Wonder Bar (1934)

Meine Damen und Herren- Mes dames et Messieurs- Ladies and Gentlemen….
He whips her with a whip! He whips her, he whips her, he whips her…
But she loves it!

Wonder Bar is a decadent nightclub somewhere in Paris hosted by Al Wonder a provocateur with biting wit and a stealthy influence over the wealthy and influential patrons who enter his club. Wonder’s lurid exhibitions of impossibly glamorous sado-masochistic performances seduce the curious customers where they become prey to beautiful gold diggers and continental gigolos. All the while the band plays sophisticated foxtrots and waltzes that veer into the psychedelic and surreal thanks to choreographer Busby Berekeley.

After a brief prologue that introduces some of the characters’ back stories, the film unfolds in a single night: a complex la ronde of inter-relationships and overlapping motives. Crooning bandleader Dick Powell pines for the exquisite Dolores del Rio. She loves badboy Ricardo Cortez her dancing partner, but he is ready to cash in on his affair with the wife of an important politician and disappear forever.

Unfortunately the wife has come to retrieve her love token, a diamond bracelet which Cortez is desperately trying to exchange for cash. Her husband reported it stolen and has involved detectives who are putting the heat on Cortez. Fearing his past will be exposed he must get away tonight but Del Rio refuses to let him go. Their relationship climaxes on stage as Cortez whips the face of del Rio, determined to make her despise him!

Meanwhile, Jolson realizes a scandal is imminent and the politician could close Wonder Bar in revenge. He begins to quietly manipulate the situation, paying off the troublesome Cortez and steering the lovesick del Rio to himself. But things go too far. Among the liaisons and affairs there is a murder, a suicide. Love is gained and lost. A crime is covered up and the guilty go free. It’s just another night at Wonder Bar….

“Don’t Say Goodnight”

But don’t worry about the plot. This love n-gon is barely sketched in before being steamrolled by the platinum-wigged Berkeley girls in a dizzying infinity mirror waltz “Don’t Say Goodnight”. Rows of identical chorines chime in with a verse and we have entered Berkeley time-space. They reveal a regiment of phallic columns which might be giant candle tapers dripping with dark wax at the tip. The columns gently glide away revealing more chorines in transparent white skirts. They wave their arms and meander through the columns, which again glide away to reveal men in white tuxedos and black masks.
…more about Wonder Bar