The Gold Diggers of 1935
Directed By: Busby Berkeley
Written By: Manual Seff, Peter Milne
Starring: Dick Powell, Adolphe Menjou, Gloria Stuart, Alice Brady
Length: 95 min.
Genre: Musical Comedy
1936 Oscar Winner: Best Music, Original Song - "Lullaby of Broadway"
1936 Oscar Nominee: Best Dance Direction
The first Gold Diggers was a lost silent movie released in 1923. The second is a partially lost 1929 The Gold Diggers of Broadway. The third was a movie I enjoyed, the Gold Diggers of 1933. All three were based on the 1919 play The Gold Diggers.
This one, the fourth installment, was not. It was an original story. And it stunk.
Dick Curtis (Dick Powell) is engaged to Arline Davis (Dorothy Dare) and is studying to become a doctor while working in a hotel. Mrs. Prentiss (Alice Brady) hires Dick to escort her daughter Ann (Gloria Stuart) for the summer to keep her out of trouble. She also wants Ann to marry a middle-aged millionaire who's passion is snuffboxes (in other words, he's a very boring person). Ann loves expensive things and adventure much to the consternation of her mother.
Wouldn't you know it, Dick falls in love with Ann (practically immediately). But it's okay, Ann's brother is falls in love with Arline at first sight and Arline falls for him. So the engagement is off. Amicably. Like that scene in Seinfeld where he ends his engagement to Janeane Garofalo.
Much like Gold Diggers of 1933, this movie spawned a song that everyone has heard of, "Lullaby of Broadway".
So, I hated the plot and I didn't find the movie funny at all. Even Adolphe Menjou couldn't save this one.
My Rating: 3 / 10
IMDB Rating: 6.9 (2.6k votes)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% Critics (5-0), 70% of Audience (500+)