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Warner Home Video has released Vol. 2 of the Busby Berkeley Collection in a boxed set containing four titles new to DVD. Here are the details from the official press release.
The
“Buzz†continues when word gets around that Warner Home Video will debut more
musical extravaganzas in the Busby Berkeley Collection Volume 2
on September 16. The collection features four more Berkeley classics which are not only new-to-DVD titles, but are making their long-awaited home
video debut. Included in the collection are Gold Diggers of 1937, Gold Diggers
in Paris,
Hollywood Hotel and Varsity Show. Following in the
dancing footsteps of Warner’s successful 2006 collection, this second spectacular volume from one
of the greatest motion picture choreographers of all time also includes
musical shorts, featurettes and classic cartoons. It’s musical entertainment
magic at its toe-tapping, finger-snapping best by the Oscar® nominated
master.
The 4-disc giftset will sell for $39.92
SRP and the single titles will be
available for $19.97 SRP.
Busby Berkeley
William Berkeley Enos was
born in Los Angeles
on November 29, 1895.
He began his career in the U.S. Army conducting and directing parades and then
staging shows for the soldiers. After returning to civilian life, he became a
stage actor and assistant director for smaller acting troupes. He found his
calling in 1925 when he was forced to take the reins of the Broadway musical
“Holka Polka,†and with his talent for staging lavish and complex dance routines
he soon became one of Broadway’s top dance directors. Samuel Goldwyn brought
him to Hollywood
in 1930 to stage the musical numbers for several Eddie Cantor musicals but his
contribution raised little awareness with audiences or the industry.
Darryl F. Zanuck,
then head of production at Warner Bros., gave “Buzz†his first huge film break
-- directing the musical numbers of Warner’s then newest project, 42nd
Street. The studio took a huge gamble on both the property and Berkeley; but a snappy script and a story that has become
known as the granddaddy of backstage musicals made the film a massive hit, primarily
as a result of the amazing, kaleidoscopic and fascinating choreography Berkeley created for the
end of the film. It wasn’t long before he was given a seven-year contract at
the studio.
Berkeley
went on to work on almost every great Warner musical produced in the ‘30s,
receiving three Oscar® nominations for Best Dance Direction.
Using only one camera, he was fearless about getting just the right shot, even
if it meant drilling holes in roofs and floors to achieve his vision. He
dressed his chorus girls in outlandish costumes -- as coins or musical
instruments or in nothing but wisps of gauzy material. There was no limit to
his imagination.
Many studios tried to
copy Berkeley’s
style but their efforts were pale imitations. There was only one Busby
Berkeley. Although he made his last contribution to cinema more than 40 years
ago, Berkeley
remains an icon in American culture.
(Continue reading for specific details about each film being released.)
The Films
Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936)
Dick
Powell plays an insurance agent with musical ambitions while Joan Blondell is a
showgirl who gives up spangles for a stenographer’s pad. But the plot is
secondary as dance creator Busby Berkeley turns a garden party into a tap-happy
romp, and Blondell leads leggy soldiers in a banner-waving, precision-formation
rendition of “All’s Fair in Love and War†that’s Berkeley spectacle at its
showy best. Berkeley
received an Academy nod for Best Dance Direction.
DVD
Special Features
·
1997 documentary Busby Berkeley: Going Through the Roof
·
Technicolor historical short The Romance of Louisiana
·
Classic cartoons Plenty of Money and You and Speaking of the Weather
·
Two excerpts from 1929’s Gold Diggers of Broadway
·
Theatrical trailer
Gold Diggers in Paris (1938)
The Gold
Diggers are headed for Paris,
bringing their feathers, frills, and ballet shoes. A French diplomat has
mistaken 43rd Street’s
Club Ballé for the American Academy Ballet, and the chorus cuties aren’t going
to turn down a free trip to the City of Light
over such a tiny misunderstanding. Rudy Vallee stars as the club’s impresario
and Busby Berkeley creates and directs the inventive musical numbers, both ‘magnifique’
and loaded with moxie.
DVD
Special Features:
·
Two Broadway Brevities musical shorts: The
Candid Kid and Little Me
·
Classic cartoon Love and Curses
·
Theatrical trailer
Hollywood
Hotel (1937)
The
plot about a Hollywood newcomer (Dick Powell)
caught between a spoiled star (Lola
Lane) and her likeable look-alike (Lola’s
look-alike sister Rosemary Lane)
is secondary to watching Busby Berkeley’s ace direction – and music, music,
music. The film opens with the jubilant debut of Tinseltown’s unofficial anthem
Hooray for Hollywood.
The jaunty Let That Be a Lesson to You shows off Berkeley’s mastery of editing and camera
angles. And Benny Goodman and his Orchestra -- with Harry James on trumpet and
Gene Krupa on drums – swing, swing, swing into Sing, Sing, Sing.
DVD
Special Features:
·
TechnicolorÃ’ historical short The Romance of Robert Burns
·
Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy comedy short Double
Talk
·
Classic cartoon Porky’s Five & Ten
·
Theatrical trailer
Varsity Show (1937)
Broadway
impresario Chuck Daly (Dick Powell) leads an A+ cast of coeds and their guys,
including film-debuting sisters Priscilla and Rosemary Lane and fluty-voiced comic
character star Sterling Holloway, in this exuberant college musical. Oscar
nominated for his dance direction in this film, Berkeley creates and directs a rah-rah,
football-themed finale featuring high-style overhead shots, kinetic camerawork
and hundreds of dancers on a 50 ft. by 60 ft. staircase.
DVD
Special Features
·
Musical short Flowers from the Sky
·
Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy comedy short A
Neckin’ Party
·
Classic cartoon Have You Got Any Castles
·
Theatrical trailer
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