Product Description
42ND STREET (1933) Ruby Keeler taps, Dick Powell croons, Ginger Rogers quips and musicals are back on the cinematic map 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 aplenty 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 Healthy • 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
- Aspect Ratio : 1.33:1
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : NR (Not Rated)
- Product Dimensions : 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 2.4 ounces
- Director : Busby Berkeley, Ray Enright
- Media Format : NTSC, Multiple Formats, Subtitled, Black & White, Full Screen
- Run time : 6 hours and 16 minutes
- Release date : November 2, 2010
- Actors : Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell, James Cagney, Dick Powell
- Subtitles: : English, French
- Language : English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
- Studio : WarnerBrothers
- Number of discs : 4
