Gold Diggers in Paris(1938). Directed by Ray Enright with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley. Cast: Rudy Vallee, Rosemary Lane, Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins.
Maurice Giraud, is sent to New York to make arrangements for the Academy Ballet of America to come to Paris to compete at the international dance festival, but a cabbie takes him to the Club Balle by mistake.
The owners of the club, Terry Moore and Duke Dennis, sees the mistake as an opportunity as a way out of their financial problems. They hire ballet teacher Luis Leoni and Kay Morrow, to teach their girls ballet. Terry is attracted to Kay, but things become complicated when his ex-wife, Mona shows up.
Meanwhile, the head of the real ballet company, Padrinsky, finds out what's happened and cables Giraud, then heads to Paris with a ballet-loving gangster named Mike Coogan, who intends to rub out Terry and Duke. Giraud is upset about being hoaxe.
After they arrive in Paris, a representative of the exposition, Pierre Le Brec, wants to watch the group's rehearsals, and Duke tells his new friend Coogan, the gangster, that Le Brec is causing him trouble. Coogan goes to "take care" of the problem, but by mistake knocks out Leoni instead of Le Brec. Padrinsky shows up and arranges for the imposters to be deported on the day of the contest, but Kay manages to change the order so that Coogan and Padrinsky are shipped out instead, which allows the company to perform and win the grand prize.
GOLD DIGGERS IN Paris, seems to focuses more on singing and band playing than dancing. It also shows the changing of the times as well as the decline of the Warners musicals. Look for Eddie Anderson in a small role as a doorman and try to find Carole Landis, before she became a blonde, as one of the members of gold digging troupe.
Gold Diggers in Paris, was the fifth and last in the series of "Gold Digger" films, following Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929), which is now lost. Gold Diggers of 1933, which was a remake of the earlier film, and the first to feature Busby Berkeley's extravagant production numbers; Gold Diggers of 1935 and Gold Diggers of 1937.
The Schnickelfritz Band, a comedy musical group performs the songs in the film. Led by Freddie Fisher, who played woodwinds, sang and also composed the song "Colonel Corn" for the band, the band consisted of Stanley Fritts (trombone, drums, jug, washboard), Nels Laakso (cornet, trumpet), Paul Cooper (piano, arrangements), Kenneth Trisko (drums), and Charles Koenig (bass). The group, which was billed as "America's Most Unsophisticated Band!", were brought to Hollywood by Rudy Vallee, after his agent saw them in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The band broke up shortly after doing the film, with Fritts taking some of the members east to become the "Korn Kobblers", and Fisher staying in Hollywood to open a nightclub. The Schnickelfritz Band never appeared in another film, Fisher appeared in several others as a band leader.
Soundtracks:
"Daydreaming (All Night Long)"
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Sung by Rudy Vallee
"The Latin Quarter"
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Al Dubin
Performed by Rudy Vallee, Rosemary Lane, Allen Jenkins and Mabel Todd
"My Adventure"
(credit only)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
(credited on-screen but not used)
"Colonel Corn"
(uncredited)
Written by Freddie Fisher
Performed by the Schnickelfritz Band
"I Wanna Go Back to Bali"
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Al Dubin
Sung by Rudy Vallee and the showgirls
Played by The Schnickelfritz band
"Put That Down in Writing"
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Played when Terry walks down the corridor and encounters Mona in his room
"A Stranger in Paree"
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Al Dubin
Sung by Rudy Vallee and Rosemary Lane
"Listen to the Mockingbird"
(uncredited)
Music by Richard Milburn
Lyrics by Septimus Winner
Performed by the Schnickelfritz Band
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