6 Comments

  1. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this film, and your review has encouraged me to see it again. You’ve given me lots to think about when I re-watch. Thanks! 🙂

  2. Rose

    This could easily be my favorite movie because each main character is excellently rounded-out and unique and it maintains such a perfect balance of humor and pathos throughout. As you’ve mentioned, the ending song is truly profound and even relevant today, post 2008 crash and after more than a decade of ambiguous war. Yes, “Golddiggers…” is pre-code and risque but not obvious in all its innuendo and it hearkens from a time when conversational discretion and wit were coveted skills over provocative vulgarity.

    In America, the dream of the time really was that a person need only improve his or herself, perfect speech and agility in conversation, before even creating a glossy appearance and they could be given a chance in the highest social circles and grow a wildly successful business from nothing but beans, brains and charm.

    Trixie was actually my favorite character and I think she’s the most beautiful but not beautiful in a sexpot way but an understated, aristocratic one. She seemed to accept that she wasn’t built to compete with the cutesy, sex goddesses and their transient beauty but was someone who could easily pass as a Duchess, if she played her cards right. The way she dressed and carried herself was like one who clearly understood exactly what her assets were and how to present them. She knew that with her elegant looks and wit, she could pass in some very, high circles and would be looked upon as wife material if she presented her appeal with just enough sex to tantalize, without seeming like the “typical” showgirl. The hilarity of it is that, of course, she’s a struggling showgirl like the rest of them and a shrewd pragmatist about exploiting her unique appeal.

    Despite how shamelessly she played “Fanny” at the beginning, I got the impression that she really did gain affection for him by the end because The Depression is the kind of thing that puts things into perspective and reveals just who is genuinely sinister and who is just a softie with “…no resistance.” There were probably many gorgeous, young rich guys expecting the same attention for a less attractive offer, now that the market had plummeted, showgirls were out of work left and right and she knew it.

    With sympathetic realism, “Golddiggers of 1933” seems to wink about glitz and glamour with a knowing sigh and maintains a chummy, inside tone with the audience that seems to say: “There, there. We know. It’s been hard. Let us entertain you.”

    Great review! Thank you for it!

    • Thank you for such a thoughtful response. I do think Trixie is an endearing character. I had the feeling by the end that she and Fanny would be fun to hang out with after marrying.:) Teasing, but affectionate. I had the feeling she didn’t have a lot of options, though, as if there were so many young rich guys wanting showgirls, why would Fay be so desperate to take Fanny, and why the emphasis on the straits women were in in the song? I could have misread that though–and I couldn’t agree with you more about the wit of this beautifully developed story!

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