Wonder Bar (1934)

A disparate group of people gather together at the Wonder Bar, the hottest see and be seen nightspot in Paris. In addition to the bar's owner (Al Jolson), there's a gigolo (Ricardo Cortez) who has two desperate women in love with him, a married woman (Kay Francis) and his dance partner (Dolores Del Rio), the singing band leader (Dick Powell), four married American tourists (Ruth Donnelly, Guy Kibbee, Louise Fazenda, Hugh Herbert) with cheating on their spouses on their mind, a suicidal German (Robert Barrat) among them. Based on a play by Geza Herczeg and Karl Farkas and directed by Lloyd Bacon (MARKED WOMAN). Considering this is not a pre code film, it's amazing what this racy movie gets away with. Gigolos, prostitutes, homosexuals and a murder that is covered up and the murderer gets off scot-free! For a 1930s Busby Berkeley musical, it's pretty dark. This is the movie where when two men dance together, Al Jolson quips, "Boys will be boys. Woo!". Alas, the film's big musical finale is Jolson in blackface in a musical number where he and his donkey go to heaven! There are no words to describe how awful and racially offensive it is to modern sensibilities. The movie was a big hit. With Fifi D'Orsay and Hal Le Roy.