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Busby Berkeley (1895–1976) -

Born Berkeley William Enos in Los Angeles, California on November 29, 1895, Busby Berkeley is celebrated for his work as a film director and musical choreographer.

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Elaborate and complex -

Berkeley devised elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns. In fact his choreographic skills were such that he became one of the most original and groundbreaking visual stylists of his era. 

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Showgirls and props -

His works used large numbers of showgirls and props as fantasy elements in kaleidoscopic on-screen performances.

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Getting in sync! -

As a choreographer, Berkeley was less concerned with the dancing skill of his chorus girls as he was with their ability to form themselves into attractive geometric patterns. A would-be showgirl's chances of catching a break helped if she had previous experience as a synchronized swimmer.

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Director and choreographer -

Famed as a skilled and disciplined  choreographer, Berkeley would also go on to direct a number of movies in their entirety. But it's for his musical numbers, among the largest and best-regimented ever designed, that he is especially remembered.

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'Palmy Days' (1931) -

An early example of Berkeley's movie choreography can be seen in 'Palmy Days.' The famed Goldywn Girls, a musical stock company of female dancers employed by Samuel Goldwyn, were used by Berkeley during elaborate production numbers set in a gymnasium and a bakery.

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'The Kid from Spain' (1932) -

Eddie Cantor, who appeared in many Busby Berkeley productions, stars alongside Lyda Roberti in this comedy. The noteworthy musical scenes, directed and choreographed by Berkeley, again featured the Goldwyn Girls, whose lineup in this film included future stars Betty Grable, Paulette Goddard, and Jane Wyman.

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'Bird of Paradise' (1932) -

An uncredited Busby Berkeley choreographed the native dance sequences (pictured) in this film, which achieved notoriety after its release owing to a scene featuring Dolores del Río swimming naked.

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'42nd Street' (1933) -

It was with '42nd Street' that Berkeley's astonishing breadth of vision and the stylistic diversity of his work truly began to shine. Set in and around the backstage of a Broadway theater, Berkeley's revolutionary dance numbers positively ignited the picture.

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'42nd Street' (1933) -

The film was a commercial and critical success, with the New York Times describing thus: "The liveliest and one of the most tuneful screen musical comedies that has come out of Hollywood."

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'Gold Diggers of 1933' (1933) -

The musical numbers in 'Gold Diggers of 1933' perfectly demonstrate the quintessential Berkeley movie frame: a circle of dancing girls, perfectly synchronized, making kaleidoscopic patterns for a downward-facing camera. In 1933, this highly technical choreography and the camerawork deployed to capture it was unusual and idiosyncratic to say the least. Pictured is the neon-lit 'The Shadow Waltz' production number.

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'Gold Diggers of 1933' (1933) -

'Gold Diggers of 1933' features several memorable musical set pieces. Pictured is the 'We're in the Money' production number, sung in the opening sequence by Ginger Rogers and chorus.

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'Gold Diggers of 1933' (1933) -

This alley of white grand pianos being played in sync by gowned showgirls illustrates Berkeley's "quantitative" thinking approach to choreography: more is more.

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'Gold Diggers of 1933' (1933) -

The musical highlight of the film is the number entitled 'My Forgotten Man.' Using a set influenced by German Expressionism and a gritty evocation of Depression-era poverty, Berkeley choreographs soup kitchen queues and lines of marching soldiers caught in giant, menacing cogwheels symbolic of the hardships of the times, and the wounds inflicted by economic disaster upon a society that had not yet recovered from a damaging European war. It's Berkeley's masterpiece.

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'Footlight Parade' (1933) -

Berkeley's next project, 'Footlight Parade,' contains arguably his most technical and elaborate sequence, 'By a Waterfall.'

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'Footlight Parade' (1933) -

The 'By a Waterfall' production number features 300 choreographed jewel-encrusted bathing beauties. They descend in sequence on waterslides, splashing together in perfect harmony and diving through each others’ legs.

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'Footlight Parade' (1933) -

Busby Berkeley and director Lloyd Bacon on the set of 'Footlight Parade.'

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'Footlight Parade' (1933) -

'Footlight Parade' stars James Cagney, seen here photographed for a publicity still in a style reflecting the complexity and optical illusion of Busby's choreography.

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'Dames' (1934) -

'Dames' includes a title routine that employs mirrors, experimental animation, and some of Berkeley’s wildest costumes.

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'Gold Diggers of 1935' (1935) -

Another in the 'Gold Diggers' series of movies, this 1935 production features Berkeley's own favorite routine of the period, the 'Lullaby of Broadway' number.

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'Gold Diggers of 1935' (1935) -

The 'Lullaby of Broadway' is actually a short film-within-a film, a vast 12-minute spectacular ride that salutes the nightlife of New York's theater district and its denizens. Incidentally, besides working as choreographer, 'Gold Diggers of 1935' was Busby Berkeley's first time at the helm of a film as the official director.

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'In Caliente' (1935) -

Berkeley's next film as choreographer was 'In Caliente.' Working again with Dolores del Río, the intricate dance numbers were set to a number of songs, most notably 'The Lady in Red.'

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'In Caliente' (1935) -

Cast and crew working on the set of 'In Caliente.'

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'Gold Diggers of 1937' (1936) -

More extravagant Berkeley-choreographed musical numbers greeted audiences who flocked to see 'Gold Diggers of 1937,' which stars Richard Powell and Joan Blondell.

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'Gold Diggers of 1937' (1936) -

Blondell and Powel sitting on a huge rocking chair together in a scene from the film.

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'Gold Diggers of 1937' (1936) -

Despite its success at the box office, 'Gold Diggers of 1937' marked the beginning of a decline in Busby Berkeley's popularity as a musical choreographer. In fact, as the outsized musicals in which he specialized became passé, Berkeley turned to straight directing.

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'The Singing Marine' (1937) -

Few of his films throughout the late 1930s and early 1940s lent Berkeley the opportunity to indulge his signature visual brilliance. In 'The Singing Marine,' just two musical sequences feature Berkeley's choreography.

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'Varsity Show ' (1937) -

The finale of 'Varsity Show' was directed and choreographed by Berkeley, seen here between takes with his dancing girls.

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'They Made Me a Criminal' (1939) -

In 1939, Berkeley directed the only non musical film of his career, a crime drama centered around a world champion boxer falsely accused of murder. A box-office hit, it was one of John Garfield's best roles. 

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'The Gang's All Here' (1943) -

Busby Berkerley effectively signed off his musical choreography career with this movie, in which he directed and choreographed Carmen Miranda. A gloriously camp wartime romp, 'The Gang's All Here' is known for its musical numbers using fruit hats.

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'The Gang's All Here' (1943) -

The film features Miranda's 'The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat,' a number vilified by many critics for its sexual innuendo (dozens of scantily clad women handling very large bananas). The film was initially banned in Brazil, and in the US the censors dictated that the chorus girls must hold the bananas at the waist and not at the hip.

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'Million Dollar Mermaid' (1952) -

By the late 1940s, Berkeley's movie career began to slow. His last hurrah as a choreographer was 'Million Dollar Mermaid,' a biographical film released in 1952 starring Esther Williams as the Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman.

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'Million Dollar Mermaid' (1952) -

A huge success, 'Million Dollar Mermaid' served as a final accomplishment for one of Hollywood's greatest musical choreographers. Berkeley went on to make a just a handful of films in the 1950s. His final film as choreographer was 'Billy Rose's Jumbo' (1962). 

Sources: (British Film Institute) (Hollywood's Golden Age)

See also: The greatest dance movies of all time. 

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