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Viewing: Busby Berkeley 42nd Street

Updated: Jan 30, 2023

The director and choreographer who made the camera move:



•Busby Berkeley (born Berkeley William Enos; November 29, 1895 – March 14, 1976) was an American film director and musical choreographer.

•He started his career in the US Army in 1918, as a lieutenant in the artillery conducting and directing parades.

•He was a drill master for the army and devised many unique ways of moving soldiers around a parade ground.

• After the World War I cease-fire he was ordered to stage camp shows for the soldiers.

•Back in the US he became a stage actor and assistant director in smaller acting troupes.

• After being forced to take over the direction of the musical "Holka-Polka" he discovered his talent for staging extravagant dance routines, and he quickly became one of Broadway's top dance directors.

•Berkeley devised elaborate musical production numbers that often-involved complex geometric patterns.

•He is the first person in film to deliver a moving, almost ''dancing'' camera.

•Berkeley's works used large numbers of showgirls and props as fantasy elements in kaleidoscopic on-screen performances.

•He was not the first person who used the famous overhead shot, a shot that looks like you're looking through a kaleidoscope, with the dancers in a circle(s) in interesting patterns (a minor example of this technique precedes his work in Dancing Lady (1933)).

• However, he did make the grandiose, kaleidoscopic overhead-shooting of musical extravaganzas his own unmistakable artistic style, by expanding the concept to its limits and then, beyond affordability.

•Berkeley's numbers were known for starting out in the realm of the stage, but quickly exceeding this space by moving into a time and place that could only be cinematic, to return to shots of an applauding audience and the fall of a curtain.


After watching clips of his work, I loved how each of his designs almost created an illusion to the viewers mind through visual effects. The colours used also add to the illusion, creating shapes and scenes. After watching, you can see how his dance routines mirror that of a soldiers regime rather than normal dance choreography. I would recommend his work to future viewers as it is fascinating to see how his work creates emotion and visual effects on screen as well as in the theatre.


42nd Street Film:

renowned broadway producer Julian Marsh is hired to put together a new musical- he is a difficult man who works long hours and always pushes the cast to do better. When one of the cast breaks her ankle, one of the chorus girls, Peggy gets her big chance to be the star and finds romance along the way.


I really enjoyed watching this film and the cast hired. Similarly the great musical numbers enhance the film and the talent shown on the screen. As soon as the title came on the screen, I was hooked, I really enjoyed the dialogue and the acting and the choreography.



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