Busby Berkeley Collections

[myrnaloyisdope]

It's impossible to be too effusive about the merits of Lullaby...it's quite likely my favorite piece of film ever, even edging out the first hour of The Best Years of Our Lives. It's a breathtaking sequence that despite numerous viewings still kicks my ass every time. It's only been about a year since I've had the boxset, yet I've watched that sequence probably 20 times, and each time Winni takes the dive, I'm in tears of sorrow over Winni's death and astonishment that something so marvelous could possibly exist. A brilliant sequence.

[HerrSchreck]

I could go on and on. Beyond the visual brilliance (which get's almost Metropolis-like in its grand extravegance) and the dance numbers & geometry are the lyrics themselves (and the way they're orchestrated). An invitation--

"Come on along and listen to,
the Lullaby of Broadway:"

-- not only to hear the sounds of broadway, but to hear them not as jangling, annoying noises of a jagged city cacophany, but as a song. Not just a melody, even, but a Lullaby. Total sympathy with the rhythms of urban life.

"The hip hooray and ballyhoo
(..)
the rumble of the subway trains
the rattle of the taxis.."

spoken from the standpoint of affection for and with the lingo of the snide street character. All the cheapness taken for granted or as grating, are exalted. For now, then, for anytime, this is just crystaline perfection for a city tribute. Milkmen, Broadway babies, taxis, subways, Maxies, "daffy-dills", etc.

Heaven.

[manicsounds]

Anybody having playback problems with "Gold Diggers of 1935"?
My disc is super clean, no scuffs or anything, but extras get stalled, film plays fine halfway, and one one machine, the disc doesn't load at all.

[EddieLarkin]

I watched my disc a few weeks ago, and the film played fine. Can't comment on the extras.

[domino harvey]

Anybody having playback problems with "Gold Diggers of 1935"?
My disc is super clean, no scuffs or anything, but extras get stalled, film plays fine halfway, and one one machine, the disc doesn't load at all.

My Golddiggers of 1933 disc does the same. It's getting to be a common Warner Bros problem