BoardChiri
Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay
Beystiman
It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
Kodie Bird
True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.
Lee Eisenberg
Warner Bros. spent much of the 1930s as the studio that turned out gangster-themed movies (and launched the Looney Tunes later in the decade). It was a surprise to learn that the studio known for Humphrey Bogart and Bugs Bunny also made "Dames", the sort of musical for which MGM was usually known.What I like about this movie is that it shows puritanical people as regressive lunatics (they really are). I just wish that they had done so without all the musical numbers. Seriously, the whole thing is a happy-go-lucky ego trip. If you ask me, the best kind of musicals - aside from the Beatles' movies - are satirical ones: the musical versions of "Reefer Madness" and "The Evil Dead".As for this one, I took the time to look for strings holding up the clothes during the "Girl at the Ironing Board" sequence (and I could make out a few of them).Basically, it's not the sort of movie that I recommend.
David Lane
With 25 minutes to go, I opened up a browser window to IMDb and went ahead and gave this film a 3-star rating. Yes, it had the origin of the classic song "I Only Had Eyes for You", but was otherwise mediocre most of the time, and anywhere from inane or offensive the rest of the time. Even an ear-catching bit of very non-timeless dialog like, "I can do what I want! I'm free, white, and 21!" Worst of all, with 25 minutes to go, no vintage dazzling Berkeley choreography. It was obvious why it was not to be mentioned in the same breath as "42nd Street", "Footlight Parade", or "Gold Diggers of 1933."Then...wow! Berkeley choreography/cinematography goes into overdrive! Some of the wackiest, most beautiful visually stunning pieces ever featuring Berkeley's movement, Ruby Keeler's face (several of them, in fact), some amazing dissolves, and the beautiful black and white images dominate the last third of the film. I wish the first hour wasn't so underwhelming, but the rest of it does its best to make up for it!
Dunham16
His 1933 blockbuster 42ND STREET focuses on serious issues backstage of performers and show creators. The following year he used three members of its principal cast, Guy Kibbee, Dick Powell and Ruby Keeeler as three of his leads in DAMES casting other familiar faces from Hugh Herbert to Joan Blondell to Zasu Pitts. This is a screwball comedy few of the scenes played straight its ending ending having nothing to do with tying up the threads of the plot. The brilliance of this film in my opinion is the way Berkley softens the true presentation of the hard life and desperation of show business people of the era by having a longer production number of the finished show filmed than in most of his films and having his two well known character actors, Hugh and ZaSu filming much of their familiar comic shtick to soften the blow of the reality of the scenes of the hard times of the performers.
TheLittleSongbird
Anybody who loved those three films, or anything involving Busby Berkeley, will find plenty to be delighted by in Dames. The plot is very slight and can be painfully contrived as well (not that that is a surprise, there are a lot of musicals where the story is the weak point) and Hugh Herbert was for me annoying, as another reviewer says he was an acquired taste. Dames is very well-made and still holds up beautifully now, the highlight being the kaleidoscopic photography in I've Only Got Eyes For You which has a real dream-like quality. Even when not at his best or most dazzling, like in My Forgotten Man from Gold Diggers of 1933 and By the Waterfall from Footlight Parade, Berkeley still delivers on the spectacle front. The costumes and sets are sumptuous to say the least. The songs are great, especially the infectious title number and the sublime I've Only Got Eyes For You, and the choreography has a lot of spirit and pizazz (in the case of I've Only Got Eyes For You it's imaginative too, where else would you find a whole chorus of Ruby Keelers?), so on the musical and choreographic front Dames is pretty sensational. The script has a lot of sparkling wit and the film has a lot of energy that rarely lulls. The direction is efficient and not too overblown or static, if more in the production numbers than the more dramatic parts. The cast mostly are great, especially from a terrifically funny Joan Blondell and a hilariously wacky ZaSu Pitts. Ruby Keeler may not have ever been the greatest dancer or actress(singer as well) and doesn't have a lot to do here, she also overdoes some of the drama at times, but she is still immensely charming and adorable with a smile that can make one's heart melt and brings a lot of enthusiasm to her role. Believe it or not, this film features some of her best dancing as well. Dick Powell is handsome and just as charming, he sings with a very pleasant tone too. On the whole, not Busby Berkeley at his best but still super fun and definitely well worth seeing. 8/10 Bethany Cox
