CAT OF THE DAY 031: GOLD DIGGERS OF 1935 (1935)

Busby Berkeley‘s backstage musical was the first of his films on which he got sole directing credit (previously he had been credited as either co-director or choreographer).  The highlight is the extraordinary 13-minute number Lullaby of Broadway, a standalone Expressionist mini-musical depicting the life and death of a carefree New York party girl, incorporating some of the most sinister Leni Riefenstahl-esque tapdancing ever recorded on film. Here it is – and it’s worth your time.

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The cat appears twice. The first time, it’s waiting at the door in the morning when the party girl comes home from a night on the town, and she pours it some milk.

The second time we see it, there’s the milk, the saucer and the morning newspaper. But where is the party girl? Oh dear.

Related articles

• Clips from Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929), including Tiptoe Through the Tulips (songbook1.wordpress.com)