Product Description
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42ND STREET (1933) Ruby Keeler taps, Dick Powell croons, Ginger
Rogers quips and musicals are back on the cinematic as
Berkeley imaginatively stages the title tune, Shuffle Off to
Buffalo and more. GOLD DIGGERS OF 1937 (1936) Insurance peddler
Dick Powell asks Joan Blondell to imagine how life would be With
Plenty of Money and You. There’s razzle-dazzle enty too, with
Berkeley’s precision-formation All’s Fair in Love and War.
FOOTLIGHT PARADE (1933) James Cagney’s troupers roar through
Chicago to stage same-night shows in different venues.
Highlights: Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler meet By a Waterfall,
Cagney seeks Shanghai Lil. DAMES (1934) I Only Have Eyes for You.
And for the screen. Berkeley’s bravura creations include a subway
dream and a motion-mosaic of a showgirl finale. With Dick Powell
and Ruby Keeler. DISC 1: SIDE A ~ 42ND STREET INCLUDES: • 3
Shorts – Harry Warren: America’s Foremost Composer, Hollywood
Newsreel and A Trip Through a Hollywood Studio • Notes on Busby
Berkleley • Subtitles: English & Français (Main Feature. Bonus
Material/Trailer May Not Be Subtitled). SIDE B ~ GOLD DIGGERS OF
1937 INCLUDES: • Historical Short - The Romance of Louisiana • 2
Cartoons – Plenty of Money and You and Speaking of the Weather •
2 Excerpts from 1929’s Gold Diggers of Broadway • Theatrical
Trailer • Subtitles: English & Français (Main Feature. Bonus
Material/Trailer May Not Be Subtitled). DISC 2: SIDE A ~
FOOTLIGHT PARADE INCLUDES: • Featurette Footlight Parade: Music
for the Decades • 2 Shorts – Rambing ’Round Radio Row #8 and
Vaudeville Reel #1 • 2 Cartoons – Honeymoon Hotel and Young and
y • Theatrical Trailer • Subtitles: English, Français &
Español (Main Feature. Bonus Material/Trailer May Not Be
Subtitled). SIDE B ~ DAMES INCLUDES: • Featurette Busby
Berkeley’s Kaleidoscopic Eyes • 3 Shorts – And She Learned About
Dames, Good Morning, Eve and Melody Master: Don Redman and His
Orchestra • 2 Cartoons – I Only Have Eyes for You and Those
Beautiful Dames • Audio-Only Bonus: Direct from Hollywood Radio
Promo • Theatrical Trailer • Subtitles: English, Français &
Español (Main Feature. Bonus Material/Trailer May Not Be
Subtitled).
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Turner Classic Movies' Greatest Classic Films Collection: Busby
Berkeley collects four movies on two double-sided discs, with the
bonus features that appeared on the single-disc versions of the
movies. This set celebrates the work of one of the most visually
inventive director-choreographers in the history of film. The
centerpiece is of course 42nd Street (1933). This is the
quintessential backstage musical in which young Peggy Sawyer
(Ruby Keeler) goes from wide-eyed chorus girl to leading lady,
urged by Warner Baxter, "You're going out there a youngster, but
you've got to come back a star!" A cast that also includes Dick
Powell and Ginger Rogers (when she was an RKO contract player and
before she teamed up with Fred Astaire) performs "Shuffle Off to
Buffalo, " "You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me," and the title
tune, in which Keeler tap-dances on a black surface that turns
out to be the roof of a car. Berkeley's numbers are known for
their kaleidoscopic patterns, their stark black-and-white
contrast, and their sheer sense of spectacle. But more than
anything, they're known for their celebration of women. By the
dozens, they dance, play pianos, frolic in waterfalls, and, in
some of the most overtly sexual numbers, stand spread-eagled in a
line as the camera passes through their legs. In many ways, the
title song from Dames sums it up best: "What do you go for / to
see a show for? / Tell the truth, you go to see those beautiful
dames."
While Berkeley choreographed and directed the musical sequences
in these films, the plot sections were generally directed by
others such as Lloyd Bacon. Keeler and Powell were the most
frequent headliners, supported by character players such as Joan
Blondell, Guy Kibbee, and Ned Sparks, and most of the songs were
contributed by Harry Warren and Al Dubin. The stories aren't
much, usually revolving around the putting-together of a musical
show as well as the lives and loves of chorus girls. The term
"gold diggers," which is the source of the title of another of
the films included in this set, refers unflatteringly to chorus
girls in search of wealthy husbands.
Gold Diggers of 1937 features Powell singing "With Plenty of
Money and You" to Blondell and a big set-piece of "All's Fair in
Love and war." Dames (1934) has the aforementioned title tune as
well as "I Only Have Eyes for You" (with Powell singing to dozens
of Keeler faces). Footlight Parade changes things up a bit by
starring James Cagney as a producer desperately cranking out
musical numbers. Keeler and Powell emerge from their
bit-character roles to headline two of the big productions
stacked together at the end, while Cagney replaces Powell in the
third, showing off the vaudeville hoofing skills he would use
later in 1942's Yankee Doodle Dandy. DVD supplements include new
and old featurettes and vintage cartoons and shorts. --David
Horiuchi