(97 mins.) Released 1933-05-27
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Stars: Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler
Busby Berkeley ... numbers created and directed by
originally posted 10 Oct 2017 23:44
This one goes too long between dancing. In 42nd Street, I guess it was satisfying to see the rehearsals even when they were (deliberately) bad. Here the backstage plot is not so engaging and here are the numbers:
1:00 (right after opening credits) We're in the Money, with Ginger Rogers singing in pig latin. Everyone dressed in coins. "Interrupted" after 3 minutes.
10:00 Shadow Waltz, piano & Powell demo only. I like his tenor crooner voice; too bad he resented his stereotype.
16:00 I've Got to Sing a Torch Song, piano & Powell demo only. (I don't find this song very torchy.) Also music only: Remember My Forgotten Man.
26:43 Pettin' in the Park non-dress rehearsal with elder juvenile, then Powell demos the correct pace. A little chorus tapping.
34:00 Pettin' in the Park on opening night. Ruby & Dick, and Ruby needed a better arranger to help her singing. Great diversity of couples in the park. Nice rhythmic walking. The chorus girls get caught in the rain, so they undress in silhouette. Billy Barty, actually 9 y.o., adds smutty innocence as a "baby" (it seems cute, but?) Includes overhead geometric work. About 8 minutes.
1:21:30 Shadow Waltz. This is spectacular: spiral hoop skirts, neon-lit violins, high and curved staircase to stage the girls. Black reflecting floors with white dresses and wigs. (Look up the trivia about filming during the LB earthquake.) This is so surreal that you wonder what psychedelics BB imbibed. About 7 minutes.
1:30:30 Remember My Forgotten Man. My face is all wet after this 6 minute mini-film; it's a 10, and would stand on it's own without the rest of the film. (Can be found on YouTube.) All we get after this is The End. Joan Blondell acts up a storm speaking the lyrics. We get a terrific blues chanteuse (Etta Moten) singing the lyrics. A great chronology of men going off to war (WWI), the injured coming back, the hardships of being home. (I've not yet figured out why 1918 steps right into 1933.) And then BB does the gigantic rhythmic movement of soldiers marching in 3 stacked archways, plus veterans separated from civilians, and Joan singing (dubbed by Moten perhaps, assuming a different persona.) This scene is what elevates my rating to an 8.
Warner Bros, dir. LeRoy [+BB], 8
