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Busby Berkeley Collection Vol. 2 Due 09/16/08

Nathan Dodge

One Too Many
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Glamour, Good Times, Gold Diggers...

…And the Gentleman Behind Them All!

The Busby Berkeley Collection Volume 2 Debuts September 16

Gold Diggers of 1937 ~ Gold Diggers in Paris

Hollywood Hotel ~ Varsity Show


Four Fully Restored Films are New to DVD
From the Warner Brothers Press Release:

Burbank, Calif. May 19, 2008 – The “Buzz” continues when word gets around that Warner Home Video will debut more musical extravaganzas in the Busby Berkeley Collection Volume 2 on September 16. The collection features four more Berkeley classics which are not only new-to-DVD titles, but are making their long-awaited home video debut. Included in the collection are Gold Diggers of 1937, Gold Diggers in Paris, Hollywood Hotel and Varsity Show. Following in the dancing footsteps of Warner’s successful 2006 collection, this second spectacular volume from one of the greatest motion picture choreographers of all time also includes musical shorts, featurettes and classic cartoons. It’s musical entertainment magic at its toe-tapping, finger-snapping best by the Oscar® nominated master.

The 4-disc giftset will sell for $39.92 SRP and the single titles will be available for $19.97 SRP.
reading for specific details about each film being released.)

The Films


Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936)

Dick Powell plays an insurance agent with musical ambitions while Joan Blondell is a showgirl who gives up spangles for a stenographer’s pad. But the plot is secondary as dance creator Busby Berkeley turns a garden party into a tap-happy romp, and Blondell leads leggy soldiers in a banner-waving, precision-formation rendition of “All’s Fair in Love and War” that’s Berkeley spectacle at its showy best. Berkeley received an Academy nod for Best Dance Direction.


DVD Special Features

1997 documentary Busby Berkeley: Going Through the Roof

Technicolor historical short The Romance of Louisiana

Classic cartoons Plenty of Money and You and Speaking of the Weather

Two excerpts from 1929’s Gold Diggers of Broadway

Theatrical trailer







Gold Diggers in Paris (1938)

The Gold Diggers are headed for Paris, bringing their feathers, frills, and ballet shoes. A French diplomat has mistaken 43rd Street’s Club Ballé for the American Academy Ballet, and the chorus cuties aren’t going to turn down a free trip to the City of Light over such a tiny misunderstanding. Rudy Vallee stars as the club’s impresario and Busby Berkeley creates and directs the inventive musical numbers, both ‘magnifique’ and loaded with moxie.


DVD Special Features:

Two Broadway Brevities musical shorts: The Candid Kid and Little Me

Classic cartoon Love and Curses

Theatrical trailer


Hollywood Hotel (1937)

The plot about a Hollywood newcomer (Dick Powell) caught between a spoiled star (Lola Lane) and her likeable look-alike (Lola’s look-alike sister Rosemary Lane) is secondary to watching Busby Berkeley’s ace direction – and music, music, music. The film opens with the jubilant debut of Tinseltown’s unofficial anthem Hooray for Hollywood. The jaunty Let That Be a Lesson to You shows off Berkeley’s mastery of editing and camera angles. And Benny Goodman and his Orchestra -- with Harry James on trumpet and Gene Krupa on drums – swing, swing, swing into Sing, Sing, Sing.


DVD Special Features:

Technicolor historical short The Romance of Robert Burns

Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy comedy short Double Talk

Classic cartoon Porky’s Five & Ten

Theatrical trailer



Varsity Show (1937)

Broadway impresario Chuck Daly (Dick Powell) leads an A+ cast of coeds and their guys, including film-debuting sisters Priscilla and Rosemary Lane and fluty-voiced comic character star Sterling Holloway, in this exuberant college musical. Oscar nominated for his dance direction in this film, Berkeley creates and directs a rah-rah, football-themed finale featuring high-style overhead shots, kinetic camerawork and hundreds of dancers on a 50 ft. by 60 ft. staircase.


DVD Special Features

Musical short Flowers from the Sky

Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy comedy short A Neckin’ Party

Classic cartoon Have You Got Any Castles

Theatrical trailer
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
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Hollywood Hotel is one of those great "forgotten films" of its era -- great cast, great music, great spirit. I taped it off a local TV showing twenty years or so ago, and I still pull that tape out for an occasional viewing -- it's about time it finally got a proper release!
 

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