Gold Diggers of 1935

Busby Berkeley's 1935 film is a light comedy set in an expensive New England hotel. A wealthy widow arrives on holiday with her daughter and son, and the romance that starts between the daughter and a young man working at the hotel runs against the mother's plans. The story is a pretext; the film exists for the musical numbers in its last half hour. Berkeley uses the dance company here as material for pattern: dozens of pianos move on stage as a single organism and the camera looks down to build geometric shapes out of human bodies. The Lullaby of Broadway sequence is something else again, breaking entirely with the comic tone to describe a night in the city and ending in darkness. It was Berkeley's first film directing alone. Who it's for: viewers who like classic Hollywood musicals and the history of choreography. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a story; the plot exists to connect the numbers.