Busby Berkeley was a highly influential Hollywood movie director and musical choreographer who was famous for his elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns. His works used large numbers of showgirls and props as fantasy elements in kaleidoscopic on-screen performances.
Gold Diggers of 1933: Shadow Waltz
The Gang's All Here: The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat
Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Babes on Broadway: Hoe Down
For Me & My Gal
Showing posts with label directors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label directors. Show all posts
12.14.2011
11.09.2011
director: vincente minnelli
In addition to having directed some of the most famous and well-remembered musicals of his time, Minnelli made many comedies and melodramas. He was married to Judy Garland from 1945 until 1951; they were the parents of Liza Minnelli.
He's most well known for Meet Me in St. Louis, Gigi, and An American in Paris, but he also directed The Reluctant Debutante, The Clock, and Father of the Bride.
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
Daisy Gamble, an unusual woman who hears phones before they ring and does wonders with her flowers, wants to quit smoking to please her finacee, Warren. She goes to a doctor of hypnosis to do it. But once she's under, her doctor finds out that she can regress into past lives and different personalities, and he finds himself falling in love with one of them.
Bells Are Ringing
Ella Peterson is a Brooklyn telephone answering service operator who tries to improve the lives of her clients by passing along bits of information she hears from other clients. She falls in love with one of her clients, the playwright Jeffrey Moss, and is determined to meet him. The trouble is, he only knows here as an old woman whom he calls "Mom."
Gigi
Weary of the conventions of Parisian society, a rich playboy and a youthful courtesan-in-training enjoy a platonic friendship...but it may not stay platonic for long.
The Band Wagon
A pretentiously artistic director is hired for a new Broadway musical and changes it beyond recognition.
He's most well known for Meet Me in St. Louis, Gigi, and An American in Paris, but he also directed The Reluctant Debutante, The Clock, and Father of the Bride.
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
Daisy Gamble, an unusual woman who hears phones before they ring and does wonders with her flowers, wants to quit smoking to please her finacee, Warren. She goes to a doctor of hypnosis to do it. But once she's under, her doctor finds out that she can regress into past lives and different personalities, and he finds himself falling in love with one of them.
Bells Are Ringing
Ella Peterson is a Brooklyn telephone answering service operator who tries to improve the lives of her clients by passing along bits of information she hears from other clients. She falls in love with one of her clients, the playwright Jeffrey Moss, and is determined to meet him. The trouble is, he only knows here as an old woman whom he calls "Mom."
Gigi
Weary of the conventions of Parisian society, a rich playboy and a youthful courtesan-in-training enjoy a platonic friendship...but it may not stay platonic for long.
The Band Wagon
A pretentiously artistic director is hired for a new Broadway musical and changes it beyond recognition.
9.07.2011
director: blake edwards
Blake Edwards used his writing skills to begin producing and directing, with some of his best films including: Experiment in Terror, The Great Race, and the hugely successful Pink Panther film series with the British comedian Peter Sellers. Often thought of as primarily a director of comedies, he was also renowned for his dramatic work, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Days of Wine and Roses. His greatest successes, however, were his comedies, and most of his films were either musicals, melodramas, slapstick comedies, or thrillers. (more info)
Breakfast at Tiffany's: Struggling writer Paul Varjak moves into a New York apartment building and becomes intrigued by his pretty, quirky neighbor Holly Golightly. Holly's lifestyle confuses and fascinates Paul; in public she flits through parties with a sexy, sophisticated air, but when they're alone she changes into a sweetly vulnerable bundle of neuroses.
Operation Petticoat: A submarine commander finds himself stuck with a decrepit (and pink) sub, a con-man executive officer and a group of army nurses. One of my all-time favorites. The Seaman Hornsby scene makes me laugh out loud every time.
The Pink Panther: Bumbling and conceited French police inspector Clouseau tries to catch The Phantom, a daring jewel thief who is right under his nose. I can't decide what's better: watching Clouseau or watching my Dad watching Clouseau.
Darling Lili: Lili Smith, a popular British music hall performer is regarded as a femme fatale. She is actually a German spy, and the uncle she dotes upon is really Colonel Kurt Von Ruger, a fellow spy and her contact with the German military. In hopes of gaining valuable information, Lili begins using her feminine wiles on Major William Larrabee, a top American pilot. However, Lili soon falls in love with Larrabee and...
The Great Race: The Great Leslie is the classic hero in white, handsome and successful. Professor Fate is the villain, Leslie's nemesis, dressed in black and dogged by failure. Leslie proposes an automobile race from New York to Paris, to prove a new car, the Leslie Special. Fate builds his own race vehicle, the Hannibal Twin-8, complete with hidden devices of sabotage. Others enter cars in the race, including New York City's most prominent newspaper. Driving the newspaper's car is beautiful photojournalist Maggie DuBois, a vocal suffragette.
Breakfast at Tiffany's: Struggling writer Paul Varjak moves into a New York apartment building and becomes intrigued by his pretty, quirky neighbor Holly Golightly. Holly's lifestyle confuses and fascinates Paul; in public she flits through parties with a sexy, sophisticated air, but when they're alone she changes into a sweetly vulnerable bundle of neuroses.
Operation Petticoat: A submarine commander finds himself stuck with a decrepit (and pink) sub, a con-man executive officer and a group of army nurses. One of my all-time favorites. The Seaman Hornsby scene makes me laugh out loud every time.
The Pink Panther: Bumbling and conceited French police inspector Clouseau tries to catch The Phantom, a daring jewel thief who is right under his nose. I can't decide what's better: watching Clouseau or watching my Dad watching Clouseau.
Darling Lili: Lili Smith, a popular British music hall performer is regarded as a femme fatale. She is actually a German spy, and the uncle she dotes upon is really Colonel Kurt Von Ruger, a fellow spy and her contact with the German military. In hopes of gaining valuable information, Lili begins using her feminine wiles on Major William Larrabee, a top American pilot. However, Lili soon falls in love with Larrabee and...
The Great Race: The Great Leslie is the classic hero in white, handsome and successful. Professor Fate is the villain, Leslie's nemesis, dressed in black and dogged by failure. Leslie proposes an automobile race from New York to Paris, to prove a new car, the Leslie Special. Fate builds his own race vehicle, the Hannibal Twin-8, complete with hidden devices of sabotage. Others enter cars in the race, including New York City's most prominent newspaper. Driving the newspaper's car is beautiful photojournalist Maggie DuBois, a vocal suffragette.
8.10.2011
director: preston sturges
Preston Sturges ranks as one of the American cinema's most gifted and talented screenwriters and directors. His writings featured astringent dialogue that was both cosmopolitan and jargonistic. Sturges also excelled in staging scenes with razor-sharp wit but was willing to include broad slapstick. As Terrence Rafferty put it, "he was one of the true wild men of movie comedy, a legitimate successor to the improvisatory gagmen of the silent era. ..." (more info)
The Beautiful Blonde From Bashful Bend: Saloon-singer Freddie easily gets jealous when boyfriend Blackie plays around. She's a crack shot and always packs a six-shooter, which is bad news for anything that happens to be in the way (which more often than not ends up being the local judge's er...rear-end). This means that Freddie is soon forced to hide out as a school teacher in the middle of nowhere.
The Lady Eve: Returning from a year up the Amazon studying snakes, the rich but unsophisticated Charles Pike meets con-artist Jean Harrington on a ship. They fall in love, but a misunderstanding causes them to split on bad terms. To get back at him, Jean disguises herself as an English lady, and comes back to tease and torment him.
The Palm Beach Story: An inventor needs cash to develop his big idea so his wife, who loves him, decides to raise it for him by divorcing him and marrying a millionaire.
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek: Trudy Kockenlocker, a small-town girl with a soft spot for American soldiers, wakes up the morning after a wild farewell party for the troops to find that she married someone she can't remember--and she's pregnant. Norval Jones, the 4-F local boy who's been in love with Trudy for years, tries to help her find a way out of her predicament.
Unfaithfully Yours: Sir Alfred De Carter suspects his wife of infidelity. While conducting a symphony orchestra, he imagines three different ways of dealing with the situation. When the concert ends, he tries acting out his fantasies, but things don't go as well in reality as they did in his imagination.
The Beautiful Blonde From Bashful Bend: Saloon-singer Freddie easily gets jealous when boyfriend Blackie plays around. She's a crack shot and always packs a six-shooter, which is bad news for anything that happens to be in the way (which more often than not ends up being the local judge's er...rear-end). This means that Freddie is soon forced to hide out as a school teacher in the middle of nowhere.
The Lady Eve: Returning from a year up the Amazon studying snakes, the rich but unsophisticated Charles Pike meets con-artist Jean Harrington on a ship. They fall in love, but a misunderstanding causes them to split on bad terms. To get back at him, Jean disguises herself as an English lady, and comes back to tease and torment him.
The Palm Beach Story: An inventor needs cash to develop his big idea so his wife, who loves him, decides to raise it for him by divorcing him and marrying a millionaire.
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek: Trudy Kockenlocker, a small-town girl with a soft spot for American soldiers, wakes up the morning after a wild farewell party for the troops to find that she married someone she can't remember--and she's pregnant. Norval Jones, the 4-F local boy who's been in love with Trudy for years, tries to help her find a way out of her predicament.
Unfaithfully Yours: Sir Alfred De Carter suspects his wife of infidelity. While conducting a symphony orchestra, he imagines three different ways of dealing with the situation. When the concert ends, he tries acting out his fantasies, but things don't go as well in reality as they did in his imagination.
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