"Gold Diggers of 1933" Reviewed by Me

"Gold Diggers of 1933" was an incipient brothel upon the big screen, complete with rewarding crime, fornication, and other delicious deceits thrust amidst our tangible souls. The above picture is one of the Busby Berkeley dancing chorus girls from this 1933 musical.  

The opening number, “We’re in the Money,” (above picture) sung by a chorus of luscious legged dancing girls, and Ginger Rogers as the lead singer was a great beginning to this 1933 classic. The awesome facial close-ups on the Berkeley babes, including Ginger Rogers singing "We're in the Money" in Pig Latin was truly a delight to watch, and I’m not really of fan of musicals, nor the type of music Berkeley directed, but “We’re in the Money” still captures the my senses.

Ginger Rogers in "We're in the Money."  

The acting and story-line also kept pace with the times. A large sum of money is needed immediately up front for the show to go on, and Ruby Keeler’s beau is this film, Dick Powell is secretive on how he fronted the producer $15,000 to get the show started. 

This 1933 flick has many signature elements from the 1930-1934 Pre-Code Hollywood era. Stealing without punishment, fornication, excessive drinking and scantily clad women in their under garments, leaving little to the lascivious imagination.

Joan Blondell, 1933

Ginger Rogers was a star for a reason, and she more then proved herself in “Gold Diggers of 1933.” Joan Blondell was just a funny as she was beautiful. I love the scene is which her and Rogers wear the same dress, and the other chorus girls compare how each of them looks wearing the same dress.

ROGERS

If Barney could see my clothes! 

OTHER WOMAN

He wouldn't recognize you. 

Dick Powell had too many singing numbers for my liking, but the DVD skip button is always there, and this movie is a solid four and a half star rating to me. I’ve watched this movie multiple times, and it seems to get better each time.

Whether or not you’re a Pre-Code Hollywood movie lover, a fan or non-fan of Busby Berkeley, or if you know nothing of Ginger Rogers or Joan Blondell, “Gold Diggers of 1933,” especially this high-quality print is a must have for vintage film buffs.

All the special features were unimpressive to me, but the movie was so good, it simply didn’t matter. 

Mark Izzy Schurr 

Sanity Shores

 The tombs of dead Laughter display the dominance of hate and unfriendlness. Natures nutrition, the seas of sanity flood my dreams and desires.                                               Mark Izzy Schurr

Weaved Into A Mystic Conjuring of Intrigue

 

Trek into fantasy and witness the uncharted depths of knowledge and all that is real and imagined in Jim Starlin’s, “The Silver Surfer, Rebirth of Thanos."

In “…Rebirth of Thanos,” Thanos, plans on killing 50 percent of all living beings in the entire universe. Chrome Dome must search the infinite vastness of the cosmos to thwart the lurid plot of Thanos and his insane bid to kill billions.

The cosmic enlightenment of laughter and death is blissfully displayed in Starlin’s, “…Rebirth of Thanos.”

Thanos is the epitome of evil, he killed his mother when he was 10-years-old, and when he was 18-years-old, he held a girl captive for weeks before he murdered her, and when her remains were discovered, they were too ghastly for any words or pictures.

“I seek a vile creature, he is a killer of worlds, seeking to paint the cosmos a blood scarlet,” the Silver Surfer said.

Thanos has powers, skills and knowledge beyond mortal reckoning and he allies with Mistress Death in his insane quest for ultimate power and to be the harbinger of death and despair.

The mystic conjuring of reality within the sacred documents of the Silver Surfer remained fascinating in this more than 200-page comic book.

The nexus of reality, the fulcrum of existence and the shared realm of chaos and disorder is where the Silver Surfer meets with Thanos. Dichotomies is this meeting place, a land where enemies cannot engage in any sort of combat, even in their greatest efforts to attempt it, hence Thanos and the Silver Surfer talk politics.

Thanos argues that life and death are on the same coin, and must coexist together, and mass murder is needed to keep humanity around.

The Silver Surfer thinks Thanos is an evil wack job with absolutely no empathy or positive passion, and thus the two know, they must one day fight each other to the death at some point in time.

This comic book left me wanting more. The story was far from completed, and for reasons unknown to myself, I still haven’t acquired the sequel, “The Infinity Gauntlet.”

The forbidding fantasies of Thanos really get going when one by one, he begins to acquire all six Soul Gems which are laden throughout the far corners of the galaxies. Each of the six gems harnesses the ultimate power of energy, time, immortality and three other tangible emotions.

The ability to reconstruct the streams of time itself would be the beckoning call to the owner of the Soul Gem of time.

“I am reality, I am infinite, I am the almighty. I have wrestled the reins of power from the hands of the supreme being, and yet becoming a god is a hollow victory,” Thanos said.

Inkers, John Beatty and Tom Christopher along with letterer Ken Bruzenak and colorist Tom Vincent had some funny and captivating detail in their illustrations.

I give this Silver Surfer issue a solid four-star rating. Starlin’s words really gripped my senses. Within schemes and dreams the well of infinity within its comic vortex possesses universal knowledge unimaginable with absolutely no barriers, and only then are all things possible. (Jim Starlin)  

Cool Country, A Modern Moron Music Review

 

Musician, Dwight Yoakam is the only person I know who can extrapolate the math of how 14 days in March can conclude in August.

“This song came to me when 14 days in March turned into the middle of August,” Dwight Yoakam said.

Yoakam humanized himself at the casinos ball room on Saturday night with his personal stories, and intriguing sense of humor.

I like old school country music fused with pleasant punches of 1970s rock ‘n’ roll tunes, so Saturday nights performance by Yoakam and the band was anything, but disappointing.

Extremely little room to dance at Graton Resort and Casino’s ball room, and that was more the OK for myself. Personally, I was seated in the second row from the main aisle, which many patrons used to sway on their feet, and at certain moments, I was persuaded off me seat.

The opening band, Willy D possessed a rock ‘n’ roll flare with a harmonious hard country sound, thus creating an ambiance of paradisiacal live music.  

“Guitars, Cadillacs,” was the only song I knew Yoakam performed and wrote, and the tune more then pleased. His quote unquote money song was not the concluding song last night, and the encore was too short.

 Leave the audience wanting more was Yoakam and the bands’ theme on Saturday night, and the only thing that disappointed me was not being allowed to bring in my Sony Cyber Shot camera. Then again, it was great to kick back and relax amidst the ecstasy of live music. Three and a half stars for Yoakam’s October show at Graton Resort & Casino.

Mark Izzy Schurr

Mind journey

 

Journey to unknown realms where our sorrows and joys gleefully joust amidst the vast cosmos of the human spirit. Reach into the borderland of eternity and oblivion and imbibe the celestial nectar of wisdom and folly.

As sophisticated savages, we seek to free the mystic essence of our ethereal egos.

Mark Izzy Schurr

Another Modern Moron Movie Review

 

This DVD has no special features, but the picture and sound quality are good and even though Joan Blondell has a small part, she alone makes 1931s “My Past” worth watching multiple times. (Above picture, Joan Blondell, "My Past")

The story-line is a timeless tale of a free-loving man and woman who have no shame when it comes to fornication, or adultery.

Bebe Daniels portrays Doree Macy, a showgirl juggling a relationship with two men who are business partners and friends. Both men fall hard for Doree, (Daniels) and she falls for one of them, and the infinite web of love and lust manages to complicate things.

Joan Blondell, "My Past" 

“My Past” rewards adultery, and is considered racy, even by today’s standards. In one scene, Doree (Daniels) takes off her swimsuit while in the ocean and says to Bob (Ben Lyon), I bet you can’t catch me. Bob immediately jumps in the ocean and swims toward her.

Joan Blondell did a great job of portraying Bebe Daniels best friend, especially when giving her advice about dating a married man.   

“I know these young married men. When there wife’s away, the play. They’ll tell you anything, make all sorts of promises. They’ll even kid themselves into thinking they’re not married, but just as soon as the well-known ball and chain gets back, they creep home on their hands and knees,” Joan Blondell said.

Daniels shows some cleavage and a lot of leg in “My Past,” and this illustrates the fact how much less skin was shown in mainstream movies from 1935 to the mid-1960s. Anybody who is knowledgeable fan of the Pre-Code Hollywood era between 1930-1934, will want to view this pre-coder, or at least I think so.

Mark Izzy Schurr  

Sin and Sensation in 1933

 

“Professional Sweetheart” is a true Pre-Code Hollywood classic well worth owning. Screen-writer Maurine Watkins dabbled in the debauchery of free-love and spousal abuse. Theresa Harris had a small role in this 1933 film, and she was a talented beauty who showed off her acting and singing prowess while portraying the maid of Ginger Rodgers. Rodgers stars as Glory Eden, a radio singer for the Ippsie-Wippsie Wash Cloth company. (Above picture is Ginger Rodgers from 1933s, "Professional Sweetheart.") 

Theresa Harris, 1933

The Ippsie-Wippsie company wants Eden to be known a squeaky-clean virgin, an innocent to the masses to promote their washcloths, and Eden (Rodgers) has very different plans for herself and the $1,000 the Ippsie-Wippsie company is offering her, if she signs their contract.  

Ginger Rodgers & Norman Foster 

Rodgers delivers some racy dialogue to her fake fiancé, Jim Davey (Norman Foster) when she tells him she smokes, drinks and has been with 100s of men. “Professional Sweetheart” is a true Warner Brothers ‘Archive Collection.’

Mark Izzy Schurr