Gold Diggers of 1935 (Part One)

[TheSkylur44]

We went to see this so many times we knew every single line and song and we repeated them to the point people would run when they saw us coming; but we really enjoyed every minute of it. In fact, each time we went, we sat through two shows. Thanks for the memories

[linksgruen]

@TheSkylur44 Don't you think the song is quite a bit sexist? And then the shameless references to Hitler propaganda and product placement...

[TheSkylur44]

@linksgruen I see nothing of what you describe; neither the "sexist" aspect of the song (bear in mind this is from 1935 and may not be in tune with the ridiculous political correctness of today) or the Hitler references. Perhaps you need a vacation?

[IndianaParkWars]

watch?v=Do5zHrxfZRI

[IndianaParkWars]

anyone remember this song from the sitcom, taxi?

[chicchick1970]

Thank you so much for putting this up. My father was born in 1935 and my grandma had a crush on Adolphe Menjou.....thus naming my father Adolphe Menjou Washington. LOL. My father just passed away a week ago so this is a nice treat for me. Thanks again pete7138.

[tonydalcon]

OK, here's my take on this. I got a DVD called The Busby Berkeley Disc, so I hit the menu button. I had only even heard of a few of the songs (I'm not exactly a Tin Pan Alley type), so I picked the Lullaby of Broadway one. And was enthralled...it was mind-boggling, like a cartoon in real life (it had that much imagination). It's possibly the greatest moment in film from the 1930s (and I don't say that lightly, having seen quite a number of old movies).

[Wuotinsheer]

Winifred Shaw, the most wunderful woman and voice ever................

[Fantomas4616]

one of my favorite musical dance scenes in movie history - and it's one of the best one ever made (when not the BEST ONE!!!!)

[nancy94618]

sex, death, art, commerce, cinema. brilliant

[Crochet14]

A proper singer,. unlike Ruby keeler.

[Wuotinsheer]

Love this part of Winifred Shaw and thx a lot for upload!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AJNorth]

Extraordinary! Harry Warren & Al Dubin together with Busby Berkeley were one of the greatest teams of creative geniuses in cinema history. More than three-quarters of a century later, they have yet to be equaled, let alone surpassed.

Production numbers such as this one, "My Forgotten Man," "42nd Street," "Shuffle Off to Buffalo," "Shanghai Lil" and "We're In the Money" (to mention only a few) are timeless classics. We will never see their likes again.

Imagine watching these in a theater...

[johnohconnor]

Simply awesome. Tks

[Okbooboo]

Fantutabuloso

[2ndviolinist]

The most bizarre sequence in a "light" entertainment movie. A mix of Art Deco, Film Noir, and Busby Berkley's inspired, crazy vision. A movie in a movie that's entertaining, scary, and disturbing. Fellini-esque but thoroughly American. And the music!

[thefantastikmrbone]

Amazing, Winifred Shaw's voice is haunting... gorgeous. And who else except for Busby Berkeley could have thought to open this the way he did... with a disembodied head. Brilliance, pure brilliance.

[kome360]

you think someone could replicate the intro with cgi and a live singer to make a less shaky dismembered face?

[melshorse]

Great Music, Busby Berkeley-Stage and Dance Genius The music videos of today are nothing when compared to these gems.

[hongbao]

Ms Shaw sings with just the right NYC accent turning her "a"'s into diphthongs.

I think I sounded like that as a child in Manhattan in the late40's.

[annetteflowersmorris]

LOVE THIS FILM

[troubleclef]

Winifred is a total babe.

[calindesmoines]

Winifred Shaw shall delight me forever. "Gold Diggers of 1935" was before my time, but it is a classic that will entertain long after my time has passed. It is truly a national treasure. Busby Berkely was a genius.

[vazmo14850]

sublime...winnie shaw...perfect...

[skylur44]

We used to go to the old Encore theater on Melrose and Van Ness and just stay there from late afternoon until midnight watching these old Busby Berkley movies over and over and over again, we knew all the dialogue and all the songs, it was fabulous. One night some of the original Berkley ladies were there signing autographs, that was wonderful.

[maninwhitedress]

the slow zoom in of the face took me to the worm universe. They said I'm crazy. Let's go to BROADWAY!

[GrannySea]

I agree with Sammy Steele - I watched this at home alone in the dead of night and I have never seen anything so scary in my life....!

[dyinglikeflies]

You wanna see scary? Doris Day did an "homage" to this clip in a movie of her own, where her face approached slowly from the dark. What could be more scary than Doris Day?

[scoterpool]

I think we can subscribe to TCM here, I remember it when I lived out in the States a few years ago; it's likely that all the rights to play these films were taken off small fee public broadcasting services or "local" commercial stations in favour of the big multinational corporations who would either pay out more money to show them or just sit on them. Also editorial policy mitigates against showing them I think; if it's over 50 years,it's a niche area,so no go.We don't even see bugs bunny now.

[SammySteele]

Forget Psycho and The Ring, the Laullaby of Broadway segment scares me more than anything else on the silver screen!

[ragemanchoo82]

Oh for crying out loud

[gjford1951]

Anyone else notice the similarity between the image of that slowly approaching disembodied face grotesquely lighted and surrounded in darkness and the image of the talking mirror (mirror, mirror on the wall) and the wicked queen in Snow White [Disney version]? This is straight out of the classic horror films of the era and the Grimm fairytales. It is INTENDED to be a 'morality' nightmare with the moral being: the wages of sin [or pleasure or laziness] is death.  Very straightforward.

[BuyBenco]

@gjford1951 Yeah Snow white came out in '37. What do you mean "It is INTENDED to be a 'morality' nightmare with the moral being: the wages of sin [or pleasure or laziness] is death."

[verbusen]

I just watched this movie for the first time. The movie is an average Dick Powell 30's film that seemed light on the music, but the climax, this scene, is just amazing. I was watching it streamed low res on a computer, I can't wait to see it someday on a big screen! It blew me away and I've seen other stuff by Busby. Maybe I'm just learning to appreciate it more as I get older but this scene is fantastic. Thanks for posting!

[scoterpool]

Fumbling for a clock;shoving it in the drawer...some things never change; amazing to think sound films weren't even 10 years old, film making itself was only coming of age-the art, the thought, the music, the acting - all perfect, like a bud just burst into full bloom. Wonderful and though I'm too young to remember this when new, I saw it 20 years ago (new to me then),it blew me away. Why don't they put these great films on UK TV any more? A generation is now missing out unless they youtube it.

[SammySteele]

Doesn't the UK have a channel for classic movies, like TCM in the US?

[cushtichavi]

no our tv is awful

[nicochoog]

TCM has been available free on UK cable and satellite for many years.

[jaydabaron]

they is just some things that you see or hear an they just stay with you i cant believe how i remember this it must have been 20 yr ago i just remember the woman comin further onto the screen luckily just noticed it on ere i used to sing this song all time it just goes to show if the song is good it will stand the test of time.....thankyou

[VeElOsTh]

nice. most people when they sing it, even on broadway it isnt really staccato and stuff, but this is and is really nice.

[razoukine]

This scene will be always a white stone in the story of cinema!! Thanks for posting!

[aVeryStylishGirl]

This is so spine tingling & immaculate. The opening with Wini Shaw's face turning into Manhattan is delicious. Play this really loud when all those dancers are tapping in that nightclub. A bit of a shock to those not expecting that final scene, but Busby was always unpredictable. I think Wini was a 'party girl' who was burning her candle at both ends, and nothing more, hence the title Gold Diggers of 1935.

[chrisneillovescock]

Busby Berkley is a genius plain and simple.

[webothlovesoup]

Great film. I love this song because it's great but I really like the gradual, zoom in on Shaw very simple but effective considering Berkley's ostentaious style. Thanks for posting.

[scotpens]

Not a zoom. No zoom lenses in 1935. That was a long, very slow dolly shot.

That opening shot could scare small children even today. "It's a floating vampire lady's head!"

[SpankRamen2]

LOL

[deskpot1]

Ref; Gold Diggers Clip X2.

Absolutely brilliant piece of film history. We will never see coordination like that again in the films of today. The gold diggers clip you have provided is commonly referred to as "THE 15 MINUETS" and I must admit I love it. The inset story is of a prostitute's life and the grim end but also the sometimes flamboyant life they lead, much more glamorised of course, but very nice story, please keep it on UTube.

[1940semochild]

wait...Wini Shaw's 'character' (I guess) is supposed to be a prostitute? not that it isn't possible but where did that come from? I'd never thought of it; seen this scene dozens of times and it never appeared that way to me. Interesting element to the story, then.

[doolally69]

I always thought that her character was more of a 'good time girl' or just a plain old Gold Digger, than a prostitute. The references to 'Daddy' infer more the Gold Digger/ Sugar Daddy theory. Either way, this is a superb piece of cinema history and should be enjoyed, whatever you think.

[VintageLady1980]

Yeah, this is brilliant and one of Busby's best! All the Gold Digger films are a lotta fun! :D

[philbert]

A musical number that turns into mayhem, madness and murder.  Busby Berkley's best ever. Surreal beyond belief.

[victoriavertes]

Whenever I go to NYC - I have the images and music from Lullaby in my head...

[LEELEEA]

Me too! ;-)

[MissLori]

Trippy.

[chrisneillovescock]

One of my favorite Berkeley numbers.

[julianveronica]

at 5:17...kitty-cat alert!

[rakshasa7]

That scene always breaks my heart and tears me up...little kitty waiting for mom to come home and let her in, and mom never does. It's a pity this sequence left out the very beginning, where the face in the dark starts the song, and kitty-mom gets out of bed in the late evening and leaves to party, dropping the kitty outside on the way. Makes for beginning-and-ending continuity.

[rakshasa7]

Whoopsie! Posted this to the wrong video. This one *does* show all that.

[Georgewos]

Wini Shaw. What a woman. Now You can see her singing The Lady in Red.

[scotpens]

"Class commentary"? You mean, something like the decadence and heedlessness of upper-class society? Well, I suppose you can read a sociopolitical meaning into anything. I've never seen this as anything more than a breathtakingly bizarre and surreal production number. It is interesting, though, that this and a couple of Berkeley's other setpieces end with a woman being killed!

[Barndancer61]

Every time I see this sequence it STILL sends chills down me. Amazing!

[Bubblez1193]

I love busby berkley

hes the best