Gold Diggers of 1933

The musical I decided to review this week is Gold Diggers of 1933 Directed by Mervyn LeRoy and based on the 1919 play written by Avery Hopwood. It is about a group of women during the great depression who are trying to earn money and are trying to find jobs in musicals. The group is also trying to get two young lovers, Brad and Polly, to stay together despite the fact that Brad’s brother is trying to keep them apart. The cast includes Joan Blondell, Warren William, Aline MacMahon, and Ruby Keeler.
One of the things that I enjoyed most about the movie was how different it was than every other movie I have seen made around that time. It was made before the Hays Code was enforced which put a huge amount on what can and can not be put in movies and lasted throughout the 1930s and till the 1960s. The code made it so that drugs, sex, drinking, revenge themes, crimes, violence, and many others could not be shown almost at all in any film. A clear sign that the movie was made before the code was all the drinking, drugs, and sex jokes that were in the movie, but that was an entire musical number about people petting each other in a park.
The movie also showed what almost no other movies were showing at the time and that was a depiction of the Great Depression. While other movies at the time were made to make people forget about what was going on in their lives while Gold Diggers of 1933 gave the audience something that they could relate to and maybe even inspire them. It showed the audience that even that it was bad at the time it can always get better, and that if they try a different approach to a problem they might get the result that they are wanting.
A great part of the film was how empowering it was to women especially at that time in history. The movie features four different and interesting female leads. It showed women during whatever they could to make money and needing to depend on a man to get it. When Brad’s brother made those remarks about showgirls to Carol she showed him that not every showgirl is like that. Even though the women in this film are showgirls they are not oversexualized like they are in many other films.