Busby Berkeley

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Moraldo Rubini
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Busby Berkeley

Post by Moraldo Rubini »

I'm surprised that we've had this musical forum for so long without a thread regarding the kalaidoscopic director Busby Berkeley. So I'm going to launch it with this article from today's New York Times regarding an upcoming tribute to this genius task-master:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/10/arts/ ... 1&emc=eta1

What's your favorite Berkeley movie? Number? Do you prefer his black-and-white pictures, or his bejeweled Technicolor feats?
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mrsl
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Post by mrsl »

Wonderful article. One, I'm sure at least 50% of the people reading it, have no idea who he's talking about, but we are the lucky ones.

I agree, in how have we come this far with never mentioning Busby? To be 100% honest, I couldn't possible pick a favorite routine, but only because they are all so good, but I never paid attention to what movie they were in. I pretty much expected them in most Dick Powell/Ruby Keeler movies, later I know he directed some of Esther Williams water ballets and I think I would say I prefer the B&W because of the lighting, however the color ones look more like a real kaleidescope. I'll try to pay more attention and maybe come back with an answer.

Anne
Anne


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klondike

Post by klondike »

Well, for me, it's gotta be The Gang's All Here!

Besides a real boatload of jaw-dropping Busby-ganza numbers, some of which showcase his talents at their most spiroscopically proto-psychedelic, there's a nice bouquet of "straight" numbers, like the majestic opening cover of the then-still-sensational "Brazil", serenaded (all to briefly) in robust Portugese . . and along the way, fun little swingers like the following duet with Benny Goodman & Carmen Miranda:

[youtube][/youtube]

Mix these liberally with a delightful torrent of comedic patter from Miranda, Eugene Pallette ("don't be a square from Delaware!"), Charlotte Greenwood & Edward Everett Horton, and what you've got is a real party movie . . sadly with some measure of regrettably wooden dialogue between the mis-cast romantic leads.
melwalton
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Busby Berkley

Post by melwalton »

I'll pick THE WORDS ARE IN MY HEART from THE GOLDDIGGERS OF 1935.
Not for the choreography ( design? ) but for the music. I'm partial to good waltzes and this one puts me on a higher plane Take a bow, Harry Warren.
Other favorite BB numbers are BY A WATERFALL and THE SHADOW WALTZ.
I liked the way he did THE LULLABY OF BROADWAY with Winnie Shaw. .... mel
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Moraldo Rubini
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Post by Moraldo Rubini »

klondike wrote:Well, for me, it's gotta be The Gang's All Here!

Besides a real boatload of jaw-dropping Busby-ganza numbers, some of which showcase his talents at their most spiroscopically proto-psychedelic, there's a nice bouquet of "straight" numbers, like the majestic opening cover of the then-still-sensational "Brazil", serenaded (all to briefly) in robust Portugese . . and along the way, fun little swingers like the [above] duet with Benny Goodman & Carmen Miranda.

Mix these liberally with a delightful torrent of comedic patter from Miranda, Eugene Pallette ("don't be a square from Delaware!"), Charlotte Greenwood & Edward Everett Horton, and what you've got is a real party movie . . sadly with some measure of regrettably wooden dialogue between the mis-cast romantic leads.
You're so right, Klondike! I took the DVD of this (from the Carmen Miranda set, not from the controversial Alice Faye set) to North Carolina last summer. I was visiting the summer home of friends, and the entire family gathered around the set. I watched them being surprised and delighted by this "old movie". It's so surreal (dancing strawberries and Carmen singing under a banana chapeau), so bizarre (singing disembodied heads and a tribute to the "polka dot") and so delightful that it still works today. Don't forget to watch for Jeanne Crain's screen debut! She's poolside at the house.
melwalton wrote:I'll pick THE WORDS ARE IN MY HEART from THE GOLDDIGGERS OF 1935.
Not for the choreography (design?) but for the music. I'm partial to good waltzes and this one puts me on a higher plane Take a bow, Harry Warren.
Other favorite BB numbers are BY A WATERFALL and THE SHADOW WALTZ.
I liked the way he did THE LULLABY OF BROADWAY with Winnie Shaw. .... mel
I believe "The Words Are in My Heart" is the "dancing pianos" number, right? I once spent an afternoon studying how this number was produced. I found myself concentrating on all the "hidden" piano movers. It's a delight.

"Lullaby of Broadway" is one of my favorite tap numbers in any movie. It's a narrative in tap; disturbing, creepy and exquisite, exposing the dark underbelly of the upper classes. The deco simplicity of a nightclub for two, which is overtaken by a stomping army of debauched dancers. It includes Berkeley's patented dizzying camera angles. We see dancers from above and below (tapping on a plexiglass floor!). The rhythms are intoxicating and the entire number is breathtaking, right up to the suprise ending.
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charliechaplinfan
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Post by charliechaplinfan »

Footlight Parade is one of my favorite films, a musical number with James Cagney, no you wouldn't think that would be beatable but By A Waterfall just has me in awe everytime. Everything else in fun too.
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Post by melwalton »

Yes, THE WORDS ARE IN MY HEART is the one with the pianos.
In the Warners / Bb movies they played the tunes over and over 'till they became insidious and produced a euphoric feeling. BY A WATERFALL is a good example . Oh, bring back those days.. .mel
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Post by rudyfan »

Oh, for me, hands down is Footlight Parade (though directed by Archie Mayo, right?) By a Waterfall has got to be one of the very best numbers of all time. I'm also incredibly fond of Gold Diggers of 1933..Can't help it, a total sucker for the snappy dialogue.

His far out numbers always make me smile and I always appreciated Warner's effective use, (or reuse), of the pool in a cameo in Ruth Chatterton's delicious Female.
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Post by charliechaplinfan »

I noticed that too, I watched Female a few months ago, I'm sure I commented upon it at the time. I quite liked hearing it in the context of another film.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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Post by Birdy »

Well, I'm a Golddiggers 33 fan all the way, seconded only by 42nd Street. Mainly because Ginger is in both, and they are such pre-code fun. Did you know BB himself is listed as 'uncredited call boy' for GD33? Has anyone ever spotted him? I can't say as I remember, but will have to look.

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Post by moira finnie »

I tend to love parts of several Busby Berkeley movies, though I really loved In Caliente and Wonder Bar in their entirety when I caught them on TCM a few years ago--maybe because someone else directed the actors, while Buzz concentrated on the numbers. The Berkeley films' naughtiness is often very appealing, and though the cheerful racism, tossed off toward one and all, African-Americans, Jews, and Irish, grates on us today, that is weirdly fascinating too. The peek into Berkeley's fevered imagination and the endlessly bizarre, voyeuristic arrangements of body parts, especially the female form, get pretty peculiar at times as well, but I like to think that Mr. B. may have been a cutting edge surrealist, along with Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali! :wink:

Here are some of my faves, with "Shanghai Lil" the outstanding number among them all for me, thanks to a certain Mr. Cagney and an endearingly awkward Ruby Keeler:

I agree that one of the best Berkeley movies is surely Gold Diggers of 1933, Birdy, though more for Aline MacMahon's atypical role as an aging but spritely chorine than the rest of the movie--and Joan Blondell's remarkable "Forgotten Man" number at the end.
[youtube][/youtube]

Footlight Parade for Cagney's "Shanghai Lil" and for the sight of Frank McHugh trying to teach chorus girls how to walk like a cat, complete with tail!:
[youtube][/youtube]

Gold Diggers of 1935 for "Lullaby of Broadway":
[youtube][/youtube]
Avatar: Frank McHugh (1898-1981)

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Re: Busby Berkeley

Post by TikiSoo »

Another big Busby fan here.
Anyone catch the Busby tribute in The Big Lebowski? There's even an anashamed rip-off from By A Waterfall with Jeff Bridges traveling through the spread legs of the dancing girls. If you listen to the director's voice track, they explain it had to be completely computer generated because Bridges' shoulders were too large to actually fit. He was shrunk and manipulated for a truly dreamy effect.
I can only imagine what Busby could do with modern tools of today. But most of the real charm of his work is that it really was as you see it, the only manipulation was costume, lighting & camera angles!
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Re: Busby Berkeley

Post by charliechaplinfan »

I just love all of the Busby Berkeley films I've seen. How I would love to watch By A Waterfall on the big screen, in fact I'd love to watch any of the Berkeley films from the thirties on the big screen.

I also like Remember my Forgotten Man it's haunting and hard hitting, all the men who came back from the war, injured or with no job. When I watch the movies of the thirties they have a power or a conscience that I don't feel in today's movies.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
melwalton
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Re: Busby Berkeley

Post by melwalton »

In a movie called INTERNATIONAL HOUSE ( Paramount c. 1932) they used that one with the camera going under the chorines legs. I don't know who did the choreography I've forgotten the song. Possably SHE WAS A CHINA TEACUP AND HE WAS JUST A MUG It was very daring and censorable.
Berkeley did some numbers for Eddie Cantor movies, possably ROMAN SCANDALS...... mel


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TikiSoo
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Re: Busby Berkeley

Post by TikiSoo »

I also want to mention my huge disappointment in the Box Set "The Busby Berkeley Collection". Sure, the collection of movies is GREAT, but none of the soundtracks were updated or remastered.
I buy DVDs solely on the idea that I'm buying "more" than what I can see broadcast on TV. Meaning extra features, cleaner picture and better audio. Any musical released on DVD should have digitally remaster soundtracks, imho.
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