Friday Afternoon Videos: ‘Remember My Forgotten Man’
September 26th, 2008 at 03:24pm Will Pfeifer
With economic issues dominating the week’s news, seems like a good time to look back at another era of bleak economic news. GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 was a Warner Bros. musical from the early days of the Great Depression that managed to combine dazzling dance numbers (courtesy of the legendary Busby Berkeley) with genuine social comment.
The film begins with Ginger Rogers leading a rousing chorus of “We’re in the Money” that ends mid-song as creditors barge into the rehearsal and repo the props and costumes. It ends even more impressively, with Joan Blondell and Etta Motten singing this tribute to the guys who won World War I only to lose the economic battles that followed. It’s long — but well worth watching.
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Entry Filed under: videos, Classic movies
4 Comments Add your own
1. Sherry | September 26th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
This video should be aired weekly on TV so our nation sees the price we pay to keep our freedom, and also give then a visual of the worth of ALL our military defenders, yea and the pain suffered, and overcame with faith,hope,grit, unity, and perserverance…..
2. jan | September 27th, 2008 at 7:30 am
WOW! Great clip! I agree with Sherry—especially since we are not allowed to see the bodies coming home from the Middle East, like they don’t exist. Not to mention all the physical and emotional trauma so many of our soldiers suffer that goes unrecorded. Very relevant to today’s situation—both militarily and economically. Thanks for digging that up, Will; I had never seen it before. Is the rest of the movie that good?
3. jan | September 27th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Maybe you already knew all this, but I found it interesting:
Etta Moten Barnett
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Etta Moten Barnett
Born November 5, 1901
Weimar, Texas
Died January 2, 2004 (aged 102)
Chicago, Illinois
Occupation Film, stage actress
Etta Moten Barnett (November 5, 1901 – January 2, 2004) was an American actress and singer (contralto).
She was born in Weimar, Texas, the daughter of a Methodist minister. She married one of her high school teachers and had three daughters, but the marriage faltered.
Etta Moten then attended Western University in Quindaro, Kansas and then completed her education at the University of Kansas, earning a B.A. in voice and drama, then moved to New York City, where she was a soloist with the Eva Jessye Choir. She was cast in the Broadway show Zombie. She was also a noted member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
On January 31, 1933, she became the first black star to perform at the White House. She appeared in two musical films in 1933, Flying Down to Rio (singing “The Carioca”) and Gold Diggers of 1933. She married Claude Barnett, the head of the Associated Negro Press. She was cast by George Gershwin as a replacement Bess in the Broadway revival of Porgy and Bess in 1942, and was also in the touring company.
She stopped performing in 1952, because of vocal problems. She subsequently was involved with the National Council of Negro Women, the Chicago Lyric Opera and the Field Museum. She was also host of a radio show in Chicago.
She died of pancreatic cancer at Chicago’s Mercy Hospital at the age of 102.
4. Will Pfeifer | September 27th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Jan — The rest of the movie is very good, though not quite as striking as that final number. It’s a Warner Bros. pre-code movie, which means you get a surprisingly mature plot and some sex appeal along the way, plus plenty of Depression-fueled storylines. Besides Blondell, who’s very good, it also has those perennial musical stars, Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler. It’s part of the first Busby Berkeley DVD set that came out a few years ago. Another movie in that set — FOOTLIGHT PARADE — is even better, though a little less grim and gritty. (It gets big points for adding Jimmy Cagney to the cast.)
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