Without a proverbial pot to piss in, Depression-era audiences flocked to cinemas to hear (and see) corines clad in papier-mâché coinage lift their spirits to the strains of “We’re in the Money.” After the success of 42nd Street, Warners followed their formulaic mold to the letter: bridge a handful of eye-splittingly kaleidoscopic musical numbers with a fluffy series of subplots entangling romance and efforts to raise enough money to put on a show. The division of talent also remained the same, with director Mervyn LeRoy’s unit capturing the romance while choreographer Busby Berkeley used his camera as one would a Spirograph to stage the musical numbers. During WWI, George M. Cohan wrote the toe-tapping recruitment ditties that persuaded young boys to kill and be killed in the service of their country. The “My Forgotten Man” number, words and music by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, is the anti-Cohan: a refreshingly radical, anti-jingoistic look at how returning soldiers were neglected. Initially intended to play earlier in the picture, the studio swapped out the “Pettin’ in the Park” number and used it to close the show. Its impact will still be felt days later. (1933) — Scott Marks
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