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Remembering the Forgotten Man of Gold Diggers of 1933

Remember My Forgotten Man

(All images are taken screenshots taken from the video in the link above

Filmmakers have long been using their films as an avenue of discussing contemporary social concerns. In the 1930’s this held particularly true. Gangsters, juvenile delinquents, poverty, sex—these topics and more filled the silver screen. At the time of their release, these films commented on problems that were central to the social consciousness of the country. The Depression provided a particularly fruitful topic for filmmakers because it was something that impacted all aspects of American life.

Of the big five studios in the 1930’s, Warner Bros was the best known for their socially conscience films. Warner films took their plots straight from newspaper headlines of the day and told the story of struggling working class citizens. These films got to the core of what was happening in America. One of the best examples of this use of social issues in film is Gold Diggers of 1933. Released by Warner Bros in 1933, the film looks at three chorus girls and a producer struggling to survive in New York. While the story uses the Depression as a backdrop for the struggles of the girls, it is the musical numbers that are the real statements. Made up of four songs “We’re in the Money,” “Pettin in the Park,” “Shadow Waltz,” and “Remember My Forgotten Man,” it is the last of these that illustrates the strongest sense of the Depression and provide a visual representation of the fears and concerns that permeated Depression America.

“Remember My Forgotten Man,” is a ballad about the situation of the World War I veterans in America. The song calls for the United States government to do something to help these men who have been forgotten and emphasizes that by forgetting the men, they are also forgetting the women. The song raises important questions about government responsibility to the dispossessed and the impact that war has on men and women. The concept of the Forgotten Man was not a new concept, original to Gold Diggers of 1933. It has its origin in 1883 in a speech by William Sumner and was used by Franklin Roosevelt in a 1932 speech. 1932 was also the year that the Bonus Army marched on Washington. All of these would have an impact on “Remember My Forgotten Man.”

William Graham Sumner was the first person to illustrate the concept of the Forgotten Man. Sumner was an American sociologist who taught at Yale University from 1872-1909. The son of an English immigrant, he wrote widely about laissez-faire economics, individual liberty, and social inequalities. He subscribed to the idea of Social Darwinism and believed that poverty was a natural state for those that were inherently inferior. He believed that any form of social welfare was a hindrance to society.

In 1883, Sumner wrote a series of essays for Harper’s Weekly which would later be collected into a book entitled What Social Classes Owe to Each Other. Sumner introduced the concept of the forgotten man in one of these essays. For Sumner the Forgotten Man was the middle class worker who was taxed to pay for programs helping those he did not feel deserved the help. To illustrate this, he explained that A and B form policies to help X and in turn, A, B, and C are expected to pay for those policies. C has no say in this policy making, and is thus forgotten. The Forgotten Man is, “the simple, honest laborer, ready to earn his living by productive work. We pass him by because he is independent, self-supporting, and asks no favors. He does not appeal to the emotions or excite the sentiments. He only wants to make a contract and fulfill it, with respect on both sides and favor on neither side.” Sumner does not limit his discussion of the Forgotten Man to men only, he clarifies, “All the burdens fall on him, or on her, for it is time to remember that the Forgotten Man is not seldom a woman…” He goes on to explain that women and children work in mills and that their money, goes not to help them live, but, “to pay for the industrial system which only stands in their way and makes it harder for them to get the goods.” The ideas outlined in Sumner’s essay sets the stage for Franklin Roosevelt’s speech and is the backbone of “Remember My Forgotten Man.”

Roosevelt used the imagery of the Forgotten Man in a radio speech, popularly known as “The Forgotten Man Speech,” during his first presidential campaign on April 7, 1932. He says, “These unhappy times call for the building of plans that rest upon the forgotten, the unorganized but the indispensable units of economic power for plans like those of 1917 that build from the bottom up and not from the top down, that put their faith once more in the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid.”

Roosevelt’s speech calls upon the government to help those at the bottom, not only the middle class, but also the working class. Rather than providing economic relief from the top down, he wants to provide relief from the bottom up. He calls upon Americans to remember World War I and the sacrifices made by those who served and also the mobilization that went into fighting the war. Roosevelt’s aim is to return to this idea, of mobilizing the economy to function, not for war, but for the working class. By calling into memory World War I he is also calling for the public to remember a time when America faced an emergency and prevailed. Roosevelt’s speech uses the image of the farmer and the veteran which are both illustrated in “Remember My Forgotten Man.”

At the same time that Roosevelt is delivering his radio speech, the Bonus Army was preparing to march to Washington. Demanding payment of their bonus, 20,000 World War I veterans under the leadership of Walter Water of Oregon, set up camp on May 25. Shortly after, a bill that would give the veterans their payment was struck down and the force was told to leave. Violence broke out when the Bonus Army stayed encamped and President Hoover sent Douglas MacArthur and an Army force to fix the situation on July 28. They shot tear gas into the camps and the Bonus Army set fire to their tents. Images from that evening would spread all over the country and bring to light the struggle of the veterans. Eventually the veterans would get their bonus, but for now the damage was done. The Bonus Army debacle illustrates the idea of the Forgotten Man. The veterans had been asked to go to war, fought and succeeded, but were forgotten upon returning home. It would be this image that would pervade “Remember My Forgotten Man.”

Visually the number is striking. The piece opens with Carol, the main female lead, along the street, the question is raised of whether she is a prostitute.

Carol by lamp

 

Why is she on the street, what has brought her there. As she walks along the street, she finds the policeman and the veteran. A  close up of the medal inside the man’s coat signals that he is a veteran. This is the first visual of the Forgotten Man.

Medal closeupVeteran, Carol, Popo

 

This scene also radiates a certain level of contempt for the police and authority.  Carol stops the officer from arresting the veteran. The officer is depicted as being in the wrong for attempting to arrest the man. This notion of contempt for authority was also seen throughout gangster films of the time period. In gangster films the police were largely absent, and when they were included they were corrupt and usually in collusion with the gangsters. A low opinion of authority, in particular of the government, characterized the early 1930s in America, due in part, to the lack of governmental response to the Depression.

As the scene progresses a number of women are shown in windows.  The woman holding the child brings to light the idea of the Forgotten Woman and Child.

Woman and baby

 

With the number taking place in 1933, it can be assumed that she is not a mother left single by the war, but rather a mother whose husband has left to find work.The next woman is older, sitting in a rocking chair twisting a piece of fabric. The representation of the mother who has sacrificed her son for the war.

Old woman

Once the film cuts to black and then reveals the marching soldiers the history of these men are uncovered.

Well-Wishers 1Well-Wishers 2

They are sent to war in a parade of well-wishers. The tone is happy and patriotic. The women rush into the marching lines and kiss the men goodbye. They wave flags and cheer. The next time the men are shown, they are on the frontlines. The atmosphere has transformed from cheering women and well-wishers, to rain and thundering artillery.

Marching WoundedMarching on the Front 

Marching Wounded 3Marching Wounded 2

As the men march, groups of wounded join them. This illustrates the suffering of these men during the war. The transformation ends when the men are back at home and in a breadline.

Breadline

During Busby Berkely’s trademark Parade of Faces, the usual line of beautiful women is replaced with veterans in the breadline. A close-up of each face reveals the men to be haggard and wearing ragged clothing. They look as if they carry the weight of the world on their shoulders—demoralized at their core.

Parade of Faces

The last portion of the song ties all of the images shown together. The men march in uniform with bayoneted rifles along a set of tiered arches.

Marching Tiers Better

This reminds the audience that the Forgotten Man is the World War I veteran. The men of the breadline march towards the screen, demonstrating what awaits the fate of the silhouetted soldier above them. Carol’s place at the center of the men illustrates the impact that the situation has on women.

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The men reach out to her, but do not touch her. There is a physical separation between the sexes. Men and women cannot be together because of the Depression. Men must go out to find work, leaving women behind. This is also alluded to in the window scenes with the women at home by themselves. Their expression is much like that of the men in the breadline, demoralized and weighted. Matthew Johnson, a biographer of Joan Blondell, describes the visual of the men reaching for Carol, “[t]hey reach out to her in communion, each a victim of society’s betrayal.” Society and the government has betrayed the Forgotten Man by continuing to ignore his pleas. At this time there was also a sense that the government had betrayed the country by entering into war. Little had come of World War I and many felt that a generation of young men died to fight a war that was not theirs. This is illustrated in the literature of the time as well, in particular All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Marie Remarque, a German veteran and the USA trilogy by John dos Passos.

The number becomes the visual representation of the Forgotten Man concept. Sumner’s Forgotten Man is imposed upon by the government to take care of the poor. When this impinges upon his or her ability to live, the government forgets him and moves on. Roosevelt’s Forgotten Man is the World War I veteran that had been asked by the government to fight a war and then forgotten upon returning home. These men need remembered now in order to pull the economy out the Depression. They are the backbone of the country. These images are clearly illustrated in “Remember My Forgotten Man.”

 

 

 

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