The first Bubsy Berkeley film I ever saw was Golddiggers of 1933. I rented it from VisArt Video over by the Harris Teeter. It was on VHS. They had three films choreographed by Berkeley in their collection: Dames, Golddiggers of 1935 and Golddiggers of 1933. I remember watching them with Craven and we were both absolutely in awe. I have no idea how we learned of Busby Berkeley... I think that maybe we saw a documentary on PBS or something? The last time I was in VisArt which was YEARS and YEARS ago, I checked and they no longer carried any Busby Berkeley musicals... probably because I was the only one who ever rented them.
I received the Busby Berkeley DVD box set as a Christmas gift this year. It was my favorite Christmas present. There is one entire DVD that is just of various money shots from his films. Oh yeah!!! Busby Berkeley spent over $1 million for a spinning circular stage. In the 1930s!!! Gotta love that.
Here is a great clip from Golddiggers of 1933. Unless you are a fan of Dick Powell, I would skip the first 2:30 seconds. In other words, begin it with 3:23 left and watch from there. But if you're like me, you are a Dick Powell fan, too. He's is so weird. But I could live without Ruby Keeler. Why is she in so many of the Berkeley films? Why her? She bugs me. And she looks like a clod when she tap dances.
And if that isn't enough for you, here's another one from YouTube. It's cut up and I hate that... because to get the full effect of the "I Only Have Eyes For You" dance, you need to see it uninterrupted without breaks or cuts. Oh well. At least you'll be able to see why Ruby Keeler creeps me out.
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