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4.9/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 4.9/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Goldie Gets Along remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Should you watch Goldie Gets Along today? Honestly, that depends on your patience for 1930s fluff. If you find old studio-era charm comforting, you might enjoy it. If you want a movie that actually knows where it's going, you'll probably hate it.
The whole thing feels like a collection of scenes taped together with chewing gum. Goldie leaves her stifling aunts because they call her a 'hussy'—which is a word I haven't heard in real life in about twenty years. It’s a classic setup for a girl hitting the big city, but the movie never really decides if it’s a comedy or a drama.
Lili Damita is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. She has this look on her face in almost every scene like she’s trying to remember if she left the oven on back in France. It’s charming, in a weird way.
The supporting cast is packed with faces you recognize if you’ve spent way too much time watching movies from this era. Seeing Walter Brennan pop up is always a trip. Even here, he has that same scratchy, weary energy that makes him feel like he just walked off a different set entirely.
It’s not as interesting as something like The Conquering Power, which at least has a bit more visual grit. This feels like it was filmed in a library that smelled like mothballs.
There is a scene near the middle where Goldie is just walking down a street, and it lingers for about fifteen seconds too long. You can almost feel the director thinking, 'Do we have enough footage for the run time?' 🙄
You don't watch this for the plot. You watch it to see how they thought Hollywood worked back then. It’s a nice little time capsule, I guess. It’s just not a particularly good movie.
Also, the ending. I won't spoil it, but it just sort of stops. It’s like the film ran out of electricity. I kind of respected that, actually.