Gold Diggers of 1933

The Depression in the Gold Diggers of 1933

In the Gold Diggers of 1933, the character of Barney Hopkins, played by Ned Sparks, states, “its all about the depression,” in which the character of Carol King (Joan Blondell) responds “well we won’t have to rehearse that.” This response embodies the theme of the Gold Diggers of 1933 and of the depression in the United States.

The Gold Diggers of 1933 centers around three actresses, Trixie (Aline MacMahon), Carol (Joan Blondell), and Polly (Ruby Keeler) who are unemployed due to the depression. They soon meet Barney Hopkins (Ned Sparks), a producer on Broadway who is producing a new show and recruits the four actresses and the next-door neighbor, Brad Roberts (Dick Powell), an up-and-coming composer. As the show starts to come together, the publicity-shy, Brad has to step in for the lead performer. We soon find out that Brad is from an upper-class family, which does not approve of the life he has chosen. When his family hears about the show, his brother Lawrence (Warren William) and the family attorney, Peabody (Guy Kibbee) go to New York to end the show and Brad’s new relationship with Polly. Lawrence hatches a plan to make Polly fall in love with him instead of Brad, but it backfires when he actually falls in love with Carol, after mistaking her for Polly. The movie concludes with the three girls having relationships with Brad, Lawrence, and Peabody while also staring in Barney’s show.

Throughout the movie, the Gold Diggers of 1933, there are several references to the depression going on around the actresses and the people of the United States. Turner Classic Movies states that the film opened with the song “We’re in the Money” as a gift to the depression weary Americans as the viewers see the chorus girls including the unbelievably popular Ginger Rogers, cavort about the stage dressed in gold coins. This epitomized the reason for movies during the depression, which was an escape for the public from the worries and...