A Vênus de Ouro

This is a film I went to the cinema and watched on its release.... Throughout the 51 years since then this is the film that has stayed in my memory.

I found the plot quite enthralling - the action criss crossed from the Civil War to the theatre and the lives of all those involved. The drama and the joys were all there. The cast were all good in the roles and there was a wide range of Hollywood names of that era. The musical numbers were toe tapping and will run through your mind after you have watched it ... main numbers are Golden Slippers and Dixie which you sing for days afterwards (in my case 51 years afterwards).

The costumes were what you expected of a large Hollywood musical of the era - colourful and glorious.

Sadly it seems to be a film that is lying in the vaults forgotten but it would be nice if it could be re-released....if only to see a young Dale Robertson...

THe role that made Mitzi Gaynor a star. As musical formulas go, this is as formulaic as it gets. But formula hath not make a bad picture. As with any musical, no matter how mundane or pedestrian the plot, good songs and singing can always save it. That is the case here, especially one song I can't get out of my head. You'll know it. It's played again and again as hollywood pro Lloyd Bacon uses it as a transitional device. All scenes are shot and edited well and all acting is good and Mitzi Gaynor delivers a star performance.

Although the plot plays fast and loose with history, the film is based on the early stage career of 19th century singer Lotta Crabtree, as played with gusto by Mitzi Gaynor, who shows herself to be one of the great dancers of 20th century cinema. Under the guidance of her stage mother, 16-year-old Crabtree began performing for sex-starved California miners and later wealthy city slickers across America, earning a fortune for her family. Set against the background of the Civil War, the melodrama centers on her romance with a South spy and her relationship with her brother-like partner, played by Dale Robertson and Dennis Day, respectively. The beauty of the film is its music, with Gaynor irresistibly innocent and vivacious, Day in his best tenor form, and Carmen D'Antonio as European stage entertainer Loa Montez, Crabtree's inspiration. Top among the cute songs is "Kiss Me Quick and Go." Curiously, "Oh Dem Golden Slippers," which repeats throughout the film, was not written until 1879, many years after the Civil War.

A most fictionalized biography of 19th century star Lotta Crabtree is the subject of Golden Girl. Having just read the Wikipedia article concerning Crabtree a real version of her life would be a truly great picture.

Mitzi Gaynor of whom it has been said came along just a tad too late and missed the real golden era of Hollywood musicals during the 30s and 40s plays the title role. She was one of the best dancers of the female gender ever to hit the big screen and there was no need to dub her singing voice. Mitzi would have been a much bigger star a bit earlier, she had all the right talents.

Her romance with courtly southerner Dale Robertson was a pure fiction, but Robertson is just fine in a role tailored for his talent and speech pattern.

Sharing the singing duties with Gaynor is Dennis Day taking time off from the Jack Benny program. Dennis gets to sing the song Never which got an Oscar nomination.

James Barton and Una Merkel play Lotta's parents and Barton who was an old song and dance man himself and scored a big hit on Broadway in Paint Your Wagon around this time gets a nice number with Gaynor. The name Crabtree suits Merkel's complaining character. Wikipedia says that the real Lotta Crabtree's parents were from Great Britain, but there sure is no trace of any of that kind of accent with Barton and Merkel.

Golden Girl is fine musical entertainment even though it's not a patch on the real story of Lotta Crabtree.

Mitzi gets to strut her stuff in this almost wholly fictional biography of pioneering actress Lotta Crabtree. The actual story of Lotta's life, touring mining camps, forging what became early American theatre in the West and becoming a major philanthropist, was far more interesting than this surface collection of period inappropriate musical numbers tied tenaciously to a silly love story that never happened and makes Lotta seem foolish and naive.

Mitzi was a fantastic dancer and a pert personality and those two traits are much in evidence throughout the film so if you like her you'll like this. There is also the wonderful Una Merkel as Lotta's mother adding a bit of dash to the proceedings but she's the only member of the supporting cast that makes any impression.

A colorful movie but worthless as if you're interested in Miss Crabtree's story.