Watch Gold Diggers of 1933 For Free

Thanks for the memories!

Fresh and Exciting

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

I like when real life events going on at the time are mentioned in films such as my title line being said by beautiful Ginger Rogers right after they shut down the theater due to delinquent bills by the director Ned Sparks. Next scene, three girls Ruby Keeler, Joan Blondell, and Aline McMahon are at their apartment wondering what they're gonna do for work. Ned then comes over with plans for a new show but is lacking the funds. Ruby, who can hear Dick Powell playing piano from their apartment, invites him over to join in the show as pianist. Powell also is able to get the money for them. Powell refuses though to take an acting part in the show when offered and won't tell them where he got the dough for them, leading the others to believe he was a bank robber, after reading a news headline about a robber who stole close to the same amount of money Powell gave them. Also the description of the robber is male, brown hair, and about 5'9', as is Powell. And it also helps explain his refusal for any acting parts in the show and him not wanting to be seen. Powell is a very good singer when singing one of the main show songs with beautiful Ruby "Pettin in the park". I loved it. I also loved the first song Powell played for everyone at Ruby's apartment along with another great song about the men in the breadline and it strikes a nerve about the depression. Also great is "We're in the money" led by Ginger Rogers. We get an interesting subplot with Aline and Warren William and Joan and Guy Kibee. Also little Billy Barty is back from the bedroom misunderstanding in "Honeymoon hotel" in "Footlight parade". I like the way he points up while on roller skates while being chased by police on roller skates. The way he pointed up, and the way he skated, I could tell he couldn't have been a real baby. And then the way the police on skates skate by looking up with their legs spread apart skating right over Billy was slightly ridiculous. The very first second I saw the police there before showing the skates on their feet I (and I'm sure others) thought it was the real police who found accused bank robber Powell. I like the way they showed it that way to give us a second of mind trick.

Gold Diggers of 1933 is a splendidly done film all-round, not just as a film musical but as a film overall too. Of the Busby Berkeley-choreographed films Gold Diggers of 1933 is one of the best, on par with the brilliant 42nd Street. It is beautifully produced, well shot throughout and with glitzy and true to period production values. You have to love the sexy gold-coin costumes in We're in the Money. The songs add a lot also to the film's success, Petting in the Park is a very sweet and endearing song, My Forgotten Man(one of the most powerful songs and musical routines on film) is downbeat but incredibly moving and We're the Money is wonderfully optimistic(fitting as it is in a way an anthem to it). The choreography continues to dazzle, the kaleidoscopic style of it also ground-breaking. Powerful too as in how it really reflected the times, that is one of the main reasons why My Forgotten Man has the impact that it has. Standing out in this respect are We're in the Money and the Shadow Waltz, the latter being one of the most visually striking scenes in Gold Diggers of 1933. There is some cracking dialogue, full of snappy wit, and the story while typically Broadway-ish is warm-hearted, never dull and remarkably relevant to the times. The characters are appealing, and the performances also. Ruby Keeler never was the great singer or dancer, much has been said about her stompy foot-work and her inability to sing in tune or even in the right key, but her natural charm and innocence are enough to win one over. Dick Powell is handsome in looks and voice, and characterises in a charming and good-natured way, a good partner for Keeler and they are very convincing together. Joan Blondell is very sassy in her general acting here, and still manages to be affecting in her final number, and Etta Moten is similarly likable. Gold Diggers of 1933 is also directed with total command and assured style by Mervyn Leroy who shows himself to be an ideal choice for directing the film. In conclusion, a splendid film and one of the best film musicals of the 30s. 10/10 Bethany Cox

One of the lead girls doing the gold digging says she is not "cheap and vulgar" after accepting a check for $10,000 but not cashing it. The man who wrote the check is holding her in his arms and says he'll kiss her every time she says "cheap and vulgar", so she says it over and over and he kisses her each time. That expression is so dated, I thought it was pretty funny. Is English especially rich in expressions for "bad" girls? What is a bad girl? One who enjoys sex? If a woman accepts gifts from a man then dumps him, I think, in modern times, the man is considered to be a fool, the woman is not bad. Anyway, I though the use of this phrase was great, a glimpse into morals and attitudes of the past. Right now, I'm going to go out and look for some "cheap and vulgar" women. They sound like fun! Oh, the rest of the movie? It was great too. I agreed with everybody else who liked it.

In Hollywood's most successful collaborative era, sometimes the best things happened by accident. Gold Diggers of 1933 was set to be a routine backstage romantic comedy, but after the runaway success of 42nd street with its spectacular dance numbers choreographed by Busby Berkely, studio heads decided to make a few changes and shoehorn in some Berkely routines. What should have been a mess, turned out to be a masterpiece. You see, it happened by accident, but not without overwhelming creative genius from all corners.First of all let's disregard Berkely for a moment and consider the bones of the picture. This was a golden age for Warner Brothers, and even their potboilers tended to be meaty offerings. The broad plot may be a simple comedy of errors, but the minutiae and the dialogue are unashamedly frank about the depression, then at its very worst point. The fact that the comic escapades are backed by very real and harsh truths gives an unexpected layer of poignancy to the proceedings. Yes, the man-baiting escapades of three money-hungry chorus girls makes for riotous entertainment, but we are never allowed to forget how they became money-hungry.The director is Mervyn LeRoy, who despite his youth was one of the most competent and professional filmmakers on the Warners payroll. He directs Gold Diggers with pace and punch, never allowing the action to slow down and become dull, but still keeping everything in clarity. A neat little trick of his is using depth to keep certain characters on display. For example, in the scene where Don Gordon (the perpetual juvenile lead) is doubled up with lumbago, Gordon and Ned Sparks are in the foreground, but Dick Powell is prominently placed in the background. Gordon is the most important character at that precise moment, so it is logical to have him up front, but Powell is more important in the long run as he will soon replace Gordon, so it is necessary for us to remember him at that time.The cast is one to die for, or at the very least, go to prison for. Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler are ostensibly the leads, but the show really belongs to Joan Blondell and Aline MacMahon. Powell was a great singer, and Keeler a wonderful dancer, but neither of them could act well. And thankfully, while they are prominent in the song and dance numbers, they are really supporting players in the drama. Blondell was prolific in both musicals and melodramas of this time, but tended to play "best friend" type roles rather than leading ladies. Gold Diggers is her chance to shine, and show what a terrific actress she is. She plays things at a fairly muted level, but there is a lot of emotion going on under the surface. When she appears in the Forgotten Man number she not only becomes a singer, she carries on being an actress. MacMahon at first looks a little out of place amongst all the sweet and delicate chorines, but as soon as she gets to work her magic on Guy Kibbee she dominates the screen and you know exactly why she was cast. A young Ginger Rogers is here too, still getting villainous roles thanks to her mean-looking face, but nevertheless proving herself to be a superb performer. Ned Sparks gives perhaps his deepest and most heartfelt performance, without ever once breaking out of his trademark character. Amid all these sparkling jewels, there are some memorable bit parts by the likes Ferdinand Gottschalk and Sterling Holloway, yet more pearls in the Gold Diggers crown.And at last we come to the music. Of course, the melodies of Harry Warren are simply divine, the lyrics of Al Dubin cheeky and incisive as ever, and the choreography of Busby Berkely absolutely breathtaking, but it's how the whole thing is fitted together that puts Gold Diggers so far ahead of its peers. Most of the Berkely musicals "stacked" the numbers - that is, put them all together at the end as a grand finale. That worked fine for 42nd Street and Footlight Parade, but for Gold Diggers of 1933 the structure is geared to awesome effect. We open with "We're in the Money", a lively slice of irony casually wishing the depression away. "Pettin' in the Park" gives us a little comical boost in the middle of the picture. "Shadow Waltz" is pure Berkely indulgence, lovely to look at but with nothing that will unbalance the end of the picture emotionally. And finally, "Remember My Forgotten Man" drops us right into the realities of the depression. It is a bitter counterpoint to "We're in the Money" and its impact is utterly devastating.Gold Diggers of 1933 is not only the finest of the Busby Berkely musicals, not only the pinnacle of Warner Brothers' pre-code licentiousness, it is the very heart of depression-era America. "Can't you hear that wailing?" Ned Sparks asks us, as Dick Powell hammers out a rough version of "Forgotten Man". You'll hear it alright.