Dames (1934)

Good idea lost in the noise

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Warner Bros. spent much of the 1930s as the studio that turned out gangster-themed movies (and launched the Looney Tunes later in the decade). It was a surprise to learn that the studio known for Humphrey Bogart and Bugs Bunny also made "Dames", the sort of musical for which MGM was usually known.What I like about this movie is that it shows puritanical people as regressive lunatics (they really are). I just wish that they had done so without all the musical numbers. Seriously, the whole thing is a happy-go-lucky ego trip. If you ask me, the best kind of musicals - aside from the Beatles' movies - are satirical ones: the musical versions of "Reefer Madness" and "The Evil Dead".As for this one, I took the time to look for strings holding up the clothes during the "Girl at the Ironing Board" sequence (and I could make out a few of them).Basically, it's not the sort of movie that I recommend.

Some people talk about the big 3; "42nd st ", "Footlight parade ", and "Gold diggers 33", which I agree are great. But why are they leaving out "Dames" which has Ruby Keeler's very best number "I only have eyes for you"? I also love "Gold diggers 35" with the very nice Gloria Stewart. "The great 5" is what I call these films, not "the great 3".Busby did release a few more after that which weren't quite as good as the great 5, "Gold diggers 37", "Gold diggers Paris", "Varsity show", and "Hollywood hotel ". Those films came out between 1936 and 1939 which it seems was a slump in his career. Then between 1939 and 1943, he shined again with the wonderful Judy Garland backyard musicals. At least until 1943 during the filming of "Girl crazy" when he was pulled off the set for being abusive to Judy while filming the song "I got rhythm" (half that info I got from 2002's docufilm "Judy Garland, me and my shadows", and half I got from reading real life stories and articles on Busby). But "Girl crazy" was still a great film. "Dames" starts with Guy Kibby visiting an extremely wealthy relative (who has more security guards and security doors than any I've ever seen ) Huge Hubert tells Guy that he may be inheriting a fortune depending on whether he keeps his morals or else he'll "cut him off like a ripe banana". He points to picture of Dick Powell (James"bad fruit"Higgins) as an example of someone from the family tree who he's already cut off because he went into show business. I'm not sure how show business really makes someone immoral, but I know some people had a tighter system back then of what was or wasn't moral. Dick is romantically involved with the beautiful Ruby Keeler, who he believes is Dick's 13th cousin. Zazu Pitts is Huge's wife who I remember from "Meet the baron ". Zazu was good with her slightly surprised yet quiet "oh my" style of talk (sort of Olive Ole like) more so in "Meet the baron " than here, she only says "oh my" once here. I like Joan Blondell here too, first in the comical scene where she shows up in Guy's bed on the train knowing it's Guy's and throwing a little blackmail at him. It then leads to a "that sound is the water in the pipes" scene while Blondell is hiding in Hugh's house in Guy's bedroom threatening to scream if Guy won't go along with her. Ahh, more sweet blackmail. More great scenes in this film during rehearsals and numerous other great moments. Also very funny when Hugh couldn't get rid of his hiccups and got everyone all frantic trying to find him the very hard to get Golden Elexor (53% alcohol). When they finally get some to him, he drinks some, looks all happy and relieved saying "ahhh, that's the stuff", then hiccups again. Hilarious. The whole family searches everywhere making a lot of phone calls to find that bottle of Elexor (53% alcohol), but later on during their attendance at the show, they've managed to maintain numerous Elexor bottles for each of them, including a bottle of ultra strength Elexor (73% alcohol).Musicals in the second half of the 20th century usually didn't have the same touch anymore, not including the 1950s and 1960s that still had some great ones such as "Sound of music". One example of more recent ones not quite being the same anymore was "Evita" in the 90s. It was singing that whole film with no talking parts and I didn't care for that quite too much. Musicals in the 1930s through 1960s usually had a good story with a number of scenes with no music and pure dialogue, then they'd wow us with the wonderful musical scenes in the last third, or last quarter. "Dames" and all of Busby's films had that pattern too. During the musical section of "Dames", one of the four songs didn't have the same magic and intriguing elaborateness that made it look like it wasn't possible to shoot it on a stage, and very clearly showed it as a stage number. That was "Try to see it my way". It was still good though. I loved Blondell in "Girl with an ironing board", and the dancing and singing clothes on the lines. That whole number had such an old fashioned innocent sweetness. And I also liked the moment when Blondell does a Mae West "come up and see me sometime", then the swan pattern the girls made by the clothes line, then the birds chirping and the harp playing, etc. The third song was great too showing all the girls getting ready while singing ; getting out of bed, in the tubs (that's right, girls in bathtubs with water, soap and bubbles on the stage ), and powdering their noses. And then the fabulous Busby kaleidoscope patterns which were some of his most amazing ever. I can hardly imagine how much rehearsing and skills it must've taken to get those particular movements and patterns so well on the mark like that. Then the very best of all was wonderful Ruby Keeler and Powell in "Only got eyes for you ". Throughout this number Ruby was most amazing and beautiful here; her sweet voice and smile walking with Powell, the sweet way she closed her eyes still smiling while putting her head on Powell's shoulders on the subway while he dreamed of about 15- 20 pictures of Ruby's face dancing around in black background, then the wonderful part with 15- 20 Ruby Keelers in very nice white dresses all dancing around so beautifully with the beautiful singing at that point in the song and then after that some more neat kaleidoscope work by Busby. Ruby Keeler was so wonderful throughout that number. I love her. This film's fantastic.

"Dames" is another vintage Warner Brothers' Broadway dance musical about the show that must go on in spite of the circumstances. Several show-stopping musical numbers occur during the last half-hour with Busby Berkeley orchestrating them with his own distinctive trademark movements. Director Ray Enright keeps the action moving at a snappy pace. Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler are the couple here to watch while Joan Blondell has a field day as a sexy theater girl who isn't beneath blackmail. Guy Kibbee is the sympathetic schmuck caught between Blondell's conniving blonde and Hugh Herbert's moral stalwart. The theme of censorship runs throughout Delmar Daves's predictable but interesting screenplay. Of course, you want to see Dick Powell succeed, but you feel sorry for poor Guy Kiddee. Happily, "Dames" serves up a happily-ever-after ending. You also get the feeling that something isn't right with the upstanding moral stalwart who wants to demolish dens of depravity. Once you see what he guzzles to rid himself of the hiccups, you'll laugh. As the primary villain, screwball multi-millionaire Erza Ounce emerges as a figure of derision. You'll get a hint of this while he is traveling by train and tries to walk past a fat woman and accidentally—or so he contends—trips on her and sits on her lap momentarily.When he isn't fighting an uphill battle to land a role in a Broadway musical, singer Jimmy Higgens (Dick Powell) romances Barbara Hemingway (Ruby Keller of "42nd Street") who turns out to be his thirteenth cousin. The dramatic conflict grows out of the clash between prudish tycoon Ezra Ounce (Hugh Herbert) who abhors the stage and Higgens who has labeled him the black sheep of the family. Nevertheless, Jimmy is desperate to break into Broadway, even if he has to come up with his own book. Uncle Ezra has decided to divide up his $35 million fortune. He plans to give $10-million to Horace Hemingway (Guy Kibbee of "Captain Blood"), but Horace must measure up to Ezra's high moral standards.Meanwhile, Horace is married to Mathilda (Zasu Pitts of "Mr. Skitch"), and they sleep in separate bedrooms as was the standard in Hollywood during the 1930s. Ezra is such a prude that he doesn't trust women and refuses to let them enter his bedroom. He resides in Buffalo, New York, and presides over three major businesses: The Buffalo Security Bank, St. Lawrence Waterways, Ltd., and the Empire Insurance Company of Buffalo. Horace visits Ezra in Buffalo and they take the train to New York. During the train ride, a career oriented hoofer, Mabel Anderson (Joan Blondell of "The Public Enemy"), sneaks into Horace's sleeping compartment. How Mabel gained access to Horace's compartment is never explained. This is just a complication to add another character to the story. Actually, it constitutes a flaw in the otherwise flawless plotting. Naturally, Horace is mortified and doubly so because Ezra will disown him when he discovers his adulterous behavior. Horace manages to bribe Mabel with a hundred dollar bill.Meanwhile, Jimmy and his collaborators, songwriters Jonathan Harris (Phil Regan) and Buttercup Balmer (Sammy Fain), give Broadway producer Harold Ellsworthy Todd (Berton Churchill of "Stagecoach") a rendition of their music. Todd raves about the music and their youth. He hands Jimmy a check for $5000 at about the same time that Mabel saunters into the office. Mabel reviles Todd for the cheapskate pr0oducer that he is and he flees. Mabel wants to know more about Jimmy's song and dance musical, much to the chagrin of Barbara. Jimmy runs Barbara, Jonathan, and Balmer out of the office and plays her a number. Mabel decides to revisit poor Horace. As Horace, his wife, and Ezra are about to retire for the evening, Horace enters his bedroom and finds Mabel tucked into bed awaiting his arrival. She threatens to scream if he doesn't fork over $20-thousand. Ezra and Matilda hear a fragment of the scream and Horace tells them that it was his water pipes singing. Ultimately, despite all his bickering with Mabel, Horace winds up giving her $25-thousand. Imagine Horace's surprise when he learns later that Barbara will appear in the show.As it turns out, Ezra suffers from a bad case of the hiccups. He has everybody scrambling around New York trying to find him Dr. Silver's Golden Elixir that will cure him. The first bottle contains a hefty percentage of alcohol and later bottles contain even more alcohol. When Jimmy's show opens, Barbara cannot make it in time to perform the musical numbers so Mabel steps into her place. The number with Mabel singing to clothing hanging on a clothesline outdoors is amusing and innovative. Meantime, Ezra brings an army of well-dressed henchmen to the play to break it up when he finds it intolerable. The signal for them to rush the stage is when Ezra waves a handkerchief. Bulger, Erza's bodyguard, brings more bottles of Dr. Silver's magical elixir, and Ezra gets so stinking that he forgets his own plan. At one point, Mabel waves her scarf at him from the stage and Ezra responds with his handkerchief and his henchmen disrupt the play. Everybody but Jimmy and Barbara wind up behind bars, but Ezra has changed his mind and doesn't want to reform society."Dames" is an above-average, but predictable dance comedy.

Busby Berkeley has rightfully been lauded as a legendary dance director. But he was also a master of special effects -- and there's no better proof than "Dames." Back in the primitive days before computer generated imagery, he somehow fashioned a floating flotilla of Ruby Keeler faces, a high-kicking chorus of Keeler clones, a series of vanishing crowds (for "I Only Have Eyes for You") and a dance troupe that turned to paper through which Dick Powell suddenly burst. All came off as seamlessly as the dizzying kaleidoscopes that were his trademark. As for the rest of "Dames," it's not bad. There's some sprightly satire of blue noses, personified by Hugh Herbert as the whimsically named billionaire Ezra Ounce who wants to close down Broadway. But if that happened, you'd never get to see Ms. Keeler tap dance as if she was killing cockroaches or watch Joan Blondell perform a witty tribute to the passion of laundry day.