Gold Diggers of 1933   Don't miss GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933, this week's Revival at the Charles Theatre. SHOW TIMES Saturday, January 16 - Noon ($6); Monday, January 18 - 7 PM ($8); Thursday, January 21 - 9PM ($8). 1933. Dir. Mervyn LeRoy. Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Guy Kibbee, Ned Sparks, Ginger Rogers. 96m. bw. "'Gold Diggers of 1933,' this weekend's entry in the Charles Theatre's blissfully eccentric Saturday revival series, is one of those relics from a bygone era that can't help but win your heart. Director Mervyn LeRoy and, especially, choreographer Busby Berkeley turned on all the charm they could find, employed just about every chorus girl within a 20-mile radius of Hollywood (maybe that's an exaggeration, but not by much) and managed to put out a movie that made the Depression appear exciting and, more important, winnable. Dick Powell stars as the scion of a wealthy family who, unbeknownst to his parents, hopes to come to the rescue of a beleaguered Broadway show. Of course, given that the show's stars include Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler and Ginger Rogers, it's no wonder he wants to help them out. The movie is all about baseless optimism in the face of dire circumstances - a message perhaps as pertinent today as it ever was. And the kaleidoscopic wonders staged by Berkeley, featuring dozens of carefully synchronized dancers, huge surrealistic sets and camera angles that seem to defy the laws of physics, remain a delight by any conceivable standard." (Chris Kaltenbach, The Baltimore Sun) watch the trailer "...By the time of 'Gold Diggers of 1933,' Mr. Berkeley had dissolved the spatial confines of the stage and was mounting his extravaganzas within the big, black box of a gigantic Warner Brothers soundstage, where Euclidean notions of space dissolved in a fantasy world without visible borders and only occasional concessions to Renaissance perspective. Using few optical effects, Mr. Berkeley created his incredible illusions — vast nightclubs filled with tuxedoed dancers, endless chorus lines moving through complex geometrical patterns, city streets that came alive with dance, often risqué gags and dramatic incident (including at least two deaths) — through the classic methods of stage magic: mirrors and black-suited assistants, who blended invisibly into the black backgrounds. There are moments in every Berkeley number where the director seems to have taken off completely for deep space: images so abstract that it is difficult to identify the human figures that compose them at their base..." (Dave Kehr) Next Week: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in SWING TIME. Charles Theatre 1711 N. Charles Street (410) 727-FILM