Gold Diggers of 1933 (Warner Bros.) (1933)

Hollywood Chorus Girls Decide On Perfect Man Gorgeous Beauties in ‘“‘Gold Diggers of 1933” Take Vote on Requirements for a Husband HE worm has turned. For the past three thousand years or more, men have been getting together with tape measures and calipers, try ing to find and describe the ‘‘perfect woman.’’ Now the tables are turned. One hundred and seven Hollywood chorus girls, who appear in Busby Berkeley ensembles of the Warner Bros. picture, ‘‘Gold Diggers of 1933,” now at the Theatre, put their ideas together and produced a composite picture of the ‘‘perfect man.”’ Any man who can fulfill all the He must not pay too much atten requirements of these specifications, is, in the opinion of the girls, a matchless male and he ean take his choice of one hundred. and seven happy homes the minute he gets to Hollywood. The ‘‘perfect man’? twenty-nine years old. must be He must have wavy brown hair and blue eyes. He must be five feet eleven inches tall and weigh 178 pounds. He must have money—or prospects of having money. He must dress well and be able to dance with ordinary skill. He must be willing to help with the dishes. On the other hand there are things which the ideal husband must not do or be. He must not gamble. | Many Moods tion to other women. He must not put cigarette butts in coffee cups. Just to make it easier for this male marvel, when, as and if he appears, the girls decided collectively that, so far as they are concerned he may: Smoke, swear and drink in moderation. Sing in the bathroom. Wear glasses. Have a college education. Upon these general qualifications the “Gold Digger” girls were agreed. From there on their ideas differed widely. Little Ann Hovey, who hails from Indiana, insists that the perfect man must be able to cook enough at least to let her have her breakfast in bed on Sunday mornings. 8 CURRENT FEATURES Ann found some support for this suggestion among the other girls. Kitty Cunningham from El Paso, Texas, would not tolerate a man who snores. She would banish such candidates to the park bench. June Glory, striking Seattle brunette, objects to a cave man type and automatically eliminates all Cagney imitators from consideration. A big car and a small yacht are added qualifications suggested by Renee Whitney, luxury loving red head from Chicago. Lorena Layson of Miami, Florida, wants her “perfect” man to be an expert swimmer and Lynn Browning of Kansas City, Missouri, insists that he should be broadminded about backless bathing suits and clothes reform for women. But these are details. Fundamentally the “Gold Digger” girls are agreed on what constitutes the “perfect man,” the “matchless male” and the “miracle mate.” Let any man who answers these requirements, venture into Hollywood if he dare! Two of the male members of the all star cast of “Gold Diggers of 1933” approximate the description. They are Warren William and Dick Powell. But the girls used no names, and besides married men are supposed to be out of the running. The 107 girls are among the 200 beauties who appears in different dance numbers for the stupendous musical and dramatic production of “Gold Diggers of 1933.” Among the stars in the cast besides William and Powell are Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler, Guy Kibbee, Ginger Rogers. in Merry, Musical Movie at Strand Warren William Surprised at Self in ‘Gold Diggers’”’ Found It Hard To Believe It Was Himself He Saw in Rushes in Super-Musical Production HE motion picture business is full of surprises—that is one reason for the eternal fascination it exerts over those who are a part of it. But it is safe to say that the most surprised person in it is probably Warren William. After playing solid dramatic—even melodramatic—roles for more than a year in such productions as ‘‘The Mouthpiece,” ‘‘Match King,’’ ‘‘Employees’ Entrance,’’ ‘‘Mind Reader’’ and ‘“The Dark Horse,’’ Warren woke up one morning to find that he was cast for the utterly frivolous and mirth-provoking role of J. Lawrence Bradford, of Boston, in ‘‘Gold Diggers of 1933,’’ the big Warner Bros. music-drama of Broadway with Ruby Keeler, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Dick Powell, Guy Kibbee and numerous other favorites of the screen, now at the Theatre. A New Role for Him | To say that Warren was _ surprised is really putting the matter very mildly. He felt, as he said afterward, as if he had been asked to step into a Buster Keaton or a Jimmy Durante part. To be sure, the role of J. Lawrence Bradford is that of a very proper and puritanical Bostonian from Beacon Street. But only in the beginning. J. Lawrence comes to New York—which, to dyed-in-the-wool Bostonians, is little There are more stars to be seen in “Gold Diggers of 1933,’ Warner Bros.’ successor to “42nd Street” than in at least five ordinary films. Among the favorites seen are Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell—oh!—why not see for yourself? Cut No. 54 Joan Blondell Knows About “Gold Diggers” from Life Has Met Them Often During Long Association With Show Girls and Understands Their Code OAN BLONDELL, pert and saucy star who plays a gold digger in Warner Bros.’ musical sensation, “Gold Diggers of 1933,” now playing Theatre, knows all about gold diggers. Joan, who was practically born in a stage trunk, and who spent most of her girlhood traveling from city to city with her vaudeville family, | life. knows the theatre front and back, knows chorus girls and gold diggers through contact with them. But she has never been a gold digger in the faintest sense of the word, in real Joan is known in Hollywood as the’ most democratic of stars: She drives a Ford. She never went out with a “rich guy” in her life, as far as is known. She never “pro Cut 60c Mat 20c moted” rings and pearls and expensive gifts. Until a short time ago, she never lived in a house, but in a modest flat, on the second floor. “But that doesn’t mean that I condemn girls who do,” Joan said, sitting on the “Gold Digger” set on the last day of the picture, watching the chorus girls and boys go through their striking routine for the sensational number “The Forgotten Man.” “They have their own viewpoint, and I can see it <A young girl gets a break in a show. She interests men, many of them with money. This girl figures she may not get another break, for a long time. While the sun shines, she will make hay. (Now don’t make that ‘Hey-Hey’ wisecracker—this to the interviewer. “Naturally, she is attractive, and hopes she will marry a rich boy. Then when the boy isn’t forthcoming, maybe she’ll take a rich man much older than herself. “And don’t always blame the girl for this philosophy of life. It may be her mother’s fault. She may not have the common-sense mother that I have. That makes a difference.” Joan added that the gold digger is no new species. “T remember reading about the Floradora girls,” she said. “They did pretty good by themselves. I imagine that back in the ‘Black Crook’ days the girls were looking for rich stage-door Johnnies when they left their labors. So don’t blame this on movies and automobiles and radio.” better than a modern Babylon—to reclaim his young brother from the hands of a show girl Gold Digger. Before J. Lawrence has’ been circulating very long around the Great White Way doing his missionary work, he himself has fallen into the hands of a real gold digger. He consorts shamelessly in night clubs with pretty gold-digging sirens, he squanders hard-earned Boston dollars on champagne, he even buys his girl friends hats and dresses. In fact, he does things that his young brother never dreamed of doing. “The part was so completely unrelated to anything I had ever done before, or thought of doing,” said Warren as he smiled over the first shock of the announcement, days afterward, “that if I hadn’t had supreme confidence in the judgment of the production heads of the studio, I wouldn’t have had the nerve to go on with it. “Tt took me days, as it was, of looking at the rushes in the projection room every night to get over an old, presistent feeling, as I watched myself in the part, that somebody else made up to resemble me_was playing it. Apparently there was another side of mé that 1 had never dreamed of, but there it was on the screen, too concinving for me to doubt the evidence of my own eyes.” Is Too Modest Though Warren William is too modest to admit it, it may be related for his benefit, that his delineation of J. Lawrence Bradford is so exquisitely humorous that he is likely to be seen in more than one high comedy role during the coming season. “Gold Diggers of 1933” promises to be the most elaborate production of its kind that has been made in Hollywood since talking pictures revolutionized the art of entertainment. One of the late Avery Hopwood’s irresistible stage successes is the basis of its vivid, glittering story. Mervyn LeRoy, who knows his Broadway and show business from years of contact with every phase of it, directed the mammoth picture. A new high water mark in the creation of effective and eye-filling dance numbers and ensembles has been set by Busby Berkeley, whose peculiar genius in this department was so strikingly manifested in “42nd Street,” the greatest musical hit film to date. The music and lyrics were written especially for the production by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, ereators of the music of “42nd Street,’ whose tuneful melodies have already become nationally popular. Erwin Gelsey and James Seymour wrote the screen play, with dialogue by David Boehm and Ben Markson. The extraordinary cast, besides such stars as Warren William, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Aline MacMahon and Guy Kibbee includes the names of such sterling players as Ned Sparks, Ginger Rogers, Clarence Nordstrom, Robert Agnew, Tammany Young, Sterling Holloway and Ferdinand Gottschalk. And in addition to all this, Warner Bros. have used 200 of Hollywood’s loveliest girls in numerous ensembles that are timely, tuneful and tantalizing. Page Twenty-one