🎥 Movies of 2021, 54: Gold Diggers of 1933. A thoroughly enjoyable pre-code musical. These don’t always work for me, as I grew up on the later MGM/Gene Kelly musicals which are a very different style. But the cast and story in this one are fun and the neon violin dance is cool.
You do have to appreciate the swerving tones of 1930s films. At a high level, the plot of this is:
- Let’s make a musical about how much the depression sucks
- Musical number about sex
- Plot about sex
- More sex, with subtext of class warfare
- Musical number about sex
- Everyone is happy
- WE REALLY FUCKED OVER THE VETS OF WWI, Y’ALL!
