Hubbry Logo
search
logo
1746690

Gold Diggers of Broadway

logo
Community Hub0 Subscribers
Write something...
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
See all
Gold Diggers of Broadway

Gold Diggers of Broadway is a 1929 American sound (All-Talking) pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Winnie Lightner and Nick Lucas. Distributed by Warner Bros., the film is the second all-talking, all-Technicolor feature-length film (after On with the Show!, also released that year by Warner Bros).

Gold Diggers of Broadway became a box office sensation, making Winnie Lightner a worldwide star and boosting guitarist crooner Nick Lucas to further fame as he sang two songs that became 20th-century standards: "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" and "Painting the Clouds with Sunshine".

Based on the 1919 play The Gold Diggers—which was also turned into a silent film of the same name in 1923—Gold Diggers of Broadway used showgirls, Technicolor, and sound as its main selling points.

It was chosen as one of the ten best films of 1929 by Film Daily. As with many early Technicolor films, no complete print survives, although the last twenty minutes do, but missing are a bridging sequence and the last minute of the film. Contemporary reviews, the soundtrack and the surviving footage suggest that the film was a fast-moving comedy which was enhanced by Technicolor and a set of lively and popular songs. It encapsulates the spirit of the flapper era, giving a glimpse of a world about to be changed by the Great Depression.

Because Gold Diggers of Broadway has been considered a partially lost film since the 1970s, the loose remake, Gold Diggers of 1933, is the most frequently seen version of the story.

The film opens on an audience watching a lavish 1929 Broadway show, featuring a giant gold mine production number ("Song of the Gold Diggers"), which is not to be confused with "The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money)". Famous guitarist Nick Lucas sings "Painting the Clouds with Sunshine", in back of a large paint pallet backdrop, which climaxes on stage with a huge art deco revolving sun.

Backstage, the star of the show Ann Collins(Ann Pennington (actress)) fights over Nick with another girl. The main character, Jerry Lamar(Nancy Welford) goes to see her boyfriend, Barney Barnett(Armand Kaliz) about an after party. Meanwhile, we are also introduced to the gang of chorus girls, Eleanor(Lilyan Tashman), Mabel Munroe(Winnie Lightner), Topsy St. Clair(Gertrude Short), and Violet Dayne(Helen Foster). All are 'man hungry', except Violet. Most are looking for love and money, but are not sure which is more important. Violet is engaged to Wally Saunders(William Bakewell). Jerry comes over and lets them all know that they are going to Barney’s party.

The next day, Mabel wakes up, hung over on the couch of Jerry’s apartment, in a balloon and a party hat. Violet wakes up Mabel and pops the balloon. She gets up and washes her face In Jerry’s ensuite bathroom. Eleanor and Topsy arrive and sit down in Jerry’s bedroom. Violet and Jerry Arrive and start conversing about marriage. They are then visited by a faded star named Cissy Grey(Julia Swayne Gordon) who is reduced to selling cosmetic soap. Jerry signs them up for a lot of it, signing Mabel up for a gross, saying that, “she’s got a lot to wash”. It is all forgotten when Jerry gets flowers from Barney. They gossip about how they all want a man with plenty of money, but do not care about love so they do not end up like Cissy Grey. Mabel sings, "And Still They Fall in Love", which is about how love is a sham and that you shouldn’t get married.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.