Enter the kaleidoscopic fantasy world of Hollywood's chief architect of the American movie musical - Busby Berkeley. An extensive look at his Warner Brothers career.
Senior Seminar: Museum Exhibition Catalogue Essay for "Rock & Royal"Kate Marcus
Â
The document summarizes an exhibition titled "Rock & Royal" that showcases the influence of European royal courts on rock and roll fashion. It discusses how costumes from various performances like Madonna's "Vogue" incorporated historical references to subvert norms. The exhibition aims to make connections between seemingly unrelated topics in an fun and interactive way to appeal to diverse audiences and break stereotypes of museums. It also discusses the creator's inspiration from other fashion exhibitions and their goals for an alternative approach.
The document discusses how the media product uses, develops, and challenges conventions of real media.
[1] It uses conventions like locations commonly seen in music videos and soap operas, realistic costumes, and a linear narrative structure.
[2] It develops some conventions by using flashbacks in the music video and unique panel layouts in the digipak.
[3] It challenges few conventions, like using longer shots than typical in music videos and not including tour dates in the magazine advert. Overall, it aims to create a sense of realism while drawing from influences of other media.
The document appears to be an issue of Poncz Magazine. It includes information about the editor-in-chief and deputy editor, as well as details about the magazine website. There are also images by the artist Jon Rafman from his series "Sixteen Google Street Views" that depict solitary individuals in contemporary landscapes captured from Google Street View. The images are accompanied by a short essay discussing Street View photography and how it presents a different perspective on the individual's relationship to the external world than previous historical periods of art.
The document lists various projects in design and art direction including books on art museums, artists, decorative art, industrial design, films, and magazines. It specifies designing the cover, introduction and spreads for the book "Decorative Art 60s" as well as exhibition books on Asia and films by Hitchcock. It also notes redesigning the magazine "Sight & Sound" in September 2012 and serving as its art director since 2001.
2) The Hollywood Art 1930 1939 Part OneNick Zegarac
Â
This document provides an overview of the film industry in Hollywood during the 1930s. It discusses how the 1930s marked the peak of the classic Hollywood studio system, with studios producing around 52 films per year. While the films were criticized at the time for being propaganda or too flashy, they provided much-needed escapism for audiences during the Great Depression. The 1930s saw technical advancements like sound and color, as well as the rise of many iconic stars and films that have endured in our popular culture, like The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind. The studios excelled at cultivating a diverse range of talent, from child stars to veteran actors, to meet audience demand.
PRESENTING THE ORIGINAL PYM PUZZLER in which was first posed the question PURPORTEDLY answered in the MATCH OF THE MILLENNIUM issue, as to whether the mysterious Western masterpiece "THE TRAPPER'S LAST SHOT'" is actually the artwork of WILLIAM TYLEE RANNEY as is conventionally and even universally accepted, or in fact does not -- as if FAR MORE LIKELY -- represent the work of a completely DIFFERENT WESTERN ARTIST, and one at east as good as RANNEY, maybe better, and who was a friend of JOE MEEK, whom all reasonable minds must agree, is actually represented in the painting , as he makes his lonesome transcontinental journey through MONTANA, and the headwaters of the Missouri River, ON HIS WAY TO WASHINGTON CITY, D.c., to beg for Federal aid for teh American settlers in Oregon !!
Senior Seminar: Museum Exhibition Catalogue Essay for "Rock & Royal"Kate Marcus
Â
The document summarizes an exhibition titled "Rock & Royal" that showcases the influence of European royal courts on rock and roll fashion. It discusses how costumes from various performances like Madonna's "Vogue" incorporated historical references to subvert norms. The exhibition aims to make connections between seemingly unrelated topics in an fun and interactive way to appeal to diverse audiences and break stereotypes of museums. It also discusses the creator's inspiration from other fashion exhibitions and their goals for an alternative approach.
The document discusses how the media product uses, develops, and challenges conventions of real media.
[1] It uses conventions like locations commonly seen in music videos and soap operas, realistic costumes, and a linear narrative structure.
[2] It develops some conventions by using flashbacks in the music video and unique panel layouts in the digipak.
[3] It challenges few conventions, like using longer shots than typical in music videos and not including tour dates in the magazine advert. Overall, it aims to create a sense of realism while drawing from influences of other media.
The document appears to be an issue of Poncz Magazine. It includes information about the editor-in-chief and deputy editor, as well as details about the magazine website. There are also images by the artist Jon Rafman from his series "Sixteen Google Street Views" that depict solitary individuals in contemporary landscapes captured from Google Street View. The images are accompanied by a short essay discussing Street View photography and how it presents a different perspective on the individual's relationship to the external world than previous historical periods of art.
The document lists various projects in design and art direction including books on art museums, artists, decorative art, industrial design, films, and magazines. It specifies designing the cover, introduction and spreads for the book "Decorative Art 60s" as well as exhibition books on Asia and films by Hitchcock. It also notes redesigning the magazine "Sight & Sound" in September 2012 and serving as its art director since 2001.
2) The Hollywood Art 1930 1939 Part OneNick Zegarac
Â
This document provides an overview of the film industry in Hollywood during the 1930s. It discusses how the 1930s marked the peak of the classic Hollywood studio system, with studios producing around 52 films per year. While the films were criticized at the time for being propaganda or too flashy, they provided much-needed escapism for audiences during the Great Depression. The 1930s saw technical advancements like sound and color, as well as the rise of many iconic stars and films that have endured in our popular culture, like The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind. The studios excelled at cultivating a diverse range of talent, from child stars to veteran actors, to meet audience demand.
PRESENTING THE ORIGINAL PYM PUZZLER in which was first posed the question PURPORTEDLY answered in the MATCH OF THE MILLENNIUM issue, as to whether the mysterious Western masterpiece "THE TRAPPER'S LAST SHOT'" is actually the artwork of WILLIAM TYLEE RANNEY as is conventionally and even universally accepted, or in fact does not -- as if FAR MORE LIKELY -- represent the work of a completely DIFFERENT WESTERN ARTIST, and one at east as good as RANNEY, maybe better, and who was a friend of JOE MEEK, whom all reasonable minds must agree, is actually represented in the painting , as he makes his lonesome transcontinental journey through MONTANA, and the headwaters of the Missouri River, ON HIS WAY TO WASHINGTON CITY, D.c., to beg for Federal aid for teh American settlers in Oregon !!
60 Years of Beetle Bailey: A Tribute to Mort WalkerKim A Munson
Â
This exhibition at the Cartoon Art Museum celebrates the 60-year career of Mort Walker, the creator of the Beetle Bailey comic strip. The show was curated by Brian Walker, Mort Walker's son, and traces the evolution of the characters and Walker's drawing style over the decades. It also examines how the strip addressed and was influenced by social and cultural issues of the time. The exhibition provides insight into Walker's process and long-running success as a cartoonist through daily strips, drawings of character developments, and artifacts from his career.
Part of A2 Film Studies (WJEC) coursework (FM3). Also consisted of an annotated catalogue. Had to explore a theoretical issues/debate (e.g. authorship) within film studies and apply to original research.
Graffiti was used primarily by political activists to make statements and str...Darren Larose
Â
This document summarizes the history of graffiti art from its origins in Philadelphia in the 1960s to its peak popularity in New York City in the 1970s. It describes how early pioneers like TAKI 183 and CORNBREAD helped establish graffiti art and gain it recognition outside of its underground subculture. Key developments included styling tags with unique flourishes, increasing tag sizes, and the creation of "masterpieces" using thicker letters filled with intricate designs. The height of graffiti occurred from 1975-1977 when whole subway cars were covered and different bombing and piecing styles emerged. Challenging laws and crackdowns threatened graffiti in the 1980s, but some writers continued bombing with determination as the art form
British social realism developed over the 20th century to depict the lives and experiences of ordinary British people. Key moments included early films showing everyday life in the early 1900s and documentaries from the 1930s-40s that influenced later mainstream films. The 1950s Free Cinema movement and 1960s British New Wave brought social issues like class, gender, and economic challenges to the forefront through films focused on working class characters. Directors like Mike Leigh and Ken Loach examined the impact of policies like Thatcherism and consumerism on communities and family life. While formulas emerged, many films provided complex portraits of British society.
The document provides information about the genre of social realism in film. It defines social realism as a realistic portrayal of British society that depicts social and economic hardship through unvarnished pictures of real people's lives and struggles. It lists some key conventions of social realism films including realistic settings and events, believable filming techniques, gritty urban locations, and focusing on working class activities and heroes. Examples of notable social realism films from Britain are provided such as Billy Elliot and Kes.
The document discusses inspiration the author has gained from various works related to the connection between humans and plants. They discuss poems by Ezra Pound and their own interpretation of merging human and plant. They also discuss literature exploring plant-based characters, photography exploring minimalist compositions and lighting, and sculptures representing humanity through nature. The author intends to portray a similar merging of human and plant in their music video through a woman carrying a small growing tree.
The document discusses and compares the works of artists Sam Vernon and Kehinde Wiley. Both artists use juxtaposition to alter viewers' emotions and thoughts. Sam Vernon creates works expressing fear and anxiety through mixing historical images with personal family photos. Kehinde Wiley recreates recognizable European artworks but replaces subjects with African Americans, placing them in positions of power to explore themes of race and society. The artists use unfamiliar elements in familiar compositions to provoke new feelings and ideas in viewers.
The document provides an analysis of The 1975's music video for "Settle Down" through the lens of genre theory. It discusses how the music video both conforms to and challenges conventions of the indie rock genre. It explores the narrative focus on two young boys and how their meeting seems to disrupt social norms. Reviews of the track and music video are provided. The director of the music video explains that it was inspired by a recurring dream of the lead singer and aims to portray love in a limitless way.
Michael Kors is celebrating 30 years in fashion with a new LA store opening in October. Over the past 3 decades, Kors has witnessed immense changes in fashion through technology and culture, but has maintained a focus on classic, luxurious American sportswear. The article profiles Kors' charismatic personality and gratitude for his successful career through interviews with Kors and actress Rene Russo, who has long worn and admired his designs.
Blackface was a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-black performers from the mid-19th century through the early 20th century to portray African Americans on stage. It involved darkening one's skin with burnt cork or shoe polish and exaggerating physical features to stereotypical proportions. Popularized in minstrel shows and vaudeville acts, blackface reinforced racist stereotypes and its use declined as civil rights progressed. However, its legacy continues to spark controversy in occasional modern depictions.
- Grime music originated in the early 2000s in East London as a form of expression against oppression faced by young people. It blended genres like UK garage, dancehall, hip hop, and incorporated harsh synth sounds and bass.
- Early pioneers like So Solid Crew and Wiley helped popularize the genre and bring it to mainstream attention in the early 2000s.
- Grime music videos typically feature the artist rapping in dark, gritty locations like housing estates to represent the reality of their upbringings. Videos use techniques like jump cuts, close-ups, and black and white to convey raw emotion.
The document analyzes the conventions used and challenged in a music video the author created. It discusses how the video represents conventions of pop music videos through its use of people, places, objects and identities. It also draws on theories by Andrew Goodwin, Roland Barthes, Ferdinand de Saussure, and Laura Mulvey to discuss how the video uses and develops conventions related to the representation of the artist, relationships between audio and visuals, use of signs and meanings, and the male gaze. The video also reflects conventions of Will.I.Am's music videos but challenges typical conventions around the sexualization and submissiveness of female characters.
Winsor McCay was a pioneering American cartoonist in the early 20th century. He is praised as the finest draftsman in comics and raised the medium to new artistic heights with his innovative page compositions. His most famous comic strips were Dream of the Rarebit Fiend and Little Nemo in Slumberland. McCay was also a pioneer in animated films, producing 10 between 1911-1921.
This document provides an overview of social protest and affirmation in art from the last 200+ years. It discusses how artists have used their work to protest war, oppression, and injustice through various strategies like illustration, shock, humor, and narrative. Examples are given of artworks that protested military conflicts, affirmed oppressed identities, questioned social norms, and criticized aspects of society and government that reinforce the status quo. The risks of political art are also noted. In the end, discussion topics are posed about the role and effectiveness of protest art.
This document compares the conventions of folk rock music videos to the student's own music video production. It finds that the student's video used many typical conventions, such as showing the band performing in a natural rural setting surrounded by trees and fields. It also finds that the student's video developed some conventions by having the music and visuals amplify each other rather than just illustrating the lyrics, such as when the music sped up as the man leapt into the sea. The document analyzes several examples of professional folk rock music videos and identifies their conventions around performance style, nature settings, relationships between music, lyrics and visuals, close-ups of artists, and notions of voyeurism.
The document discusses conventions commonly found in rock music videos. It notes that rock videos often feature large, dramatic locations like arenas to make the bands seem popular. The artists are usually depicted wearing denim, leather, or tight clothing to project a rebellious image. There are also performance elements to illustrate the musicians' skills. Women sometimes appear but usually just as love interests to appeal to the male gaze. Visuals aim to be linked to lyrics and music to engage audiences. Common motifs like logos help establish bands and make them recognizable as they gain popularity.
Charlie Chaplin was born in London in 1889 to a theatrical family living in poverty. He had a difficult childhood and was sent to workhouses at a young age. He began performing as a child and gained success in music hall productions. In 1910, he began working for Fred Karno's comedy troupe and travelled to the US, where he was discovered by Mack Sennett and began his film career. Chaplin developed his iconic "Tramp" character and had huge success during the silent film era. However, his career declined in the 1940s due to personal scandals and his political views which were seen as communist during the Red Scare era. He spent his later life in Switzerland and continued receiving accolades for his pioneering work
Anna Kendrick: Acting Real in Tinseltown by Luke BattenLiza Palmer
Â
This first academic piece on Anna Kendrick examines her constructed and individualistic off-screen and on-screen persona, with particular emphasis on the prevailing issues of patriarchy within the film industry. This is achieved through a study of the representation of women within the melodrama, romantic comedy/chick flick, fantasy, and musical genres of film, whilst considering Kendrickâs own perspective on the subject from interviews and her observations in her memoir Scrappy Little Nobody. The aim of this article is to further discourse on the representation of women within the aforementioned genres, and interrogate the portrayal of the female performer more broadly, both on- and off-screen.
Chapter one of this dissertation analyzes Kendrickâs off-screen depiction in conjunction with her child star status, celebrity culture, and social media. The following chapter investigates her on-screen personality as Natalie Keener in Up in the Air and Beca Mitchell in Pitch Perfect, the films which brought her to international recognition as an actor. The final chapter of this work evaluates her more recent on-screen characterization as Cinderella in Into the Woods and Cathy Hiatt in The Last Five Years.
My music video for Orla Gartland's song "Roots" conforms to several conventions of the music video medium while also attempting some challenges and developments. It uses the full track to market the song, maintains audience engagement through varied shots over 4 minutes, and illustrates the lyrics visually. Some conventions include exterior natural shots reflecting the indie folk genre's themes of nature, minimal costumes avoiding objectification of the female performer, and editing to match the acoustic music. The narrative structure and use of green coloring also develop themes of environmentalism and caring for nature over time in potentially different ways open to audience interpretation.
THE HOLLYWOOD ART - AMERICAN HITCHCOCK Volume INick Zegarac
Â
The undisputed master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock's early American film career is covered, from 1940's Oscar-winning Rebecca to 1952's Dial M For Murder.
15) The Hollywood Art Hello Dolly! 1969Nick Zegarac
Â
The document discusses the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Hello Dolly! starring Barbra Streisand in the title role originally played by Carol Channing. It provides context on the musical's origins as well as the extensive production undertaken by 20th Century Fox to make the film a lavish spectacle. However, Streisand was a controversial casting choice as a young singer instead of one of the established stars who had previously played Dolly on stage like Channing.
60 Years of Beetle Bailey: A Tribute to Mort WalkerKim A Munson
Â
This exhibition at the Cartoon Art Museum celebrates the 60-year career of Mort Walker, the creator of the Beetle Bailey comic strip. The show was curated by Brian Walker, Mort Walker's son, and traces the evolution of the characters and Walker's drawing style over the decades. It also examines how the strip addressed and was influenced by social and cultural issues of the time. The exhibition provides insight into Walker's process and long-running success as a cartoonist through daily strips, drawings of character developments, and artifacts from his career.
Part of A2 Film Studies (WJEC) coursework (FM3). Also consisted of an annotated catalogue. Had to explore a theoretical issues/debate (e.g. authorship) within film studies and apply to original research.
Graffiti was used primarily by political activists to make statements and str...Darren Larose
Â
This document summarizes the history of graffiti art from its origins in Philadelphia in the 1960s to its peak popularity in New York City in the 1970s. It describes how early pioneers like TAKI 183 and CORNBREAD helped establish graffiti art and gain it recognition outside of its underground subculture. Key developments included styling tags with unique flourishes, increasing tag sizes, and the creation of "masterpieces" using thicker letters filled with intricate designs. The height of graffiti occurred from 1975-1977 when whole subway cars were covered and different bombing and piecing styles emerged. Challenging laws and crackdowns threatened graffiti in the 1980s, but some writers continued bombing with determination as the art form
British social realism developed over the 20th century to depict the lives and experiences of ordinary British people. Key moments included early films showing everyday life in the early 1900s and documentaries from the 1930s-40s that influenced later mainstream films. The 1950s Free Cinema movement and 1960s British New Wave brought social issues like class, gender, and economic challenges to the forefront through films focused on working class characters. Directors like Mike Leigh and Ken Loach examined the impact of policies like Thatcherism and consumerism on communities and family life. While formulas emerged, many films provided complex portraits of British society.
The document provides information about the genre of social realism in film. It defines social realism as a realistic portrayal of British society that depicts social and economic hardship through unvarnished pictures of real people's lives and struggles. It lists some key conventions of social realism films including realistic settings and events, believable filming techniques, gritty urban locations, and focusing on working class activities and heroes. Examples of notable social realism films from Britain are provided such as Billy Elliot and Kes.
The document discusses inspiration the author has gained from various works related to the connection between humans and plants. They discuss poems by Ezra Pound and their own interpretation of merging human and plant. They also discuss literature exploring plant-based characters, photography exploring minimalist compositions and lighting, and sculptures representing humanity through nature. The author intends to portray a similar merging of human and plant in their music video through a woman carrying a small growing tree.
The document discusses and compares the works of artists Sam Vernon and Kehinde Wiley. Both artists use juxtaposition to alter viewers' emotions and thoughts. Sam Vernon creates works expressing fear and anxiety through mixing historical images with personal family photos. Kehinde Wiley recreates recognizable European artworks but replaces subjects with African Americans, placing them in positions of power to explore themes of race and society. The artists use unfamiliar elements in familiar compositions to provoke new feelings and ideas in viewers.
The document provides an analysis of The 1975's music video for "Settle Down" through the lens of genre theory. It discusses how the music video both conforms to and challenges conventions of the indie rock genre. It explores the narrative focus on two young boys and how their meeting seems to disrupt social norms. Reviews of the track and music video are provided. The director of the music video explains that it was inspired by a recurring dream of the lead singer and aims to portray love in a limitless way.
Michael Kors is celebrating 30 years in fashion with a new LA store opening in October. Over the past 3 decades, Kors has witnessed immense changes in fashion through technology and culture, but has maintained a focus on classic, luxurious American sportswear. The article profiles Kors' charismatic personality and gratitude for his successful career through interviews with Kors and actress Rene Russo, who has long worn and admired his designs.
Blackface was a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-black performers from the mid-19th century through the early 20th century to portray African Americans on stage. It involved darkening one's skin with burnt cork or shoe polish and exaggerating physical features to stereotypical proportions. Popularized in minstrel shows and vaudeville acts, blackface reinforced racist stereotypes and its use declined as civil rights progressed. However, its legacy continues to spark controversy in occasional modern depictions.
- Grime music originated in the early 2000s in East London as a form of expression against oppression faced by young people. It blended genres like UK garage, dancehall, hip hop, and incorporated harsh synth sounds and bass.
- Early pioneers like So Solid Crew and Wiley helped popularize the genre and bring it to mainstream attention in the early 2000s.
- Grime music videos typically feature the artist rapping in dark, gritty locations like housing estates to represent the reality of their upbringings. Videos use techniques like jump cuts, close-ups, and black and white to convey raw emotion.
The document analyzes the conventions used and challenged in a music video the author created. It discusses how the video represents conventions of pop music videos through its use of people, places, objects and identities. It also draws on theories by Andrew Goodwin, Roland Barthes, Ferdinand de Saussure, and Laura Mulvey to discuss how the video uses and develops conventions related to the representation of the artist, relationships between audio and visuals, use of signs and meanings, and the male gaze. The video also reflects conventions of Will.I.Am's music videos but challenges typical conventions around the sexualization and submissiveness of female characters.
Winsor McCay was a pioneering American cartoonist in the early 20th century. He is praised as the finest draftsman in comics and raised the medium to new artistic heights with his innovative page compositions. His most famous comic strips were Dream of the Rarebit Fiend and Little Nemo in Slumberland. McCay was also a pioneer in animated films, producing 10 between 1911-1921.
This document provides an overview of social protest and affirmation in art from the last 200+ years. It discusses how artists have used their work to protest war, oppression, and injustice through various strategies like illustration, shock, humor, and narrative. Examples are given of artworks that protested military conflicts, affirmed oppressed identities, questioned social norms, and criticized aspects of society and government that reinforce the status quo. The risks of political art are also noted. In the end, discussion topics are posed about the role and effectiveness of protest art.
This document compares the conventions of folk rock music videos to the student's own music video production. It finds that the student's video used many typical conventions, such as showing the band performing in a natural rural setting surrounded by trees and fields. It also finds that the student's video developed some conventions by having the music and visuals amplify each other rather than just illustrating the lyrics, such as when the music sped up as the man leapt into the sea. The document analyzes several examples of professional folk rock music videos and identifies their conventions around performance style, nature settings, relationships between music, lyrics and visuals, close-ups of artists, and notions of voyeurism.
The document discusses conventions commonly found in rock music videos. It notes that rock videos often feature large, dramatic locations like arenas to make the bands seem popular. The artists are usually depicted wearing denim, leather, or tight clothing to project a rebellious image. There are also performance elements to illustrate the musicians' skills. Women sometimes appear but usually just as love interests to appeal to the male gaze. Visuals aim to be linked to lyrics and music to engage audiences. Common motifs like logos help establish bands and make them recognizable as they gain popularity.
Charlie Chaplin was born in London in 1889 to a theatrical family living in poverty. He had a difficult childhood and was sent to workhouses at a young age. He began performing as a child and gained success in music hall productions. In 1910, he began working for Fred Karno's comedy troupe and travelled to the US, where he was discovered by Mack Sennett and began his film career. Chaplin developed his iconic "Tramp" character and had huge success during the silent film era. However, his career declined in the 1940s due to personal scandals and his political views which were seen as communist during the Red Scare era. He spent his later life in Switzerland and continued receiving accolades for his pioneering work
Anna Kendrick: Acting Real in Tinseltown by Luke BattenLiza Palmer
Â
This first academic piece on Anna Kendrick examines her constructed and individualistic off-screen and on-screen persona, with particular emphasis on the prevailing issues of patriarchy within the film industry. This is achieved through a study of the representation of women within the melodrama, romantic comedy/chick flick, fantasy, and musical genres of film, whilst considering Kendrickâs own perspective on the subject from interviews and her observations in her memoir Scrappy Little Nobody. The aim of this article is to further discourse on the representation of women within the aforementioned genres, and interrogate the portrayal of the female performer more broadly, both on- and off-screen.
Chapter one of this dissertation analyzes Kendrickâs off-screen depiction in conjunction with her child star status, celebrity culture, and social media. The following chapter investigates her on-screen personality as Natalie Keener in Up in the Air and Beca Mitchell in Pitch Perfect, the films which brought her to international recognition as an actor. The final chapter of this work evaluates her more recent on-screen characterization as Cinderella in Into the Woods and Cathy Hiatt in The Last Five Years.
My music video for Orla Gartland's song "Roots" conforms to several conventions of the music video medium while also attempting some challenges and developments. It uses the full track to market the song, maintains audience engagement through varied shots over 4 minutes, and illustrates the lyrics visually. Some conventions include exterior natural shots reflecting the indie folk genre's themes of nature, minimal costumes avoiding objectification of the female performer, and editing to match the acoustic music. The narrative structure and use of green coloring also develop themes of environmentalism and caring for nature over time in potentially different ways open to audience interpretation.
THE HOLLYWOOD ART - AMERICAN HITCHCOCK Volume INick Zegarac
Â
The undisputed master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock's early American film career is covered, from 1940's Oscar-winning Rebecca to 1952's Dial M For Murder.
15) The Hollywood Art Hello Dolly! 1969Nick Zegarac
Â
The document discusses the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Hello Dolly! starring Barbra Streisand in the title role originally played by Carol Channing. It provides context on the musical's origins as well as the extensive production undertaken by 20th Century Fox to make the film a lavish spectacle. However, Streisand was a controversial casting choice as a young singer instead of one of the established stars who had previously played Dolly on stage like Channing.
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will host an exhibit of over 100 iconic film costumes from the past 100 years. Some highlights featured will include costumes from Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot, Christopher Reeve in Superman, Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver, and Kate Winslet in Titanic. The exhibit aims to showcase the evolution of film through costumes and explore their influence on fashion and culture. It will also provide context for costume designs through quotes and insights from designers, actors, and directors.
The document provides a quiz with questions on various topics including news, people, technology, history, music, science, art, literature and more. Each question is followed by an answer or additional context. The questions test knowledge on diverse subjects from the obituary of someone to the etymology of words to famous works of art, movies, books and inventions. The quiz covers both trivial and important information to test general knowledge.
3000 Presentation 15: Vertigo Study GuideEdward Bowen
Â
Hitchcock was influenced by the French thriller "Diabolique" and its psychological complexity. He purchased the rights to the novel "D'Entre Les Morts" which became the basis for "Vertigo". The film makes extensive use of locations in San Francisco. It tells the story of "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy meets girl again, boy loses girl again". Hitchcock pioneered the "dolly-zoom" technique to create a disorienting effect that matches the psychological themes of the film.
The document discusses the 1963 film Cleopatra and the challenges faced by its director Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Mankiewicz reluctantly took on directing Cleopatra and found the massive production challenging. The film had a troubled production beset by delays and budget issues. Cleopatra ended up being a financial disappointment for the studio despite being an epic production and starring Elizabeth Taylor. The document provides historical context on Hollywood epics of the time period and the challenges the film industry faced with the rise of television.
The document discusses upcoming events celebrating film history in Virginia. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will host exhibitions on Hollywood costumes from November to December featuring iconic costumes from films. It will also host the "Made in Hollywood" exhibition of photographs from the golden age of cinema. Additionally, the 26th annual Virginia Film Festival will take place in Charlottesville from November 7-10, screening films new and classic along with discussions. These events will celebrate Virginia's long history with film.
Renaissance court jesters were empowered to tell kings things others could not by being physically deformed and wearing motley clothing. Later, jesters gained power through ventriloquism using a scepter with their face on it. Today, political cartoonists and mimes are able to comment on issues in a similar manner by making fun of all sides of an issue or transcending language barriers. Throughout history, various types of clowns and comedy developed such as Harlequins, Pierrots, character clowns and more that continue to this day including sports mascots. Clowns have certain taboos like not being seen in public partially out of costume or doing normal activities in character.
The document discusses Will Brooker, a film and cultural studies expert who impersonates famous musician David Bowie by adopting Bowie's mannerisms, visiting places Bowie frequented, and dressing in Bowie's iconic costumes from different eras of his career. Brooker is currently living in the persona of Bowie's 1974 Philadelphia soul period, wearing thick blue eye shadow and orange hair. The summary identifies David Bowie as the persona Brooker is impersonating based on the provided context and image.
1. Early animated films like Fantasmagorie in 1908 and The Adventures of Prince Achmed in 1926 showed the possibilities of animation.
2. In 1928, Mickey Mouse first appeared in Steamboat Willie, establishing Disney's magic of animation with catchy music and anthropomorphic characters.
3. During the Golden Age of Disney from 1937 to 1942, Walt Disney and his animators produced landmark animated films including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi that set the template for animated feature films and pioneered techniques like the use of sound and emotional depth.
Bonnie and Clyde helped establish the use of the "put-on" in art by disrupting audience expectations and keeping viewers constantly off balance. The film treated the violent crimes of Bonnie and Clyde in a comedic and fun manner rather than straightforward, generating controversy over its approach. Bonnie and Clyde demonstrated how art can use deception and irony to engage audiences in new ways.
This document provides images and captions from Vanity Fair magazine's 25th anniversary issue, summarizing the history and accomplishments of some of the magazine's most iconic covers and photographs over the decades. It highlights portraits of celebrities from the 1920s like Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Joan Crawford to more modern figures like Kate Winslet, Julianne Moore, and Kate Moss. The summaries provide context on the subjects and photographers of the legendary images.
Brian Wilson attempted to create the greatest spooky sound effects album of all time but struggled with the complex production process. The partially completed album, called "Slime", shows evidence of his genius despite his losing hope in the project. The document then describes 11 tracks from the unfinished album, detailing Wilson's perfectionist efforts and struggles to achieve the exact sound effects he envisioned, such as getting owls to hoot in harmony and creating his own Frankenstein's monster. His increasing despair over the challenges is also evident from the descriptions.
The document discusses the relationship between photography and art movements such as Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Surrealism, and Futurism. It explores how photographers like Eadweard Muybridge and Etienne-Jules Marey influenced these movements with their experiments in capturing motion. Examples are provided of artists from different eras, like Francis Bacon, Umberto Boccioni, Jeff Wall, and Gregory Crewdson, who incorporated photography into their work in various ways.
The Street of Crocodiles is a 21-minute stop-motion animation from 1986 directed by twin brothers Stephen and Timothy Quay, based on a novel by Polish writer Bruno Schulz. The animation depicts the strange and surreal world of Schulz's stories using puppets made from organic materials to create an eerie atmosphere. The Quay brothers were influenced by Central European artists and the political situation in Poland, creating a dark and mysterious film that reflects the settings and psychology of Schulz's work.
Renaissance court jesters were empowered to tell kings things others could not by being marginalized for their physical deformities. They gained power through ventriloquism using a scepter with their face. Like political cartoonists today, jesters could critique issues in a way reporters could not. Various clown archetypes like Harlequin and Pierrot developed from Italian commedia dell'arte. Character clowns like Chaplin's Tramp and Red Skelton's characters influenced modern clowning. Clowns must maintain character and not be seen out of costume or doing normal activities to retain their power to amuse and critique through humor.
3) The Hollywood Art 1930 1939 Part TwoNick Zegarac
Â
The document provides a year-by-year retrospective of the 1930s film decade. Some key events summarized:
- 1930s films provided Hollywood escapism as America recovered from the stock market crash. New talents emerged like Jean Harlow and John Wayne.
- 1931 saw the rise of gangster films like Little Caesar. Studios refined sound recording techniques. Greta Garbo's Anna Christie was a success.
- 1932 was a banner year for films. Grand Hotel starring Crawford, Barrymore, and Garbo was a masterpiece. King Kong became a classic.
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director known for his innovative directing style and masterful use of cinematography. Some of his most famous films include 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and Barry Lyndon. Kubrick was meticulous in his attention to visual detail and often filmed scenes using only practical and natural lighting. His symmetrical shots and unconventional camera angles worked to build an unsettling atmosphere. Kubrick explored themes of human nature, violence, and society through complex characters and disturbing narratives. He is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential directors in cinema history.
4) The Hollywood Art Frank Capras Lost HorizonNick Zegarac
Â
Frank Capra directed the film Lost Horizon in 1937 based on the novel of the same name. The film told the story of British diplomat Robert Conway who discovers a utopian society called Shangri-La. While Capra aimed to convey a message of peace, there were also notes of darkness and doom surrounding the isolated paradise. The film underwent major changes during production, with Capra cutting whole scenes and reworking parts of the story. In the end, the film was shorter than Capra's original vision.
The document contains various design works and advertisements created by Robert Yarborough including logo designs, website designs, and print advertisements along with brief descriptions of each piece; it showcases a range of projects in graphic design, digital media, and marketing created for clients in different industries.
Similar to THE HOLLYWOOD ART - BUSBY BERKELEY (20)
John Frankenheimer's 1966 masterpiece of racing remains a touchstone in both its artistry and execution. Follow the film's incredible journey in this updated article by Nick Zegarac.
THE HOLLYWOOD ART - AMERICAN HITCHCOCK Volume IINick Zegarac
Â
Volume Two covers Alfred Hitchcock's American movie career from 1953, the year he moved over to Paramount Pictures, to his penultimate movie, Family Plot in 1976.
Hollywood's resident bad girl, Lana Turner was tagged 'queen of the nightclubs' at the age of 21. She found movie making a thrill and men exciting, but never found true love despite her intimate passion for both. Here is the truth behind the legend. Here is the woman behind the star.
MGM's Louis B. Mayer ruled the grandest motion picture studio the world has ever known. Discover his life and legacy in this intriguing piece chocked full of movie memories.
26) The Hollywood Art State Of The ArtNick Zegarac
Â
Gregory Peck was a legendary Hollywood actor known for his integrity and intelligence on screen. Over his 40+ year career, he portrayed heroes and complex characters in films like Roman Holiday, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Gentleman's Agreement. Peck was admired by audiences who found him to be just as upstanding in real life. Today, few actors achieve such long, distinguished careers in film. The modern movie industry prioritizes short-term profits over artistic vision and cultural impact.
23) The Hollywood Art In Glorious TechnicolorNick Zegarac
Â
Technicolor has a long history in the film industry, starting as an invention of Herbert Kalmus in the early 20th century to develop a process for filming and projecting motion pictures in color. After many experiments and technological advances over decades, Technicolor became synonymous with Hollywood filmmaking in the 1930s-1950s. However, the early years of Technicolor were difficult, with production challenges, financial struggles, and skepticism from movie studios. It was not until Walt Disney used Technicolor in the 1930s that its potential was fully realized and it began to be widely adopted in the industry.
21) The Hollywood Art Marie Antoinette (1938)Nick Zegarac
Â
This document provides background information on the making of the 1938 film Marie Antoinette, directed by W.S. Van Dyke for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It describes how MGM studio head Irving Thalberg pushed for the lavish and expensive production, hoping it would be immortalized as a screen spectacle. The film starred Norma Shearer as Marie Antoinette and became just as turbulent an undertaking for MGM as the French queen's last days. It details the accurate costumes, wigs and makeup used to transform Shearer into Antoinette's image and explains how the film took artistic liberties to portray Antoinette in a more saintly, misunderstood light compared to historical accounts
Orson Welles' career is summarized as a man with immense talent but an inability to navigate Hollywood politics. After early success with Citizen Kane, which was publicly attacked by William Randolph Hearst, Welles struggled to find backing for subsequent projects. While hugely influential as a filmmaker, Welles spent much of his career "hustling" to obtain funding rather than focusing on filmmaking. His legacy was "systematically dismantled" in Hollywood despite his talents as a director, actor, and producer.
16) The Hollywood Art Read The Movie Part INick Zegarac
Â
1) The document discusses the challenges of adapting great works of literature into films. While some literary adaptations were very successful during Hollywood's Golden Age, like those produced by MGM, Shakespeare and other authors have often proven difficult to bring to the screen.
2) In the 1970s and 1980s, Hollywood largely abandoned literary adaptations and focused on cheaper genres like horror films and comedies. Some exceptions included Forman's Amadeus in 1984, which helped revive the costume drama genre.
3) Other films in the mid-1980s like Merchant/Ivory's A Room with a View and Lean's A Passage to India also helped audiences warm up to literary adaptations again. This paved the way
14) The Hollywood Art John Wayne, AmericanNick Zegarac
Â
1) John Wayne had a long career in Hollywood spanning from the 1920s-1970s. He became famous for starring in Western films but had an up and down relationship with director John Ford who helped make him a star but also relentlessly bullied him.
2) Wayne's film reputation declined in the 1960s-70s as his conservative political views became more public and controversial, especially his support for the Vietnam War.
3) One of Wayne's most famous and complex roles was in John Ford's 1956 film The Searchers, where he played a racist and violent character, showing a darker side of the American West than typically seen in Western films previously.
This document provides biographical details about actress Grace Kelly. It describes her upbringing in Philadelphia and early career as a model and actress in film and theater. Grace found great success in films directed by Alfred Hitchcock and won an Oscar for her role in The Country Girl. While filming in France, she met Prince Rainier III of Monaco and the two fell in love. Their meeting was arranged by a mutual friend hoping to set them up. By the end of their conversation, both Grace and Rainier were smitten with each other.
11) The Hollywood Art The Legacy Of The Three StoogesNick Zegarac
Â
This document provides a detailed history and summary of the careers of the Three Stooges comedy act:
- The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Jerome "Curly" Howard) began as part of Ted Healy's act in the 1920s but broke away on their own in the early 1930s.
- They found great success making short comedy films at Columbia Pictures from 1934-1957, producing over 200 films and becoming the studio's top moneymakers.
- The Stooges helped pioneer the slapstick comedy genre and created many memorable comedy routines that have endured for decades.
- Off screen, the Stooges had to deal with restrictive contracts from studios and
10) The Hollywood Art Plugging Into NetworkNick Zegarac
Â
This document provides context and analysis of the 1976 film Network and its prescient commentary on television's influence. It summarizes key scenes and themes of the film, including Howard Beale's famous rant about being "mad as hell". It also profiles the cast and director Sidney Lumet. The document argues that Network accurately predicted television's blurring of fact and fiction for ratings, and its manipulation of public opinion. While dismissed by some in 1976, Network's critique of television now "seems to ring with an ominous knell of truth".
Orpah Winfrey Dwayne Johnson: Titans of Influence and Inspirationgreendigital
Â
Introduction
In the realm of entertainment, few names resonate as Orpah Winfrey Dwayne Johnson. Both figures have carved unique paths in the industry. achieving unparalleled success and becoming iconic symbols of perseverance, resilience, and inspiration. This article delves into the lives, careers. and enduring legacies of Orpah Winfrey Dwayne Johnson. exploring how their journeys intersect and what we can learn from their remarkable stories.
Follow us on: Pinterest
Early Life and Backgrounds
Orpah Winfrey: From Humble Beginnings to Media Mogul
Orpah Winfrey, often known as Oprah due to a misspelling on her birth certificate. was born on January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Raised in poverty by her grandmother, Winfrey's early life was marked by hardship and adversity. Despite these challenges. she demonstrated a keen intellect and an early talent for public speaking.
Winfrey's journey to success began with a scholarship to Tennessee State University. where she studied communication. Her first job in media was as a co-anchor for the local evening news in Nashville. This role paved the way for her eventual transition to talk show hosting. where she found her true calling.
Dwayne Johnson: From Wrestling Royalty to Hollywood Superstar
Dwayne Johnson, also known by his ring name "The Rock," was born on May 2, 1972, in Hayward, California. He comes from a family of professional wrestlers, with both his father, Rocky Johnson. and his grandfather, Peter Maivia, being notable figures in the wrestling world. Johnson's early life was spent moving between New Zealand and the United States. experiencing a variety of cultural influences.
Before entering the world of professional wrestling. Johnson had aspirations of becoming a professional football player. He played college football at the University of Miami. where he was part of a national championship team. But, injuries curtailed his football career, leading him to follow in his family's footsteps and enter the wrestling ring.
Career Milestones
Orpah Winfrey: The Queen of All Media
Winfrey's career breakthrough came in 1986 when she launched "The Oprah Winfrey Show." The show became a cultural phenomenon. drawing millions of viewers daily and earning many awards. Winfrey's empathetic and candid interviewing style resonated with audiences. helping her tackle diverse and often challenging topics.
Beyond her talk show, Winfrey expanded her empire to include the creation of Harpo Productions. a multimedia production company. She also launched "O, The Oprah Magazine" and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, further solidifying her status as a media mogul.
Dwayne Johnson: From The Ring to The Big Screen
Dwayne Johnson's wrestling career took off in the late 1990s. when he became one of the most charismatic and popular figures in WWE. His larger-than-life persona and catchphrases endeared him to fans. making him a household name. But, Johnson had ambitions beyond the wrestling ring.
In the early 20
At Digidev, we are working to be the leader in interactive streaming platforms of choice by smart device users worldwide.
Our goal is to become the ultimate distribution service of entertainment content. The Digidev application will offer the next generation television highway for users to discover and engage in a variety of content. While also providing a fresh and
innovative approach towards advertainment with vast revenue opportunities. Designed and developed by Joe Q. Bretz
From Teacher to OnlyFans: Brianna Coppage's Story at 28get joys
Â
At 28, Brianna Coppage left her teaching career to become an OnlyFans content creator. This bold move into digital entrepreneurship allowed her to harness her creativity and build a new identity. Brianna's experience highlights the intersection of technology and personal branding in today's economy.
The Unbelievable Tale of Dwayne Johnson Kidnapping: A Riveting Sagagreendigital
Â
Introduction
The notion of Dwayne Johnson kidnapping seems straight out of a Hollywood thriller. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, known for his larger-than-life persona, immense popularity. and action-packed filmography, is the last person anyone would envision being a victim of kidnapping. Yet, the bizarre and riveting tale of such an incident, filled with twists and turns. has captured the imagination of many. In this article, we delve into the intricate details of this astonishing event. exploring every aspect, from the dramatic rescue operation to the aftermath and the lessons learned.
Follow us on: Pinterest
The Origins of the Dwayne Johnson Kidnapping Saga
Dwayne Johnson: A Brief Background
Before discussing the specifics of the kidnapping. it is crucial to understand who Dwayne Johnson is and why his kidnapping would be so significant. Born May 2, 1972, Dwayne Douglas Johnson is an American actor, producer, businessman. and former professional wrestler. Known by his ring name, "The Rock," he gained fame in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) before transitioning to a successful career in Hollywood.
Johnson's filmography includes blockbuster hits such as "The Fast and the Furious" series, "Jumanji," "Moana," and "San Andreas." His charismatic personality, impressive physique. and action-star status have made him a beloved figure worldwide. Thus, the news of his kidnapping would send shockwaves across the globe.
Setting the Scene: The Day of the Kidnapping
The incident of Dwayne Johnson's kidnapping began on an ordinary day. Johnson was filming his latest high-octane action film set to break box office records. The location was a remote yet scenic area. chosen for its rugged terrain and breathtaking vistas. perfect for the film's climactic scenes.
But, beneath the veneer of normalcy, a sinister plot was unfolding. Unbeknownst to Johnson and his team, a group of criminals had planned his abduction. hoping to leverage his celebrity status for a hefty ransom. The stage was set for an event that would soon dominate worldwide headlines and social media feeds.
The Abduction: Unfolding the Dwayne Johnson Kidnapping
The Moment of Capture
On the day of the kidnapping, everything seemed to be proceeding as usual on set. Johnson and his co-stars and crew were engrossed in shooting a particularly demanding scene. As the day wore on, the production team took a short break. providing the kidnappers with the perfect opportunity to strike.
The abduction was executed with military precision. A group of masked men, armed and organized, infiltrated the set. They created chaos, taking advantage of the confusion to isolate Johnson. Johnson was outnumbered and caught off guard despite his formidable strength and fighting skills. The kidnappers overpowered him, bundled him into a waiting vehicle. and sped away, leaving everyone on set in a state of shock and disbelief.
The Immediate Aftermath
The immediate aftermath of the Dwayne Johnson kidnappin
Leonardo DiCaprio House: A Journey Through His Extravagant Real Estate Portfoliogreendigital
Â
Introduction
Leonardo DiCaprio, A name synonymous with Hollywood excellence. is not only known for his stellar acting career but also for his impressive real estate investments. The "Leonardo DiCaprio house" is a topic that piques the interest of many. as the Oscar-winning actor has amassed a diverse portfolio of luxurious properties. DiCaprio's homes reflect his varied tastes and commitment to sustainability. from retreats to historic mansions. This article will delve into the fascinating world of Leonardo DiCaprio's real estate. Exploring the details of his most notable residences. and the unique aspects that make them stand out.
Follow us on: PinterestÂ
Leonardo DiCaprio House: Malibu Beachfront Retreat
A Prime Location
His Malibu beachfront house is one of the most famous properties in Leonardo DiCaprio's real estate portfolio. Situated in the exclusive Carbon Beach. also known as "Billionaire's Beach," this property boasts stunning ocean views and private beach access. The "Leonardo DiCaprio house" in Malibu is a testament to the actor's love for the sea and his penchant for luxurious living.
Architectural Highlights
The Malibu house features a modern design with clean lines, large windows. and open spaces blending indoor and outdoor living. The expansive deck and patio areas provide ample space for entertaining guests or enjoying a quiet sunset. The house has state-of-the-art amenities. including a gourmet kitchen, a home theatre, and many guest suites.
Sustainable Features
Leonardo DiCaprio is a well-known environmental activist. whose Malibu house reflects his commitment to sustainability. The property incorporates solar panels, energy-efficient appliances, and sustainable building materials. The landscaping around the house is also designed to be water-efficient. featuring drought-resistant plants and intelligent irrigation systems.
Leonardo DiCaprio House: Hollywood Hills Hideaway
Privacy and Seclusion
Another remarkable property in Leonardo DiCaprio's collection is his Hollywood Hills house. This secluded retreat offers privacy and tranquility. making it an ideal escape from the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles. The "Leonardo DiCaprio house" in Hollywood Hills nestled among lush greenery. and offers panoramic views of the city and surrounding landscapes.
Design and Amenities
The Hollywood Hills house is a mid-century modern gem characterized by its sleek design and floor-to-ceiling windows. The open-concept living space is perfect for entertaining. while the cozy bedrooms provide a comfortable retreat. The property also features a swimming pool, and outdoor dining area. and a spacious deck that overlooks the cityscape.
Environmental Initiatives
The Hollywood Hills house incorporates several green features that are in line with DiCaprio's environmental values. The home has solar panels, energy-efficient lighting, and a rainwater harvesting system. Additionally, the landscaping designed to support local wildlife and promote
Top IPTV UK Providers of A Comprehensive Review.pdfXtreame HDTV
Â
The television landscape in the UK has evolved significantly with the rise of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). IPTV offers a modern alternative to traditional cable and satellite TV, allowing viewers to stream live TV, on-demand videos, and other multimedia content directly to their devices over the internet. This review provides an in-depth look at the top IPTV UK providers, their features, pricing, and what sets them apart.
Leonardo DiCaprio Super Bowl: Hollywood Meets Americaâs Favorite Gamegreendigital
Â
Introduction
Leonardo DiCaprio is synonymous with Hollywood stardom and acclaimed performances. has a unique connection with one of America's most beloved sports eventsâthe Super Bowl. The "Leonardo DiCaprio Super Bowl" phenomenon combines the worlds of cinema and sports. drawing attention from fans of both domains. This article delves into the multifaceted relationship between DiCaprio and the Super Bowl. exploring his appearances at the event, His involvement in Super Bowl advertisements. and his cultural impact that bridges the gap between these two massive entertainment industries.
Follow us on: Pinterest
Leonardo DiCaprio: The Hollywood Icon
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio was born in Los Angeles, California, on November 11, 1974. His journey to stardom began at a young age with roles in television commercials and educational programs. DiCaprio's breakthrough came with his portrayal of Luke Brower in the sitcom "Growing Pains" and later as Tobias Wolff in "This Boy's Life" (1993). where he starred alongside Robert De Niro.
Rise to Stardom
DiCaprio's career skyrocketed with his performance in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" (1993). earning him his first Academy Award nomination. He continued to gain acclaim with roles in "Romeo + Juliet" (1996) and "Titanic" (1997). the latter of which cemented his status as a global superstar. Over the years, DiCaprio has showcased his versatility in films like "The Aviator" (2004). "Start" (2010), and "The Revenant" (2015), for which he finally won an Academy Award for Best Actor.
Environmental Activism
Beyond his film career, DiCaprio is also renowned for his environmental activism. He established the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998, focusing on global conservation efforts. His commitment to ecological issues often intersects with his public appearances. including those related to the Super Bowl.
The Super Bowl: An American Institution
History and Significance
The Super Bowl is the National Football League (NFL) championship game. is one of the most-watched sporting events in the world. First played in 1967, the Super Bowl has evolved into a cultural phenomenon. featuring high-profile halftime shows, memorable advertisements, and significant media coverage. The event attracts a diverse audience, from avid sports fans to casual viewers. making it a prime platform for celebrities to appear.
Entertainment and Advertisements
The Super Bowl is not only about football but also about entertainment. The halftime show features performances by some of the biggest names in the music industry. while the commercials are often as anticipated as the game itself. Companies invest millions in Super Bowl ads. creating iconic and sometimes controversial commercials that capture public attention.
Leonardo DiCaprio's Super Bowl Appearances
A Celebrity Among the Fans
Leonardo DiCaprio's presence at the Super Bowl has noted several times. As a high-profile celebrity. DiCaprio attracts
Sara Saffari: Turning Underweight into Fitness Success at 23get joys
Â
Uncover the remarkable journey of Sara Saffari, whose transformation from underweight struggles to being recognized as a fitness icon at 23 underscores the importance of perseverance, discipline, and embracing a healthy lifestyle.
The Future of Independent Filmmaking Trends and Job OpportunitiesLetsFAME
Â
The landscape of independent filmmaking is evolving at an unprecedented pace. Technological advancements, changing consumer preferences, and new distribution models are reshaping the industry, creating new opportunities and challenges for filmmakers and film industry jobs. This article explores the future of independent filmmaking, highlighting key trends and emerging job opportunities.
The Future of Independent Filmmaking Trends and Job Opportunities
Â
THE HOLLYWOOD ART - BUSBY BERKELEY
1.
2. âBerkeley had a great sense of humor, but he worked us to the bone. It was even worse for his girls.
I donât think they had any time off.â
â Joan Blondell
The term âgeniusâ gets bandied about so much these days that it is in danger of losing its original meaning. In its raw form,
âgeniusâ is ascribed to someone of exceptional intellect or creativity. But rarely does a genius possess strengths in both
areas. Depending on oneâs point of view, geniuses come from all walks of life, impacting the world in virtually all of its
multifaceted endeavors. In art it is sometimes difficult to label a genius as such â particularly if the abilities in question
appear so extraordinary that they register in the public consciousness as avante guarde or perhaps even ahead of their
time. That generally doesnât win a lot of points with the Hollywood critics.
It can sometimes miss its mark with the paying public too; particularly in the realm of film where credit is divided along the
components of the creative assembly line. And in Hollywood at least, todayâs genius is often tomorrowâs has-been; a
precarious seesaw of instability balanced on the publicâs insatiable need to see something new â something different â
something âentertainingâ all of the time. One of the hallmarks of true creative genius is staying power. What is quite
fashionable today may fall out of favor tomorrow. But if it is truly imbued with that spark ofâŠwellâŠgenius, then, it isnât
likely to be forgotten or entirely set aside. It may be lampooned or even mocked. It most certainly will be copied, though
arguably never duplicated. But in the end it will be revisited, not simply for nostalgiaâs sake, but for an innate fascination
and sheer joy that, once seen, can never be forgotten.
Movie lovers have labeled this intangible as âmagicâ. But there really is no word to quantify what the images of Busby
Berkeley have given to us over the generations. From 1930 to 1962 Berkeley dazzled with his confounding geometric
kaleidoscopes. During his own time Berkeley saw his reputation spectacularly rise, and almost as spectacularly fall, only to
be resurrected again in the late 1970s just before his death. By then he had garnered new fans and a newfound respect
from students studying his work across America. More recently, homages to Berkeley have appeared in everything from
commercials for Daisy sour cream, The Gap and Old Navy to Disneyâs Beauty and The Beast (1991). In fact, his efforts are so
easily identifiable at a glance that anyone even attempting to emulate his artistry has been forced to reference it as having
a Berkeley-esque quality. Even the American Thesaurus of Slang has identified his name as synonymous with âany
elaborate dance number.â
3. Cover: Berkeley posed for this publicity still for Gold Diggers of 1933, a compendium of super-imposed shots of the bridgework that accompanies the âRemember My
Forgotten Manâ number from the film. Previous page (left): Joan Blondell, Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler joyously preen for this publicity still from Dames (1934). Behind the
scenes exhaustion was more the order of the day. Berkeley worked harder on Dames than arguably he ever had before. âHe really put us through the ringer!â Blondell would
later admit. (Previous right): A smiling Berkeley proudly poses with a sampling of his female chorines in between takes on the Warner backlot during the filming of Dames.
Berkeley had a lot to grin over. He was king of his domain and Warner afforded him every opportunity to exercise his creative genius. But in only a few short years, their
attitude would change. (This page, left): After moving to MGM Berkeley was given the rather plum role of tailoring a series of four movie musicals featuring two of the
studioâs biggest stars; Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. Here, Buzz puts Rooney through the steps during a rehearsal for the âYankee Doodle Boyâ dream sequence from
Babes on Broadway (1941). (Right): Berkeley is intense as he observes Dick Powell running through a scene from Gold Diggers of 1935, the first complete movie he directed
over at Warner Bros. Once asked to describe the Berkeleyâs style, Powell glibly replied, âHe usually works in sweatsâŠand sweats!â
Not bad for an uneducated, brash New Yorker whose stint as a drill sergeant in the army during WWI would become that
spark of inspiration for his second career â that of a much sought after Broadway and Hollywood choreographer. Berkeleyâs
approach to dance had very little to do with the dancer as artiste. It had everything to do with the utilization of a dancerâs
entire body, often as a mere speck amongst many; a cog in a great wheel, performing perfunctory movements that some
have argued required more athleticism than terpsichorean finesse. Over the years there have been those who have argued
Berkeley had absolutely no talent at all, just a great penchant for the absurdity of making machineries out of the human
form; his camera doing most of the work, his maneuvering minions just that â never achieving a level of individuality on those
endlessly rotating platforms and rising staircases to nowhere.
But Busby Berkeley never professed himself to be a great choreographer. He had even less interest in extolling the virtues of
a dancerâs fluidity and form. No, that wasnât the point at all â except, perhaps in Lullaby of Broadway from Gold Diggers of
1935. Here, Berkeley allowed his dancers to be more than chess pieces infinitely moved around his gigantic erector set. In a
routine that can still stop the show, Berkeley gave us a tragi-love story within a song and an astoundingly precise tap dance
that as yet has never failed to bring down the house.
But a musical number by Busby Berkeley is really all about Berkeleyâs fascination with form rather than content. His numbers
are big â gargantuan, in fact â and mind-bogglingly intricate. One marvels, for example, at the endless rows of billowy hula-
hooped skirts and neon-tubing employed during the staging of The Shadow Waltz from Gold Diggers of 1933; the way sixty
young women clutching their art deco Stradivariuses suddenly come together to form one monumentally massive violin
before dissolving into an fluttery army, endlessly mirrored against impossibly pristine poured-glass and mirror floors. Other
4.
5. (Previous page): anatomy of the perfect escapism. It is virtually impossible to fully appreciate Berkeleyâs talents in still frame enlargements. Part of the magic he wrought can
only be treasured in motion. But The Shadow Waltz from Gold Diggers of 1933 is perhaps the most perfect musical number ever executed on celluloid. Most definitely it
remains one with which Berkeleyâs own iconography is forever associated. The dancers endured being repeatedly shocked by the battery packs hidden beneath their skirts
that powered their neon lit violins, and the moment was interrupted by a sizeable earthquake. But nothing could prevent Berkeley from getting his vision up on the screen.
The Shadow Waltz exemplifies Berkeleyâs way of getting âintoâ a musical sequence; starting off with a great Harry Warren/Al Dubin song sung by Ruby Keeler and Dick
Powell, cleverly moving in on one dancer, then two, then a whole army doing exactly the same thing. The Shadow Waltz is photographed from every conceivable angle, from
straight on, above and even below, all in service to Berkeleyâs dream-like visions of surrealism.
(This page, left): Berkeleyâs chorine gaze upward at his overhead camera for âYoung and Healthyâ from 42
nd
Street (1932); Berkeleyâs first kaleidoscopic vision in the movies.
The Berkeley style for such overhead shots really never advanced beyond this initial effort, the chorine merely dressed in more flamboyant costumes of contrasting B&W.
(Right): Ruby Keeler strikes a pose atop a stairway to nowhere for the grand finale to 42
nd
Street. Behind each of the cardboard skyscrapers to her left and right is a chorine.
studios, most notably, MGM â and occasionally Paramount, tried to mimic the Berkeley style. In fact, MGM quickly snatched
up Berkeleyâs contract after Warner dropped him from their roster in 1940. But MGMâs glamour and attention to stars
never entirely blended with Berkeleyâs vision of the dancer as âextraâ and in retrospect his contributions at MGM pale by
direct comparison. Worse, Berkeley had a penchant for inspiring wrath among MGMâs roster of enviable talent. Whether it
was Berkeleyâs increasing alcoholism that led to these rows or simply a clash of wills and artistic temperament remains open
for discussion.
Judy Garland, as example, began as an ardent supporter of Berkeleyâs talent, but wound up despising his fanaticism for
âenergyâ - always more energy â on the set of Girl Crazy (1943); their fourth collaborative effort in the popular Mickey
Rooney/Garland musicals that effectively led to Berkeley being replaced as director by Norman Taurog on the picture.
Garlandâs own chronic addiction to pills might have played a part in their mutual frustrations. In fact, Garland suffered a
ânervous breakdownâ while shooting the penultimate âI Got Rhythmâ dude ranch finale. But Berkeley darn near killed Esther
Williams during the staging of his grand water-skiing finale in Easy to Love (1953) when he became so engrossed in âgetting
the shotâ that his speed boat narrowly missed Williamsâ water ski by mere inches, which would have sent her plummeting
into the boatâs wildly spinning outboard head first. âBuz always used to get his best ideas in the bathtub,â Williams later
explained, ââŠin a tub at two a.m. with a stiff drink in one hand and a telephone in the otherâŠand heâd wake you up out of a
dead sleep to say, âhey, Iâve got an ideaâ at which point you just had to rub your eyes and use a pillow to prop yourself up and
listen, because most of what he came up with was damn good.â
Today, Busby Berkeley is primarily known, beloved, occasionally reviled, but mostly revered for those ten short years he
spent on the Warner back lot, blazing a trail of artistry that at the time may have seemed nothing better than rank military
precision run amuck in the glamor of gay old Hollywood. Heâs been earmarked in the annals of Hollywood history for two
trends; the aforementioned geometric placement of his dancers and for his equally famed and oft copied overhead crane
6.
7. (Previous page: Gold Diggers of 1933 is such an embarrassment of riches one scarcely knows where to begin. Remember My Forgotten Man concludes the film on such an
epic and sustained bittersweet note of social commentary that it begs a further analysis of Berkeleyâs structure. Top row: Joan Blondell as a street walker implores the
audience to never forget the men who valiantly fought for the freedom America enjoys, but who have since fallen on hard times after the war. In the upper right: the life
cycle of a forgotten man begins â first, as a war hero, gallantly marching in a hometown parade and flanked by adoring crowds tossing ticker-take in their midst. Second row:
the mood turns sullen, then rancid as the ravages of combat exact their pound of flesh from the noble, the heroic and the disillusioned. Third row: Berkeleyâs last act for the
song is bleak and unforgiving; the soldiers homecoming to unemployment, hardship and breadlines. The women reach out to their husbands, brothers and lovers, and in the
penultimate finale Blondell is seen, arms outstretched, against bridgework showcasing the new recruits, the current crop of forgotten men brought to their knees in the
foreground â the cycle beginning anew for the next generation.
Remember My Forgotten Man is a number so true to the Depression era that one is immediately startled by Berkeleyâs unapologetic indictment of the socio-political
structure that has allowed such a travesty to endure. Warner Bros. was a studio in support of President Franklin Rooseveltâs policies, and yet the number is very much a
scathing critique of his administrationâs inability to salvage the nationâs want for a more prosperous time. Fourth row: by almost absurd contrast, Gold Diggers of 1933
begins with a buoyant â if thoroughly fraudulent â anthem to prosperity; âWeâre in The Moneyâ â sung by a sassy Ginger Rogers. Berkeleyâs chorines are decked out in gold
coins and lame, their opulent surroundings complimented by the great Warren/Dubin melody. âGone are my blues, and gone are my tears. I've got good news to shout in
your ears. The silver dollar has come back to the fold. With silver you can turn your dreams to gold!â In the final edit Rogers also sings the chorus in a sort of fractured,
backward Pig-Latin before the number is interrupted by bill collectors come to close down the rehearsals for lack of funds.
(This page, left): Ruby Keeler listens intensely to Buzz, up on his crane as he prepares a run through for âI Only Have Eyes For Youâ the sublime love ballad from Dames (1934).
Right: a publicity still of Ginger Rogers in her gold coin costume from Gold Diggers of 1933. Rogers first appeared in 42
nd
Street. Her brassy platinum blonde quickly caught
both Berkeley and the studioâs attention. But it was no use. Her loan out to RKO for an impromptu bit part and teaming with Fred Astaire for 1933âs Flying Down To Rio
made Rogers an overnight sensation elsewhere. She would spend the rest of the 1930s at RKO in 8 films that forever cemented her popularity as one half of the greatest
dance pair ever to appear in the history of movies.
shot. âBuz would take his viewfinder high up on a platform in the rafters and be concentrating so hard on getting the angle
just right heâd have to be tied with a rope around his waist, because a couple a times he almost fell off,â Mickey Rooney
explained. âEverything was in service to that shot,â Ruby Keeler concurred, âBuz would say âstand hereâ and Iâd stand there.
Heâs say, âdo thisâ and Iâd do it. He wanted things just right for the camera and thatâs all that mattered. How you looked in
relation to the shotâŠbut I adored that man. He was truly gifted.â
8.
9. (Previous page): Gold Diggers of 1933âs most titillating production number in undeniably âPettinâ in the Parkâ â a glamorous affair set in an art deco landscape. The action
begins in late fall, the patrons depicted as young and old, black and white, each struck by Cupidâs arrow. One of the most startling depictions â at least for its time â is the
inclusion of the non-Caucasian couple also enjoying their autumn romance. In an era when blacks were primarily represented on the screen as slaves, maids, butlers and
chauffeurs, Berkeley places this couple on par with their white counterparts, merely relishing the pleasures of their artificial surroundings. Pettinâ in the Park is also notable
for Billy Barty â the midget playing an inquisitive baby who enjoys pea-shooting the lusty adults to distraction, then crawling between the legs of the adult women engaging in
a wintery snowball fight during the transitional second section. Berkeley cannot resist showcasing one of his trademark overhead kaleidoscopic shots herein.
The effect this time around however is brief and largely forgettable, the oversized snowballs not particularly conducive to his artistic needs. In the third and final act an
impromptu spring shower intrudes on lâamour once again. This time the ladies retreat to a nearby pavilion where they draw a transparent curtain before stripping out of their
wet clothes. Barty emerges, this time in a rain slicker, tempting the audience by threatening to reveal the nude forms. The men, including Dick Powell patiently assume that
when their lovers return the loving can begin. Unfortunately, the ladies have decided to don corsets made from tin. Powell is at first frustrated by his paramourâs new attire;
that is until Barty lends him a can opener. The last shot shows Powell turning Ruby Keelerâs back to him as he prepares to cut through this bizarre chastity device. Pettinâ in
the Park was considered something of a perversity in its day. The Catholic League of Decency was not impressed, putting pressure on Hollywoodâs newly instituted Production
Code to clamp down on future representations.
(This page, left): Berkeley rehearses his camera for âThe Words Are in My Heartâ from Gold Diggers of 1935. The rotating baby grand pianos were actually made of hollow and
easily moveable plywood, placed on casters, and with a man draped in black beneath each one to conceal him from the camera as they swirled about the glossy poured glass
floor. (Right): when Berkeley left Warner Bros. at the end of the 30s he lost a good deal of his autonomy in the trade over at MGM who valued individual star power over
Berkeleyâs analogous army of extras. Here, Berkeley is seated in the foreground with the cast from Two Weeks With Love (1950): a standard Jane Powell programmer for
which he staged the musical sequences â none of them memorably. Among the memorable faces are Ricardo Montalban (just behind to Berkeleyâs left), Powell and Louis
Calhern (to Berekelyâs right), and Clinton Sunberg, a 15 year old Debbie Reynolds, and Carlton Carpenter (standing behind Powell). The film is frothy and tune-filled, but itâs
hardly Berkeleyâs best work. By 1950 he had become generally bored by his assignments over at MGM.
For a time Berkeley was king at Warner Brothers, given carte blanche to stage his numbers with as much aplomb as the old
Warner coffers could supply. In America, people came to see movies made by other directors simply to wait in anticipation of
the moment when the drama or comedy took its pause, the orchestra struck up a hummable melody and Berkeleyâs
imagination went to work. But in fact, Berkeleyâs influence was felt around the world; even including Adolph Hitlerâs Nazi
Germany where it is rumored Der Fuhrer quietly instructed his Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels and state-sanctioned
movie maker, Leni Riefenstahl to emulate the Berkeley style when staging his Nuremberg rallies.
Arguably, Berkeley today is even more of a style icon than he ever was during his own time. His artistry has appeared in one
knock off after another in movies as diverse as Kate Capshawâs soaring and sequined âAnything Goesâ at the start of Indiana
Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), to Miss Piggyâs fantasy swim in The Great Muppet Caper (1981), and âthe dudeâsâ
gutter ball dream sequence from The Big Lebowski (1998). Yet, itâs an extremely telling testament to Berkeleyâs own
iconography that whenever we see these moments from our contemporary vantage itâs Berkeleyâs name that immediately
10.
11. (Previous page): One of Berkeleyâs most lavish and fanciful creations is By A Waterfall from Footlight Parade (1933) â a spectacular water ballet, arguably, for which there
remains no equal. Berkeley had attempted an aquacade in The Kid From Spain, but it was really nothing compared to this. Warner Bros. had initially balked at the cost of
staging such a spectacle. It is rumored this one number cost nearly one third of Footlight Paradeâs entire budget. Nevertheless, Berkeley had cache at the studio by this time
and his vision for the number was green lit. Once again, Berkeley photographs the number from every conceivable angle. We get overhead and underwater shot, the heavily
chlorinated water wreaking havoc on the chorinesâ skin and eyes. The piece de resistance is a rising and rotating human fountain, its jets of water spewing high into the air.
(Top left): Workmen and engineers proudly pose atop the elaborate metal mechanism soon to be sheathed in art deco style to support the chorines. The technology that
went into building this contraption was considered state-of-the-art then and today remains equally as impressive. During the years of war rationing, the fountain was
dismantled, its parts melted down and used on other film projects (Right): The completed structure with its bevy of water-logged beauties joyously smiling for Berkeleyâs
camera.
comes to mind. We rekindle the master in all his glory, perhaps thinking of a Ruby Keeler tapping her way through a faux
Broadway in 42nd
Street, or conjure to mind the likes of Esther Williams rising from the sea in Million Dollar Mermaid (1952).
Berkeleyâs critics would argue that his âartâ was nothing more or better than a garish display of distraction â Berkeleyâs
inability to even remotely reference what was happening elsewhere in the moviesâ threadbare narratives creating a distinct
and jarring juxtaposition between the story and the songs unfolding before our eyes. Busby Berkeley rarely directed the
movies in which his numbers appeared. Few geniuses have been so compartmentalized.
His all too brief stints at directing after leaving Warner Brothers never really added up to much beyond the numbers either.
No, Berkeley is at his best when excised and/or removed from plot â his confections mesmerizing â even anesthetizing, with
broad brush strokes of syncopated illumination. Yet Berkeleyâs âmagicâ would be absolutely nothing at all without the
infectious scores of Harry Warren and Al Dubin to reinforce them; hit men who scored toe-tapping gold over and over again.
The integration of their music with Berkeleyâs inspired staging is a marriage of impeccable sights and sounds. But oh, how the
fireworks kick off whenever a hundred or so dancers are in the room.
Berkeley once said that in an era of breadlines, depression and war, he tried to help people get away from all their
miseries...to turn their minds to something elseâŠif only for an hour. But his artistry has managed to do a lot more along the
way. Heâs provided us with so much inspiration â a template â and yes, even parody that tomorrowâs film makers and
commercial artists will likely forever remain in his debt. And Berkeley today is arguably more revered than he was during his
halcyon decade-long tenure at Warner Brothers. But oh, what grand entertainment he gave us; what a sublime and
scintillating treasure trove to adore and admire; sitting there in the darkness with popcorn on our knee, wondering just how
in the world he ever thought up those crazy, swirling, whirling, stylish spectacles.
12. âDancing is strenuous workâŠas strenuous as playing football.â â Busby Berkeley
Busby Berkeley: colossal genius or masochistic joke? The debate over Americaâs premiere architect of the Hollywood musical
from the 1930s rages on, fueled primarily by conflicting testimonials from the people who worked for him and by nearly six
decades of fraudulent academic debate (most based in Freudian feminism) that has attempted to place Berkeleyâs
representations of the female form divine somewhere between mere oddity and compromised, fetishized, objectified âthingsâ
on the silver screen. There is little to deny Berkeleyâs vision. It isnât about the dancer but rather the art of movement. But the
same holds true for the way he handles men in his dance routines, though there are unmistakably less of them than their
better halves on display in any Berkeley number.
Berkeleyâs âuseâ of women is in strict service to his construction of conformity - elaborate human kaleidoscopes: vast and
complex geometric patterns that unfold as if by some great domino effect to produce an endless âexploitationâ of arms and
legs all preening and/or kicking in unison. Yet, so too is there much to suggest that as an artist Busby Berkeley was inclined to
liberate the chorine from her traditional nameless place among the backdrop and props. No more confined in long shot,
Berkeley drew the focus of his camera inward to showcase bouquets of fresh faces blossoming with girlish pride. âWeâve got
all these beautiful girls,â Berkeley used to say, âWhy not let the public see them?â
One fact remains irrefutable. Berkeleyâs camera work forever freed the art of dance on film from its stage-bound proscenium.
The liquidity of his camera gave life â nee, excitement â to dance. In a Berkeley number itâs not only the dancers who twirl.
Everything moves like gangbusters and before you know it youâre moving right along with it; head swaying, fingers snapping,
toes tapping â humming the infectious melodies as you exit the theater. The essential magic that is Busby Berkeley on film is
an exemplar of pure escapism at its most wholesomely playful.
Berkeleyâs personal life was another matter entirely. Like so many of the greats from his vintage William Berkeley Enos was
born on November 29, 1895 to struggle, hardship and poverty. If anything, he at least had the very modest advantage of
being born close to his future vocation - calling Los Angeles his home. Home, however, was something of a relative term for
Berkeley. His father Francis was a stage director for the Tim Frawley Repertory Company; his mother, Gertrude, a struggling
actress. On the road for most of his childhood, young Willâ became resilient to the prospect of never waking up in the same
bed more than twice. At age 12 he was enrolled in the Mohegan Lake Military Academy near Peekskill where he eventually
graduated in 1914.
To say that Berkeleyâs home life lacked cohesion would be something of an understatement. He was never close to his
brother George who was ten years his senior. In his youth he took jobs that bored him mostly, working for a shoe company in
16. (Previous) Undeniably the most story-laden and intricate of Berkeleyâs production numbers, if perhaps any ever devised for film, Lullaby of Broadway from Gold Diggers of
1935 tells the sordid tale of a Broadway party girl who sleeps all day and dances all night. Berkeleyâs vision is heavily inspired by German expressionism. His depiction of the
New York skyline and streets is dark and foreboding, his vision for the lavish multi-tiered penthouse ballroom no less brooding. After the camera zooms in on the
disembodied head of singer Wini Shaw, Berkeley indulges us with a bit of montage that shows how Shaw spends her days and nights â luring her present paramour, Dick
Powell into paying for her apartment and lifestyle. The tap routine that follows begins with a single couple attired in white inside the Club Casino. But soon the dancersâ
cloths change to black. The women, in their midriff exposing cat suits are particularly vamp-like; the men appearing more as ushers than suitors.
Shaw sings the song, but itâs Dick Powell who interjects the toast that sends the ballroom into its frenzy; âA table for two, a lady divine, a rhapsody blue, a bottle wine!â The
dancers mob Shaw and Powell who, presumably inebriated, donât really seem to mind. They pursue the couple on the dance floor, separating them and chasing Shaw into
the turrets and out onto a narrow balcony. She coyly bars their way, peering through the French doors and kissing Powell through the glass. But the crowd has
underestimated their influence. They accidentally push Shaw to her death by forcing open the doors. She plummets off the balcony, the camera sparing us her demise;
returning instead to Shawâs apartment where we see her milk bottles uncollected, her cat unfed. Shawâs disembodied head returns to warble the penultimate lines of the
song. Apparently when this Broadway baby says âgoodnightâ itâs for good! The song and the story it tells are macabre but equally as fascinating, the choreography so intense
and intricate it remains a spellbinding marvel of planning and execution. The Hollywood musical has never been more prolific or satisfying than this.
(Above left): Berkeley and producer Mervyn LeRoy (to Berkeleyâs left) study a miniature and oversee construction of the massive set for The Shadow Waltz from Gold
Diggers of 1933. (Middle): various chorines rest and read catch up on daily events in the newspaper in between takes on the set of Love and War from Gold Diggers of 1937.
(Right): A property master attends to a chorineâs bathing suit in between takes on the set of By A Waterfall from Footlight Parade. The amount of time spent in preparation
for one of Berkeleyâs productions numbers now seems unfathomable and only possible in those halcyon days of the studio system when everything that was required to will
such opulent spectacles into reality was home grown and readily available.
collision that left three people dead; William von Brieson, his mother and sister-in-law. Having stumbled from the wreckage
of his own car, Berkeley was narrowly spared a similar fate when his roadster burst into flames. He was later acquitted of all
charges, but not before having to endure two hung jury trials.
The pall of what he had done remained forever present in Berkeleyâs own mind â arguably, for the rest of his days. By the
time he began work on Varsity Show (1937) Berkeleyâs severe bouts of depression were already legendary and threatening
his future career prospects at Warner Brother. It was all coming to an end much too fast; the cycle and popularity of Warnerâs
musicals winding down. And the studio had grown tired of increasingly having to do damage control to shore up Berkeleyâs
reputation. Berkeleyâs self-destructive nature had also dismantled two of his six marriages by then, leaving behind bitter exâs
Esther Muir (1929-31) and Merna Kennedy (1934-36) who were bleeding his personal finances dry. Berkeley would marry
three more times without any real prospects of everlasting bliss. Perhaps because his relationships with women in general
proved so utterly disastrous during this period, Berkeley developed a very close-knit bond with his mother. In fact, Gertrude
lived with Berkeley until her death in 1946 â an event that sent Berkeley into his deepest despair yet and even caused him to
attempt suicide by taking an overdoes and then slitting his wrists.
19. (Previous): a day in the life of a chorus girlâŠor at least, as depicted by Berkeley from the finale to Dames (1934). The number begins inside producer Dick Powellâs office with
various financial backers attempting to analyze what makes a hit show. Frustrated, Powell finally interrupts with, âWho writes the words to all those picture shows? No one
cares. No one knows. What do you go for, to see a show forâŠyou go to see it for those beautiful dames.â The sequence leads into just another routine nine to five for an
army of chorines who curiously live together in a sort of communal art deco boarding house. Berkeleyâs camera weaves through a series half-moon shaped beds, bubble
baths and vanity tables; the girls arriving at the stage door on time only to be thrown into the rafters of the theater, then fall back on the floor in various geometric patterns.
The camera pulls back from a domino-stacked tower of chorines singing the title song, the image frozen before Powell shoves his head through the still frame to chime in the
last few lines. The finale is an escapism wink and a nudge to Berkeleyâs fetishized females; their minds unimportant, their bodies used merely to create more of Berkeleyâs
jigsaw puzzle pieces, endlessly maneuvered into kaleidoscopic patterns.
(This page, left): Dick Powell attempts to comfort an inconsolable Ruby Keeler in 42
nd
Street. (Right): The boys and girls strut their stuff in this publicity photo taken for the
same film.
Berkeley committed three numbers to 42nd
Street; the silly/chirpy âShuffle Off To Buffaloâ, the energetic âYoung and Healthyâ
and the grandiose moving tableau to gaudy, bawdy urban excess â the finale â42nd
Streetâ. Viewed today, only the latter two
are memorable, imbued with Berkeleyâs spark of ingenuity. In hindsight, âYoung and Healthyâ clearly illustrates where
Berkeleyâs future endeavors would reside. Beginning with a crooning serenade from Dick Powell, the number evolves from
one beautiful girl (16 year old Toby Wing, looking ravishing in white fox fur and slinky, bare-back gown), then into two, then
four, then quite suddenly an army of nearly carbon-copied blonde bombshells, identically attired and flanked by a chorine of
male ushers. The brood mounts a spinning dance floor, marching, strutting and even jogging in unison, counterclockwise to
the movement of the floor beneath their feet. Itâs a stunning effect, creating motion within motion, the whole spectacle
strangely caught in pace and âin placeâ, the final shot photographed between dancersâ bare legs and finally coming to rest on
a close-up of Powell and Wing blissfully smiling into the camera.
For the finale, Berkeley uses his camera to pan over a recreated stage-bound street scene, showcasing the various scamps,
tramps and other spurious characters populating his faux New York landscape. Peering into various windows of an apartment
complex we see a barber at work, a crap shoot in progress and a foiled rape scene unfold. Ruby Keeler, who would become
the other mainstay of Berkeleyâs tenure at Warner, appears in a straight skirt with oversized buttons and a slit up the leg. The
relatively realistic set parts down the middle and Keeler makes her way up a gigantic staircase to nowhere, a small army of
male dancers with their backs turned to the camera, all carrying blacked out/life-sized placards as they ascend on either side.
Only when the stairs have been completely covered does this troupe turn around, and then, to conceal their identities
completely by hiding behind the placards made to resemble towering replicas of the New York skyline.
42nd
Street was a colossal hit. Moreover, it cemented Berkeleyâs iconography within the musical genre. Berkeley and
composers Harry Warren and Al Dubin all received 7 year contracts as a result, and Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler became the
reigning musical sweethearts of Berkeleyâs subsequent excursions into sweet escapism. In November Warner Brothers
announced in the trades that they were giving their most valuable player âtime offâ to raid the various chorus lines and sign 60
dancers to a long-term contract. Berkeley gave a puff piece interview to the press where he laid out âthe rulesâ each chorine
20.
21. (Previous): In âI Only Have Eyes For Youâ from Dames (1934) Berkeley employs Ruby Keelerâs cherub-esque features to obsessive effect. Dick Powell and Keeler are first
glimpsed along âa crowded avenueâ in which all of the patrons suddenly âdisappear from viewâ; Powellâs daydreams of Keeler overtaking his subconscious so that any girl he
sees suddenly reminds him of her. Berkeley introduces his chorines hiding behind a life-size cutout of Keelerâs head, only to reveal each as having an uncanny resemblance
to Keeler anyway as the shot dissolves into one of Keeler herself atop a great rotating art deco Ferris wheel, the other chorines loosely waving their billowy half-moon skirts
back and forth. The number concludes with Keeler in full body framed within a handsome mirror, the number dissolving back to Keeler and Powell, now sound asleep on
the subway.
(This page): Footlight Paradeâs Shanghai Lilâ, with its blatant depictions of drunkenness, prostitution and drug addiction had the Production Code in an uproar â though not
enough to force Warner Bros. to excise the number. James Cagney and Ruby Keeler to a spirited buck and wing atop a bar in a brothel about to be raided by the police
before Cagney dons a sailorâs uniform and takes to the streets with his concubine. Outside (or rather, inside a large Warner Bros. soundstage), the U.S. military force is in full
regalia, proudly doing its maneuvers to a roaring crowd, the soldiers forming the American flab with its center portion turned to reveal President Rooseveltâs portrait. The
soldiers also form the NRA logo, firing their guns in all directions from its center, but presumably, without killing any of the onlookers.
was expected to follow if she should wish to keep her job. This rather silly roster of edicts included daily regimented outdoor
exercise, three square meals a day, at least one consisting of steak or chop and a glass of orange juice, minimum make-up and
NO mascara, and, no high heel shoes while rehearsing. Berkeleyâs $1,500 weekly salary made him one of the highest paid
âstarsâ on the Warner back lot, although much of this profit was eaten up by Berkeleyâs alimony.
For his next feature, Gold Diggers of 1933, Berkeleyâs penchant for extravagance was given exceptionally free reign, and he
proved that left to his own accord he could concoct some of the most breathtaking feats of escapism yet seen in the movies.
Warren and Dubin kick off the film with one of the true oddities of the Depression era, âWeâre In The Moneyâ - sung by a sassy
Ginger Rogers bedecked in a glittering mass of coins. The song suggests an end to hard times, despite the fact that the
Depression was at its zenith in 1933. Berkeley employs slow-motion and skewed camera angles; Rogers and her chorines
flouncing rather haplessly about the art deco proscenium before being interrupted in their rehearsal by bill collectors.
The number is but a prelude to two of Berkeleyâs most thrilling concoctions. âPettinâ In The Parkâ features a pint-sized and
slightly perverse Billy Barty skulking around a ladies changing room after an impromptu thunderstorm has chased everyone
from the art deco park inside. Hidden behind some very transparent drapes, the girls completely undress as Barty leers on.
The number is impressive not only for its execution but also for its obvious sidestepping of the newly instituted production
code that generally forbade sexual explicitness of any kind on the screen. Yet, Berkeley manages to get up close and personal
with his female chorines, shooting from angles that go right up their stocking feet from ankle to inner thigh, and later, by
concealing their naked forms behind the flimsiest of translucent curtains.
24. (Previous): One of Berkeleyâs most sublime escapist fantasies, staging a Cinderella-eque masked ball for âDonât Say Goodnightâ from Wonder Bar (1934). The film starred
second string matinee idol Ricardo Cortez, Delores Del Rio, Dick Powell and Al Jolson and is among the most adult fare Warners produced during this vintage. Certainly, its
central themes of adultery, promiscuity and unpunished murder committed in the name of jealousy were startling and went way beyond what the Production Code deemed
as acceptable. Donât Say Goodnight begins with a waltz between Cortez and Del Rio inside Jolsonâs fashionable nightclub, serenaded by Dick Powell. Soon, however, this
proscenium gives way to Berkeleyâs fanciful imagination; a ballroom with moveable pillars where masked dancers sway to the lilting strains of the music. One of them
(Victoria Vinton) loses her shoe, leaving a star-struck Denis OâKeefe to go in search of the missing apparel. Berkeleyâs ingenious placement of several towering walls of
mirrors creates the illusion of infinity. Itâs still only 65 dancers weâre seeing, multiplied to endless effect and stretching beyond to a never-ending horizon. Berkeley dug a
hole in the floor to conceal his camera and cameraman. At the end of the number, OâKeefe discovers Vinton hidden beneath a bower of silver lame leaves in a shimmering
forest. Casting her mask to the ground, the masks blow into a pile of leaves to reveal Cortez and Del Rio, who longingly implores âWhy canât this night go on forever?â
Regrettably, Wonder Bar is also remembered for âGoing To Heaven on A Muleâ â Berkeleyâs grossly prejudicial rendering of an all-black segregated heaven where a poor
farmer (played by Al Jolson) is invited to dance all day and eat all the watermelon he wants. The invitation is a rouse, of course, to see if Jolson can resist temptation and be
truly worthy of entrance beyond the Milky Way. Jolson, who had trademarked âblack-faceâ in The Jazz Singer (1929) plays this new recruit as a wide-eyed simpleton, amazed
to discover that heaven (or at the very least, this suburb of it) is a reconstituted version of Hollywood-Harlem. At one point Jolson makes his way to a nightclub in the sky
where he is reunited with his beloved mule and stays to watch as one of the male dancers taps while flanked by oversized wedges of watermelon. With his white chorines
heavily pancaked in cork, Berkeley meant Going To Heaven on A Mule to be a fanciful exultation of that bygone era in Vaudeville. Instead, his homage became a rather
garish misfire, exemplifying the still prevalent acceptableness of racism.
audienceâs anxieties with escapist fluff and nonsense, Berkeley and the film had brought the Depression-era anxieties to a
fevered pitch â boldly, concretely and with artistic flair.
Assessing the film for the Los Angeles Record, critic Relma Morin astutely surmised that âitâs a dazzling, eye-paralyzing, ear-
tickling creation that makes all other musicals look like a Delancey Street peep show. The star of the picture is a gentleman
who does not appear in it. Busby Berkeley, the geometrically-minded ladâŠhas done a perfectly amazing job!â
Warner Brothers too had been most impressed by Berkeleyâs innovations â less so when the front office discovered he had
ordered the studio craftsmen to cut holes in the ceilings of the soundstages to accommodate his ever-increasing need to rise
higher and higher into the rafters. Jack Warner was in Europe at the time Berkeley requested these alterations, but upon
hearing the news gave a solemn order barring Berkeley from setting foot inside the latest stage being built at the studio for
fear he might order holes drilled into its rooftop too.
For Berkeleyâs next endeavor, Footlight Parade (1933) he was given James Cagney as his star. Cagney, who had begun life as a
dancer, but had been relegated to playing gangsters in the movies, proved himself every bit up to the challenge of high-
25. (Above): By the time Berkeley staged âThe Latin Quarterâ in Ray Enrightâs Gold Diggers in Paris (1938) Warner Bros. had already decided that it was time to retire their once
popular backstage series. Told he would have to economize, Berkeley proved he could still be creative on a shoestring budget, particularly since his stars were the precious
Rosemary Lane and Rudy Vallee, both in very fine voice indeed. And the Harry Warren/Al Dubin score is first rate, even if the filmâs plot is not. For the finale Lane climbs a
ladder into Valleeâs attic apartment in France as part of a stage show where he is painting headshots of women that miraculously come to life. We dissolve into a
characteristic can-can, shot uncharacteristically by Berkeley with deep shadows and on a severe angle to mask the fact that his request for chorines had also been cut by half.
Only thirty are ever featured in a single shot. The number concludes with Vallee and Lane atop an oversized naval cap reprising the movieâs other hit song, âI Wanna Go Back
To Baliâ.
stepping. Yet, in hindsight there seems a curious disconnect between this film and Berkeleyâs two aforementioned efforts,
Cagneyâs presence so formidable that it forced Berkeley to concoct more intimate numbers to showcase his male star.
Berkeley, however, could not resist indulging his creative verve on two mammoth set pieces; the first, at least in hindsight,
foreshadowing the MGM career of Esther Williams a full eleven years before it would come to pass. âBy A Waterfallâ is
perhaps the most lyrical water ballet ever put on film. Undeniably, it remains one of the most intricate and, for its time, was
the most expensive production number of Berkeleyâs career.
The number begins in a faux forest setting; the show within a show stars Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell serenading each other
with a few bars of the Harry Warren/Al Dubin melody before Powell falls asleep on the grassy knoll and Keeler disappears
behind a rock to disrobe and dive into the gargantuan swimming pool, complete with waterslides and fifty swimmers all
bedecked in spangled one-piece bathing suits and matching skull caps. For the next ten minutes, Berkeley repeatedly dazzles
with one memorable sequence of dives after the next, the swimmers retreating from the forest into an art deco pool before
rising like sprites atop a revolving fountain. Berkeley compounds this mesmerizing spectacle by shooting the fountain of girls
from every conceivable angle; his overhead symmetry revealing a fetishistic conglomeration of scissor-kicking legs. At one
point Berkeley provides a startling overhead of the pool itself, illuminated from within only, the swimmers in shadow
spreading from its center to create a baffling rotation of amoeba-shaped geometric patterns, locking their ankles around each
otherâs necks to perform a cylindrical human chain in perfectly formed concentric circles beneath the water.
The other outstanding moment in the film is Shanghai Lilâ â a spirited buck and wing performed in a brothel between Keeler
(dressed in silks as a Chinese concubine) and Cagney as an American sailor who departs for the streets where a small army of
28. (Above): Hollywood Hotel (1937) was a trifle about a singer, played by Dick Powell, desperate to make good. Rosemary Lane played Powellâs love interest, and the film also
featured Glenda Farrell, Benny Goodman and his orchestra, as well as Ronald Reagan, theater impresario Sid Grauman and gossip columnist Louella Parsons in cameos.
Despite some lavish production values, and the fact that Berkeley was allowed to direct the entire movie â not just its musical sequences â the resultant spectacle was very
un-Berkleley-esque; more of a standard programmer of the day and bearing none of Berkeleyâs innovations for telling a story through song.
in. When the women receptively agrees the man takes her partner around the waist and dances off with him instead. Leering
at the spectacle, Jolson slyly comments âBoys will be boys.â Wonder Bar also featured a tango between Ricardo Cortez and
Delores Del Rio in which he repeatedly assaults her with a bull whip as part of the act. The moment is capped off by Del Rio,
whose character is in love with Cortezâs man-about-town, but has also discovered his gross infidelities with other women,
mortally stabbing him. The crowd in attendance assumes this is part of the act and applauds its daring, even as Cortez slinks
off into the wings to die. But Del Rioâs scorned murderess is never brought to justice.
Berkeley topped out 1934 with a minor programmer, Fashions of 1934, in which he staged a feather and harp spectacle to
Warren and Dubinâs Spin A Little Web of Dreams; then, a towering achievement with Dames, featuring three memorable
excursions into Berkeley-ana â the whimsical The Girl at the Ironing Board, the lyrical âI Only Have Eyes for Youâ and a
confounding finale built around the title song. In the first number, Joan Blondell imagines a romance between the various
clothing hanging to dry on her laundry line. The number is perhaps a good counter-reference to âShuffle Off To Buffaloâ from
42nd
Street; occasionally coy and cloying, but notable for its technical prowess and Blondellâs way with the lyric. Berkeley,
however, is on full display in âI Only Have Eyes For Youâ â the filmâs love ballad between Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell,
rekindling fond memories of their pas deux during The Shadow Waltz.
Berkeley reasoned that if the public adored one Ruby Keeler they would go positively gaga over an army of Ruby Keelers; a
logic so absurd it proved equally as sound, the floor and platforms suddenly rising in rotating Ferris wheels with each dancer
eerily resembling the star, the troupe rushing to her side before flipping their skirts over to form a gigantic placard of Keeler
herself; its left eye opening like the trademark gun barrel from the James Bond franchise to reveal Keeler in full form, rising to
the surface. Initially budgeted at $15,000, Berkeley was able to cajole producer Hal B. Wallis into giving him $40,000 to
perfect his vision. Earlier Wallis had denied Berkeleyâs request for $50,000 and 250 chorines saying, âWe have been warned
29. (Above): Another studio and another black-face routine. After Berkeley relocated to MGM in 1939 L.B. Mayer assigned him Babes in Arms to direct. It was a plum part
indeed, and set the standard for three more Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland extravaganzas to follow. The third installment was Babes on Broadway (featured above). Berkeley
created his most lavish minstrel show yet, with Garland belting out âFranklin D. Roosevelt Jonesâ, and Mickey Rooney playing an electric rendition of Swanee on his banjo.
The cast also featured Virginia Weidler, Ray MacDonald, Anne Rooney and Richard Quine enjoying the âBlack Out Over Broadwayâ. After a spirited rendering of âWaiting on
the Robert E. Leeâ the cast sans cork reappears against a backdrop of Broadway entirely formed out of twinkling lights, Rooney and Garland ecstatically leering at each other
and the camera. The Garland/Rooney movies represent a highlight for Berkeley at MGM. Regrettably, his tenure would be all downhill from here.
not to have this kind of number and I personally will not approve anything of this kind.â Nevertheless, it was proving
increasingly a challenge to disagree with Berkeleyâs logic. It was sound and his pictures were making a lot of money.
For the finale of Dames, Berkeley instituted his most lavish series of kaleidoscopic imagery to date; his chorines decked in
black tights and flouncy white blouses, one at a time flying into the camera lens with a black ball in their hands, casting their
orbs downward into the center of a crowd who seemed to explode on cue into a variety of geometric patterns. Once again,
the effect is a reverse shot; the individual girls lowered away from the camera rather than towards it, the film sped up to
suggest more of a jet propulsion.
Gold Diggers of 1935 brought Berkeley back into his own for two spectacular sequences; The Words Are In My Heartâ and the
iconic Lullaby of Broadway â eleven minutes of titillating taps that tell of the tragedy of a beloved Broadway baby. Better still,
Berkeley was assigned to direct the entire film and proved (as though proof were required) that he knew his way around the
melodrama and comedy as well as the music. But in the numbers Berkeley is undeniably in his element. The Words Are in My
Heart features fifty-six sparkling white baby grand pianos, complete with corresponding female pianists in gossamer gowns,
fluttering in between the ever-moving set. Berkeley employed a bit of slo-mo trickery for the finale of this number, where the
pianos are seen coming together from all corners of the stage to form one gigantic rectangle. Once again, this sequence was
actually photographed in reverse; formation of the pianos actually being split apart by a series of invisible tow lines and men
cloaked in black, crouching to conceal them from the cameraâs view, then printed in reverse so that the opposite action
appears to be happening instead.
For The Lullaby of Broadway Berkeley endeavored to tell a mini-movie within his film; that of a Broadway gadabout played by
Wini Shaw who parties all night and sleeps all day. Returning home from another night of carousing, Ms. Shaw falls into a
30. (Above): Berkeley also directed Strike Up The Band (1940) at MGM. (Top left): Garland and Rooney perform the spirited âLa Congaâ inside a high school gymnasium to raise
money for their Broadway show. The sequence is one of Berkeleyâs best from his post-Warner career, using his energetic cast of young talent to form human chains. The film
ends on a rousing finale incorporating all of the lavishness that MGM in its prime could muster. But by now Berkeleyâs visions were beginning to appear quaint rather than
cutting edge, even borrowing from his own past to pad out his present. Note Garland and Rooney in their park-like setting, more than faintly reminiscent of Berkeleyâs own
âPettinâ in the Parkâ from Gold Diggers of 1933, albeit sanitized and presented to the public with a fresh-faced wholesomeness in keeping with MGMâs sterling reputation for
slick and stylish âqualityâ product sans sex appeal.
deep sleep; presumably awakening to do the whole process all over again. She meets up with her paramour (Dick Powell) at
an implausibly gargantuan, multi-tiered nightclub, the female and male dancers challenging one another in a spirited tap
routine that culminates with Ms. Shaw inadvertently being knocked out of the window balcony and plummeting to her death;
a rather gruesome finale â particularly for a musical â but still one of the iconic exemplars of tap-dancing precision ever put
on film. The expenditure of time and effort Berkeley had given Gold Diggers of 1935 physically wore him down â that, and his
increasing dependency on alcohol to get him through the night.
The studio took little notice of Berkeleyâs increasingly exhaustion, but did relieve him of directorial duties on In Caliente
(1935); perhaps the least distinguished of Berkeleyâs Warner musicals. Berkeley staged âThe Lady In Redâ â a tango-esque
routine with comedian Edward Everett Horton and a bevy of beauties. Although the film reunited Berkeley with Latin
superstar Delores Del Rio on this outing neither seems particularly engaged with the material. The film did respectable
business. But its failure to out-gross Gold Diggers of 1935 signaled to the studio that the cycleâs popularity had begun to cool.
By 1937âs Varsity Show Berkeley found his supremacy at Warner Brothers repeatedly challenged. Indeed, in the intervening
period he was given a modest programmer to direct, I Live For Love before being assigned to stage musical sequences for
William Keighleyâs Stars Over Broadway (both in 1935).
Berkeleyâs absence from the studio had more to do with his near fatal car wreck and incarceration for vehicular manslaughter
than any downturn in his popularity with audiences. Berkeleyâs attorney judiciously rallied support for his client in the court
room, but only after two lengthy trials ended in hung juries, and a third had already begun in earnest, were the charges finally
dropped. Berkeley was acquitted of any wrong doing. Still, it didnât matter what the courts said. Berkeleyâs conscience was
made to bear the brunt of his own responsibility. He became reclusive and severely depressed.
32. (Above): arguably Berkeleyâs most creative work post-Warner, and the one that most closely approximated his efforts at his old alma mater, was The Gangâs All Here (1943),
a splashy Technicolor extravaganza in which Berkeley concocted the surreal âThe Lady in the Tutti-Fruiti Hatâ featuring Carmen Miranda surrounded by a chorine toting life-
size bananas. Scholars have been debating the Freudian symbolism of that choice of fruit ever since. In the penultimate shot from that number Miranda is seen wearing a
gargantuan plume of bananas, thanks to a suspended painting that seems to rise forever up into the rafters of the soundstage. In attempting to get this shot Berkeleyâs
camera crane swooped just a little too low, narrowly missing hitting Miranda in the head, the gregarious and outspoken Miranda reportedly screaming âYouâŠyou crazy. You
crazy, crazy man!â
musician (Dick Powell) who becomes a big sensation in the movies. Stop me if youâve heard this one before. But it also
featured Ronald Reagan and a cameo appearance from noted gossip columnist, Louella Parsons playing â what else? - herself.
Heavily laden with largely forgettable songs â and one true treasure (Hooray for Hollywood; an anthem on par with âThatâs
Entertainment!â and Thereâs No Business Like Show Business) - Hollywood Hotel is a compendium of musical performances by
the likes of Powell, Louis Prima, Francis Langford and Rosemary Lane â all of them ably assisted by Benny Goodman and his
orchestra; a review-styled turnip loosely strung together by its threadbare plot, but that regrettably left Berkeley little room
to exercise his imagination. Viewed alongside Berkeleyâs other creative efforts at the studio, Hollywood Hotel is really a
distantâ rather than âkissingâ cousin.
The time had come for a change. Berkeley bid farewell to the Warner musical with Roy Enrightâs Gold Diggers in Paris (1938);
by far the most restrained installment in the franchise. If nothing else, the film proved that together with Harry Warren and
Al Dubin, Berkeley had not lost his touch to concoct memorable and creative production numbers. The opening credits use
stock footage to plump out the movieâs opulence, the titles appearing over outtakes from Spin A Little Web of Dreams â re-
orchestrated with an arrangement of Gold Diggers in Parisâ penultimate number, The Latin Quarter. Forced to economize and
curtail his penchant for lavish escapism, Berkeley nevertheless found innovative ways of taking his modest chorines and
multiplying their effect through lighting and shadows as they perform a spirited Rockettes routine. Gold Diggers in Paris is
also blessed by Rudi Valleeâs breezy presence and stylish rendering of the aforementioned, as well as the movieâs other
memorable tune, âI Want To Go Back to Baliâ. This song acts as bookends to the story, first as a nightclub routine sung by
Vallee, and later as its splendid finale in which all of the principals partake.
A year later Berkeley said goodbye to Warner Brothers altogether with an unlikely foray, directing the thriller, They Made Me
A Criminal (1939), followed by a B-thriller made over at MGM, Fast and Furious, and then, the first of the Garland/Rooney
musical spectaculars, Babes in Arms that same year. Although Berkeley would continue directing musicals and musical
sequences for other directors over at 20th
Century Fox and MGM until the early 1960s â and even briefly return to Warner for
Doris Dayâs entre into films, Romance on the High Seas (1948), by 1940 Busby Berkeley had achieved immortality amongst
the stars. He had forged a new format in the staging of musical sequences, one seemingly unbound by the conventions of
earthly space and utterly void of extolling the presence of star power. As the 1930s faded into obscurity so too did much of
33. (Above): Berkeleyâs last assignment at MGM â and in movies, as it turned out - was staging musical sequences for Charles Walterâs screen adaptation of Billy Roseâs Jumbo
(1962), a woefully mismanaged attempt to rekindle the magic of Cecil B. DeMilleâs The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), but regrettably made at a period in the studioâs history
when cost-cutting was the order of the day. The film co-starred Doris Day and Stephen Boyd as lovers almost torn apart by competing interests. Jimmy Durante was an
ebullient âPop Wonderâ â owner of a traveling menagerie in constant threat of being foreclosed upon by bill collectors. The sentiment was there, but not the budget and the
film really was a second-rate finale to Berkeleyâs work in films. Not the last act anyone expected and certainly not one for which Berkeley remained very proud of.
Berkeleyâs magic on the screen although his contributions to the four Garland/Rooney movie musicals (Babes in Arms 1939,
Babes on Broadway 1940, Strike Up The Band 1941 and Girl Crazy 1943) remain highpoints.
Yet the rest of Berkeleyâs tenure at that studio proved somewhat disappointing. Having successfully aped the Berkeley style
themselves for Esther Williams debut, Bathing Beauty (1944), the studio assigned Berkeley to two of Williams better efforts,
Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) and Easy to Love (1953); undeniably glossy affairs, but pale ghost flowers compared to
Berkeleyâs imaginative verve on Footlight Paradeâs aquacade sequence. At MGM Berkeley became increasingly morose and
occasionally temperamental. His alcoholism ballooned out of control and he quickly discovered, particularly after the ousting
of L.B. Mayer in 1950, that his budgetary requests were being limited by Dore Schary and the new regime to keep production
costs down. By the time Berkeley agreed to stage the musical sequences for Billy Roseâs Jumbo (1962) the studio system that
had once catered to his whims was a thing of the past. Indeed, in viewing the movie today one can see no spark of originality
in its execution; not even a glimmer of Berkeleyâs imaginative creativeness clinging to the peripheries of the screen.
Arguably, Berkeleyâs greatest post-Warner achievement was The Gangâs All Here (1943); a lavish Technicolor showcase for
Alice Faye and 20th
Century-Foxâs Brazilian bombshell, Carmen Miranda. Berkeleyâs rather phallic homage, done with chorines
caressing life-sized bananas in The Lady In The Tutti-Fruiti Hat and his climactic Polka Dot Polka and futuristic ballet that
follows it illustrate the masterâs touch in glorious Technicolor. And yet the effect, for all its gaudy brilliance, is strangely
lacking; the color somehow distracting instead of augmenting Berkeleyâs divine vision for creating kaleidoscopic magic.
For all intent and purposes Busby Berkeley quietly faded into obscurity after 1962. He truly was a forgotten man. But four
years earlier he had fortuitously met and married for the sixth and final time to actress Etta Dunn and at long last the union
proved a happy, stable and successful one. For nearly a decade Berkeleyâs reputation as a visionary remained relatively
dormant, until a 1970 New York Gallery of Modern Art retrospective on his career proved something of a resurrection to his
stature in the business. Suddenly Busby Berkeley was fashionable all over again. He lent his styling to a cold medicine
commercial with a dancing clock and was inspired to return to his Broadway roots, directing an aged Ruby Keeler in the
Broadway revival of No No Nanette (1970). But by 1973, the years and his prior life-long struggles with alcohol had caught up
to him. Three years later Berkeley died of natural causes in Palm Springs, California.
34. âAll women can be divided into two groups â like houses; furnished and unfurnished. Unfurnished, beauty is
mere prettiness without the high order of intelligence which makes for personality behind it.â
- Busby Berkeley Sept. 23, 1933
In the 1940s, Busby Berkeley grew more embittered and disillusioned by his assignments at MGM. After the Garland/Rooney
series came to end in 1943 Berkeley tried to get the studio to afford him bigger budgets and more lavish accoutrements.
MGM could have so easily afforded it. But L.B. Mayer was circumspect about overspending, particularly when there were
ways of doing things more cheaply and still satisfying the publicâs taste. With few exceptions Berkeley was relegated as a
choreographer, staging musical sequences for other directorâs films. His last truly memorable number arguably remains Iâve
Gotta Hear That Beat â sung by Ann Miller as a specialty in Small Town Girl (1953) a forgettable Jane Powell programmer.
Berkeley surrounds the leggy Miller with an âinvisibleâ orchestra, the instruments and hands to support them protruding from
the floor, the percussionist seen only as a gargantuan shadow projected onto the back wall. Miller races about frenetically
tapping out the beats of the Nicholas Brodsky song, Berkeleyâs camera rising high overhead to reveal a panacea of tom-tom
drums pounding overhead. Itâs a glitzy number to be sure, but one removed from the elephantitis Berkeley would have likely
preferred, given carte blanche as he had been over at Warner Brothers.
There were other highlights from Berkeleyâs tenure at MGM too; most notably the finale from Broadway Serenade (1939)
with Jeanette MacDonald and his mesmerizing use of pianos and revolving curtains for Fascinatinâ Rhythm from Lady Be
Good (1941) â one of Eleanor Powellâs most memorable dance sequences. But Berkeleyâs directorial effort at the studio, Take
Me Out to the Ball Game (1949), bore none of his trademark flair, perhaps because Berkeley was constantly being challenged
by the filmâs star, Gene Kelly who insisted on choreographing all of the numbers himself with collaborator, Stanley Donen.
True enough, Berkeleyâs smoke and trapeze sequence for Esther Williams in Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) marked
something of a return to form, as did his water-ski finale for Easy to Love (1953), but these were mere glimmers of the old
35. Berkeley magic. If anything they harked back to
Footlight Parade, substituting Technicolor for the
limited resources allotted his creative genius.
Fate and ill-timing conspired to prematurely oust
Berkeley from MGM â a move in keeping with the
slow demise of the studio system itself and
changing audience tastes that effectively brought
down the Hollywood musical as a viable screen art
form. Burnt out, discarded and sinking deeper into
depression and financial debt, Berkeley attempted
suicide twice.
But Berkeleyâs resurrection in the mid-1970s was
no less spectacular than his implosion had been a
decade earlier and, in the years since his passing,
time has been extremely kind to both his
reputation and his filmic creations.
Endlessly revived, revered and reviewed, Busby
Berkeley defiantly remains an emblematic part of
the Hollywood musical. His perfectionism and
visionary approach to âlight entertainmentâ reveals
incomparable creative genius; resilient and likely
to remain unsurpassed within the annals of movie
history any time soon - if ever.
(Above): The master past his prime. Although nominated for the
Academy Award 3 times, Berkeley never won. By 1960 he seemed like a
relic from a forgotten time. But then began a miraculous renaissance of
his reputation, thanks in part to a revival of his films in universities and
colleges across America. Suddenly Berkeley was in style again. Arguably,
he never went out of fashion, his legacy merely waiting for the modern
times to rediscover him.
(Left): Eleanor Powell taps to âFascinatinâ Rhythmâ a rare Berkeley
highlight in the otherwise leaden and forgettable film version of Lady Be
Good (1941). (Bottom): Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney share a soda as
they ponder what the future may bring in Babes on Broadway (1941).
Perhaps not even they could have deduced how long their own, as well
as Busby Berkeleyâs legends would endure. Great art is very much like
great genius. It comes unexpectedly and surprises us all with its
innovation and charm. Perhaps as laymen weâre ill-equipped, or even not
entirely certain what it is that constitutes greatness. But we definitely
know it when we see it.
Nick Zegarac @2013 The Hollywood Art (all rights reserved).