The Busby Berkeley Collection

When it comes to frenzied musical numbers, no one in Hollywood history has been as audacious–or parodied–as Busby Berkeley. Less a choreographer than a master of the chorus line, Berkeley’s style borders on the orgiastic. Films like Footlight Parade, Gold Diggers of 1933, Dames, Gold Diggers of 1935, and 42nd Street feature his trademark scenes in which legions of dancers move as one. Dozens of identical blondes gyrate in outfits that make them appear to be a flowering artichoke; leggy swimmers kick in an “aquatic zipper” while Berkeley’s probing camera swoops beneath their thighs, creating, in the words of one critic, “a tunnel of dreams.” The Dude’s nightmare in The Big Lebowski was inspired by Berkeley’s cinematic spectacles; this DVD set will allow them to infiltrate your dreams as well.