42nd Street was the first of the four monumental musicals associated with Busby Berkeley in the miracle years of 1933 and 1934. (The others were Gold Diggers of 1933, Footlight Parade, and Dames.) For a long time they were lumped together, as if they were parts of single artifact, the revolutionary Busby Berkeley spectacle-film. ContemporaryContinue reading “42nd Street (1933)”
Category Archives: Lloyd Bacon
Footlight Parade (1933)
It’s standard practice among film historians to set up an opposition between the musicals of Busby Berkeley and Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers. Until recently the preference was for the more intimate and individually graceful style of Astaire and Rogers. Their art was more personal than the monumental spectacles of Berkeley, and — so theContinue reading “Footlight Parade (1933)”
Broadway Gondolier (1935)
I’m very fond of Broadway Gondolier. It’s probably more responsible for my getting into this blogging project than any other film. I recorded it from TCM one night many years ago for later watching. When I got around to seeing it, I was thoroughly charmed. I’d never heard of it before — but that’s noContinue reading “Broadway Gondolier (1935)”