Line #21 Film/GoldDiggersOf1933


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2	[[caption-width-right:300:"[[PigLatin E're-way in-hay the oney-may!]]"]]
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4	''Gold Diggers of 1933'' is a 1933 [[UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra pre-Code]] Warner Bros. musical film directed by Creator/MervynLeRoy with songs by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, staged and choreographed by Creator/BusbyBerkeley. It starred Creator/JoanBlondell, Ruby Keeler, Creator/DickPowell, Creator/GingerRogers, and Billy Barty in his first role (as a horny man-baby.)
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6	The "gold diggers" are four aspiring actresses: Polly, Carol, Trixie, and Fay. The movie follows the efforts of the actresses to survive in the [[TheGreatDepression Depression]]-era city. Their misadventures make up the bulk of the film, and the rest of the film is filled with musical numbers lavishly choreographed by Creator/BusbyBerkeley.
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8	The movie is nominally a sequel to a film (now lost) called ''The Gold Diggers of Broadway'', which was based off of a Broadway play from 1919 called ''The Gold Diggers''. (''Gold Diggers of 1933'' is actually more like a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Film/FortySecondStreet''.) Three movie sequels (''Film/GoldDiggersOf1935'', ''Film/GoldDiggersOf1937'', and ''Gold Diggers in Paris'') were also produced, featuring some of the same actors playing different characters.
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11	!!Tropes associated with this work:
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13	* ActionPrologue: The musical equivalent thereof, anyway, as the film opens with a tight closeup of Ginger Rogers, who bursts into song with "We're in the Money", kicking off a BusbyBerkeleyNumber.
14	* AsYouKnow: "As trustee of your estate, and your older brother...."
15	* {{Bowdlerization}}: The studio created alternate versions of the film that could be distributed in more conservative parts of the country. These alternate versions toned down the scantiness of the dancers' clothing, and one version even had an alternate ending.
16	* BusbyBerkeleyNumber: Four, in fact, from [[TropeNamer the man himself]]. As usual, they're far more elaborate than anything you might see in a real stage show.
17	* CovertPervert: "Petting in the Park" features a horny baby (!) played by a very young Creator/BillyBarty, who was 9 at the time.
18	* CreatorCameo: The voice shouting "Everybody onstage for the Forgotten Man number!" belongs to none other than Creator/BusbyBerkeley himself.
19	* DutchAngle: When Lawrence is waking up and coming to the realization that he's in Carol's bed in his underwear, Dutch Angle shots are used as he sees pieces of his clothing hanging around the room.
20	* ExtremeCloseUp: During the film's opening musical number, when Fay sings "We're in the Money" in Pig Latin, the camera slowly zooms in on her, to the point that her face takes up the entire frame.
21	* FanserviceExtra:
22	** As the cops crack down on the show in the beginning, one of the "We're In The Money" girls has the big "coin" on her front snatched away--resulting in a clearly pre-Code shot of her belly button!
23	** More scantily-clad chorus girls than you can shake a stick at.
24	* FilmNoir: The first half of "My Forgotten Man" is ''filled'' with foreshadowing of Noir (a full seven years before it "truly" emerged)--with various elements of the style put on full display.
25	* GoldDigger: Polly and Carol are incensed at the notion that they are gold diggers. Trixie, however, unapologetically is one, and by the end of the movie she's landed Peabody. They both seem happy about it.
26	* GoldMakesEverythingShiny: The "We're In The Money" number has the girls wearing outfits made of various sized gold coins.
27	* HangoverSensitivity: At different times, both Peabody and Lawrence wake up suffering after nights out partying with the girls.
28	* IndecipherableLyrics: The opening number, in which Ginger Rogers goes to town with some catchy Pig Latin in one verse. "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJOjTNuuEVw E're-way in-hay the oney-may!]]" Makes perfect [[{{Pun}} cents]].
29	* InLoveWithTheMark: After Lawrence mistakes Carol for Polly and sets out to lure her away from Brad, Carol decides to pretend to be Polly. The idea is to get him to fall in love with her in order to screw with him, and force him to let Brad and Polly get married. Naturally, Carol falls in love with Lawrence for real.
30	* LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand: "We're in the Money" is prematurely ended by creditors shutting down the show and reclaiming the props.
31	* LingerieScene: In one scene Joan Blondell wears a nightie that must have been glued to her body.
32	* MayDecemberRomance: Between Faneuil ("Fanny") Peabody and Trixie Lorraine.
33	* MoodWhiplash:
34	** The scene where the lovers happily end up together is immediately followed by the "My Forgotten Man" number, which is a dark, gritty song about World War I veterans and Depression-era poverty.
35	** The opening number. "We're in the Money", the most famous song from the film and one of THE most famous songs from TheThirties, is actually interrupted and never finished when creditors come by to seize the costumes and sets. (Not so "in the money" now, are we?)
36	* MoneySong: "We're in the Money", made more poignant given the setting in the depths of TheGreatDepression.
37	* TheMusicalMusical: Let's put on a show!
38	* OffscreenTeleportation: Ginger Rogers is the first in a line of chorines that pans on each one's face -- and she is the last one, too.
39	* PigLatin: Ginger Rogers was goofing off during rehearsals of "We're in the Money" and began singing the hook in Pig Latin (the rest is gibberish). Studio executive Daryl F. Zanuck caught her at it, [[ThrowItIn and suggested she do it for real in the film.]] And the rest, as they say, is istoryhay. [[invoked]]
40	* PopCultureOsmosis: Thanks in part to WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes, "We're In the Money" has become a StandardSnippet for "we're rich!" It's ironic since the song itself is wishful thinking by Depression-era characters.
41	* PrettyInMink: One of the girls has a white ermine jacket.
42	* SecretlyWealthy: Brad, the girls' next-door neighbor who likes to compose show tunes on his piano, is actually from a family of Boston bluebloods. He's been living the showbiz life incognito so as not to attract attention from his family.
43	* SexySilhouette: Used towards the end of the "Pettin' in the Park" number, when the female performers change their clothes (in silhouette) after getting drenched in a downpour.
44	* StealthPun: Ginger Rogers sings "We're In the Money" while she and her fellow performers are wearing clothing that looks like money.
45	* SuspectIsHatless: The police look for a robber who is 5'9" with dark hair.
46	* TronLines: An early version with the electrical violins during the "Shadow Waltz" sequence.
47	* WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief: We're meant to believe that these huge, elaborate sets are all a part of a single Broadway stage show, as are the elaborate Busby Berkeley dance routines (some of which would only make sense if viewed from directly above). But once you get past all that, RuleOfCool applies.

Context Film / GoldDiggersOf1933