Musicals with spectacular production numbers (1 Viewer)

[RobertSiegel]

So far I havn't seen listed THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, which has some great dance numbers, and MAME (1974) which has 2 good ones, "It's Today" and the title song, which is one beautifully filmed production number.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

my Bride & Prejudice dvd review:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=237142

 

[David Grove]

I got the Busby Berkeley Collection recently.

All I can say is, I had no idea what I was in for. I didn't really know who Busby Berkeley was. When a poster suggested "any Busby Berkely" to add to the list, I added it, but had no clue.

I didn't even make the connection with "42nd Street" which I had previously watched (and was just enthralled by the finale). Now that I see what followed, well, there just aren't enough superlatives to describe the over-the-top production numbers from Busby Berkeley.

WOW! WOW! WOW!

It seems sort of a genre that had it's brief time, and then... gone. I want more. The supplemental disk indicates there could still be some to come.

Are there any other creative geniuses in film history that follow in that BB tradition?

I was just blown away: "By a Waterfall"-- does it get any more fantastic?

56 grand pianos twirling and doing "the wave" in mirrored pair!

Ten thousand synchronized tappers all on stage at once! (OK, well maybe 200).

I just love those kaleidescopes.

I'm still looking for my socks.

DG


DG

 

[GregoryMesh]

I'm surprised there's no Fred Astire/Ginger Rogers numbers suggested. Here's a couple that come to mind:

Let's Face the Music and Dance from Follow the Fleet
Bojangles of Harlem from Swing Time (if you can overlook blackface)
Let's Call the Whole Thing Off from Shall We Dance (on roller skates)
Slap That Bass from Shall We Dance (Astaire in engine room)
Shoes with Wings On from The Barkleys of Broadway (Astaire with animated shoes)

2 more excellent films I watched recently:
Cabin in the Sky (Honey in the Honeycomb number)
Stormy Weather (Lena Horne's Stormy Weather and The Nicholas Brothers' The Jumpin' Jive)

 

[BarryR]

Don't know if it's included in the Busby set's bonus disc, but one of his most spectacular numbers is from VARSITY SHOW (1937) which features what looks like ten million baton twirlers and whatever else, all themed to a football rah-rah number. Absolutely amazing.

 

[Matt Hough]

Above poster mentioned "Bring on the Girls" in ZIEGFELD FOLLIES, but "This Heart of Mine," "Limehouse Blues," and "The Great Lady as an Interview" are also superlative production numbers. Doris Day's "Shakin' the Blues Away" from LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME is also terrific.

Not on DVD, but on VHS (and laserdisc) are "The Pirate Ballet" from THE PIRATE, several large scale Busby Berkeley production numbers in the Garland-Rooney musicals like "Do the La Conga" from STRIKE UP THE BAND and "I Got Rhythm" from GIRL CRAZY, and "My Hero" from TWO WEEKS WITH LOVE.

 

[Dick]

All songs listed above are excellent.

Although PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (1981) is not a musical in the traditional sense, I would add this title, as some of the best choreography since the 40's is on display, with notably excellent hoofing by Steve Martin, Christopher Walken and a classroom full of talented third graders.

 

[David Grove]

Don't really know how we forgot about "Fred & Ginger". I think I actually prefer "Shall We Dance" to "Top Hat". Isn't "Show Time" the one with the ballet and also where all the dancers at the end have Ginger Rogers masks? I really like that amalgam of dance genres. Now I wonder if "Show Time" may have taken some inspiration from "Goldiggers of 1933" (??) [the one with the "I Only Have Eyes for You" in which all the dancers look like Ruby Keeler].

Also, agree with you on "Stormy Weather"/Nicholas Brothers. I just discovered them within the last year, also. I checked out "Kid Millions" on VHS from local library and there they were (just too briefly)-- I was really disappointed when the "Kid Millions" DVD failed to appear. I still wonder how that happened. I think I remember from an NPR feature article on the Nicholas Brothers, that they didn't rehearse that amazing jumping scene-- they just did it under direction, on the fly, and on the first take!! What more can you say about talent like that?!

Haven't gotten to "Cabin in the Sky" yet.

DG


EDIT: Maybe I'm confused on the "I Only Have Eyes for You" number. I'm trying to refer to the sequence with the "looped, 3-dimensional" set, and all the dancers have the hair style of Ruby Keeler.

EDIT: Maybe we overlooked Fred & Ginger because they're work is usually just the two of them, right? Perhaps the phrase "production number" connotes a larger scale? (Not suggesting that Astaire's & Rogers' work is in any way "small".)