You missed the very beginning of the number ~ the syncopated rhymes in the verse are fantastic... "Who cares if there's a plot or not, when you've got a lot of Dames". Brilliant lyrics.
@TheJackie212 Yep that was granny. I never got to know her, she died when I was three...wasn't she fabulous! She went on to do a couple of print ads for coca cola and camel cigarettes...at 15!!!!
@bootsamou grandma isn't in the opening scene...if she is she's the lady in the faaarrr back at 1.00, she's wearing the big black hat. The family was friends with the camera man so that's how she got into this movie...
Note the use of filming in reverse. The kaleidoscope shot at the end and the part right before it were filmed this way, i.e., the girls were filmed being lowered away from the camera and then, in the kaleidoscope part, they were filmed in the pattern first before running together into a ball, and then the film was reversed. There is no other way that these two scenes could have been shot. Sheer brilliance.
Yes, BB had a drinking problem, unfortunately. However he was able to capture his ideas on film using elaborate props, real people and creative camera work, despite the alcoholism. No "green srceens" or computer animation back then! Amazing!!!
@kenrfc This one got pulled for copy vio quite a while ago, then rather strangely, after at least a year in the wilderness, it came back! I don't know what magic the uploader worked to ressurect it, but well done, however it was done...
Even trippier than I remembered. Busby Berkeley, the genius! And doncha know these lyrics could be taken in more than one way: "Your knees in action/That's the attraction/And what good's a show without you beautiful dames."
to: Alsolikelife: I just want to thank you for this incredable gift! I have loved these BusbyBerkley fliks so much, and now, to be able to send these over to my neices who are scattered over the world, well it's just amazing and I thank you for your amazing and generous gifts to you-tube!
1. Did they all have to be the exact same height and weight (or at least damn close)? 2. The musicians often had to sight read their parts, did the chorus ladies have to learn their routines in a jiffy? 3. Were the ladies "on call", did they do several movies a week? 4. What was the pay back then for such a part? 5. What did their families think of them being in "naughty" routines like this one?
Notice that, at the very beginning, the voice on the intercom tells Dick Powell that "Miss Dubin, Miss Warren..." are among the "dames" here to see him. Those are the names of the actual men who wrote this song (Al Dubin and Harry Warren.)
I'm convinced that Busby Berkeley was either on strong drugs or just had hallucinations on his own, to be able to come up with these gorgeous and demented scenes.
Scudder: My Aunt is in there, she was one of the girls in the group. she is in 7;8 She was 20 and most of the girls were between 18 and 20. Most of them are gone now, too bad. Yes, i agree the girl at 7;12 is georgous.
thanks for the info, burt. your aunt was stunningly pretty. i can see why she would have been selected for a close-up. it is a shame to think that most of them are now gone, but they left behind a great film clip. i'll have to rent this now and see it in full. :)
I believe this is the first Busby Berkeley production number to incorporate opticals (effects and composite shots created in post-production). Maybe Berkeley thought he'd reached the limit of what he could do with live action in front of the camera, or maybe the studio just wanted to show off the capabilities of their new toy, the optical printer -- like RKO did with all those trick wipes in "Flying Down to Rio."
I'd have guessed that Victoria Vinton (she's the dreaming girl from "spin a little web", right?) was the girl on the left at 1.40-1.41, but I'm new to chorine spotting, so I'm probably wrong. Is the girl at .50-.52 the fifth girl who shows her face from behind a coin in "we're in the money"?
It would be cool to read more about the performers in these numbers, there's so little information out there.
I think this is the best Berkeley number, and that's saying something, they were all so good.
Berkely used alot of subtextual and inuendous material in his films that can be easily interpreted by those that aren't even students of the arts. Also, who would have known that some 10 years later, Powell would play a narcotics agent and even later host a western anthology show?
Look at the 5th girl who is given a close up at the beginning of the sequence...right around 00:50....I could have SWORN she was a young Marilyn Monroe! But the dates don't match up- Marilyn would have been 8 when this was made- lol
This great scene would look terrible if it was colourised...sometimes B&W is indeed better!
MattTheSaiyan 3 weeks ago
Is that what acid trip in 1934 looked like? :D
Quex01 1 month ago
You missed the very beginning of the number ~ the syncopated rhymes in the verse are fantastic... "Who cares if there's a plot or not, when you've got a lot of Dames". Brilliant lyrics.
bootsamou 2 months ago
my grandmother was so beautiful, that is her at 4.01. All of 15 years old.
virgiijauregui 3 months ago
@virgiijauregui Wow--really that was your Grandmother?? That's so cool :)
TheJackie212 3 months ago
@TheJackie212 Yep that was granny. I never got to know her, she died when I was three...wasn't she fabulous! She went on to do a couple of print ads for coca cola and camel cigarettes...at 15!!!!
virgiijauregui 3 months ago
@virgiijauregui The girls featured from 3.56 - 4.02 are the same main girls @ .41 - 1.07.
Which one was your grandmother?
bootsamou 2 months ago
@bootsamou grandma isn't in the opening scene...if she is she's the lady in the faaarrr back at 1.00, she's wearing the big black hat. The family was friends with the camera man so that's how she got into this movie...
virgiijauregui 2 months ago
4 years before acid!!
felipesancho 3 months ago 2
That's where Gondry the bastard stole the idea from!
pastetajetrena 4 months ago
I must have watched this movie a 1000x as a kid. love it.
sarahwatts08 4 months ago
Such a wonderful musical.
vahi37 6 months ago
GAWD this is good,.
futuristfood 6 months ago
POWELLS' great in this musical but still cant hold a candle
against the worlds Greatest entertainer in the world= AL J O L S O N!!!!!
but still think DICK P O W E L L could pull off a todays=C H E V R O L E T
tv Commercial singing = "I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
rosieyposie7 6 months ago
Comment removed
rosieyposie7 6 months ago
just finished watching it too!!
gjdjdtht 6 months ago
lo lindo de la peli es que todas duermen juntitas...mmmm
Arturopolisaeael 6 months ago
Note the use of filming in reverse. The kaleidoscope shot at the end and the part right before it were filmed this way, i.e., the girls were filmed being lowered away from the camera and then, in the kaleidoscope part, they were filmed in the pattern first before running together into a ball, and then the film was reversed. There is no other way that these two scenes could have been shot. Sheer brilliance.
BusbyRocks1 6 months ago 2
Yes, BB had a drinking problem, unfortunately. However he was able to capture his ideas on film using elaborate props, real people and creative camera work, despite the alcoholism. No "green srceens" or computer animation back then! Amazing!!!
indiana600610 7 months ago
To think, a man got all this from his head while drunk in the bathtub!
kikddabottle 9 months ago 2
YOU SAID IT - Gorgeous and demented - but you forgot totally Uplifting and Exhilarating. Thanks for posting.
sesresu 10 months ago
Anyone else think this may have inspired that dancer scene in eraserhead, especially the way the girls stare into the camera...very creepy actually
devinpolk90 10 months ago
Song pops up in Perry Mason's "Case Of The Howling Dog"
phredl 11 months ago
That's about as dykey as you can get without a prescription.
fishhead06 1 year ago
I'm amazed that all the comments on this vid are over 2 years ago. Doesn't anyone watch this stuff anymore?
Nothing like Busby Berkeley ever before or since. The last I remember was the modern version of "The Boyfriend" but that was way back in the 70's
kenrfc 1 year ago
@kenrfc This one got pulled for copy vio quite a while ago, then rather strangely, after at least a year in the wilderness, it came back! I don't know what magic the uploader worked to ressurect it, but well done, however it was done...
vietgrove 4 months ago
dick turpin pure magic
richjansavage 3 years ago
Even trippier than I remembered. Busby Berkeley, the genius! And doncha know these lyrics could be taken in more than one way: "Your knees in action/That's the attraction/And what good's a show without you beautiful dames."
TwilightZin 3 years ago 6
Those couches 00:1-00:9 are fab!
burstingwet 3 years ago
Yeah they are! o.o
ragemanchoo82 3 years ago
I thought he only had eyes for Ruby... :-)
10Tuxedo 3 years ago
The dame at 53 seconds is really hot!!! Who is that?
10Tuxedo 3 years ago
Surreal @_@
ragemanchoo82 3 years ago
Zowie!
bscottb8 3 years ago
7:15 to 8:05
WOW!
suckerdwsp316 3 years ago
to: Alsolikelife: I just want to thank you for this incredable gift! I have loved these BusbyBerkley fliks so much, and now, to be able to send these over to my neices who are scattered over the world, well it's just amazing and I thank you for your amazing and generous gifts to you-tube!
frosty7530 3 years ago
Questions about the young women in the chorus:
1. Did they all have to be the exact same height and weight (or at least damn close)? 2. The musicians often had to sight read their parts, did the chorus ladies have to learn their routines in a jiffy? 3. Were the ladies "on call", did they do several movies a week? 4. What was the pay back then for such a part? 5. What did their families think of them being in "naughty" routines like this one?
johnmannno 3 years ago
Notice that, at the very beginning, the voice on the intercom tells Dick Powell that "Miss Dubin, Miss Warren..." are among the "dames" here to see him. Those are the names of the actual men who wrote this song (Al Dubin and Harry Warren.)
I'm convinced that Busby Berkeley was either on strong drugs or just had hallucinations on his own, to be able to come up with these gorgeous and demented scenes.
hebneh 3 years ago 9
Also, "Miss Kelly", refers to Orry-Kelly, the costume designer.
vietgrove 3 years ago
@hebneh An 'in-joke'.
Juliaflo 1 year ago
the blonde woman at 07.12 is very pretty.
from 8.08 onward are the dancers standing behind cardboard cut-outs? their bodies appear to be incredibly still
i just can't get my head around this clip. it's so over-whelming.
alexscudder 3 years ago
Scudder: My Aunt is in there, she was one of the girls in the group. she is in 7;8 She was 20 and most of the girls were between 18 and 20. Most of them are gone now, too bad. Yes, i agree the girl at 7;12 is georgous.
burtwiseman 3 years ago
Im sorry wrong no. she is in the clip 6:27.
burtwiseman 3 years ago
thanks for the info, burt. your aunt was stunningly pretty. i can see why she would have been selected for a close-up. it is a shame to think that most of them are now gone, but they left behind a great film clip. i'll have to rent this now and see it in full. :)
alexscudder 3 years ago
I believe this is the first Busby Berkeley production number to incorporate opticals (effects and composite shots created in post-production). Maybe Berkeley thought he'd reached the limit of what he could do with live action in front of the camera, or maybe the studio just wanted to show off the capabilities of their new toy, the optical printer -- like RKO did with all those trick wipes in "Flying Down to Rio."
scotpens 4 years ago
wow, this video hurts my head. it's so imaginative.
alexscudder 4 years ago
Dutchfan33 4 years ago
I'd have guessed that Victoria Vinton (she's the dreaming girl from "spin a little web", right?) was the girl on the left at 1.40-1.41, but I'm new to chorine spotting, so I'm probably wrong. Is the girl at .50-.52 the fifth girl who shows her face from behind a coin in "we're in the money"?
It would be cool to read more about the performers in these numbers, there's so little information out there.
I think this is the best Berkeley number, and that's saying something, they were all so good.
vietgrove 4 years ago
Having watched the number again (like I need an excuse) - you're spot on with the ID of Ms Vinton, I tip my hat to you!
vietgrove 4 years ago
The chorusgirls are:
00.41-00.43:Mary Lange
00.46-00.48:Martha Merrill
00.53-00.55:Dolores Casey
00.55-00.57:De Don Blunier
Dutchfan33 4 years ago
This is the craziest goddamn thing I've ever seen.
spirograph 4 years ago
DICKpowell had someeeeVOICE'
in DAMES34' singing&dance number of DAMES
was simply FANTASTIC"
& I'd exercise to it,
I mean, I'd dance to it!
105Stars***********4powell&busbyBURKLEYfilms!
ps, Heard all of his (BUSBY's ideas for
his dance numbers was from his dreams)
Some dreams, goodthing' there was DICKpowell
to make all them COME TRUE! aGREATproducer BUSBY BURKLEY!
rosieyposie7 4 years ago
Berkely used alot of subtextual and inuendous material in his films that can be easily interpreted by those that aren't even students of the arts. Also, who would have known that some 10 years later, Powell would play a narcotics agent and even later host a western anthology show?
levitationist 4 years ago
Thank you for posting this! This is my absolute favorite sequence from all Busby's kaleido-films!
animegrl2000 4 years ago
Look at the 5th girl who is given a close up at the beginning of the sequence...right around 00:50....I could have SWORN she was a young Marilyn Monroe! But the dates don't match up- Marilyn would have been 8 when this was made- lol
haladin9 4 years ago
I can see the likeness ... I may not have noticed it though ... LOL. Funny.
RangerGordon 4 years ago
and the 6th is a dead-ringer for marion cotillard, who wasn't born till 40-some years later :)
tenzing9 4 years ago
Buz would "Throw Faces" at the Camera. 2 Girls in each Bed! ( Oh, Call will haze!) and of COURSE the famous up the crotch Shot!
richardbrompton 4 years ago
HeeHee...! YA DICK POWELL!
Chriswren9 4 years ago