"The Polka Dot Polka" THE GANG'S ALL HERE Busby Berkeley

[scrtgrdn2007]

the beginning is adorable. like for real. then it's kinda ruined by the big trip.

[ChopsForBohemians]

...Great , gate !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!

[ChopsForBohemians]

...Yayyyyy !!!!!!!!!!!

[MrAlistair100]

oh my god!! did I actually just watch that?? it was like all my Ibiza's come back to haunt me...

[Glyvxx]

Heavy traffic!

[sagebrushed]

hi...i have watched this so many times....once at a threatre and it was totally insane !!! never get tired of watching this...for years i have wondered what is the meaning of the polka-dot vision of busby? what did it mean? did it involve the war ???

[Beeshitten]

I never had any remotely comparable experiences on acid. Am I missing something?

[Zyxzyva]

6:55 Suddenly, Eugene Pallette!

[citizendoenyc]

I saw this years ago on tv and watched it, transfixed, not quite believing what I was seeing. Afterward I doubted I'd even seen it: just too honestly, unintentionally weird, the super-saturated pre-Sandoz colors.

I now own the DVD, and still can't quite believe it's real.

[Enantiodromialist]

One more thing - Wikipedia has a quote - "like a male hairdresser's acid trip". heeheeheeheehee

I'm dying to see the whole movie.

[jameszerukjr]

There's a great biography of Busby coming.

[Enantiodromialist]

OK. I watched the whole clip and I'm going to comment again.

WOW. WOW. WOW.

OH MY FING GOD WOW. PLEASE.

I seriously spent the last minute of the clip screaming for mercy. WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW.

I mean, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS???????????????

This might be the deleriously wonderful thing I've ever seen, but it simply MUST BE BANNED. Just wrong, dangerous, and psychotic.

And ... um ... if I may ask ... what exactly is the dramatic context?

[SariaMew456]

@Enantiodromialist

There's no such thing as context for a Busby Berkeley number! They bear no relevance to their source films as a whole. They simply exist in their own parallel dimension... of MADNESS!

[Enantiodromialist]

OH NO you reminded me I saw this - I was trying to forget LOL. I can't find a download for this, I'll have to buy the DVD ... and be sorry FOREVER lol.

I had a roommate 15 years ago telling me how insane he was, but I didn't check it out, also I saw "That's Entertainment" when I was a kid.

A whole new phase of my life awaits? ... I hope the world's ready ...

I'm watching The Dark Knight, at the end the Joker says madness is just like falling ... once it starts it's over.

[SariaMew456]

Just make sure you only watch one number at a time, LOL. Then your brain won't overload... probably.

[Enantiodromialist]

Thanks for getting back ... you made me watch it again LOL.

This is supposed to be a WWII propaganda film for buying war bonds ... ? I'll try to figure it out ... my dad was in WWII, he didn't say anything about THIS ...

Oh, and, are the neon polka dots on Tesla electricity? There's no cords!

Look at my comments for The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat.

Lastly, could this have been an influence on Terry Gilliam?

[SariaMew456]

@Enantiodromialist - There are cords, you just can't see them in the dark. He did the same thing with the light-up violins in the "Shadow Waltz".

[Enantiodromialist]

Can somebody say "insane"?

Pardon me, I'm going to go eat my own feaces now.

[ChaunceytheGardener]

Note to EvanGilling: Just in case you hadn't heard, Fox received such an outcry about their DVD and the botched color that they re-released in better shape. So everyone be sure to buy it from the Miranda set -- not the Faye set.

[MonteCarlotta]

In the Electric Hoop routine, they're all wearing industrial rubber gloves so they won't get buzzed! High-Voltage Neon! -Who knew that way back then, Busby Berkeley was trying to be OSHA compliant.

[bobbobato]

Pretty sad, how nobody really understands all those references to 1880 anymore- or at least we don't really 'connect' to it.

[miltsar]

the text comments alone are hilarious ! love this clip. love this film ! thank you for posting !

[MelodyThePussycat]

Awesome!

[grooveduchess]

NOW I know why I am who I am

[electriceloise]

i'm in love

[pekoe67]

I'm cleaning an apartment and I noticed the computer was on standby and this video was on the screen. (I'm a professional house cleaner). We were hired by the landlords to get the apartment ready for sale as the previous tenant had some kind of spontaneous insanity episode and had to be institutionalized. He was screaming about polka dots ! He'd cry for a while, then laugh uncontrollably, then go catatonic. Weird !

[ABALLAM3]

Does anyone believe those woman on the ledges are the same woman as in Carmen Miranda's number "The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat" since this and that other number are from the same movie?

[ABALLAM3]

It is hard to believe this is the same movie with Carmen Miranda's "Tutti Frutti Hat" performance. I cannot stop watching it between 2:30 and 5:30. It is so addicting and the music is very relaxing. It is almost becoming a drug to me.

[ABALLAM3]

Quite an amazing seen. It is hard to believe this movie is from 1943, especially the seen with the glowing hula-hoops and multicoloured cirles. If I showed this to someone my age and they knew nothing of the movie, they would guess it was made in the mid 1960's. I really like the music here. Also, several of the ladies in the green outfits look like Lucille Ball, especially the ones at 4:35 and 4:41. Is it possible that Lucille Ball was in this movie as a dancer but not credited?

[Kinemacolour]

No. By this time she was staring in he own movies at MGM.

[Andrewsmate]

This is fantastic. Imagine co-ordinating the scene with discs thrown backwards or is it forwards? Busby was a genius.

[Andrewsmate]

I think I dropped a tab

[gtlfb]

It starts a bit like a Lawrence Welk number, segues into "Invasion of the Moon Babes with Giant Necco Wafers", turns into an acid trip, and ends with - well, with giant floating singing disembodied heads. Something for every taste. The only thing like it is "Pink Elephants on Parade" from Dumbo.

[meehawl]

The crazy is strong in this one.

[EvanGilling]

This is my favorite sequence in all of cinema. Please do not ever let it expire from YouTube. The color in this clip is better than on the botched DVD, in which Fox "restored" a dupe print that was processed in an inferior, non-Technicolor color formula. Thanks. -Evan G

[TYMMCHN]

Why has the world lost it's way?

[shakealot14]

this is trippy. . . but great

[TVHello]

Busby Berkeley's most booze inspired number. Magic!! Hollywood at its best. Nothing can touch these musical dreams.

[67imprice]

On a serious note, this movie was released right in the middle of WWII, so this movie was pure escapist fare for those who needed a break from the stress of the war overseas. And also the sadness and anxiety of losing young servicemen in the war too. They were able to momentarily forget about the war for about 90 minutes anyway, except at the end where there is a reminder to be patriotic and purchase War Bonds.

[chem100]

I'm in TECHNICOLOR heaven!!! Thank you!!!

[Capricaquarius89]

And the floating heads! Oh my gosh, I forgot, hehe. I think the studio didn't know how to end the movie and they just pieced some footage together hoping that it would seem artistic.

[Capricaquarius89]

The number makes absolutely no sense to the rest of the film (its a romance story with their quirky friends along for the ride) but its still great. Makes no sense, but magnificently choreographed by Busby Berkeley.

[libearian]

I've always wondered what it would have been like to have dropped some acid. Thanks to this number, I no longer have to. It looks like they're all about to drown in a vat of fabric softener at the end. Gotta love Alice Faye, though, for being such a good sport and wearing a silk tent while being the center of a human kaleidoscope. "Surreal" doesn't do it justice!

[eedeecee]

it's clear to see that Busby Berkeley had had a career which included the organization of stage shows to tour Army camps during WW1 before he landed as choreographer on Broadway and Hollywood. Thanks for sharing this clip

[Schnorbs]

At 6:15 in, that's definitely the Doctor Who titles, circa Jon Pertwee.

[HayaJi]

Busby Berkley was a genius - quirky, but still a genius..., lol

[MtNiagara]

Hmmm? This is the same year LSD-25 was being tested by Dr. Albert Hoffmann.

[shanghaibenny2]

Great. A litle freaky, but nonetheless a spactacular number for its time. I wonder who was dropping the acid to get inspired.

[AnotherGoddess]

Whoops. I thought it was Mr. Miller. Thanks for the correction. Ciao ciao.

[Patcall7777]

Loved it. Busby Berekeley in his first technicolor extravaganza. Were those the Munchkins in the opening segment?

[spidrawebster]

Nope.  Just little kids.

[AnotherGoddess]

LUNABRD. If Busby Berkley gives you a headache and makes you feel queasy, what are you doing watching Busby Berkley?

[AnotherGoddess]

WOW...Glenn Miller is one of the SINGING HEADS at the end. Fantastic. what fun. All those special effects. I especially like the whole series that is shown backwards, with the dots coming up into the girls' hands.

[unclechristo]

thats not Glen Miller - it's Bennny Goodman - he was in the movie.

[rebeatnik]

GLORIOUSNESS!

[lunabrd]

that's... um.... different.

youknow, busby berkeley gives me a headache in black and white. color just makes me queasy on top of headachy!

[johnmannno]

The ending to this show symbolizes a wedding: something old (polka) something new (the music and the neon) something borrowed (polka dot) something blue (the color scheme). Music like this wasn't mainstream until the late 50's/60's 10 to 15 years after this was made. Very interesting. Love the film.

[keithiepoo]

Wonder if it works to Pink Floyd too. Don't forget to buy war bonds at the end of the film, creepy.

[billtotolo]

What did I just witness?

[kamarza]

Yup That's Alice and POLKA DOTS :-D

[zerdda]

Great. Now I'll have nightmares for months and months. Yikes!

[markdcarter]

Wasn't 1943 the year that Albert Hofmann first discovered the psychedelic effects of LSD?! Amazingly trippy footage!!

[SavannahR8]

Gorgeous!

[bisnagaboy]

I loved watching this at the Stanford Theater last month!

[lump516]

Remember, Busby Berkley cooked these things up while he was downing copious amounts of booze in his bathtub at night . . .

[laserwizard]

I'm nuts for the polka dots...

[margestermeister]

holy crap.

[jamietfranklin]

WOW. wowzerwow. the floating head soup at the end...wow.