The Gold Diggers of 1933

Q1: How does the film relate to the chapter in Foner?
The Gold Diggers of 1933 presents a counter-look at the 1930s from what Foner discusses in the chapter. Foner talks mostly about the fix it strategies used by FDR, including both New Deals. In the chapter, Foner never touches on the day-to-day life of Americans at this time. The Gold Diggers of 1933 however shows a more humanized version of the 1930s. Rather than portray the direct poverty that affected most people during the Great Depression, the film shows how city girls are handling the situation. The women have no jobs, starve or steal to eat, and the actresses can't get work because shows keep getting canceled due to financial reasons before they can open.

Q2: What can we learn about American culture during the time period by interpreting the film as a primary historical source?
The Gold Diggers of 1933 sought to put the Great Depression out of people's minds. This shows how many "city people" were hoping to avoid the matter by ignoring it. People wanted to preserve the idea that things were still good for as long as they could. What better to distract oneself from a bitter world than to watch a quirky movie about couples falling in love? Different scenes throughout the movie depict people living their lives as if the nation's biggest financial crisis wasn't going on. This is shown when the Carol and Trixy have J. Lawrence and Peabody take them out and also in the fact that Carol and Trixy convince the guys to buy them extravagant gifts.

Q3: What does the film reveal about attitudes towards gender, class, and race?
The film depicts women as desperate, thus willing to do anything to get what they want. This manifests itself in the way J. Lawrence treats Carol and Trixy. He believes that Carol is after his brother's money and couldn't possibly love him. Trixy affirms this belief about women when she marries Peabody. Class was either poor or rich, offering no middle ground. The poor were seen as unrefined and desperate. The rich were most likely old money because most of the new money people lost everything in the stock market crash. Pauly, Brad's girl, is able to fool J. Lawrence into thinking she's from the same high class that he is from. Race isn't portrayed in this film leading me to believe that there were no black influences in the theater business at this time.

Q4: What was the most important scene in the film?
The last scene, with the song about the forgotten man is the most important scene of the film. It acts as kind of a reminder about what lays outside the theater. This number is in stark contrast to the opening number which asserted that money was no issue and don't worry about the Great Depression. The song talks about the man sent to war, comes back from war to work on a farm, and from there (due to the draught/dust bowl) he ends up in bread lines.

My Review: I’ll give this film a 4 out of 5 because I enjoyed the entertainment part of it. Maybe it’s just that this is the first film with sound but I enjoyed the lively and upbeat characters. The musical productions were fun to watch. Overall, this film is anything but your typical Great Depression movie.