Putting aside the stunning 'Lullaby of Broadway' closing number - which is an excellent separate film within this film, this is a terrible disappointment. Don't expect it to be similar the wonderful Gold diggers of 1933, 42nd Street etc., this is not the same, it's feel is totally different.
All those original shows, made during the start of the Great Depression, we're made for men and women struggling to survive, wondering where their next meal would come from and were about men and women struggling to survive, wondering where their next meal would come from. This however is about silly, one dimensional rich people with too much money, throwing it away on ridiculous follies. As evinced by the popularity of Fred and Ginger over at RKO, times and indeed tastes had changed. What '35 tries to do is copy RKO by offering escapism....but not very well. This film was popular in 1935 because people had had enough of being reminded of how bad their lives were so wanted a taste of the exotic. That's understandable but for us, years later with our absurd romanticised vision of how different and interesting it must have been back then, we miss seeing their misery - or rather them crawling out from the misery. This is a fantasy world for the folks of '35; unlike it's predecessors, we're not transported back to the 30s, we're just watching a product made to make a profit.
This is Busby Berkeley's first go at directing a complete film but unfortunately he's not quite up to it. To him, the look and the set design seems to take precedence over the story. He also invests most of his efforts into what he's really good at- the spectacular 'Lullaby' finale but at the expense of making this drivel watchable . The story is stupid, the songs are poor, there's no Joan Blondell or even Ruby Keeler and the whole thing relies too much on humour which is not in any way remotely funny.
THE SECOND PART. This isn't really connected to the the main film so you can fast forward to it past all that nonsense. This IS worth watching.
Lullaby of Broadway sounds such a jolly little ditty but nothing could be further from the truth. Coming after the the banal nonsense of the main film, your mind isn't prepared for what comes next. This brilliant little film is truly shocking and very disturbing; it is is not what you're expecting. Like a classic ballet, using just choreography and a very a poignant lyric it unfolds it's terrible story packed with emotion, expectation, and genuine horror. Absolutely spectacular, absolutely amazing and guaranteed to leave you open mouthed.
All those original shows, made during the start of the Great Depression, we're made for men and women struggling to survive, wondering where their next meal would come from and were about men and women struggling to survive, wondering where their next meal would come from. This however is about silly, one dimensional rich people with too much money, throwing it away on ridiculous follies. As evinced by the popularity of Fred and Ginger over at RKO, times and indeed tastes had changed. What '35 tries to do is copy RKO by offering escapism....but not very well. This film was popular in 1935 because people had had enough of being reminded of how bad their lives were so wanted a taste of the exotic. That's understandable but for us, years later with our absurd romanticised vision of how different and interesting it must have been back then, we miss seeing their misery - or rather them crawling out from the misery. This is a fantasy world for the folks of '35; unlike it's predecessors, we're not transported back to the 30s, we're just watching a product made to make a profit.
This is Busby Berkeley's first go at directing a complete film but unfortunately he's not quite up to it. To him, the look and the set design seems to take precedence over the story. He also invests most of his efforts into what he's really good at- the spectacular 'Lullaby' finale but at the expense of making this drivel watchable . The story is stupid, the songs are poor, there's no Joan Blondell or even Ruby Keeler and the whole thing relies too much on humour which is not in any way remotely funny.
THE SECOND PART. This isn't really connected to the the main film so you can fast forward to it past all that nonsense. This IS worth watching.
Lullaby of Broadway sounds such a jolly little ditty but nothing could be further from the truth. Coming after the the banal nonsense of the main film, your mind isn't prepared for what comes next. This brilliant little film is truly shocking and very disturbing; it is is not what you're expecting. Like a classic ballet, using just choreography and a very a poignant lyric it unfolds it's terrible story packed with emotion, expectation, and genuine horror. Absolutely spectacular, absolutely amazing and guaranteed to leave you open mouthed.