Gold Diggers in Paris

Why do I think that this project -- scripted by a small legion of writers and storysmiths -- wasn't originally conceived as a Gold Diggers project. But the glittering title had been dormant for a while and maybe it could con a few more moviegoers into plunking down their silver. At least it had Busby Berkeley's choreography. Despite the fact that Rudy Vallee is no Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane is no Joan Blondell and the story has enough holes to drive a double-decker tour bus through, it's surprisingly entertaining. And Berkeley's high-stepping Parisian finale, while not as heady as "My Forgotten Man" or "Lullaby of Broadway" is a synchronized marvel. There's also a surprising pleasure -- the Schnickelfritz Band, a wonderfully lunatic musical aggregation who combine dixieland jazz and slapstick. It's almost worth watching just for these musical maulers who preceded and may well have inspired Spike Jones.

The least known of the Gold Diggers movies and perhaps understandably so since it's not really a Gold Diggers movie at all but while it may be no classic, (the mostly terrible gags let it down), it does have a song score by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, (and a good one), and Busby Berkeley is credited with the spectacular finale. The 'main' director is Ray Eright, a jack of all trades and a master of none and his work here is workmanlike at best. The male lead is the underrated Rudy Vallee who was a much better crooner than he was given credit for and the cast also includes Hugh Herbert, Allen Jenkins and Melville Cooper. The female lead is Rosemary Lane, sister of Priscilla and one of the Lane Sisters. Also known as "The Gay Imposters", a title not much used these days.

Crooner rudy vallee, along with rosemary lane. Funny guys hugh herbert, ed brophy, and allan jenkins along for comedy. A later chapter in the gold digger films, which had begun back in the 1920s. With dance bits by busby berkeley, so we know the song and dance thangs will be big and fancy. The cast and crew from club ballé get a lucky break and accidentally enter the international competition in paris. It's all just an excuse for a bunch of vaudeville routines, with some large ensemble numbers, and a paper thin plot holding it together. Some of the comedy bits work, some don't. Singing by vallee. He even does a parody of maurice chevalier. Herbert never really does zero in on his terrible fake french accent. It's just all over the place. There's a love story. Even a divorce and alimony story. It's entertaining. Not a shakespear by any means, but light and fluffy, just before WW II. At this time, danzig was already under control of germany, but they hadn't started their large war marches yet. In may of 1940, germany would begin its large scale attack on france. Of course, this cast never left the hollywood studio. Directed by ray enright. Started directing just as the silents were becoming talkies.

My least favorite of the Gold Diggers series, largely because most of the humor and gags fall flat. And there's also the sentient tree trunk (Rudy Vallee) which happens to have a rather mellifluous singing voice. Dick Powell he is not. And really, hardly anyone stands out in the cast. Allen Jenkins probably the most, and Hugh Herbert also, although he isn't in it as much as I would have liked. The only chorus girl who made an impression was Mabel Todd, who reminded me heavily of Kristin Chenoweth (sans Southern accent). As for Busby Berkeley, there was only one large production number at the end, which was good, but not nearly as much as most of the ones that preceded in this series and Berkeley's other work. Overall, I didn't hate it; I just rolled my eyes a lot.

Another Busby Berkeley spectacle, this one boasts the benign Rudy Vallee as a club owner caught up in a screwball mistunderstanding that sends his chorus girls to Paris (though the magic of cinema, since the cast never left the lot) by mistake. The most curious aspect of the film is the disproportionate about of screen time given to the goofy Schnickelfritz Band. --Musicals on the Silver Screen, American Library Association, 2013