My Busby Berkeley DVD boxed set arrived today - I pre-ordered it in December and have been waiting patiently ever since for the courier to put the box on my doorstep. Six discs of Warner Musicals goodness!

And my poor old copy of 42nd Street can finally be thrown away as I damaged it a couple of years ago by wiping the surface with a paper towel when I was having trouble playing the disc. Not recommended…. especially when it was the DVD player being tempermental.

It’s going to be slow going watching them. I’ve watched one film already and only half of the extras on that disc… and there are more movies on the way to me.

My exposure to Busby Berkeley musicals has been mixed. As well as having 42nd Street, I’ve also got For Me and My Gal & Take Me Out To the Ball Game on DVD. But the latter doesn’t really count (in the same way that this film doesn’t count as an Esther Williams musical to me) as being one of his best efforts. I saw Footlight Parade & Gold Diggers of 1935 a couple of years ago on TCM but not lately.

So far, I’ve watched The Gold Diggers of 1933 and I’m about halfway through the special features. It’s also clearly a reunion from 42nd Street - dance director, stars, depression-era theme. Jack L Warner was a smart man - he knew he had a hit ensemble on his hands. He was giving audiences what they wanted, and they were saving his studio from bankruptcy.

The pre-code dialogue & musical numbers has been an absolute treat. In the film, there are so many scenes which must have been making Will Hays & members of the Legion of Decency squirm in their cinema seats. Like Petting in the Park implying nudity when the girls were undressing… or letting the antagonist of the story think that he’d compromised a woman’s reputation the night before.

The storyline itself screams of realism. It’s well documented that unemployment at the time was of epidemic proportions, and the storyline reminds viewers of that. Stealing milk, unpaid rent, sharing one decent outfit between four girls and too-long stretches between all-too-short jobs. And especially the final musical number (My Forgotten Man) with Joan Blondell, and a cast of proud soldiers who turned into desperate men, clinging onto hope of a better post-depression future.

The escapism is in the musical numbers. Whether it be Petting in the Park, or watching the neon violins being played by chorus girls wearing rather unusual circular costumes. Maybe Ginger Rogers singing We’re in the Money in Pig Latin is escapism enough for you.
The girls are beautiful, the boys are handsome and it certainly is a touch over the top. But what else can you think about when you are watching them?