The Busby Berkeley Collection, Vol. 2 (Gold Diggers of 1937 / Gold Diggers in Paris / Hollywood Hotel / Varsity Show)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Busby BerkeleyBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Box set, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 387 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-09-16
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of The Busby Berkeley Collection, Vol. 2 (Gold Diggers of 1937 / Gold Diggers in Paris / Hollywood Hotel / Varsity Show)
Movie Review: one heck of a box set !!!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Busby Berkeley Collection, Volume 2 contains 4 solid films with the superlative choreography of Busby Berkeley. Busby was far and away the best choreographer then and he remains one of the very best even today. These films are in great shape; and here's is what you get:
Gold Diggers of 1937--Chorus girls out of work include Norma Perry (Joan Blondell) and Genevieve Larkin (Glenda Farrell). They "make friends" with the guys onboard a train; the men from a convention are happy to meet ladies. Rosmer Peck (Dick Powell) and Norma feel the spark of love; Rosmer tells Norma to look for work where he works.
Meanwhile, hypochondriac theater producer J.J. Hobart (Victor Moore) is broke--only he doesn't know it. His partners Morty Wethered (Osgood Perkins) and Tom Hugo (Charles D. Brown) squandered Hobart's money. Morty and Tom convince J.J. to take out a life insurance policy with them as beneficiaries. When J.J. dies they will get the money! Rosmer sells J.J. the insurance policy; but Rosmer is told by his boss to watch J.J. and make sure he lives!
The best extra is the footage from the lost film Gold Diggers Of Broadway. There are a couple of Warner Brothers cartoons; and a short about The Louisiana Purchase.
Gold Diggers In Paris--The nightclub run by Terry Moore (Rudy Vall?e) and Duke Dennis (Allen Jenkins) is a flop. A na?ve Frenchman arrives to invite them to a dance competition in Paris. Little does the Frenchman know he has mistaken Terry, Duke and the young ladies who dance in the club for the Academy Ballet of America and the great Padrinsky (Curt Bois)! Terry and Duke need money; they go to France although they know they're fakes.
Soon they're bound for Paris--even Mona, Terry's ex-wife, there in exchange for forgiveness on Terry's back alimony payments and a part in the Paris show. All of this is unknown to Kay Morrow (Rosemary Lane), a dancer in the New York club who strikes up a romance with Terry onboard the ship to France. Padrinsky then discovers that the group bound for France is pretending to be them; so he goes to Paris with his troupe--and his ballet-loving gangster buddy, Mike Coogan (Edward Brophy).
Busby Berkeley did a great job of choreographing this elaborate ending sequence. In addition, the DVD offers two good extras entitled The Candid Kid and Little Me. There's a cartoon and a trailer for the movie.
Hollywood Hotel--This opens with that timeless ode to Tinsel Town, "Hooray For Hollywood" by Benny Goodman and His Band at an airport for a send-off to saxophone player Ronnie Bowers (Dick Powell). Ronnie has a ten week contract with All Star Studios in Hollywood; Ronnie doubts he'll reach stardom but he's excited anyway.
Things don't go well. Mona Marshall (Lola Lane) is planning her appearance at the Hollywood premiere of her latest picture with co-star Alexander DuPrey (Alan Mowbray), but when Mona finds out she lost the coveted role in "Bitter Night" she throws a tantrum and refuses to attend the premiere. The studio panics and hires Mona Marshall look-alike Virginia Stanton (Rosemary Lane) to pose as Mona Marshall--and they pick Ronnie to escort the person he thinks is Mona to the premiere. Ronnie becomes smitten with "Mona," who is, of course, really Virginia; they begin a romance complicated by misunderstandings.
Ronnie then finds work as a singing waiter at a drive-in coffee shop; but when a director at All Star wants Ronnie to dub songs for Alexander DuPrey there could be heavy politics if Mona finds out.
Benny Goodman and His Band do a rousing rendition of "Sing Sing Sing" and Frances Langford sings for Raymond Paige and His Orchestra. The other songs include "I'm A Fish Out Of Water." Moreover, my favorite extra is the Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy short entitled Double Talk. There's also a cartoon called Porky's Five & Ten.
Varsity Show--Winfield College is putting on their annual show--but it is hampered by Professor Sylvester Biddle (Walter Catlett) who will not allow swing music.
The students, including Barbara 'Babs' Steward (Rosemary Lane), Betty Bradley (Priscilla Lane) and Cuddles (Mabel Todd), ask Winfield College alumnus and Broadway star Chuck Daly (Dick Powell) for help. They hope Daly can change Biddle's mind. Daly goes to the school with his sidekick Willy (Ted Healy); but what the kids don't know is that Daly is a "wash-up."
Daly fails; but he strikes up a brief romance with "Babs" before he and Willy return to New York. The kids take the show to New York where they can put it on free of Professor Biddle--and prove that Chuck Daly is still a star! Will they succeed?
"I'm Working My Way Through College" shines at the beginning of the film; and the elaborate song and dance finale showcases Busby Berkeley's talent.
The extras on this DVD include Flowers From The Sky; but I really liked the Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy short A Neckin' Party
Overall The Busby Berkeley Collection, Volume 2 is an outstanding box set of movies enhanced by the singular talent of Busby Berkeley. I highly recommend this box set for fans of those Berkeley numbers and early movie musicals.
More The Busby Berkeley Collection, Vol. 2 (Gold Diggers of 1937 / Gold Diggers in Paris / Hollywood Hotel / Varsity Show) reviews:
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Summary of The Busby Berkeley Collection, Vol. 2 (Gold Diggers of 1937 / Gold Diggers in Paris / Hollywood Hotel / Varsity Show)
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 09/16/2008Musicals & Performing Arts DVD Video
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