I’ve just watched Gold Diggers of 1935. Actually over 2 days - I watched half of it last night, fell asleep on the couch and when I woke up I watched CSI & Law & Order: Criminal Intent (I love these shows) .

Ironic maybe…. as my troublesome wisdom tooth cost me $180 today to get an xray done and medication (I think it’ll have to be pulled in a few months). And the film was full of people calculating their net worth, their share in joint ventures…. and breach of promise suits.

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I’m exactly halfway through my Busby Berkeley set now.  Woohoo!

I’ve just watched Footlight Parade.  I’ve watched it once before… but it was just like watching it for the first time as I didn’t really remember it.

It’s definitely pre-code, and even keeping that in mind… you still wonder how did Busby get away with Honeymoon Hotel? 

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Next out of the Busby Berkeley box has been Dames. Second because I haven’t seen it before. It’s been slow going as I’ve also been watching all of the special features.

And my special hard-to-answer question of the day… will someone please explain exactly what is meant by dubbed versions of cartoons? Two of the ones I saw that today had the copyright notice at the end and I’ve never ever seen that before.

Anyway enough of intermission…. back to the film.

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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.

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I watched Star Spangled Rhythm last night, as the DVD finally arrived.

I’ve been on a small Paramount library kick over the last few months. I’ve got four of the Road To movies in a box set, Palm Beach Story and several Bing Crosby and Bob Hope movies in twin sets. My aim is to view as many movies in the 750 title, pre-1948 library (that is held by Universal) as possible within the next year.

It’s the second Betty Hutton film that I’ve seen (the other one being Annie Get Your Gun… and ironically her second picture where she had a lead role) that I’ve seen and she was quite amusing. She would have been fairly young at the time and the role suited her. A little OTT on the scenes with her sailor beau… but that was forgivable.

There were two musical numbers that I found interesting. The first one was Sweater, Sarong & Peekaboo Bang. A pretty silly one really… but definitely poking fun at the way Dorothy Lamour, Paulette Goddard & Veronica Lake were pegged into stereotypes. Complete with men in drag and all. I’d never seen Veronica Lake in a film before, and what struck me was how her look was timeless. She could have easily been in a film in the fifties, or even today and look entirely in place in later eras.

The other number was Sharp as a Tack. It’s pretty awful when you know that it was designed so it could be easily deleted so segregated audiences in the southern USA wouldn’t see it. From the snappy zoot suits to the presence of Katherine Dunham, I believe it was definitely the best number. I just think the movement and the music was wonderful.

I also gave some thought to how there is no way that such a movie could be made today… with top movie stars salaries being so high… and needing several stars! Obviously though in 1942 the studio system made it easy (ie make it or face suspension). And a nostalgic look back is always good.