Gold
Diggers in Paris
The film
stars Rudy Vallee, a popular singer for the time. The film never quite made
him a big box office draw but as he was under Warner's contract, they had
to use him. The film's plot revolves around mistaken identities and misunderstandings.
Rudy Vallee plays a club owner, whose dancing girls are invited to Dance in
a Paris Exposition. Naturally, these girls are confused by the french as representing
"high culture" . Therein is the mix-up which makes for pleasant comic situations
and an opportunity for Busby to utilize precision ballet and dancing moves.
A couple of good characters round out this cast, who play a egocentric ballet
master (Curt Bois) and gangster patron of the ballet, (Ed Brophy). Girls who
represent the "American Ballet" are on hand to give Busby an opportunity to
showcase his 'version' of Classical Ballet. This show was a combination of Warren/Dubin
and Warren /Mercer songs. Al Dubin, who by now, was somewhat unavailable due
to his pronounced drug habits, later departed the studio never to return. However,
he managed to write several memorable songs with Warren which are showcased
in this film. Johhny Mercer, now a rising star, was assigned to work on the
film as well, which no doubt contributed to Dubin's upset. Dubin works, however,
was at its sharpest and some of the memorable tunes like "I Wanna Go Back to
Bali" are full of subtle observations like "I've seen those scenes in magazines
but they never do show the flies..." . Busby told this story that he had "snapped
at Dubin during a rehearsal, and Dubin decided that was his cue to take a train
to New York. Later, I needed another verse, and he wired it to me.." The film
made a substantial profit at the box office, but the idea of the film musical
as Warner Brothers had popularized it, was now beginning to pale.
