Gold Diggers in Paris

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.

This is certainly not as good as the best-known Gold Diggers movies, no doubt for a variety of reasons. While it is a Busby Berkeley movie, there is only one big dance number in it, the finale, a reprise of "I want to go back to Bali" - sung, believe it or not, on a set made up as the streets of Paris, which makes NO sense whatsoever. (The first time that number is sung, in a nightclub in New York City, the women are made up as Balinese, and the set, what there is of it, is supposed to represent Bali.) Most of the songs are instantly forgettable. Still, in an almost childish way, the movie is full of a lot of innocent energy and it never drags. Rudy Vallee sings well, and the character parts - Hugh Herbert and Melville Cooper, playing the same parts they always played - are humorous. I was never bored, which is more than I can say for a lot of movies that pretend to far more than this.

I wouldn't go out of my way to see this, but neither would I suggest avoiding it.

Nowhere near as good in comparison to the Gold Diggers of 1933, 1935 and 1937, but on its own it's an okay film. Sure it has a thin plot that doesn't really make sense, Mabel Todd is irritating and her scenes are just weird and Hugh Herbert is not much better. Rudy Vallee's performance is nothing mind-blowing but he has a nice voice and is a likable lead at least, Rosemary Lane is an alluring partner as well as sassy and heartfelt. In support, Melville Cooper has fun with his role and makes the most with what he has, while you will get much pleasure from Edward Brophy's body language alone. The production values are nice and seem to be done with care with some clean photography to go with it, if not as glitzy as the earlier Gold Diggers films and lower in budget perhaps. The music is not the kind you'll remember for an eternity, but the film is well-scored and the songs make for very pleasant listening. I Wanna Go Back to Bali comes off best. What there is of Busby Berkeley's choreography is good clean fun, that for I Wanna Go Back to Bali is spectacular, while the script is witty and smart with a touch of heart and warmth as well. All in all, lacking but passably entertaining and does its job reasonably well. The earlier Gold Diggers films are better though and showcase Berkeley's talents much more effectively. 6/10 Bethany Cox

The end of a musical era was marked with Gold Diggers In Paris. Shortly after this film, Busby Berkeley took his considerable choreographing talents over to MGM and no more films with Gold Diggers in the title would be coming from the Brothers Warner.

Before this film was made Dick Powell who was looking to say farewell to musicals altogether said he would not do another film with Gold Diggers in the title. So Rudy Vallee made yet another attempt to have the movie-going public accept him as a musical leading man.

The film's a good one, but it didn't work for Vallee once again. He would only gain acceptance as film star when Preston Sturges correctly utilized his acerbic personality in character roles.

Harry Warren and Al Dubin once again wrote some nice songs for Gold Diggers and Busby Berkeley weaved his usual choreographic fantasy. His numbers are the main attraction for Gold Diggers In Paris, especially the last song The Latin Quarter.

The plot was later reworked some in the later Doris Day film April In Paris where Doris as showgirl gets a visa by mistake to go to Paris as as a visiting artist. Here it's bumbling Hugh Herbert's mistake who instead of going to a ballet company goes to the Club Balle which is losing money and is the white elephant on owner Rudy Vallee's hands. This offer of an all expense paid trip to Paris is a lifesaver for Vallee and his troupe and if they have to learn ballet, they'll hire Fritz Feld as ballet master and so be it.

Vallee's love interest is Rosemary Lane of the Lane sisters and he also has Gloria Dickson an ex-wife whom he owes a lot of back alimony to. She's hanging around to protect her interest and then actually proves to be the smartest one in the cast. She gives the most memorable performance as well.

Gold Diggers In Paris is great musical entertainment with good songs and routines in delivering them, courtesy of a premier dance master, Busby Berkeley.

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.