1. Do you agree that the clip exhibits a brighter perspective of life than might be realistic? Why or why not?
Yes. Ziegfeld gave away five pounds like it was nothing. There was no suggestion that money was scarce but that it was dispensable. People were lavishly dressed, at the theater, and throwing money to doormen. Like in the lecture, Depression era films were about escapism. People wanted to forget the hardships of the current economy.
What themes or approaches might you anticipate from this clip in other Depression era musicals?
More escapism - lavish taste, excessive spending, adventure and romance. If the film does touch on reality at all I expect the characters to hit a strand of good luck or their hard work pays off and they are successful by the end of the film. I expect this because in keeping with the theme of escapism, if there is any reality at all there has to hope by the end of the film to convince audiences that everything is going to be okay.
I also expect movies taking place NOT in America. Ziegfeld is English and the actress and theater he is pursuing is in Paris, France. These places are not touched by the American Depression and audience literally escape to another country.
Since this is a musical that was made after the motion picture code was enforced, how might you imagine it might have been filmed or scripted differently if it had been pre-code? Give specific examples.
In the clips from Broadway Melody (1929) the scenes in the dressing room where with half dressed women in the open and the music was jazz and showing off women’s bodies and dancing that accentuated the legs and hips. Now in this scene from post code, the dressing room scene in Ziegfeld ends before she is undressed and even as her dress is unzipped she is hidden by a vase of flowers. Also on stage her act is more victorian in dress, movement/ dancing on stage, and the lyrics are more innuendoed like the Victorian speech and humor. Everything is communicated through a mask of innocence and innuendo.
