A new musical play gets financed by the hired songwriter, mysteriously. He doesn't agree to sing onstage, though, mysteriously. He is the leading lady's sweetheart.
The author of the play on which this is based was known as "Playboy Playwright", just to give an idea. The enigma of a final number about World War I is explained (probably) by the fact that the source play was written when the war was on (or just over, I do no know for sure). Berkeley's choreographies are dazzling as usual. Like much of pre-code stuff this occasionally operates on a pornographic level in which boldness walks hand in hand with puritanism (e.g. the musical number in which a promise of nudity is not fulfilled). The structure accomodates the musical parts in the extremities of the movie, framing the farce, which develops without interruptions. The plot is based on a misunderstanding, and the main thesis is that the rich are prudes and hypocrites (a recurring theme in thirties' cinema, it appears). The musical within the film is described by its producer as a depression story; it could have been Hallelujah I'm a Bum. Despite its frivolity, Gold Diggers of 1933 is quite watchable and well-done.
It's number 7 in Dale Thomajan's top ten list for 1933.
Rating: 54
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