MovieChat Forums > Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935) Discussion > Lullaby of Old Broad Way

Lullaby of Old Broad Way

posted 18 years ago by carmenjonze-1
9 replies | jump to latest

Best harsh musical sequence, ever!

so glad it's on DVD now...finally!

__
Another American for the Separation of Church and Hate.

[–] andrea-45 17 years ago

"Best harsh musical sequence..." glad someone else rememberd that. I wll say, without throwing in any spoilers, that the final scene of the piece always brought a tear to my eye. Uncommon with a Busby Berkeley number.

[–] LionHearted99 17 years ago

I understand "Lullabye of Broadway" was Busby's personal favorite. I can see why. It's totally capitivating from the onset. It's highly imaginative, from the DeChirico-like shadows to the overall surreal tone it posesses. I love to watch it over and over again. Bye the bye...it's hard to tell...but did those girls in black have their navals puttied over?

LionHearted

[–] kimpunkrock 16 years ago

yes the ending of this movie is amazing and stylistic.
Love all the Busby Berkly movies.

they rule!
-
kim

http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index.jsp?cid=186977

The Truth is out there.

[–] msvickye 14 years ago

I think you're right--those navels do look "puttied." How funny--but that's the decency code for ya.

[–] kingsluvr 14 years ago

I just watched the Lullaby of Broadway number, and since I was reading this thread as a I was watching, I gave the girls' navels a closeup look on my HD screen. It looks as if they were bare-midriffed from a distance, but up close, it sort of looks like they had on an opaque snug-fitting leotard.

[–] tharrx 14 years ago

It's also very much in contrast to the rest of the movie, whose dramatic content is pure sugary escapism.

I wonder if Berkeley designed the "Lullaby" sequence and the movie's first hour to balance eachother, or if he just preferred to keep the drama light and not interfere with his musical numbers.

[–] scotpens 8 years ago

"Best harsh musical sequence..." glad someone else remembered that. I will say, without throwing in any spoilers, that the final scene of the piece always brought a tear to my eye. Uncommon with a Busby Berkeley number.

But not unique. (SPOILER!)

The title number from 42nd Street and the "No More Love" number from Roman Scandals also both end with a woman being killed.

All the universe or nothingness. Which shall it be, Passworthy? Which shall it be?

[–] JackBluegrass 12 years ago

Best harsh musical sequence, ever!

In a special features segment accompanying the region 1 DVD of this movie, directors John Landis and and John Waters lavish praise on Berkeley's choreographic direction for what Berkeley achieved here. One of them - or one of the other commenting film experts - says that Berkeley's style of choreography there was "aggressive" with subdued lighting of that huge soundstage to create just the perfect harsh emotional ending.

That finale was in-your-face, tragic, intimidating, and loud. And, also perfect.

More spoilers: one expert revealed that one man was under each of the 56 white pianos to swerve the instruments in synchrony (men's legs can easily be seen). Also, the pianos converging to form that rectangular stage was actually filmed with the pianos diverging. The film's flow during editing (for theater projection) was reversed.

Stupid!?! I never called you stupid! To call you stupid would be an insult to stupid people!

[–] Doghouse-6 9 years ago

Also, the pianos converging to form that rectangular stage was actually filmed with the pianos diverging. The film's flow during editing (for theater projection) was reversed.

The same trick was employed in 42nd Street's "Shadow Waltz" to achieve precision formations.

Poe! You are...avenged!