MaestroWeinstein

They are dressed the same, they both show that they can match each other, and they are showing that neither one of them is leading. It’s less about romantic intrigue and more about the characters having fun and enjoying their wealth and time Women were gaining more economic and political traction and thus the stories were being written about people matching themselves in things other than romance.

We only see the props that help us to understand the situation and the characters. The upper crust room, the garter, the gun and gun drawer, and the handling of the dress. Only the important dialogue was in English. The most important sound was the gun because it was a signifier of danger. We can see that maybe the character will learn to outgrow his playboy ways to become more civilized.

The characters in these scenes were trying to one up each other in different ways. For Nelson Eddy, it was to show is prowess by having two dates at the table, and for Macdonald, it was to show off that she could be as talented and peppy as the girls themselves, that’s why she mocks them, until she realizes it’s only because she can’t beat them. From these clips, you can probably tell that male sexuality is rewarded while female sexuality is shunned. The man has to be victorious over the females, as if he is supposed to beat out temptation or something like that.

Just from this scene alone, you can glimpse just how much the film is trying to stay cheery and positive, showing things better than they are. The themes that may continue to show up in these films are perseverance, the wonder of show business, the strength of love, and the ability of the American entrepreneur to build himself up. Sort of a “you can have it all” message. The Hayes code prevented some serious drama from being created on screen. It keeps reality out of the picture. If the studios didn’t have to worry about the code, the film could definitely have been darker and handled a lot of issues that were prevalent during the day.