Yesterday I posted the astonishing ‘The Continental’ dance sequence from ‘The Gay Divorcee’. It turns out it was the work of a man named Dave Gould, not Hermes Pan as I’d always assumed. Now, I don’t mean to sound like a jerk but there’s very little about movies of the 30s and 40s I don’t know. (Reading that sentence back I see that it’s the quintessentially jerky thing to say). So when I run across a complete obscurity–a name that not only have I’ve never encountered but whose accomplishments are beyond impressive–I take notice. This was the case with Dave Gould. Somehow the choreographer/director has escaped much attention or critical appreciation and this is manifestly unfair. Gould was Hungarian, born in 1899 and I can’t tell you much about him beyond that. His work, though, speaks for itself. Daring, dazzling and unlike anything else being done at the time, Gould had an imagination that seemed to have no limit and for a short time in Hollywood found a niche that accommodated his flamboyant ideas and intricate staging. He won an Oscar for ‘Best Dance Direction’ (the category was only to last a few years) for the above number from ‘Folies Bergere De Paris’, a 1935 musical vehicle for Maurice Chevalier which also starred Ann Southern and Merle Oberon. Specifically, the award was given for the ‘Straw Hat’ number which is what I’ve posted. Gould’s career peaked over the next several years. He moved to MGM where he worked on high-profile projects like ‘Roaslie’, ‘A Day At The Races’, ‘Broadway Melody of 1936’ etc. Following that, his career seems to have moved into the short subject world, directing a long series of titles that I’ve just begun to investigate, having never heard of any of them either. Like Busby Berkeley, Gould was not simply a choreographer but a cinematic designer and from the look of yesterday’s and today’s postings one can only imagine how complex and intricate the planning of each of these numbers was.  More Dave Gould coming up…