JohnHowardReid Dances created and staged by Busby Berkeley. Camera operator: Stanley Cortez. (Available on an excellent Warner DVD).Copyright 25 February 1935 by First National Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Strand, 14 March 1935. Australian release: 3 July 1935. 10 reels. 95 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Hotel desk clerk falls for heiress.NOTES: Prestigious Hollywood award, Best Song, "Lullaby Of Broadway" (defeating "Cheek To Cheek" from Top Hat and "Lovely To Look At" from Roberta).Also nominated for Dance Direction (losing to Dave Gould's Broadway Melody of 1936 and Folies Bergere).COMMENT: Amazing isn't it that Buzz was defeated by Dave Gould for Dance Direction. Lively the Gould numbers certainly are, but "Lullaby Of Broadway" is easily the best thing Buzz ever did — and "The Words Are In My Heart" runs it pretty close. The only point not in their favor is that both are placed right at the end of the film — but, believe me, are they sure worth waiting for! The spectacular, extraordinarily moody "Lullaby Of roadway" is virtually a film within a film. Of course, the preceding movie is by no means a chore. It was Buzz's first job as director of a whole picture, and he moves it along most entertainingly, making full use (as we might expect) of his backgrounds and decor, with corps of regimented bellboys flunking across marble inlaid floors, and Powell going on a shopping spree with Gloria Stuart.The players are all highly appealing, and production values are superlative.OTHER VIEWS: "Lullaby Of Broadway" — pure film and pure Hollywood — marked the apex of the Warners' backstage series. — Ethan Mordden in "The Hollywood Musical".

mark.waltz The penny pinching Alice Brady is financially backing a fund-raising musical show for "the milk fund" in one of the best resorts for the rich and famous, but there are problems because she wants the finaces cut down to the bones. Daughter Gloria Stuart and son Frank McHugh have their own agendas which doesn't include mommy's attempts to squeeze sweat out of the presidents on her cash, and that includes romance which they don't seem to care may cost them (or her) money.As the resort prepares to open, manager Grant Mitchell informs the crew that some of them aren't being paid because they will receive more than their share of gratuities. Brady gives the three bellboys a quarter to split (an insult, even in 1935), and when she finally does agree to let the pretty Stuart go shopping, it is with the agreement that resort employee (and musical show leading man) Dick Powell will oversee every purchase she makes. So after a make-over comes lingerie, the millinery, evening gowns, shoes and hair, and mother is definitely going to need a doctor when she gets the bill. Stuart and Powell go to the resort's shopping area with a delightful musical number ("I'm Going Shopping With You"), and you begin to wonder who the real gold digger here is.To keep her money safe, Brady has Stuart in an arranged marriage with the eccentric Hugh Herbert who becomes the victim of a blackmail scheme by resort secretary Glenda Farrell. This leads to lots of comic interludes and racy dialog that barely escapes the Hays code laws. Adolph Menjou is the eccentric Russian director in charge of the production, and he too seems to be digging for gold, being much in the rears with his hotel and restaurant bills. To watch him choreograph the musical numbers with a certain "Russian military flair" is comedic heaven.Two gigantic musical numbers add to the fun of this second installment of the Berkley trio of "Gold Diggers" musicals. "The Words Are in My Heart" utilizes white grand pianos as giant puzzle pieces to form a giant piano (much like the giant violin in "Gold Diggers of 1933'" "Shadow Waltz" number), and the lengthy "Lullaby of Broadway" number shows the life of a Broadway baby who literally does say goodnight. Winifred Shaw leads this musical number with Powell as the romantic escort, with dozens of extras aiding in making the musical number stand out as Berkley's last humongous extravaganza. He would have a few big numbers in "Gold Diggers of 1937", but nothing that could top this in length and the extravagance. Berkley would return to outrageousness just under a decade later with a certain Brazilian bombshell taking center stage.

TheLittleSongbird The story is silly and is thin to the extent that you're searching for whether there is one, and for this viewer Gold Diggers of 1933 was the better film. Nonetheless, Gold Diggers of 1935 is still great, even when set in a Depression setting it's still a lot of fun. It is visually wonderful, cleverly photographed and with sumptuous costumes and sets. The songs are melodious and catchy as well as beautiful, The Words Are In My Heart and particularly Lullaby of Broadway were the two standouts. The dialogue is snappy and genuinely funny, the film is warm-hearted and charming all the way through and Berkeley in one of his earliest directing efforts does a fine job directing. The performances serve the film nicely, Dick Powell- in excellent voice- and the astonishingly beautiful Gloria Stuart are good leads(and no Ruby Keeler is not missed), but Gold Diggers of 1935 was one case where the supporting cast were more colourful. Alice Brady is an absolute riot, while Glenda Farrell and Hugh Herbert bring to the table some great wisecracks. But you cannot not mention Bekeley's choreography, it's always a pleasure to watch but here in Gold Diggers of 1935 it's amazing. Lullaby of Broadway contains some of his absolute best choreography(on par with the finale of Footlight Parade and perhaps even better) and is also a number that tells a story, a depressing but very moving one. All in all, a great film and one where Busby Berkeley will not be disappointed, if anything it'd be hard not to be enthralled. 9/10 Bethany Cox

MartinHafer I liked the way this movie began. You see the staff of a hotel readying the place for customers. However, Busby Berkeley gets them to actually parody his own style of movies as you notice that the staff start behaving in a choreographed manner--replicating some of the movies Berkeley had made prior to 1935. It's pretty cute and a nice start.What follows are some amusing plots that really aren't all that important. In other words, while the antics of the cheapskate old lady and the huckster producer (Adolph Menjou) are fun, the plot doesn't amount to very much and just seems like padding until the amazing finale--a finale that is every bit Busby Berkeley. If you like this sort of over the top schmaltz, then you are in for a treat as you see scenes like the many white pianos (trust me--you just need to see it to understand), the extremely well choreographed dancing and the nice music. In particular, their rendition of "Lullaby of Broadway" is toe-tapping good.While all of this is VERY familiar, you can't help but admire the work that went into making "Gold Diggers of 1935". As far as whether or not to see it, it all depends on if you like this style of musical--a style that went out of style soon after this movie debuted. Up until about 1937, such huge extravaganzas were the norm for Warner Brothers and they made a ton of them. But the style was completely obsolete by the 1940s--and it is something that probably will surprise most modern viewers not acquainted with this type of film. For what it is, it's very well made. Not the best of the type, but very good.