Babes in Arms 1939  N/R, 93 min.
Genre: Musical / Drama / Romance
Director: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Charles Winningham, Guy Kibbee, June Preisser, Rand Brooks, Henry Hull, Margaret Hamilton, Lon McCallister, Joseph Crehan, Douglas McPhail, Johnny Sheffield, Barnett Parker, Ann Shoemaker
This is the original Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney musical extravaganza featuring Busby Berkeley production numbers. Mickey Moran (Rooney) does not want to be sent to a work farm when his vaudeville parents go on tour. So, at his girlfriend Patsy Barton's (Garland) urging, he writes his own show, and he and Patsy hit the road on their musical tour. Nineteen-year-old Rooney was nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award.
|  | |
Babes on Broadway 1941 N/R, 118 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Fay Bainter, Virginia Weidler, Ray McDonald, Richard Quine, Donald Meek, Luis Alberni, James Gleason, Margaret O'Brien
Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland team up again for a lively musical with songs that include "How About You?" and "Hoe Down." This film marks the film debut of Margaret O'Brien.
| | |
Cinderella Jones 1946  N/R, 88 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Joan Leslie, Robert Alda, S.Z. Sakall, Edward Everett Horton, Ruth Donnelly, Elisha Cook Jr., Monte Blue, Johnny Mitchell, Julie Bishop, Hobart Cavanaugh, William Prince, Charles Dingle, Charles Arnt, Chester Clute, Edward Gargan
This Busby Berkeley musical/comedy concerns a not-too-smart girl who must find a smart husband or lose her large inheritance. Where else to go looking than to enroll in college. The songs are good; the script isn't.
| | |
 For Me and My Gal 1942 N/R, 104 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Judy Garland, George Murphy, Gene Kelly, Marta Eggerth, Ben Blue, Horace McNally, Richard Quine, Keenan Wynn
This film marks Gene Kelly's movie debut. The story is set during World War I and features Judy Garland and George Murphy, along with Kelly, as vaudevillians trying to get their breaks by playing the Palace. Classic songs include "For Me and My Gal" and "When You Wore a Tulip."
| | |
The Gang's All Here 1943  N/R, 103 min.
Genre: Musical / Romance
aka: The Girls He Left Behind
Director: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda, Benny Goodman, Eugene Pallette, Charlotte Greenwood, Edward Everett Horton, James Ellison, Frank Faylen, June Haver, Jeanne Crain, Phil Baker, Tony De Marco, Sheila Ryan, Dave Willock
This World War II musical tells the story of American soldier Andy Mason (James Ellison) who returns from duty in the Pacific and is in love with chorus girl Edie Allen (Alice Faye). Busby Berkeley numbers are highlighted by "The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat" featuring Carmen Miranda and dancing bananas.
| | |
 Gold Diggers of 1933 1933 N/R, 96 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Aline MacMahon, Dick Powell, Guy Kibbee, Warren William, Ned Sparks, Ginger Rogers, Sterling Holloway, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Billy Barty, Hobart Cavanaugh, Busby Berkeley, Charles(1) Lane, Tammany Young
This musical proved so popular that two sequels were made: one in 1935 and another in 1937. Unemployed showgirls Carol (Joan Blondell), Polly (Ruby Keeler), and Trixie (Aline MacMahon) want to perform in a musical, and IF Polly will play the lead, singer-composer Brad Roberts (Dick Powell) will foot the bill. Brad and Polly are in love, but Brad's wealthy family disapproves and will stop at nothing to break them up–but they fail, and the show goes on. Ginger Rogers sings "We're in the Money" while wearing only silver dollars in one of the great Busby Berkeley production numbers.
| | |
Gold Diggers of 1935 1935 N/R, 95 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Dick Powell, Adolphe Menjou, Gloria Stuart, Alice Brady, Glenda Farrell, Frank McHugh, Wini Shaw, Grant Mitchell, Hugh Herbert, Joseph Cawthorn, Dorothy Dare, Ruth Eddings, Don Brodie, E.E. Clive, Dennis O'Keefe
Following the popularity of "Gold Diggers of 1933," this film was made, and it was not a disappointment. The story takes place during the summer at the seaside resort Hotel Wentworth where the workers depend on tips and often fleece the guests. Desk clerk Dick Curtis (Dick Powell) is working to pay medical school bills and is engaged to hostess Arlene (Dorothy Dare). Among the guests are multi-millionaire Mathilda Prentiss (Alice Brady) and her daughter Ann (Gloria Stuart). Mathilda hires Dick to chaperone Ann, and, of course, they fall in love–much to the dismay of Mathilda. Meanwhile, Mathilda is in charge of running the annual charity theater show, and she hires Russian director Nicolett (Adolphe Menjou). The show does go on, and one of its musical numbers, "Lullaby of Broadway," won the Academy Award for Best Song. Another Busby Berkeley musical extravaganza.
| | |
Hollywood Hotel 1937 N/R, 109 min.
Genre: Musical / Comedy / Romance
Director: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane, Ted Healy, Alan Mowbray, Frances Langford, Hugh Herbert, Glenda Farrell, Edgar Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Johnny Davis, Mabel Todd, Allyn Joslyn, Grant Mitchell, Louella Parsons
This Busby Berkeley musical has, of course, great musical numbers. While the plot is weak, the renditions of "Hooray for Hollywood" and "Sing Sing Sing" are classics. Many, many guest stars.
| | |
Men Are Such Fools 1938 N/R, 70 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Wayne Morris, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart, Hugh Herbert, Johnnie Davis, Penny Singleton, Mona Barrie, Donald Briggs, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart
A secretary (Priscilla Lane) at an advertising agency is out to climb the ladder of success, but her boyfriend (Wayne Morris) wants her to quit and get married. When she invents a cure for hangovers, she is on her way and love triangles abound. Will she get the aggressive Harry (Humphrey Bogart) or stay with her solid boyfriend? One of Berkeley's few non-musicals.
| | |
 Strike Up the Band 1940 N/R, 120 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, June Preisser, Ann Shoemaker, William Tracy, George Lessey, Milton Kibbee, Helen Jerome Eddy, Virginia Brissac, Margaret Early
This is not one of Busby Berkeley's better films, but a good Gershwin score helps. The plot involves high-school bandleader Jimmy Connors (Mickey Rooney) and his band's vocalist Mary Holden (Judy Garland) who enter the competition in Paul Whiteman's nationwide band contest.
| | |
Take Me Out to the Ball Game 1949 N/R, 93 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams, Gene Kelly, Betty Garrett, Edward Arnold, Jules Munshin, Richard Lane, Tom Dugan, Douglas Fowley, Wilton Graff, Ramon Blackburn, Royce Blackburn, Si Jenks, Joi Lansing, Dick Wessel
This story about the early days of baseball centers on two players –Dennis Ryan and Eddie O'Brien (Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly)–who play for the Wolves, a team owned by K.C. Higgins (Esther Williams). They get into trouble gambling and then work out their financial problems through vaudeville performances during the off-season. Director Busby Berkeley's last film.
| | |
They Made Me a Criminal 1939 N/R, 139 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Busby Berkeley
Cast: John Garfield, Claude Rains, Gloria Dickson, Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey, May Robson, Ann Sheridan, Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Ward Bond
After he thinks he has accidentally killed a man, a prizefighter (John Garfield) retreats to a children's home where he finds security.
| | |
| 1. Babes in Arms (1939)
2. Babes on Broadway (1941)
3. Cinderella Jones (1946)
4. For Me and My Gal (1942)
5. The Gang's All Here (1943)
aka: The Girls He Left Behind
6. Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
7. Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
8. Hollywood Hotel (1937)
9. Men Are Such Fools (1938)
10. Strike Up the Band (1940)
11. Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)
12. They Made Me a Criminal (1939)
In The News
|
