GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933

(1933, Mervyn LeRoy) Coin-clad Ginger Rogers warbles “We’re In The Money,” Ruby Keeler falls for tunesmith Dick Powell, and Joan Blondell fends off lecherous Warren William. The Pre-Code Busby Berkeley musical, with some of his most eye-popping numbers ever. 35mm print preserved by Library of Congress. Approx. 94 mins.
12:30, 4:30, 8:30

“A funny, good-natured backstage musical, and a Depression period piece as well. It sums up what is meant by the phrase “pure thirties.”
– Pauline Kael

“The movie thrives and survives on Berkeley’s genius; for all his spectacular theatrical flair, he’s a sociobiologist in rhythm.”
– Richard Brody, The New Yorker

“Once the numbers get going, nothing else matters!”
– Variety

“CLASSIC, SURREALISTIC MUSICAL NUMBERS. All the Berkeley sequences demonstrate this unique auteur’s astonishing powers to transform straightforward performative set-ups into abstract micro-worlds of consistently evolving experimental art, shooting and virtually editing in one camera with almost Hitchcockian foresight and precision.”
– Peter H. Kemp, Senses of Cinema

FOOTLIGHT PARADE

(1933, Lloyd Bacon) Busbyberkeleython: Jimmy Cagney’s high-steppin’ search through the opium dens for “Shanghai Lil” Ruby Keeler, aquatic ballet “By a Waterfall,” and a stop at the hot and horny Honeymoon Hotel. 35mm print preserved by Library of Congress. Approx. 105 mins.
2:25, 6:25

“Irresistibly wonderful example of Busby Berkeley’s pinwheel choreography.”
– Pauline Kael

“Technical virtuosity!”
– The New York Times

“Three of Berkeley’s best numbers back-to-back!”
– Frank Miller, TCM.com

“Just as Cagney is able to infuse the whole film with pedal-to-the-metal energy through sheer charisma, so is Berkeley able to momentarily silence criticisms—of political incorrectness (this is pre-Code 1930s, after all), of racial insensitivity, of sexism—through his taste for astonishing visual extravagance and exhilarating “can-you-top-this” chutzpah. Rarely has such artistic obsessiveness been made so damn irresistible.”
- Kenji Fujishima, Brooklyn Magazine