New York on Film: Gold Diggers of 1933

Join us for our first outdoor movie screening of the summer, featuring a pre-film cocktail hour with live jazz by vocalist Kate Martucci and her trio!

In Gold Diggers of 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy, 1933), Busby Berkeley's production numbers highlight this backstage extravaganza about a millionaire-turned-songwriter who financially backs a Broadway production, much to the surprise of three unemployed chorus girls. Songs include "We're in the Money," "The Shadow Waltz" and "Remember My Forgotten Man" by Harry Warren and Al Dubin. A show within a show, this movie about putting on a depression era musical about the Depression, getting by, getting over, gold digging, and artistic self-expression, and creative community tells an eternal NYC story. With Joan Blondell, Ginger Rogers, and Dick Powell.

The program begins with two short films featuring Black music superstars (Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday) that were shot on location in NYC at Kaufman Astoria Studios for Paramount Pictures, and intended to evoke Harlem's Jazz scene: Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho (Fred Waller, 1934, 10 mins) and Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life (Fred Waller, 1935, 10 mins).

This screening is part of our year-long series, New York on Film: Decade by Decade, programmed by Jessica Green. The series accompanies the Museum's centennial exhibition, This Is New York: 100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture (opens May 26).  

Event Timeline:

• 7:30 pm - Live jazz by the Katie Martucci Trio.  Drinks & popcorn available for purchase (Pontarelli Terrace)
• 8:20 pm - Short introduction by New York on Film series programmer Jessica Green
• 8:30 pm - Film program begins:
• Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho (10 min)
• Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life (10 min)
• Gold Diggers of 1933 (90 min)
• 10:20 pm - Program ends, Museum closes