# Gold Diggers of 1933
**Gold Diggers of 1933** is an American pre-Code musical comedy film released by [Warner Bros. Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/warner-bros-pictures) on May 27, 1933, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, with its production numbers created and directed by [Busby Berkeley](https://www.edgepedia.org/busby-berkeley) and songs by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics).[1](https://www.loc.gov/item/93507895/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gold_diggers_of_1933) It was the second backstage musical Warner Bros. released in 1933, following the success of *42nd Street*, and it proved even more successful than its predecessor, helping to rejuvenate the film musical during the [Great Depression](https://www.edgepedia.org/great-depression).[3](https://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Books/PDF%20Files/American%20Cinema%20of%20the%201930s%20%28Ina%20Rae%20Hark%29.pdf) • [4](https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/warner-bros-and-its-first-two-great-depression-musicals-changing-/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | May 27, 1933, Warner Bros. Pictures; runtime 1 hour 36 minutes[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gold_diggers_of_1933) |
| Direction | Mervyn LeRoy; Busby Berkeley created and directed the musical numbers[1](https://www.loc.gov/item/93507895/) |
| Songs | Music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Al Dubin; edited by George Amy[1](https://www.loc.gov/item/93507895/) |
| Source | Avery Hopwood's Broadway play *The Gold Diggers*, which ran 282 performances in 1919 and 1920[5](https://www.tcm.com/articles/582519/the-big-idea-gold-diggers-of-1933) |
| Principal cast | Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Guy Kibbee, Ned Sparks, Ginger Rogers[1](https://www.loc.gov/item/93507895/) |
| Signature numbers | "We're in the Money", "Pettin' in the Park", "The Shadow Waltz", "Remember My Forgotten Man"[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gold_diggers_of_1933) |
| Recognition | Academy Award nomination for Best Sound; later listed in the National Film Registry[6](https://www.tcm.com/articles/74671/gold-diggers-of-1933) • [7](https://www.kpl.gov/catalog/item/?i=ent%3A%2F%2FSD_ILS%2F0%2FSD_ILS%3A1419235) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and cast
The story centers on three out-of-work showgirls sharing a cheap New York City apartment during the [Depression](https://www.edgepedia.org/depression): Polly Parker ([Ruby Keeler](https://www.edgepedia.org/ruby-keeler)), Carol King ([Joan Blondell](https://www.edgepedia.org/joan-blondell)), and Trixie Lorraine (Aline MacMahon). Broadway producer Barney Hopkins (Ned Sparks) is mounting a new show, and their neighbor Brad Roberts (Dick Powell), a songwriter, impresses Hopkins with his material and secretly bankrolls the production with $15,000.[11](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2003/cteq/gold_diggers_of_1933/) When Brad's wealthy family learns of his show-business life and threatens to disown him, Carol and Trixie become entangled in a plot of mistaken identity as "gold diggers" pursuing two wealthy men (Warren William and Guy Kibbee).[8](https://www.tcm.com/articles/behind-the-classics/582520/behind-the-classics-gold-diggers-of-1933-1933) Ginger Rogers appears in a supporting role as the mercenary chorus girl Fay Fortune.[11](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2003/cteq/gold_diggers_of_1933/)
The film overturns the older "seduction plot" of stage melodrama, in which an ingenue was ruined by an older rake; here the young women set out to seduce wealthy men in comic fashion.[12](https://torontofilmsociety.com/film-notes/gold-diggers-of-1933-1933-and-lili-1953/) Structurally, the picture joins two modes: a Depression-drenched backstage story in its first act, and a 1920s-style sex comedy derived from Hopwood's play in its second.[3](https://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Books/PDF%20Files/American%20Cinema%20of%20the%201930s%20%28Ina%20Rae%20Hark%29.pdf)
## Production background
Warner Bros. knew it had a hit before *42nd Street* had even opened, and the studio had *Gold Diggers of 1933* in production while the rest of Hollywood was still scrambling to catch up with the screen-musical trend that film had sparked.[6](https://www.tcm.com/articles/74671/gold-diggers-of-1933) Robert Lord won his first producing credit on the picture.[6](https://www.tcm.com/articles/74671/gold-diggers-of-1933) The studio brought back the earlier film's dance director Busby Berkeley, songwriters Harry Warren and Al Dubin, screenwriter James Seymour, cinematographer Sol Polito, and five cast members: Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Ned Sparks, Ginger Rogers, and Guy Kibbee.[8](https://www.tcm.com/articles/behind-the-classics/582520/behind-the-classics-gold-diggers-of-1933-1933) Berkeley, who had scored a hit with the lavish numbers for *42nd Street*, was given more money and more control for this feature.[6](https://www.tcm.com/articles/74671/gold-diggers-of-1933) The film was shot in 45 days.[9](https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-store-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203891131/3cf8a11e-bf54-408a-8543-33c7fa627cb8/relatedobjects/preview.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=ASIAQFVOSJ572D4XHOER&Expires=1770624605&Signature=LSadReLn2jewagC9NlL0ciVLOVk%3D&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B+filename%3D%2210.4324_9780203891131_previewpdf.pdf%22&x-amz-security-token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjELv%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJHMEUCIQCTeDNWxgO00k%2FsK15Nk4BcTNKFjeI8kjhp0%2BxN43enKwIgWobJWBMzjWLbZQwmRQ0BuFmy7WzPt40oqoTpID5unxkqlgQIhP%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FARAEGgwwMTIxNzcyNjQ1MTEiDFg8OrLboGGnBW250CrqA1qDyN7NBvGIGmAR%2BoAnurkU8h5KMKjSkzgNCKrHJt171sDYg59Rx1AtfWsrHw4ZG54IG12aPTJIl93GWEirJiF61LGwwsTVt3hVraVsMxmkTl3lgl5TR2pPaKTYwwaXzT6DJE%2FFs7Wv2SMX2It6oWD2VcB%2Fg53k9Gd0BzSwsYJDk3K%2Fx5BkZ%2FQUACG6t%2FdJ98UDAfQH%2BVxPpf2d9BL%2F74qSbyYQEIEr0SHnzI7amesbNhQlD5PnMb%2F%2FOgveN0NCeNYjWBhW7UK%2FbDiuZWsQX1RgO5JlQjeE4DLstslK67FV%2FpLCscl3g9y4lxbDb6qlfCczonB8FU0iJefEPL5R0cJ9RWrqM4%2B7Silm1JZeC%2B3PW2UPsRayCYLquVZhpDeQUSbpcsfzmmoZvTg7h8SCD4tkGMMrWRVWT8hgKpnqBaSRVrsU1QnXAIUtFs%2BYN4QqvZM0LSwaCx5kbQbXJIo1Fnqf3zQ8caw7L8DgWoFgvmHyVXh9bEpWAZsm4wAwaV18dyHEw%2FDRwdtcGk8ar%2BphVtEqwyue1Q%2BahzU%2F0P2Ss7oXGGaT8hhcUojjWWRZi82PlS%2B6NRLdpwMc8slABm3To12V5F6z8ERNidAtKzlTakMoCcpyHxnHg5HAAzGQweHJZ75PpDvDzyGmq6wwpZ2lzAY6pQGhzTI3wW%2F%2Bag%2BeFuCWLmCuxpe3AQZOo62BWFJ9bW5wPQxsGnqcvsIpBftcvhaIvyi%2BGkE7jP11Z3D1F3fADFXeRmihwakdtWhGOH6KUH3RJwhdeDPgHrPSewqdKPi3zymLRZs6rIVzTD8QwJblA%2B%2FzhkoLpRee5MV9mplbdJqJCsPdmBtEp0hs8Bz7FDW1GPhIEj7xvVW8s3hrEBNItFHigOnLitk%3D)
**Literary source.** The film draws on Avery Hopwood's hit Broadway play *The Gold Diggers*, which ran for 282 performances in 1919 and 1920. Warner Bros. had filmed the property twice before, as the silent *The Gold Diggers* (1923), produced by David Belasco and starring Hope Hampton and Wyndham Standing, and as the talkie *Gold Diggers of Broadway* (1929), directed by Roy Del Ruth.[5](https://www.tcm.com/articles/582519/the-big-idea-gold-diggers-of-1933) The 1933 film is not a sequel to *42nd Street*; its principal characters do not carry over.[10](https://cdn.oujdalibrary.com/books/716/716-a-companion-to-literature-and-film-%28www.tawcer.com%29.pdf)
## The Berkeley numbers
The film contains four major production numbers, all designed by Busby Berkeley, whose overhead camera work and geometric formations set the standard for screen musicals.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gold_diggers_of_1933) Unlike *42nd Street* and *Footlight Parade*, the film does not stack all the big numbers at the end.[3](https://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Books/PDF%20Files/American%20Cinema%20of%20the%201930s%20%28Ina%20Rae%20Hark%29.pdf)
- **"We're in the Money"** opens the film, with [Ginger Rogers](https://www.edgepedia.org/ginger-rogers) singing a chorus in pig Latin, a fad of the time. Berkeley and LeRoy caught her singing the song that way as a joke after a hard day of rehearsals and added it to the number; by Rogers's own account, production chief Darryl Zanuck heard it, loved it, and told her to have LeRoy incorporate it.[6](https://www.tcm.com/articles/74671/gold-diggers-of-1933) • [8](https://www.tcm.com/articles/behind-the-classics/582520/behind-the-classics-gold-diggers-of-1933-1933) The song sold 425,000 copies of sheet music.[13](https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/server/api/core/bitstreams/dc025ed7-0374-5694-8ca9-3b0b7ce64253/content)
- **"Pettin' in the Park"** is a cheeky number with suggestive lyrics, featuring dancers with giant snowballs forming shapes in overhead shots.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gold_diggers_of_1933)
- **"The Shadow Waltz"** places dancers in billowing dresses on staircases pretending to play violins that turn out to be neon tubes glowing in the dark, seen from above forming the shape of a giant violin.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gold_diggers_of_1933)
- **"Remember My Forgotten Man"** closes the film. Inspired by the recent Bonus March, in which World War I veterans demanding their government pensions were rebuffed, the number depicts soldiers returning home wounded and reduced to soup kitchens and breadlines.[14](https://www.tcm.com/articles/582518/the-essentials-gold-diggers-of-1933) Critics have described it as the most downbeat ending of any musical before *West Side Story* (1961).[14](https://www.tcm.com/articles/582518/the-essentials-gold-diggers-of-1933)
## Reception and legacy
*Gold Diggers of 1933* was even more successful at the box office than *42nd Street*, although it did not have the same groundbreaking impact.[3](https://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Books/PDF%20Files/American%20Cinema%20of%20the%201930s%20%28Ina%20Rae%20Hark%29.pdf) Despite the musical talent on display, its only Academy Award recognition was a nomination for Best Sound.[6](https://www.tcm.com/articles/74671/gold-diggers-of-1933) According to film historian Mark Vieira, it was one of the first American films made and distributed with alternate footage to circumvent censorship problems.[8](https://www.tcm.com/articles/behind-the-classics/582520/behind-the-classics-gold-diggers-of-1933-1933)
The film's commercial success spawned sequels: *Gold Diggers of 1935*, *Gold Diggers of 1937*, and *Gold Diggers in Paris*.[15](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/3947?cxt=filmography) Its songs entered the standard popular repertoire, and "The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money)" later appeared in the Warner Bros. cartoon *Ali Baba Bunny* (1957) as accompaniment to [Daffy Duck](https://www.edgepedia.org/daffy-duck)'s discovery of treasure.[16](https://www.tcm.com/articles/582522/pop-culture-101-gold-diggers-of-1933) The film has since been listed in the [National Film Registry](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-film-registry).[7](https://www.kpl.gov/catalog/item/?i=ent%3A%2F%2FSD_ILS%2F0%2FSD_ILS%3A1419235)
## References
1. [Gold diggers of 1933, Library of Congress catalog record](https://www.loc.gov/item/93507895/)
2. [Gold Diggers of 1933, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gold_diggers_of_1933)
3. [American Cinema of the 1930s (Ina Rae Hark, ed.), chapter on 1933](https://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Books/PDF%20Files/American%20Cinema%20of%20the%201930s%20%28Ina%20Rae%20Hark%29.pdf)
4. [Warner Bros. and Its First Two Great Depression Musicals, King's College London](https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/warner-bros-and-its-first-two-great-depression-musicals-changing-/)
5. [The Big Idea - Gold Diggers of 1933, Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/582519/the-big-idea-gold-diggers-of-1933)
6. [Gold Diggers of 1933, Turner Classic Movies (Frank Miller, 2004)](https://www.tcm.com/articles/74671/gold-diggers-of-1933)
7. [Gold diggers of 1933, Kalamazoo Public Library](https://www.kpl.gov/catalog/item/?i=ent%3A%2F%2FSD_ILS%2F0%2FSD_ILS%3A1419235)
8. [Behind the Classics - Gold Diggers of 1933, Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/behind-the-classics/582520/behind-the-classics-gold-diggers-of-1933-1933)
9. [Fifty Key American Films, Routledge preview](https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-store-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203891131/3cf8a11e-bf54-408a-8543-33c7fa627cb8/relatedobjects/preview.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=ASIAQFVOSJ572D4XHOER&Expires=1770624605&Signature=LSadReLn2jewagC9NlL0ciVLOVk%3D&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B+filename%3D%2210.4324_9780203891131_previewpdf.pdf%22&x-amz-security-token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjELv%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJHMEUCIQCTeDNWxgO00k%2FsK15Nk4BcTNKFjeI8kjhp0%2BxN43enKwIgWobJWBMzjWLbZQwmRQ0BuFmy7WzPt40oqoTpID5unxkqlgQIhP%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FARAEGgwwMTIxNzcyNjQ1MTEiDFg8OrLboGGnBW250CrqA1qDyN7NBvGIGmAR%2BoAnurkU8h5KMKjSkzgNCKrHJt171sDYg59Rx1AtfWsrHw4ZG54IG12aPTJIl93GWEirJiF61LGwwsTVt3hVraVsMxmkTl3lgl5TR2pPaKTYwwaXzT6DJE%2FFs7Wv2SMX2It6oWD2VcB%2Fg53k9Gd0BzSwsYJDk3K%2Fx5BkZ%2FQUACG6t%2FdJ98UDAfQH%2BVxPpf2d9BL%2F74qSbyYQEIEr0SHnzI7amesbNhQlD5PnMb%2F%2FOgveN0NCeNYjWBhW7UK%2FbDiuZWsQX1RgO5JlQjeE4DLstslK67FV%2FpLCscl3g9y4lxbDb6qlfCczonB8FU0iJefEPL5R0cJ9RWrqM4%2B7Silm1JZeC%2B3PW2UPsRayCYLquVZhpDeQUSbpcsfzmmoZvTg7h8SCD4tkGMMrWRVWT8hgKpnqBaSRVrsU1QnXAIUtFs%2BYN4QqvZM0LSwaCx5kbQbXJIo1Fnqf3zQ8caw7L8DgWoFgvmHyVXh9bEpWAZsm4wAwaV18dyHEw%2FDRwdtcGk8ar%2BphVtEqwyue1Q%2BahzU%2F0P2Ss7oXGGaT8hhcUojjWWRZi82PlS%2B6NRLdpwMc8slABm3To12V5F6z8ERNidAtKzlTakMoCcpyHxnHg5HAAzGQweHJZ75PpDvDzyGmq6wwpZ2lzAY6pQGhzTI3wW%2F%2Bag%2BeFuCWLmCuxpe3AQZOo62BWFJ9bW5wPQxsGnqcvsIpBftcvhaIvyi%2BGkE7jP11Z3D1F3fADFXeRmihwakdtWhGOH6KUH3RJwhdeDPgHrPSewqdKPi3zymLRZs6rIVzTD8QwJblA%2B%2FzhkoLpRee5MV9mplbdJqJCsPdmBtEp0hs8Bz7FDW1GPhIEj7xvVW8s3hrEBNItFHigOnLitk%3D)
10. [A Companion to Literature and Film, chapter 4.2](https://cdn.oujdalibrary.com/books/716/716-a-companion-to-literature-and-film-%28www.tawcer.com%29.pdf)
11. [Grit 'n' Glitz: Gold Diggers of 1933, Senses of Cinema](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2003/cteq/gold_diggers_of_1933/)
12. [Gold Diggers of 1933 film notes, Toronto Film Society](https://torontofilmsociety.com/film-notes/gold-diggers-of-1933-1933-and-lili-1953/)
13. [Calling the Tune: Hollywood and the Business of Music, Griffith University](https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/server/api/core/bitstreams/dc025ed7-0374-5694-8ca9-3b0b7ce64253/content)
14. [The Essentials - Gold Diggers of 1933, Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/582518/the-essentials-gold-diggers-of-1933)
15. [Gold Diggers of 1933, AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/3947?cxt=filmography)
16. [Pop Culture 101 - Gold Diggers of 1933, Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/582522/pop-culture-101-gold-diggers-of-1933)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Musical and music films (individual works) › Musical films of the 1930s to 1960s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license