Do you agree that the clip exhibits a brighter perspective of life than might be realistic? Why or why not?
Yes, life is beautiful in this movie... the men are jaunty, the costumes are beautiful, the music is perfect, people have time and money to go to the theatre, no one is barely scraping by...
What themes or approaches might you anticipate from this clip in other Depression era musicals?
I would think that beauty and diversion would be common themes during the Depression era, as people probably wanted to escape from their dreary, difficult days with something fluffy and frivolous like this.
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.
Precode, it might have been much more risqué – a more suggestive song, a more revealing costume for the singer, and even showing a costume change in the dressing room.
DAILY DOSE OF DELIGHT #1 (From The Great Ziegfeld)
in MAD ABOUT MUSICALS: THE HISTORY OF THE HOLLYWOOD MUSICALS
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Yes, life is beautiful in this movie... the men are jaunty, the costumes are beautiful, the music is perfect, people have time and money to go to the theatre, no one is barely scraping by...
I would think that beauty and diversion would be common themes during the Depression era, as people probably wanted to escape from their dreary, difficult days with something fluffy and frivolous like this.
Precode, it might have been much more risqué – a more suggestive song, a more revealing costume for the singer, and even showing a costume change in the dressing room.