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"Gold-Di£2ers of 1933"
-Seen Through Hollywood's Eyes
Are you wondering if this is a 1933 version of "The Gold-Diggers of Broadway" or something entirely new? This "inside story" tells you! It gives you a hint of the story, reveals how it was filmed, and points out the drama that went on behind the scenes!
^By Jack Grant
This is the seventh of a series of "inside stories" about outstanding new pictures. They tell you what Hollywood knows about the pictures. Like Hollywood, you are aware of the drama that has gone on behind the scenes, and you reahze what painstaking attention has been given to tiny details. When you see "The GoldDiggers of 1933," after getting this "preview" of it, your enjoyment wiU be keener — and your appreciation of all motion picture entertainment will be heightened. — Editor.
HEN
42nd Street," pre vi
w
ously reported in this series, became one of the biggest successes of the year, Warner Brothers decided to produce another musical of the same lavish proportions. Searching the field for story material, they recalled that "Gold-Diggers of Broadway" had, in the early days of talking pictures, scored a similar popular hit. What, then, could be more showmanly than to make a second "GoldDiggers" — a "GoldDiggers of 1933"?
In looking for a plot to fit the title, someone had a bright
hunch. The studio owned all rights to Avery Hopwood's play from which the first "GoldDiggers" had been adapted. Comparison of the original stage play and the earlier film script brought to light how little resemblance they bore to one another. The adaptation had been so
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liberal that a close adherence to the Hopwood plot would result in practically a new screen story. Eureka! It was done forthwith! — with Erwin Gelsey and James Seymour assigned to the job and instructed to work fast.
The task of picking a cast was simplified by the choice of many of the players who had been acclaimed in "42nd Street." Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell were again teamed as the romantic leads. Ginger Rogers, a standout in "42nd Street," was given another "hardboiled" chorus girl role; Ned Sparks, a producer; Guy Kibbee, a Broadway "gold-mine" and Clarence Nordstrom, a broken-down juvenile. With the addition of three featured leads — Joan Blondell, Warren William and Aline MacMahon — the cast was virtually completed.
Director by Request
ERVYN LEROY'S assignment as director came at his own request. He had been booked to do "42nd Street," but his illness in a hospital at the time it went into production necessitated a last-minute switch and Lloyd Bacon was substituted. When "Gold-Diggers" came along, " Merv" was the {Continued on page 62)
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Memories saddened Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon and Ruby Keeler (above), playing jobless chorus girls. Right, Art Director Anton Grot, Director Mervyn Le Roy and Dance Director Busby Berkeley plot out dance numbers on a miniature stage, while a couple of chorines listen in