speaking. I have been thinking of what is their point to show us this scene as ending. Maybe this is just for me, but I felt like they used the most number of casts in this scene compare to any other scene. I didn’t quite understand what they really wanted to show us. I want to discuss with you guys in this class about this last scene, and I want to know how you felt or how did you understand this last scene. I just want to hear other opinions. Maybe English native speaker and non-native speaker might have gotten different point of views.
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Even the difference is 6 years from the Sunrise movie, i feel that it is a huge step foward! but the only thing i realised that most of the camera angle is close-mid range. I think that ” Remember The Forgotten Man” represents that the men are not being able to fulfill their lives the way they wanted to and got drafted for World War? Im not exactly sure but this is what i think.
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I agree with you. I think it is huge step since the movie Sunrise within 6 years!
I understand what you are saying about the last song “Remember The Forgotten Man” is representing the man are not being able to fulfill their lives the way. However, what is the point to get draft for World War? because this movie was not related to World War that much until the end. I feel like why didn’t finish their movie with happy songs even though the movie’s storyline is really happy ending.
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I agree I also feel like the last scene was a bit forced. If I had to make an opinion on it, I would say that it is to show the absurdity between real life circumstances and Hollywood style happy ending of the film with everyone getting married.
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Besides the technological advancements, if you look at the production budgets of both movies, Sunrise was around 2 million with inflation and Gold Diggers had twice the budget. That is a large difference in the costs of sets, extras, and equipment.
The last scene seemed like a personal statement that they put in for their own word as filmmakers. Film is always trying to find ways to have social commentary, one for connecting with the audience and two to get their opinions out. This happens a lot, a good example is District 9. Most thought of it as the sci-fi movie the director wanted after the Halo movie was canceled, but dealt with the treatment of other African immigrants in south Africa. For them making a movie about a stage show, it was a thinly disguised attempt to hide it as their next big show.
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After watching the second half of the film on Friday, some updates to my expectations of the narrative and plot points are required. First of all, it’s not that the need or desire for money is the central theme of the film, but rather the film is a commentary on class division during 1930’s America. In addition, the secret aspect of Brad’s wealth is only really a catalyst for setting up this deeper theme about the ‘haves-and-have-nots’.
That all said, many students we’re confused by what seemed like a somewhat out of place love story. This might be able to be explained upon further inspection, yet it cannot be denied that the begging and ending of the film which overtly try to convey something profound about the Great Depression, seemingly gets lost in a classic character driven romantic comedy (complete with a cliché and wacky ‘switcheroo’ scheme employed by the main characters). However, with both the title of the film and Brad’s wealthy relatives leveling the accusation that a certain type of women in the 1930’s is a gold digger, the ensuing conflict from this accusation really does create a strong commentary on class and gender relations during the Depression.
This is why I feel that the final song was not as out of place as one might think. There is a running plot thread regarding the plight of the poor throughout the film. Mentioning the multitudes of citizens who don’t get their happy ending I felt was actually a powerful last statement. Perhaps this is a slightly more abstract reaction to the song, but the idea of the forgotten man as a legion of Depression era males who don’t get the Hollywood ending is in my opinion an interesting artistic choice (considering how happy all the main characters stories turn out, especially the men). This might be a stretch on my part, so I welcome any criticism on this matter.
As a side note, I was a little frustrated with the Trixie character essentially fulfilling the accusation of gold digger. The class conflict was so clearly portrayed in such a way as to create common moral ground between rich and poor (love can be nurtured no matter what the class divide). But I might be digressing.
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Yeah, I think the class conflict thing was a big theme for the film, and the final scene brings it home. I also was put off by Trixie committing so hard to the gold-digger thing, (maybe especially since she was the smartest and most assertive of all the women, although that might be a tired “women don’t get enough representation” argument for me to make). I’m not sure what she’s supposed to represent in the class-conflict struggle. The big brother and Brian’s roles are pretty easily figured out, Fanny (?) is a comedic device, Polly is the sweet/selfless/moral one, so I guess Trixie would be, like, the conniving lower-classman … except she gets a happy ending and no one ever kind of smacks her down for her weird behavior, so that doesn’t even fit.
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I felt that this film was definitely more intricate from the first film Sunrise. In what way? Well, in more particularly it goes more into depth of how the city people are in a different time and age. We had a small glimpse of it in Sunrise but in Gold diggers we get a more inside look of how women and men were in later times in the city during the depression. The most obvious thing that pops out is that sexuality is more advertised. Sexuality, independency in women, and more blunt attitudes. You can see each woman of course have their own individual personality where Trixie is more of a “gold digger” whose manipulative and wants to make money, but clearly has higher standards since she wasn’t willing to do anything but hang out and chat with them. Polly just wants to find work like the rest, however she has a different mindset because she doesn’t care that the man she loves is a pianist, which is a clear indication in trixie’s words that musicians were no good since they don’t have money. Women were viewed as more clever and sneaky as well when it came to their scheme to trick Lawrence Bradford and Peabody into believing that they were gold diggers and that Carol was polly. There was a major definition of the different types of men as well. Brad being the pianist, as mentioned before, was someone kind of looked down upon because he was most likely also struggling for work. He was easily dismissed by the producer and the girls until the producer felt it was substantial to him to have his songs and money to help with the show. It wasn’t until they found out that the Brad actually came from money did their attitude increasingly change into a positive note. The depression surely had an influence on their intentions since everyone was struggling for work and to get money to survive. Although it was a man eat man world, the women stuck together to try and accomplish getting work together, which is less likely in today’s society.
The film itself was very clever with matching the music and lyrics to the occurrence of the world. In the beginning the song “We’re in the money” seems to imply that they’re basically rolling in dough and they have enough to sing and dance about it, and like mentioned above, it’s clear that when the sheriff comes in and starts taking things away, everything starts to become clear that not one of them is financially stable enough to even finish the set or the play. As mentioned in class a couple students indicated that the last scene coming back to the depression, it was definitely strong, however, the story line felt like it was all over the place to where it made no sense. The story line had too many things distracting us from the real issue which is why they basically put that strong last set with the song “remember my forgotten man” to bounce back to the realization that oh sorry our story made you fantasize that you can marry a rich man but we didn’t forget about your forgotten man. I definitely felt that there were many ways they could’ve brought in more humor instead of the implication that they ended up being gold diggers in the end and marrying rich men in these struggling times and needs.
As far as the comparison between sunrise and gold diggers, you can tell the increase in technology and the advancement in film has changed drastically. It is definitely pretty cool to see how a silent film compared to a new technology film with audio changes the way you analyze movies. I didn’t necessarily enjoy this movie as much as Sunrise since I felt this movie was doing too much to grab the audience’s attention. I liked sunrise more because it was more subtle and it didn’t take much to find out what was going on, the story line was straight to the point and the ending smoothly tied into with the beginning all the way to the end. Either way both films were interestingly entertaining and kept us glued to the screen even though one was a bit more confusing than the other.
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As soon as the film’s opening song plays, I immediately thought to myself that I would enjoy watching and like the film already. The opening song has that “Tom and Jerry” entertaining-circus theme vibe which tells that the film will have a comedy and musical genre. Being able to compose a catchy tune and put it in the first few seconds of the film can already create an atmosphere that the audience will already love.
In terms of plot story, I like how there is a comedic humor going on in the film to keep the viewers entertain. The black and white colour monotone gives the film a more classical feeling and suits the film a lot since the film story was based on 1933 and had that Chicago-inspired vibe. One thing that I got confused about the film was who was their main character. As we watch the film, the plot story kind of changes and focuses on the other character. From Polly Parker at the first part getting into a romantic relationship with the wealthy songwriter, Brad Roberts and then as the story goes on, it shifts into Carol and Bradford’s relationship. Speaking of characters, I like Brad Roberts’ character in the film as a he was introduced as a songwriter and a trustful man that ended up having money to financially support the musical but had that mysterious character that the cast was trying to build up at first. It ended up that he was a rich person and I thought that he stole money from a bank and ended up as an infamous gangster or something. In addition, the gender portrayal in this film shows that the men are portrayed to be rich and handsome while the females tend to be attractive and beautiful.
When it comes to the technical side of the film, it showed a progression of American film. I think that the director, Mervyn Leroy had more freedom to express his film more as they have numerous different sets and was able to film a scene with more space. The camera shots of the film were shot in different angles to provide different character perspectives as well especially the musical scenes. I like the camera angles that was made in the last musical film where it just shows different viewpoints of the performers from dancing elegantly and the bird-eye view of them playing the violin with the glowing-light effect on their instruments to create that musical-feeling. Another scene that I loved in the film was the march sequence during the last musical performance where men portrayed as soldiers are marching on a fast-paced moving walkator to give that serious sensation of the musical and the film itself that they want to show about what the characters were dealing on the film’s setting. Finally, another scene that I was impressed with was the scene between Polly and Brad’s window scene, where Brad was serenading Polly in his room while she was hearing it on her room. The scene showed multiple shots of each character’s view to show the interaction between the two characters. Overall, I really enjoyed and like the film, Gold Diggers of 1933.
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This movie was very fun to watch. The cinema has changed significantly in just a small span of time. This really shows how fast media and technology can change and how much it can bring to the art form of cinema. The camera angles are more interesting and mirror the likes of current movie productions. I really loved the larger then life costumes they used in the production that made me think of a live show in Vegas or New York.
The theme of movie is the hardships of the Great Depression but it seems that the movie itself is more of a magical play and the play that they are producing seemly is more realistic at least in the last scene. The whole movie has an undertone of women being taken care of by men. This undertone is very apparent with line like “every women knows she needs a man to take care of her”. Yet these women are taking care of themselves with no men (until the end). It seems that they are flirty girls who abide by their own rules which makes them the sluts of the town or “gold diggers”. It’s a shame that a women has to sell her sexuality in order to get what she wants and use the men for their money and power. It seems like these women are powerful on their own ways yet they still think they need men to rely on for their needs. Not one of them ended up being independent at the end.
The last scene was confusing for me. I couldn’t determine if they were trying to make a point or just throwing this scene in at the end because they didn’t know where to put it. In one opinion, the scene was put there to make you think and cause the viewer to come back to come theme of the Great Depression and remind you that all this happiness of the movie was just a rouse, or distraction from the truth of the time period. Watching a movie that only talks about the sadness of the Great Depression probably wounld’nt get the needed attenditon so maybe that was the purpose of the ending reminder of what really matters.
In the other option, this scene is out of place and could have been the directors way of making sure to add a very expensive and story explaining scene even when it’s out of place. It could be a way to grab the audience but it left me with an empty, confused feeling.
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Coming from a strong background in technical theater (I was the master carpenter for my high school’s theater program and work lights for a community theater back home—and I’m still considering a minor in tech, although that’s all sort of fallen by the wayside since heading to Japan), it was really fun to see classic musical theater portrayed on screen. There were a lot of things that stood out for me—probably the two second shot of the period lightboard right before Forgotten Man is my favorite of the whole movie, and Forgotten Man itself is really impressive from a theater tech standpoint. The scene makes use of conveyor belts, confetti (which is really a hassle to clean up, just like fake snow in the other scenes—theaters are messy places, and stuff like screws can get swept up along with all that lightweight product; that’s dangerous from a big drop—like up on a catwalk–, so it’s a hassle from a technical standpoint), rain, and actors marching circular structures in the back (modern day theater acting unions are actually really strict about that—anything involving standing over a 20-something degree rake requires special training and compensation). Of course, since it’s a movie, all of this can be shot separately and without taking the trouble to disguise the technical mechanisms from an audience like you would have to in a live theater, but it’s still a lot of moving pieces and the effect was really impressive.
At the same time, the movie rubbed me the wrong way a little bit; although the women were definitely interesting, strong, well developed characters, their plots were sort of… for lack of a better word, rapey. Like, let’s use these people’s sexual attraction to us for money. Or, let’s put this drunk guy in your bed so he’ll think he had sex with you and pay us off to keep the whole thing quiet.
?!?!?! What??? Who does that???
It really made the characters less-than likeable. Polly was the only one who had any problem with it, and she just got handwaved. Also, who ends up marrying the person who was obviously taking advantage of you for your money? Or lying about your identity and blackmailing you? Is that supposed to be, like, … redeeming of the female characters, maybe?
I don’t know. Musically, technically, and choreographically, the movie was strong. But it was also pretty off putting.
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I actually also caught a bit of a strange vibe from this film that I suppose you could call for the lack of a better word “rapey”. It wasn’t in the scene with the moving of the drunk guy or the gold digger antics throughout the film, it was in one of the songs. In the song “Pettin in the park” there’s a lot of lyrics that kind of seemed a bit weird, especially in 2017. “Act a little shy, oh why, struggle just a little” “maybe this is wrong, but gee what of it”. I think this says a lot about how society was back then. Now you can’t say for 100% whether or not this is actually implying something nonconsensual but it sure sounds like it and if this were to be released today it wouldn’t be a hit song and social media would have a field day ripping it apart. It reminds me of that old song “Baby its cold outside”. While “Baby its cold outside” came out a little over a decade later they both speak of how things were back then. I think back then things were not questioned enough. My generation grew up watching people on the news talk about how certain kinds of music or video games can be somehow to blame for influencing kids who did a school shooting or some kind of violent crime. Now I think in most cases people are just getting a little too P.C but in reality you still have to understand people are influenced by the media and as a society we do have to be aware of what effect certain things in the media can have. Now I hope that the song “pettin in the park” didn’t have an effect on any impressionable young minds because struggling whether it’s “just a little” or a lot is not an appropriate way to start a sensual situation. Same goes for the “baby its cold outside” song that kind of persistence is smothering and should not be thought to be okay.
let me know what y’all think
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So, I really like this movie. It’s goofy and silly in a lot of great ways, especially for a movie about the Great Depression.
Again, I go feel this film was a bit more risque than many of it’s time, Though I was somewhat uncomfortable with some of how the women were treated….. mostly I think I don’t like the part where they put the guy in the girl’s bed. Neither of them had consented and it was just… implying a lot of not good things that rubbed me the wrong way. I guess I’m more upset for how the guy acted while drunk. Forcing the girl to kiss him was…. a bit much for me. But, I feel like that was reflective of the times. I know for me at least, growing up in the states, stuff like that where someone forces themself on the other like that is considered romantic. Or at least was. I remember my mom always liked love stories about women who played hard to get and men who had to give a long chase and force their way into things. So, again, I feel it’s very American in that way. But then again, I also remember growing up listening to some Celtic folk songs that involved the same sort of thing, so perhaps it’s not only an American thing. Perhaps a European thing that was brought over with colonization? Just an idea. But to me that still felt like a very American thing, at least for fiction, such as this film.
Unlike Sunrise, with the addition of sound, this film indeed is a lot less universal. The plot is unable to be understood properly without a solid grasp of what is being said. Not to mention that the Great Depression is also just a very America centric topic. So distinctly American there.
Going back to how the women were treated, the way that everyone in show biz, especially the women, were seen as lesser or less trust worthy in general just by being in the show biz I feel is a very American thing too. I don’t have a ton of context for other cultures on this, but from everything I’ve learned about Japan, China, Asian countries in general, Mexico, and a select few areas of Africa, those who perform arts such as theater tend to be fairly well respected. Though it is possible that only pertains to traditional types of arts, such as Geisha or Kabuki etc etc. If anyone has any input or info on that, I’d be really interested to hear.
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I enjoyed watching Gold Diggers of 1933. I could know that Gold Diggers of 1933 is a huge scale film from the beginning. I also surprised that the rapid development of the film industry during this period. The enormous production costs would be used for the film, especially the sets and the costumes in the musical scenes. However, during this period, people in the United States did not afford to live like people in the film at all because of The Great Depression. The Wall Streets crashed in 1929, and many people were unemployed and lost their jobs, and this depression lasted for a decade. The audience would go to the theater to forget what is actually happening in the real world and feel luxurious.
Before seeing the end of the song, the audiences feel like they are able to get over the depression like people in the film get the success lives. However, the audience has to face the reality in the end of the film. The theme of the song suddenly changes to the lovely song to the dark song to express the reality. If I were a one of the audience at that time, I would be disappointed the way of the film ends. I would feel that all the things that I’ve watched in the film is a dream. I do not say that the filmmaker should not film about The Great Depression, but I think they should put it in different way.
Now I know why the filmmakers finish the film like that by understanding the history; however, when I watched it I had no idea what was happening. The filmmaker does not mention about the depression before, and the song “Remember My Forgotten Man” suddenly starts. I think the filmmaker should change the story plot if they want to put that song because some audiences like me have no idea why they start to sing a sad song in the end of the film.
There are some scenes that get my attention. One of the scenes is that when the Brad singing and playing the piano for Polly. The filmmakers shot Polly’s face by using OSS (Over the Shoulder Shot) to make the audience see Polly’s face from Brad’s perspective. Furthermore, both Brad and Polly’s eyes express that they are falling in love with each other. The other scene is that after Polly talks with Brad and comes back to the room, I thought that everyone in the room is freezing. This would show that they focus what Polly and Brad are talking about in the other room. The other scene is that when Polly and others are waiting Brad to get money, the filmmakers shot each character’s finger movement to tell the tension of the room to the audience.
Overall, Gold Diggers of 1933 was interesting film, but I think it would be better if the ending were different.
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I would want to know what other ending that you would prefer? This would be an interesting topic to discuss. Would it represent The Great Depression differently?
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If I would put The Great Depression in the end of the film, I would put more story plot about the depression before that. For example, one of the characters suffers from the depression, and that makes the audience think about it. I think it was too sudden to bring such heavy topic. The other option is that I would not represent about the depression at all and finish the film happy ending.
From your blog, you seem like you are not satisfied with how the film ends. How would you like to represent the ending?
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I agree, I think the OSS (Over the Shoulder Shot) definitely got my attention. I wish the filmmakers would have used more of those kind of shots throughout the film. In terms of the ending, how would you have wanted them to attach the Great Depression to the end of the film? Do you think this film was trying to make any kind of statement about the Depression?
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I would change the story plot. The idea came to my mind is that Peabody (the family banker) ‘s firm get influenced by The Great Depression, and his life becomes not the same as before. He talks about his struggles to everyone, and they make a musical based on his story. I think this would be a natural way to represent The Great Depression.
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It was first time to watch old musical film, and I really enjoyed “Gold Diggers of 1933” especially comedic parts and music. Compared to Sunrise 1927, being able to music and sounds in films is the biggest improvement. Because of that, it became easier for viewers to understand story plots. Unlike silent films, I think that it became easier for actors to express characters’ emotion because they can express feeling not only facial expression but also ways of saying their lines. Though actors are required skills for that. For that reason, I felt that actors’ facial expression in Gold Diggers are more natural than in Sunrise.
Although use of sound or music is the biggest change from comparing from Golden Diggers of 1933 and Sunrise 1927, I was quite amazed that how much lighting skill, camera work, and overall quality improved only for 6 years. For instance, use of lighting effect in the violin scene and track-up shots in musical parts. Considering the technology of that time, I thought that producers of this film spent huge money for using the most advanced skills and products at that time. Moreover, fast plot development and story progression in Gold diggers of 1933 are more smooth and natural. Even though this film is much longer than Sunrise, I did not feel like that.
In addition, I was surprised that women in this film were portrayed as strong and active female and led the relationship because I thought that women in this period were more passive and obeyed men. I was also surprised to see women in more skin showing clothes in this period. Even though they were dressed up for the musical, I thought common formal fashion in this period is long dress which do not overexpose body parts. In addition, I found typical thought, “marrying rich man can solve all problems and bring stable life” in this film. It made me wonder whether women in this period were likely to seek rich men for this reason.
Even though I enjoyed this film, I thought that story of this film is a little bit optimistic by considering real condition of people in the period when this film was set. This movie was set during golden depression in the U.S. where jobs were scare and people are trying to find job. Thus, in my opinion, this film just showed positive parts of that period. In addition, I was confused about the climax scene of this film, and it made me feel like I starts watching different movie. Until the climax parts, this film showed story of people behind musicals including comedic parts and romantic parts, then the dark scene which showed men who were taken away for war suddenly showed up. I know this film tried to tell viewers about hard life and struggle during this time period, but it was sudden and unexpected for me and made me confuse as whether or not I was actually watching the dame movie. It was like jump cut from romantic comedy to dark serious film for me.
Overall, Gold Diggers of 1933 is quite interesting for me, and I think this film is visually and technically great. Also, music that were used in this film is nice and memorable. Even though I thought some parts of film plot develop quite suddenly and not connected well for previous scenes, I think that overall story of this film is fun and enjoyable for audiences.
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Being not a big fan of musicals and old movies in general, I was pretty skeptical about this movie. At first, after hearing the title, I thought that it must have had something to do with the gold rush or anything connected to it. I was definitely wrong. I absolutely enjoyed this movie, and it greatly exceeded my expectations.
Even before the actual beginning of the film, my attention was captured by the way the title was written. It reminded of something, but I could not figure out what. The mystery was revealed only at the end of the movie, when I first noticed the logo of Warner Bros. The way the title was written, in fact, reminded me of that of the animated cartoon “Tom and Jerry,” which dates back to the same period of time (1940). Even though the cartoon does not have any relations to Warner Bros until 2006, I guess that the writing style was similar for movies and other headings in the 30’s and 40’s.
The beginning of the show jumped directly into a theatre. I found it very interesting that the whole movie revolved around the idea of performing arts. When thinking about the depression, in fact, workers of every kind come to mind, but artists are definitely not the first concern. The whole movie, however, gave justice to this part of the society in a comic but nonetheless significant way. Despite the magnificence of the costume and the happiness communicated by the song sung in the beginning on stage, the girls are worried about the sudden loss of their jobs. Being showgirls, they are dependent on work. Their hopes, the lucky circumstances they find themselves in, and their clever way of exploiting the situations is evidently connected to the concept of American Dream. The idea that everything bad could be changed if hard work were applied is deeply embedded in the storyline since the beginning, when the girls try to get the director hire them again for the new show. They certainly do not give up easily. The concept of American Dream is also quite popular in movies nowadays.
What I also liked about this movie was the way it portrayed the times narrated in the plotline. The Great Depression is not only mentioned multiple times during the movie, it is also shown in bigger and smaller details: the director’s assistant demanding money, the poor band from Kentucky (which does not succeed because it does not show the necessary skills to follow the American Dream), the desperation of the girls when they hear that there is no money for the new show. Another significant account of the age is presented by the enormous gap between lower and upper class. Even though in the movie it is portrayed in a very comic way, the differences and stereotypes which kept the two societal groups apart are well defined. Even though only marginally, another key aspect of the 1930’s represented in the movie is Prohibitionism. I found the little man carrying around his alcoholic arsenal one of the funniest characters in the show, even though he was just a marginal one.
As many people mentioned, the quality of the film increased incredibly in only 6 years, if we had to draw a comparison with Sunrise. The movement of the camera is way more fluid, and the screening looks so much better as well. The addition of natural sounds and voices, instead of a recorded sync- or maybe not-sync audio system, is a plus to the final effect of the movie on the audience. The actors are now able to communicate feelings not only with facial expressions, but also through their voices. Personally, I found that most of the actors in many scenes were underlining their feelings way too much through their voices, with the result that sometimes they sounded fake. I wonder if this has to do with the fact that many actors still needed to get used to the idea of having to master also voice skills, and not just expressionist ones.
The conclusion, so different from the rest of the movie encompasses every shade of the Great Depression, representing also realities not mentioned or just marginally touched by the main storyline. As I still want to hear a little more about it, I will not talk about it yet. Generally speaking, however, I very much enjoyed the movie. Great one!
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Interesting how it started with the actresses starting off with the musical scene. The outfits of the ladies wearing caught my eyes that it was decorated with money coins. It must be awkward to dance with those outfits, but the performance in the scene was pretty amazing how all actresses lined up and made a wave together. The camera work was great that it concentrated on one point first and it extended to shoot whole view. While the show has been played, the cops came in the show to stop because of the unpaid bills. This scene makes the audience curious what happened and what’s gonna happen next.
The next day the show girls were getting ready to look for jobs and the tall lady took a milk from the next door through the window was interesting. I personally liked the furniture in the house. I’m curious how much were the actresses were pain in the era? From looking at the house’s area it looks pretty wide even living with three people.
The piano man who lives in the next door of the ladies is in curious position because he pays fifteen thousand dollars for a fund of the show. Then the next morning he strongly insisted that he only wanted to create a song for the show but not to be part of it. At first, I thought he is the type who likes to be a star like getting an attention from everyone (since seeing how he sings loudly with window opened at his home), but the way he refused was like he was hiding something. Therefore, I re-think that he wants a copy right of the music in order to get royalties.
Then when the tall woman brought a piece of newspaper that there was a robbery before the day of the show opened. This point makes the audience thinks that Brad might be the criminal that he did it for Polly. There were many impressive scenes of show performance in the film. I liked the scene of various couples such as Asian couple and elderly couple. It was unique to show couples from various race and ages that it made me think the director of the film has world view. The stage of winter was really amazing that it appears like a real snow and ice. The boy in the show also surprised me because was there an agency for child actor at that time? How does the kid learn to act? He seems like around 4 years old, so wasn’t it hard to teach him the timing to open the curtain?
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After Brad acted out as a substitute for the male main actor, the newspaper reported that he was a son from a wealthy family. Seems like the story of rich man and poor woman’s love story would never get old that it still exists today. Bet every generation of women desire for these drama in their lives. Brad’s brother and the secretary? the old man visited Polly’s house after the news of Brad’s background reported. From here, the main character of the story shifted to Brad’s brother, the old man, and the two other actresses who lives in the same house with Polly. From my point of view, those four people’s story was too long that I forgot about Brad and Polly. Also, aren’t Brad’s brother and the old man too easily fall in love with the show girls? How come they fall in love with just visiting the girl’s house? I was kind of shocked because Brad’s brother looks very diligent that he always has serious face and someone from a rich family tend to have a not-easy going personality. Therefore, the last part of the movie was too packed and too smoothly ended.
This movie’s main point is the musical performance. The performance skill was higher than I expected that it still feels marvelous performance stage to today’s generation. I did not like the last part of the story, but I liked the performance scene. I think it was unique to put tiny light bulbs around the edge of the violin and it was beautiful when the stage light turned off. Also, it was so stunning when making a big violin with the violins. The thing I was surprised was the gown that one of the actress was wearing was offshoulder which is latest fashion trend. Even though the film was from 1933 more than 80years ago, it is fascinating that it has common wear with today.
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The beginning of the movie drew me back to my childhood. The opening song is used in a lot of old cartoons. It is a memorable opening that set the stage for a rather dynamic movie (until the end).
Throughout i was surprised at the main characters being strong women. If hollywood could watch this movie and understand the development arcs then we could get strong women characters in modern movies.
That being said it has a lot more suspension of disbelief. From the large furnished apartment in the city that the “moved to” after the shows started closing down. Also that we could believe that they had little to no options left but only being show girls.
A funny moment that struck me a realistic and dumb on the director (of the show) is that it looked like he bought a new suit as soon as the money came in for the show. It was an expensive suit vs his normal one he wore before.
The ending was a little rushed, as the character shift happened fo a new dynamic. That moved really fast into the marriage proposals. Rushing the end to fit the last musical numbers was a mistake and the numbers could have been spread out.
The musical numbers were a surprise, i think they were trying to put them at the end as to not spoil the mood of the movie, but stillget the message in. When people leave they would remember the somber tone of the numbers, but be happy for a good movie.
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It’s pretty interesting how this film portrays the great depression. After watching the first half and seeing things like Barney getting his play shut down and also hearing all the girls talk about their struggles I expected that theme to continue on and only get worse throughout the rest of the film. However I was mistaken, it didn’t really get worse, and also the fact that the film took place during the great depression seemed to become kind of a trivial issue. To me it didn’t seem to be a major plot point. Most films covering the depression show people facing real poverty and real struggle. Something no one in this film really seemed to get hit with. This actually made the film quite interesting. I Don’t believe I’ve ever seen something about the depression where the characters were in a social class that wasn’t hit as hard. Yes, the girls were struggling to find work but they still managed to have a really nice apartment and barney did have issues funding shows but he still kept his office and avoided hitting any rock bottom.
I believe Barney really separated himself and the rest of the show folks when he pointed out what the people wanted to see is something about the great depression. In a way it put everyone in the theatre above the general public.
I don’t know though, let me know what y’all think about this films relation to the great depression, I’d love to hear what others think
thanks
-WHSC
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Gold Diggers of 1933
This film is a musical/romantic comedy which takes place during the Great Depression. It is well-acted and the music is also very well-written and executed.
The way they introduced the character of Brad as a charismatic and talented man with his voice and the piano made it quite obvious that he was going to be the love interest for one of the girls in the film. Speaking of the girls, I had a hard time distinguishing who is who during the first half of the film, but that is perhaps simply due to my lack of focus. Back to Brad, he did seem quite mysterious and suspicious as someone who has an incredible talent in music but also has an access large amount of money. When the girls were suspecting that he must be the bank robber that was reported on the newspaper, I was actually hoping that it was Brad. That would have taken the story to a whole another direction and made it more dramatic, though I am fine with the story the film decided to go with.
I liked the character of Peabody who seemed to be the comic relief of the story. I also think it was a wise decision to put the character of Brad’s brother (Lawrence) in the film who later falls in love with one of the girls (Carol). I liked the subplot of the romance between Lawrence and Carol quite a lot. Lawrence being the older brother of Brad (Robert) and not approving his love with Polly initially, it was really interesting but also made me sympathetic for Lawrence when he was starting to realize he was falling in love with Carol.
Certain things that I realized within the film: I noticed that the there were a lot of cigarette usage in the film, both men and women. The costumes were fantastic and looked quite expensive. And considering the number of actors and the extras, it must have costed a lot of money for the studio. I also loved the suits Barney and Brad were wearing throughout the film. They looked very sharp and the suits themselves looked quite expensive as well (especially the ones worn by Barney). I also notice that this film was filmed mostly in a studio rather than outside. I can’t tell for sure if the film was entirely shot indoors, but I can’t recall the scenes that seemed like it was filmed outside. (Well it is a musical after all). I agree with some students regarding the ending feeling a little rushed. Especially the fact that Peabody and Trixie announced that they were also going to get married seemed very out of blue and unnecessary. However, the very last number I feel was a great ending to the film as it matched the film’s time and its entire theme.
I enjoyed the film very much and look forward to watching more great films in this class.
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It was a interesting movie but was kind of difficult to catch every words that charters are saying for me. In particular, when they sing, it was a challenging to hear. But , I enjoyed the musical scenes. I could see what people in the economic depression in American did to solve the economic issue in this movie , so it was interesting. On the show, they are trying to encourage people to spend money to get out from the economic depression by singing a up beat and positive song instead of singing and playing a sad and depressed show which reflects a real life at the time. Another thing that I noticed in this movie was that actress on the Broadway show were looked down by people at the time ( maybe it’s still the same, I don’t know). Girls in the movie always complain to men like ‘ do you thank I’m a gold digger and a stupid show girl ‘. Lastly, I think the ending wasn’t very good because other two men started falling in love with two other show girls very quickly even though they were against the marriage of one of their brother’s with a Polly . It was so quick and I don’t think it was necessary to be shown in the movie.
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Hi Sancha, I think you make a good point about how the people in the show were trying to encourage people to spend money and lift themselves from the economic troubles the country was experiencing at that time by singing upbeat musical numbers. Song and dance can be a strong deterrent of depression and dwelling on negative thoughts – which I am sure many people were harboring.
I also think you made a good point about the ending. You’re right that the other two men started falling in love with the other show girls and it felt a little tacked on. Do you think there may have been a better way for the filmmakers to end the movie? I would be interested to hear your thoughts.
Overall, I your post covers some great points. Especially in reference to the Great Depression and how song and dance could lift the spirits of the people both in the movie and those actually watching it at the time. I think modern-day filmmakers have a lot to learn from movies like this, because we are currently experiencing a global economic recession and most movies these days are anything but uplifting.
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Hi, TRL. Thank you for replying to my post.
And, to your question, ” What would have been a better way to end the movie”, I think focusing only on Polly’s relationship and also on their stage, that would have been enough. I’m not a creative person, so I don’t actually know what would have been the great way to end the movie hahaha But then, after I heard a class discussion, maybe showing three women get rich guys supports one of the messages of this film ” Gold Digger”.
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Gold Diggers of 1933
Personally, I do not like much musical comedy films, but at this time I am very happy to watch this musical film. I took several film classes before such as a film analysis and a film history class, and in all of the classes, I watched the scene playing violins of Gold Diggers of 1933 as a great example of camera movements, compositions, lighting and so on. Even though I watched this scene so many times, this was the first time to watch the entire film, and I really enjoyed it.
Before watching this film, I did not know that the film dealt with the Great Depression as one of the themes. The opening scene starting off with the musical play was a quite interesting, and it grabbed my attention suddenly. The money costumes were unique and show girls’ dancing was very sharp, and their performance completely synchronized. Also, the music had a great impact on the opening scene, and I felt that the opening song implied something important, such as “we are the friend of money,” and then after watching the rest of the film, I realized that this phrase is a sign of the Great Depression.
I think that the film is more focused on the romance between show girls and rich men rather than the suffering from the poor life. The film is composed in an optimistic way, such as even if Barney lost his first show, he and show girls found not only the amount of money but also a great music composer for the next show. The main three show girls had a sweet relationship with rich men and lived it up with them. Show girls wore the showy and gorgeous dresses, and men with expensive suits. I am not sure the reality though, but I felt that it was a little too optimistic. However, before watching this film, I had not known the fact that the Great Depression affected theaters and people working in a theater, so I am glad to know that throughout the story of the film.
Overall, I like the storyline and technical aspects of the film, but the character setting and relationship made me a little confused. For instance, I thought that the main character was Fay or Carol when I saw the opening scene, and I thought that Barney was going to involve the romance between show girls, but it did not. The film gradually shifted to the love story of Polly and Brad, and then Carol closed the end of the story. This film does not focus on the one character but rather more characters. Therefore, as other students said, the ending scene made us feel a little rushing, and it seemed to conclude with off-topic because the film did not much depict the economic corruption.
Another interesting thing for me is that white people having an authority considered that marrying to show girl was a kind of taboo at the time. I think, in Japan, there was a tendency that old men wanted or tended to hide the relationship with a bar girl or show girl, and I thought that that kind of situation could be seen everywhere. That situation has been changed along with the time shift, but at least around 1930th, that kind of stereotype existed.
In terms of technical aspect, I really love them, especially the show scenes. The Camera work was awesome in the violin scene. The camera moved very smoothly and stably and followed the dance perfectly. Angle was well composed, some were shot from a top (birds eye shot?) to show how show grils moved and made a formation, and that was a beautiful shot. Also, lighting was used quite effectively to show the film in more theatrical way. For instance, in the violin scene, they do not use the stage lighting, but putting lights on violins. That effects gave a mysterious and fantastical mood to the film.
Overall, I enjoyed watching Gold Digger of 1933, and I am excited to watch another old American film that I have never seen before.
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Gold diggers of 1933 was quite an interesting film. It implemented comedy, romance and drama. I like how it made use of the current times and had the Great Depression affect the characters. I have a background in theater so I was able to relate to the film in that manner. The fact that the film opened with a theatrical scene and a fun musical number immediately grabbed my attention. When the scene was abruptly caught off by the bank collectors, I was intrigued to find out why it happened and what would happen next. The next scene of the girls discussing financial hardships and finding work was directly related to the Great Depression which added an aspect that Americans of that time could relate to. A possible resolution to the conflict of finding work comes up when the girl tells the others of the new play that auditions are being held for. The excitement has risen until it is brought down by the fact that the play can’t go on until the director can come up with the money to support it. Then the excitement is brought back up when the composer says that he can provide the financial support for the play. While the plays rehearsal is going on, a newspaper ad shows that the same amount as the play has been stolen, which ads a drama aspect to the film. After, we are shown that the composer comes from a wealthy family of bankers. More drama is added when his brother decides to cut off his wealth if he stays with the showgirl. The brother goes looking for the girl and ends up mistaking her friend for her. This allows for the friends to come up with the idea deceiving the brothers for money. Even though the brothers have a bad opinion of showgirls, they end up getting them to spend a lot of money on them and fall in love with them. This aspect of the film was very unexpected but a pleasant surprise. They were able to make the brothers go against their negative views and fall for them. In the end, the play goes on, the composer gets to marry his love, and the two friends have new companions. I enjoyed the happy and unexpected ending.
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This movie took place in the 1930’s which is the generation that grew up through World War I and The Great Depression. The film was, at times, a satire of the terrible things the viewers had to live through but at other times it was trying to send a hopeful message.
Early in the film they began to make jokes to make light of some very heavy aspects such as having to steal food just to survive, that getting hired at a job doesn’t really mean you will be getting paid, and that you may not even own more than one pair of clothes. In a sense the comedy reminded me of South Park in that the comedy was a thought provoking satire of things happening at the time. There was the four female leads struggling to eat and find work, the producer struggling to find funding for his work, and the neighbor struggling to find work in music.
As the film progresses from that point, they delve into seeking and maintaining work and the struggles of their show being canceled at any moment. This is a set up into the different classes in America. The struggling poor and the wealthy. We meet the brother and lawyer of the main male character and both come off as the stereotypical pompous jerks that we expect them too be. During this act we see the supposedly lower class people, played by the girls, take advantage of these upper class gentlemen. It progresses towards a mixing of the classes with a happy ending for each of the major characters.
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I believed that it was a child doing all the stunts, so after last class, I was embarrassed as much as I was surprised. If you think of it, it is impossible for a child to do all those stunts. The overshots are techniques which can only be used in film and therefore, impossible in theater. I feel like this film really combined the best elements of a musical and film very well and in result, gained more success than other films such as sunshine. At the smithonian museum, you get to see the actual violin with neon lights wrapped around which made me want to go and see. I researched a little more about and it was surprising to know that they used about 2000 yards of lightweight china silk for the hoop skirt costumes worn in the waltz song. It is hard to believe that the time this film was created was one of the most devastating period in the economic history of America.
In the film, it was rather odd that Brad, who is an upper class man was in it together to create a musical about the depression. However, while watching the film, you do not find it strange or unappealing because it is not revealed that he is upper class in the first parts of the film. Instead, he appears as a young man falling in love with Polly which we, as an audience, connect and relate with. I liked how Lawrence was so negative about show girls and criticizing them at first, but actually ends up with Carol at the end. He seemed more real and human because he had another side of him behind his straight and cold face.
The other videos we watched at the end of the class was also very entertaining. I was mind boggled by the water acrobat? Everything was so in sync and even though it uses the same above the head strategy seen in Gold Diggers of 1933, the fact that they used water was amazing. There are so many ways of how artistic expressions can influence others and evolve through time.
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I was also shocked to know that the kid in the stroller who did the stunts was not really a child. After that information being revealed in class that whole scene suddenly turned so clear. It just made more sense. I was just dumbfounded by the whole thing. I thought how can this kid do those things. Also how can this kid be a little bit controversial when he was turning the crank to pull the curtains up. I thought he was bit too young to be acting that way honeslty. However I thought that whole idea was pretty smart! The film just has a lot of surprises into it.
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The film Gold Diggers is a huge leap from the last film that we screened Sunrise. Even though it is a totally different genre from Sunrise we could see the technical development in this film. I have always appreciated musical films and to see something that was produced from a long time ago makes me appreciate it more. We can see that the film is such a huge production, talking about the costumes, the music, the casts we could tell that LeRoy the director really put in a lot of hard work to it.
One of the things that I enjoyed watching was the choreography. I could tell that there was a lot of work that put in to achieve all of the stage performances. The songs “We’re in the Money” and Pettin’ in the Park had such good dance choreography and stage movement that went really well with the camera work that Le’Roy incorporated. I could see that the camera tricks that they did such as using crane shots to show the birds-eye view of the dance choreography are also what we see now in a lot of the musical and dance films such as Center Stage, La La Land and Burlesque. I was wondering if some of those shots were actually invented in this film and used in other movies because it’s so effective.
I also like the characters in the film. I enjoyed watching how different the girls are to each other and because of that each of their characters make them relatable. For instance how Polly is seen to be the naive and somehow innocent among the whole main characters while Trixie, the eldest of all the girls is less sensitive and smarter one. Different characterization gave huge variety in the story and made the story push forward because the girls have their own personalities, strength, and weaknesses.
Another thing that interests me is how this film tackled different important issues at the time. Well actually even until now. I thought it was pretty interesting to see how the directors incorporated diversity in this film. It was also in a subtle way. We see in the Pettin’ in the Park musical number. There were a couple of African American couples and Asian as well. I thought that says something even if they didn’t make a whole scene about it. I also appreciate the ending change in this film. I know for some people the ending was a little bit confusing and such. However, I think the director used Remember My Forgotten Man as the ending to prove a point. To tell the audience that this is the reality that we are facing at this time. But I do have to be honest it did quite feel confusing to end it that way especially when the film takes you already in a happy place where you as the audience already feel like the film is going to have a happy ending. But like I said considering the circumstances and the timeframe when they produce the film during the Great Depression, it feels like it was the appropriate ending to prove some sort of point.
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hi burgerloversince92! I also agree that Gold diggers of 1933 had very advanced and creative camera angles compared to Sunrise. The crane scenes make the sets appear very big and I’m sure they were especially the stage scenes.
I like how you described the different characteristics of the main women characters. It was very unusual for a film of its time to focus on women characters as much as this film did, and i think this fact made us recognize their individual characteristics even more.
i found it interesting that at first, the world on stage was a glorious fantasy and was interrupted by reality, when at the end of the film, the world on stage reflected reality and flipped the fairy tale ending (everyone getting married to each other) around. i feel like the director didn’t want to make the film too dark, but still wanted some real reflection of society, therefore, presented inside a musical number. Also maybe the intention of putting the forgotten man song at the ending was to explain that the country is nowhere close to a happy ending. Maybe also to remind the audience that the society and the government needs change and not just leaving the audience dreaming and fantasizing about the optimistic ending of the film.
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The way of this movie to show 1930’s Great Depression was interesting to me because the movie doesn’t really show how desperate people were. There were some scenes where characters talked about the Great Depression, where the stage producer couldn’t pay for money so couldn’t continue his stage, or where three women stole milk from their neighbor. But, because all characters were very cheerful most of the time and their clothes were not dirty or shitty at all, by just watching the movie, I couldn’t get an impression that their lives were very tough. But, there are always many ways to tell messages to an audience, so the idea of the film director to describe the life of people in the Great Depression was interesting and creative. I think the director of the movie didn’t want to show only a sad and desperate story to an audience who were suffered from the Great Depression at the time, so the director chose to describe the great depression in a more positive way.
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Gold Diggers – 1933
Music Comedy
After finishing the movie Gold Diggers, I find a lot of interesting things in the story. In the movie, we only find white man in the movie. I think it illustrates white represents upper level of citizen in that century. That means there were an obvious classism. In this music comedy shows some of social effect. It includes classism, racism and another social issue. It helps us to find out the history about old America. Let’s talk about men’s wear in the story, most of man in the movie wear fancy suite. Hair is designed nicely and matching their social status. It displays those characters are being middle to upper class. In the middle of story, we can find man and woman is singing together, the song shows the man want to be with the girl. However, at that time, man is being subjective character to get closing with a girl. Girl are shy and objective. Lyrics, “Bad boy, Bad girl” represents they are fall into a relationship? I am not clear to understand what the lyrics actual meaning. In the snow scene, it seems they are all play with ball, it feels like modern aerial video recording. I think it is Good angle to catch the scene. It is surprising me because in 1933, they can create the feeling like modern movie. Raining stage, woman wear steel cloths. I think it represents woman get a strong surface, but the heart is weak. And, Man’s hair displays what good and hot for old America as we can see they are almost get the same hair style.
Gold Diggers is a topic about money, it also means the girl who loves money. However, money is the significant point of the story. Money is still a social standard. And, it keeps the “Gold Diggers” term for now. Is it a common social effect for 1933? In the film, it sounds likes woman have a price. I think this is a bad culture. But, it shows the director is free to create a movie as the director is able to write a story in this way. The movie shows the society in 1930’s is open because they accept smoking woman. Let’s talk about the money in the history, 75 dollars for woman hat? I think it represents Upper class men got gold digger. As a result, I believe classism is applying in 1930’s. In the really last scene, we can see a lighter with clock. I think it displays the social status of this man as long as it is not normal in our modern history. In the Dancing ball, Man opens a topic to talk with girl, it shows man feel himself confidences. S, where is the confidence comes from? I think that’s from his background, money and asset. The one playing Violins, the scene is creative skill, it attract my eyes to focus on it.
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Reading other comments about the depiction of the Great Depression in the movie, I realized that most of them were almost contrasting my point of view. Many people wrote that the Great Depression is not as visible in movie as they expected, and that it is just mentioned a couple of times during the film. In particular, the remark on the apartment of the girls, “no money, but still huge apartment?” made me think. I believe that the girls in the movie are not necessarily better off than the rest of the characters/real people. The girls show cleverness and initiative throughout the whole movie, both on the business side and on the romance side. Their abilities to convince people and to present themselves as the best actresses, singers, and dancers definitely helped them to keep the living standards up during the Depression. Moreover, in the beginning of the movie, they seem to have specific connections with directors and other actresses that probably other people had not. As a mentioned in my previous comment, the Kentucky band definitely did not know the right people, and that is why they were struggling more than the girls to find a job. In addition, I still think that the movie has a subtle way to present the Great Depression, as the tone of the movie is a cheerful one, and a focus on the Depression would be anything but cheerful. However, the movie does hint clearly to that period of time.
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The movie is an excellent representation associated with a lot of things which were taking place in the motion picture sector during that period. First of all, the film addressed the Great Depression throughout the Great Depression. Despite the fact that those periods were challenging, viewers were nonetheless amassing to cinemas for a bit of cheap fantasy. Gold Diggers of 1933 were able to deal with the Depression specifically whereas nevertheless presenting the enjoyment as well as wishful thinker attributes viewers craved. As soon as the persona Barney Hopkins stated that the play he was producing would be a comedic show concerning the Depression, it was similar to a mission statement regarding the film since that was what it became – humorous but having a hardened edge. The aspect of the Great Depression isn’t just a principal figure, but it acts as the movie’s villain. The ghost of melancholy, as well as economic impoverishment, dominates the story, putting every individual on an equal ground. Dodd, Molly and Patricia point out that there is an open sexualization regarding the showgirls throughout the other films that don’t take place in the Gold Diggers of 1933. The movie starts from the perspective of the female prospects, and one can notice their exhilaration as they find out Barney is burlesquing a show. Afterwards, Barney arrives at their condominium to describe his strategy. Therefore, there is no scene for an audition. As a result, the film is remarkably lacking the scene of “Show us your legs” that is very typical in musical films of that period. Barney recognizes these young ladies and desires to work with them. As he creates the show around their abilities, it gets to be apparent. The become a team; operating together to triumph over the challenges associated with the Great Depression. The film additionally does a phenomenal work in analyzing the duties of both men and women during this time as well. Women were used as sexual objects in this movie as clearly depicted in the opening musical number. A scene that sure popped out for me was during the “Pettin in the Park” whereby the females would dress in metallic attires, and this made it difficult for their partners to touch them provocatively. This stands out in the sense that it outlines the whole idea of fighting for gender equity. These women were coming out to prove their strength and boldness to seek respect from the men in the society. This part of the film enlightens the women to know that they were made for more than just nursing men’s egos and meeting their sexual needs. The effective “Forgotten Man” musical routine which concludes the movie is evidently the movie’s most primary attempt to take care of regular interpersonal problems, and possibly due to this, it conflicts with most of the previous blithe story. Following the organized quality pertaining to the main storyline, this selection cancels out its deficiency of incorporation through evoking formidable compassion for homeless WWI veterans that at this point deal with a more intangible adversary presented as the melancholy. It hearkens back to a period when the now ‘forgotten’ individuals were considered to be heroes as well as when they comprehended the way to live their lives and, subsequently, the way to adore their ladies. The impression reflected by Joan Blondell within this film is that of a robust, caring lady that is taking a stand for the abject male as the same given that, “Forgetting him, you see, means you are forgetting me…” This depiction noticeably varies from the starting musical routine in which the chorus outfits of the girls mirror significantly the branding of the title regarding these girls as simply ‘gold diggers,’ prepared to exchange their emotional and physical features for extra cash. Needless to say, only a few of the musical routines appear to be pervaded with a great deal of interpersonal discourse; the “Shadow Waltz” for example is exciting for simply visual factors. An unforgettable shot displays several chorus ladies playing radiant violins as the video camera cranes all the way up, unveiling their musical instruments to contour the form of a much bigger violin. However, even in scenes like this one, specific concepts may be derived such as the person joining with the multitude to create a larger whole. Even when concentrating on the individual associations between its personas, Gold Diggers of 1933 can present a clear governmental feeling. Nevertheless, the movie was probably meant to captivate viewers all through the Great Depression as well as get them to put aside the difficulties associated with the exterior world, just for a short period of time. Within this objective, Gold Diggers of 1933 excel outstandingly, and its persisted elegance indicates this accomplishment to be autonomous of the present-day economic or political state.
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Gold Diggers Analysis
The film overall was well done and set a good standard for color and vividness. Including show plays was a very good way to add a controlled environment for production design while having some of the location rough without taking people out of the movie. Newer technology for audio allowed for better sound to accompany the movie. There was a noticeable set design for the apartments, bedrooms, and offices without using practical locations. This is something that bothers me from the older movies. The standard was to shoot in studios and in a way it still is, but the quality of the sets were very different and did not generate the realness I would like to see. On the other hand, the use of practical lights i.e. using lamps with and such for more of the lighting instead of the studio lights added more realistic shadows.
From the start, the movie runs quickly to set the premise up of the depression and shows efficiency in progressing the story. This allowed me to have an understanding of the characters for a baseline and enjoy the character development. With that in mind, I wish that more of the characters were actually developed. A lot of them stayed flat and stereotyped i.e. the show producer and some of the women seemed to be there only to progress the main actors instead of adding a sub plot with them that enhances the overall plot.
I had mentioned the sound before and that still stands for the music, but not the dialogue. The dialogue in and of itself was not bad and the recording of it was high quality. My issue lies in the voices of the actors. During this time the entertainment industry was in flux for audio and mainly still influenced from radio. Radio was still dominant for voices and audio, but due to the nature of radio, people had to talk differently in order for the audience to understand if at a distance from the tower. I can understand the want to have it sound similar to what people were used to, but they also could have just used normal voices that don’t sound so pretentious.
The sets and lights for the shows were amazing. Using actual theater sets that would be in shows added to the realism. The complexity could be increased because it wasn’t live and they could push the envelop. By adding camera moves the feeling and scope of the show was also increased. I am also glad that they waited till the end to show their personal anti-war message. Everyone can agree that war is bad, but a movie not about war would suffer by having that piece earlier. It is a happy go lucky feel for most of it. The first ending i.e. when everyone was getting married was very rushed and could have been started sooner to smooth it out. It seemed like they ran out of shooting days and just had to get it done to end it and even today, happy endings sell more and in extremes a sad or bad ending for the characters can be detrimental to a movies success.
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Gold diggers of 1933 was one of the earliest musical film I have seen. I still remember the pretty costumes and props on stage and the thought provoking lyrics to the songs. One actor told that musicals are tough because he had to work from 6am to midnight and all day on Saturday. This sounds really really hard physically and mentally. However, it is clearly shown how much dedication and effort was out into the dancing number scenes since they were all so perfectly synchronized and entertaining. I feel like performing a musical on stage is hard in itself, but making that into a movie makes extra work. They need to shoot from different angles, sometimes close ups sometimes from far away to not bore the audience of the film. If you just shot it from one angle it will just not be as interesting since they are not watching it live. I could imagine the cameramen and cranes moving everywhere, while needing to do so many takes on one song. The gorgeous looking outfits and sets were unusual as a film since producers were so tight on budget. This shows how big Berkeley’s films were at that time and the producers trusted him and his work.
I just found out that the hats Trixie orders for herself and Carol cost $75 in the film, but actually $1507 in today’s value. That did not look like a $1500 hat haha It is interesting how you can compare the prices from back then and now. The dollar values are quite different and it might give you a whole new perspective about the film. I thought $75 was not so bad although I knew it would cost more today, but now looking at the actual price, I am surprised how Trixie can just buy that off of someone else’s money. (even though he was rich ..)
I really enjoyed the humor in this film. It was carried on so naturally and it really changed the impression of the film which might have been a little upsetting or shocking. The sets outside of the stage were very big and pretty. The apartment Carol, Polly, and Trixie were living in had a very tall ceiling which made the space appear bigger and more spacious than it actually is. The furniture was very antique looking (it may have been normal back then haha) which made the apartment look more attractive. The costume of Carol, Polly, and Trixie were very classic and nice as well. I liked how each and every one had their own styles that slightly matched their own personalities.
The cinematography of when shooting the musical scenes were very creative. I really liked how the girls lined up on the curved stairs. It showed the great amount of space and the emphasized the big scale of the production. The overhead shot was also pretty amazing and stunning to watch. It turns out that the crane used for this shoot was specially made for Gold Diggers of 1933. It went up and down as well as glide back and forth. It was sixty feet off the ground which must be very scary to go on. What is even more surprising is that the director had holes in the roof of the studio to bring the camera even more higher and get a greater shot. They must have really wanted that overhead shot, but I think it was worth the effort because it looked amazing and had a string impact on the viewer.
The gold diggers of 1933 was one of the last films in the pre-code era, but there were a lot of other genres of film which were made. Gangster films provoked a large degree of moral panoc in Depression and prohibition era America. More than 75 gangster films were made before the Production code was enforced in 1934. Some examples are Little Caesar, The public enemy, and Scarface. Horror films were another genre that flourished in the pre code era. Frankenstein, The most dangerous game, The black cat, Doctor X, and King Kong. These films often fed off the social turmoil and psychological traumas people had in that age. There was a thing called “dictator craze” in pre code cinema. This was because president Hoover was not powerful enough to weaken the ravages of the depression that people were starting to desire an authoritarian leader to take charge for a change. Skyscraper Souls, Employees’ entrance, Gabriel over the white house, Duck soup, and Diplomaniacs are a few to name in this category. The films which had been set in prisons or big houses in the north with men and women being trapped and tortured were thought as solidarity and often connected with the uncertainties of the great depression. Ladies they talk about, Paid, I am a fugitive from a chain gang, and hell’s highway are a few examples.
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Now here is a genre which I have to say is probably my least favorite of all movie genres, I’m not a big fan of the musical. Unless it’s say some sort of comedy, parody type of film be it Men in Tights or even the movie or episodes of South Park mind you. This film wasn’t completely uninteresting for me however, being one of the earliest musicals it was interesting to see the choreography and cinematography that went into this movie which was rather good, I think we’ve probably seen bigger spectacles in choreography by today’s standards but for the time this movie was made it was impressive. I wasn’t a huge fan of the actual music in the film. The film was pretty funny though so I enjoyed it. And it dived into quite a few issues, particularly women issues. That being said while the woman are more stereotypical in their parts, I feel they were strong characters regardless, and making a fool out of the male protagonists of the film. While it has that twist on it, this is still a very traditional type of love story at it’s core I feel with the rich family threatening to cut off the money to the younger brother of the family who wants to marry a “showgirl” who’s profession is looked down upon, but in general her social status is looked down upon compared to that of the rich and powerful. So when the older brother shows up one day to try and get his younger brothers show girl lover Polly to back off by paying her, he mistakes Polly for another show girl living in the apartment and the girls decide to teach him a lesson by milking his wallet hence the title, but fall in love themselves in the process of it all. It’s a very traditional love story but the comedic twists made it entertaining enough, I thought it was quite enjoyable. One element that was brought up was how the film decided to end on a more somber note of “the forgotten man” coming back from the war only to find his home has changed and there’s no longer any place for him. I believe it was mentioned this wasn’t going to be the original ending to the film and this was actually going to be somewhere in the middle of the film. It’s certainly an interesting choice to go out on that note, but like many other’s in class I do feel like it was a bit out of place but there’s definitely some meaning and uniqueness to it being the way the film ends.
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