musicals with worthwhile dancing
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musicals watched: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls020839949
non-musicals watched: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls025185363
Dancers who made their films worthwhile:
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls025876285/
Dance directors/choreographers who made their films worthwhile:
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls025819571/
The links below are to my public blogspot,
http://bdrdiary.blogspot.com/
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musicals watched: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls020839949
non-musicals watched: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls025185363
Dancers who made their films worthwhile:
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls025876285/
Dance directors/choreographers who made their films worthwhile:
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls025819571/
The links below are to my public blogspot,
http://bdrdiary.blogspot.com/
Did you know that you can perform Advanced Title Search for lists NOT your own?
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- DirectorAlan CroslandStarsArthur LakeBetty CompsonJoe E. BrownA musical advertised as the first 100% natural color, all-singing production. The plot concerns a wide-eyed former hatcheck girl who takes the place of a rebellious star.The Covans (quartet) only imdb credit, dance twice. Also some large productions, and Joe E. Brown stunt dancing.
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Warner Bros, dir. Alan Crosland; 6+ - DirectorRoy MackStarsEubie BlakeNina Mae McKinneyThe Nicholas BrothersTwo boys eat a blackberry pie, then they and their mother are transported to a musical set where Eubie Blake and his band are playing some great jazz.Hallelujah (1929)
Nicholas Brothers - DirectorRoy MackStarsNina Mae McKinneyThe Nicholas BrothersThe Washboard SerenadersBrutus Johnson, owner of the Porter Pullman Shoe Polish Company, sponsors the Porter Pullman Shoe Polish Variety Program on the Black Network Broadcasting Co. Mezzanine Johnson, Brutus' controlling wife, has her own views of what she would like to happen on the show, she who believes has the right since it is her father who put up the money for the business. Mezzanine wants to take over the lead female singer spot from Nina Mae McKinney. This news does not sit well with Brutus, who still cannot control what his wife does. It also does not sit well with either Nina or Emmett 'Babe' Wallace, her male counterpart, the two who see themselves as a team and who learn the news through the grapevine. As the show continues and Mezzanine plots her take-over, Nina Mae and Babe have to figure out what to do to save their spots and to save the show. Nina Mae and Babe may get some unwitting help from The Nicholas Brothers, who plan to audition for the amateur segment of the show but who sell lucky number tickets as their regular business, and the radio listening public.Hallelujah (1929)
Nicholas Brothers - DirectorThornton FreelandStarsEddie CantorEthel ShuttaPaul GregoryWestern sheriff Bob Wells is preparing to marry Sally Morgan; she loves part-Indian Wanenis, whose race is an obstacle. Sally flees the wedding with hypochondriac Henry Williams, who thinks he's just giving her a ride; but she left a note saying they've eloped! Chasing them are jilted Bob, Henry's nurse Mary (who's been trying to seduce him) and others.Busby Berkeley's first IMDb credit. He has most of his gags already developed, especially the geometric overhead effects. Just fast forward through the non-dancing scenes, although Eddie Cantor in the kitchen is worth watching.
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Goldwyn, dir. Freeland; 6 - DirectorA. Edward SutherlandStarsEddie CantorCharlotte GreenwoodBarbara WeeksThe assistant of a phony psychic leaves the fraudulent business and becomes an efficiency expert.Here only for the Busby Berkeley sequences. The comedy, Charlotte Greenwood and George Raft make the rest of the film pleasurable.
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Goldwyn, dir. Sutherland; 6 - DirectorCharles ReisnerStarsBert LahrCharlotte GreenwoodPat O'BrienAn eccentric inventor and his new flying machine are the focus of this musical comedy.Here only for the BB sequences, which are too few, but worth seeing, especially in study of BB. This might have been the first use of camera under a circle of girls rotating to give different faces oriented properly for a fraction of a second each. It's a fun comedy with Greenwood being very physical and Bert Lahr mugging in his first of 10 feature film appearances.
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MGM, dir. Reisner; 6+ - DirectorLloyd BaconStarsWarner BaxterBebe DanielsGeorge BrentWhen the leading lady of a Broadway musical breaks her ankle, she is replaced by a young unknown actress, who becomes the star of the show.Good story, worth watching the whole film. The great dancing comes at the last 20 minutes, where we get a condensed version of the stage musical they've been working on. It's glorious, complete with Berkeley-isms and surreal staging that only cinema could capture. A worthy reboot of the movie musical.
Warner Bros, dir. Bacon, 8+ - DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsWarren WilliamJoan BlondellAline MacMahonA wealthy composer rescues unemployed Broadway performers with a new play, but insists on remaining anonymous.Great Busby Berkeley production numbers: We're in the Money (immediately after opening credits), Shadow Waltz (start ~1:21:30) and Remember My Forgotten Man (start ~1:30:30). Another BB triumph, although there are long section with no numbers, and the plot is dull. Not even Joan Blondell and Aline McMahon liven it up enough; Warren William and Guy Kibbee are flat as the love interests.
Warner Bros, dir. LeRoy, 8 - DirectorLloyd BaconStarsJames CagneyJoan BlondellRuby KeelerChester Kent struggles against time, romance, and a rival's spy to produce spectacular live "prologues" for movie houses.BB meets Cagney, Blondell, and the usual cast. First up: short dress rehearsal of Sittin' on a Back Yard Fence at 40:30. 1:08:40 Honeymoon Hotel, no actual dancing, but cute. 1:18:00 By a Waterfall, with very elaborate sets of waterfalls in a "natural" setting, and man made swimming pools. 1:31:30 Shanghai Lil. Cagney acts, dances and close-order drills in this one.
Warner Bros, dir. Bacon, 8 - DirectorRobert Z. LeonardStarsJoan CrawfordClark GableFranchot ToneAn attractive dancer is rescued from jail by a rich man who helps her to have her first big opportunity at a musical play on Broadway.Astaire's first film appearance. He dances twice: partial rehearsal starting ~55 min, part of big production starting ~1:16:00, including a flying carpet segment, where we can see through FA's body. I'm pleasantly surprised by the plot, the players and the staging of the dances. Definitely imitation Berkeley, but pretty well done. (The revolving sectors of posed girls is close to BB.) Looking at the other credits of the 2 dance directors gives me no insight about who might be responsible.
MGM, dir. Leonard, 6+ - DirectorFrank TuttleStarsEddie CantorRuth EttingGloria StuartA kind-hearted young man is thrown out of his corrupt home town of West Rome, Oklahoma. He falls asleep and dreams that he is back in the days of olden Rome, where he gets mixed up with court intrigue and a murder plot against the Emperor.Ruth Etting sings No More Love in a slave auction with lots of BB staging/dancing. Cantor sings Keep Young and Beautiful while blacked up; the white harem girls have black attendants who look extra dark and uniformly so, and all provide a good BB#. Although the chariot chase is impressive; the chariot sequence director shares a title card with BB and Tuttle, the film's director.
Goldwyn, dir. Tuttle, 7- - DirectorThornton FreelandStarsDolores Del RíoGene RaymondRaul RoulienA bandleader woos a Latin flame who is already engaged to his employer.The Carioca begins 40:45; F&G dance at 43:40 for 2 minutes, and again at 50:45 for 20 seconds. Jazzier version danced by the black couples starts 49:20; end time: 52:20. At 1:03:45, Fred does regular dance-floor moves with Dolores to Orchids in the Moonlight through 1:05:25. Fred solos to Music Makes Me at 1:06:45 through 1:08:05. Flying Down to Rio, with women lashed to airplane wings to "dance" above ground, starts at 1:22:00 through 1:25:00.
RKO, dir. Freeland; 7- - DirectorJack CummingsStarsLarry FineMoe HowardCurly HowardTed Healy and the 3 Stooges are fired and evicted from a theatre because Ted annoys women working there. They then get jobs as waiters at a nightclub. Chaos leads to destruction of the business. At the end, Ted pursues another woman.A short starring Healy & the 3 Stooges. But at 11:30 (lasts 2 min) we get an unidentified trio of tappers who look familiar. Their dance on barrels is worth fast forwarding through the rest.
MGM; on Flying Down to Rio (1933) dvd. - DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsWilliam PowellBette DavisFrank McHughWhen the Manhattan investment firm of Sherwood Nash goes broke, he joins forces with his partner Snap and fashion designer Lynn Mason to provide discount shops with cheap copies of Paris couture dresses.BB meets ostrich feathers on dozens of girls at 50:30, lasts 5 min. Gorgeous; the movement of the feathers makes some formations a little more alive than usual.
Warner Bros, dir. Dieterle; 6 - DirectorJames CruzeErich von StroheimStarsErich von StroheimDonald DouglasBetty CompsonAn insanely, egocentric ventriloquist, even though he is possessed by his wooden dummy, is in love with a dancer who is in love with another. The dummy gives advice to the ventriloquist.CM50.d6A. Compson and Douglas are the romantic leads who sing (and dance adagio via body doubles, according to Richard Barrios' A Song in the Dark [book]). Musical scenes often have a large number of dancers on a wide and deep stage, often filmed in a full proscenium. The precision of the chorus lines tells me lots of rehearsal went into the effort. Observed by a friend: the songs reflect the themes portrayed.
James Cruze Productions, dir. Cruze; 7 - DirectorLloyd BaconStarsAl JolsonKay FrancisDolores Del RíoHarry and Inez are a dance team at the Wonder Bar. Inez loves Harry, but he is in love with Liane, the wife of a wealthy business man. Al Wonder and the conductor/singer Tommy are in love with Inez. When Inez finds out, that Harry wants to leave Paris and is going to the USA with Liane she kills him.We get these BB musical numbers: Del Rio and Cortez dance to Powell's singing of Don't Say Good-Night, which evolves into a BB production of dancing columns. Lasts 11 min. The use of mirrors is amazing, and we get the overhead formations too; all much too elaborate for a theatrical stage, much less a nightclub. Then the notorious Goin' to Heaven on a Mule starts at 1:06:50. The stereotyping is deeply offensive, but the spectacle is fascinating. Lasts 12+ min.
Warner Bros, dir. Bacon; 8. - DirectorHamilton MacFaddenStarsWarner BaxterMadge EvansJames DunnA little girl's (Shirley Temple) toe-tapping musical numbers uplift the nation during the Depression in this charming classic that includes Temple's rendition of "Baby Take a Bow.Shirley Temple is just 6 y.o. by a month when this premiered. She is a marvel as a tapper. So only watch her scene (maybe), and her one musical number, plus the acrobatic senators, namely scenes 9-12, and hit EJECT. It's easy to see why ST stood out as the best thing in this nails down the chalkboard of a movie (EIGHT writers?) Broadway's Gone Hill Billy (scene 14) is very insulting, as though country music swings and shimmies like that. In the Lariat Dance, I wonder if some of those ropes are actually hoops.
Fox, dir. MacFadden; 5- - DirectorRay EnrightBusby BerkeleyStarsJoan BlondellDick PowellRuby KeelerA multimillionaire decides to boycott "filthy" forms of entertainment such as Broadway shows.Scene 18: The Girl at the Ironing Board, Blondell as turn of century laundress. Scene 19: I Only Have Eyes for You, replicator stuck on Ruby Keeler. Very cinema-only sequence of Powell+Keeler on streets, in subway, people disappearing from view. Then the chorines doing BB's psychedelic bidding. Glorious. Scene 20: Dames. More BB magic, without Ruby, yet with some actual tapping too. Several shots are filmed in reverse to give formations precision. Beautiful.
Warner Bros, dir. Enright&Berkeley; 7+ - DirectorRoy Del RuthWilly PoganyStarsEddie CantorAnn SothernEthel MermanA musical comedy about a Brooklyn boy (Eddie Cantor) who inherits a fortune from his archaeologist father, but must go to Egypt to claim it.No BB, but the Nicholas Bros appear. Harold sings I Want to Be a Minstrel Man (chapter 8). Later in same chapter, both dance to Mandy at 47:05 for 1.5 glorious minutes. Ethel Merman gets 3 songs and plenty of acting scenes. Ann Sothern gets 2 songs, but has better roles elsewhere.
Goldwyn, dir. Del Ruth & Pogany; 6+ - DirectorMark SandrichStarsFred AstaireGinger RogersAlice BradyA woman thinks a flirting man is the co-respondent her lawyer has hired to expedite her divorce.Fred has 2 solos; F&G have 3 numbers (Night and Day, The Continental twice). Betty Grable and EE Horton Knock Knees. DVD has scenes broken out to make musical numbers easy to find. Really, this feels like the first of the musicals I own to express emotion and advance the story through dance.
RKO, dir. Sandrich; 8+ - DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsIrene DunneDonald WoodsHugh HerbertIn 1898, composer Sid Barnett manages to get his sweetheart, Adeline the beer-garden singer, to sing the lead in his new Broadway operetta; this infuriates Elysia, the erstwhile star. But Sid frets as Adeline spends increasing amounts of time with the dashing Major Day.Most famous song: Why Was I Born? Both production numbers are good to watch: Lonely Feet starts at 1:07 (lots of precision movement in white costumes against black glossy floor), We Were So Young starts at 1:13:20 (chorines on invisible swings, star on visible one). Not so much the movie overall. I love Irene Dunne, but this would have been better with Helen Morgan, and NOT the switcheroo of setting at the end.
Warner Bros, dir. LeRoy; 6- - DirectorDavid ButlerStarsShirley TempleLionel BarrymoreEvelyn VenableIn the post-Civil war south, a darling little girl attempts to restore the peace between her parents and her plantation owner grandfather.Bill "Bojangles" Robinson is the only reason I own Shirley Temple movies. Here is his first. He dances twice: once to get ST up the stairs to bed (marvelous, starts 56:40, about 3 min), and again with her in the stable (with wooden floor, 1:06:30 for 2 min).
Fox Film Corp, dir. Butler; 7- - DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsMaurice ChevalierMerle OberonAnn SothernAn entertainer impersonates a look-alike banker, causing comic confusion for wife and girlfriend.Excellent opening numbers, especially the umbrella'd ensemble dancing to Rhythm of the Rain (almost worthy of early BB). Second ensemble with MC & AS starts at 1:14:20, Singing a Happy Song; lots of straw hats of various sizes (real, enlarged, and the size of a stage); again BB-worthy. Dance director credit is Dave Gould.
20th Century Pictures, dir. Del Ruth; 7 - DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsIrene DunneFred AstaireGinger RogersAn American jazzman and his buddy woo a Russian princess and a fake countess in Paris.Great songs here: Yesterdays, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, I Won't Dance, Lovely to Look At. Fred dances without GR in scenes 7 & 22; with GR in scenes 11, 29 & 31. Often a song scene precedes the dance scene. Both Fred and Hermes Pan get screen credit for "dances arranged by" and "assistant dance director", respectively.
RKO, dir. Seiter; 7- - DirectorLuther ReedStarsBebe DanielsEverett MarshallBert WheelerIn antebellum New Orleans, two men vie for the affections of a beautiful young girl during Mardi Gras.Best print is on YouTube with color footage. Bill "Bojangles" Robinson dances alone starting at 1:23:02 for about 3 minutes. For at least half of it, the frame cuts him off at the ankles. Still marvelous to watch, and different from the staircase work he does in The Little Colonel. Other dance sequences, with large ensembles, not worth noting. (I also found the clip of only his sequence on YouTube.)
RKO, dir. Reed; 5