Busby Berkeley Collection Volume 2 (R1) in September

[John Johnson]

Warner Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of the Busby Berkeley Collection Volume 2 on 16th September 2008. The collection features four more Berkeley classics which are new to Region 1 DVD including 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. Each feature in the collection has also been painstakingly restored from its original camera negative for this new DVD collection.

The 4-disc giftset will sell for $39.92 SRP and the single titles will be available for $19.97 SRP.


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

All titles feature English Mono audio and English and French subtitles.

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