Monday, January 4, 2010

Golddiggers of 1935



C’mon along and listen to / the Lullaby of Broadway…

So begins the most memorable sequence of the film, the first appearance of this now-classic song accompanied by a strange, melancholy little story. It’s artistic and jarring and, unfortunately, the high point of the picture – they knew well to place this just at the end. The rest of the movie is tepid, the cast amiably marking time until said musical number. Dick Powell is his usual gosh-golly affable self, and while Gloria Stuart is no Joan Blondell, she does well opposite him. Not a horrid picture, but devoid of any real magic.

I give this one:

2 comments:

D said...

What was lacking?

Avalon76 said...

Besides Toby Wing? *laughs*

The other major musical numbers seemed sub-par to me; Dick Powell singing about going shopping, and an overlong piece with dancing pianos. The dialog (at least for me) wasn't as fast-paced and sparkling; the humor rather weak, and Glenda Farrell was wasted.