Busby Berkeley — Musical Choreographer
Busby Berkeley (1895 – 1976) was an American film director and groundbreaking musical choreographer.
Berkeley devised elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns.
Berkeley's works used large numbers of showgirls and props as fantasy elements in kaleidoscopic on-screen performances.
Which is your favorite Busby Berkeley movie?
Join the Discussion Here in the IMDb Poll Community Forum
Berkeley devised elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns.
Berkeley's works used large numbers of showgirls and props as fantasy elements in kaleidoscopic on-screen performances.
Which is your favorite Busby Berkeley movie?
Join the Discussion Here in the IMDb Poll Community Forum
List activity
110 views
• 1 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
- 35 titles
- DirectorThornton FreelandStarsEddie CantorEthel ShuttaPaul GregoryWestern sheriff Bob Wells is preparing to marry Sally Morgan; she loves part-Indian Wanenis, whose race is an obstacle. Sally flees the wedding with hypochondriac Henry Williams, who thinks he's just giving her a ride; but she left a note saying they've eloped! Chasing them are jilted Bob, Henry's nurse Mary (who's been trying to seduce him) and others.
- DirectorSam TaylorStarsMary PickfordReginald DennyJoseph CawthornKiki, a French chorus girl is desperate to get into and be someone in show business, come what may.
- DirectorA. Edward SutherlandStarsEddie CantorCharlotte GreenwoodBarbara WeeksThe assistant of a phony psychic leaves the fraudulent business and becomes an efficiency expert.
- DirectorCharles ReisnerStarsBert LahrCharlotte GreenwoodPat O'BrienAn eccentric inventor and his new flying machine are the focus of this musical comedy.
- DirectorA. Edward SutherlandStarsSpencer TracyWilliam 'Stage' BoydGeorge CooperTrying to desert their draft into the army, Wilkie and Mitchell stow away on a ship that takes them into the war zone. While AWOL, the rivals for Mary's affections accidentally destroy an ammunition dump.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsEddie CantorLyda RobertiRobert YoungAn innocent man accused of robbing banks masquerades as a bullfighter to escape the police.
- DirectorHobart HenleyStarsLew AyresMae ClarkeBoris KarloffStory of the goings-on at a Prohibition-era nightclub.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsDolores Del RíoJoel McCreaJohn HallidayA native girl falls for a visitor to her island, but she's chosen to be sacrificed to the volcano god.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsWarner BaxterBebe DanielsGeorge BrentWhen the leading lady of a Broadway musical breaks her ankle, she is replaced by a young unknown actress, who becomes the star of the show.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsWarren WilliamJoan BlondellAline MacMahonA wealthy composer rescues unemployed Broadway performers with a new play, but insists on remaining anonymous.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsJames CagneyJoan BlondellRuby KeelerChester Kent struggles against time, romance, and a rival's spy to produce spectacular live "prologues" for movie houses.
- DirectorFrank TuttleStarsEddie CantorRuth EttingGloria StuartA kind-hearted young man is thrown out of his corrupt home town of West Rome, Oklahoma. He falls asleep and dreams that he is back in the days of olden Rome, where he gets mixed up with court intrigue and a murder plot against the Emperor.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsWilliam PowellBette DavisFrank McHughWhen the Manhattan investment firm of Sherwood Nash goes broke, he joins forces with his partner Snap and fashion designer Lynn Mason to provide discount shops with cheap copies of Paris couture dresses.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsAl JolsonKay FrancisDolores Del RíoHarry and Inez are dance partners at Wonder Bar. Inez loves Harry, but he's in love with Liane, a wealthy businessman's wife.
- DirectorRay EnrightBusby BerkeleyStarsJoan BlondellDick PowellRuby KeelerA multimillionaire decides to boycott "filthy" forms of entertainment such as Broadway shows.
- DirectorBusby BerkeleyStarsDick PowellAdolphe MenjouGloria StuartRomantic antics abound among the guests at a luxury hotel, including a stage director, an eccentric millionaire, and the daughter of a financial backer.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsDolores Del RíoPat O'BrienLeo CarrilloHard-drinking Larry MacArthur, editor of a sophisticated magazine, is taken to the Agua Caliente resort by his publisher, Harold Brandon, to sober up and dry out. He becomes interested in Rita Gomez without knowing she is a famous Spanish dancer about whom he once wrote a vicious review regarding her talents. Her conniving uncle, Jose' Gomez, quickly tries to cash in on her charms when he notes Larry's interest. Rita agrees to flirt and keep him in Caliente for revenge. They fall in love, but their romance is menaced by Miss Clara Thorne, a blonde gold-digger who has staked out her own claim on Larry.
- DirectorBusby BerkeleyStarsDolores Del RíoEverett MarshallGuy KibbeeDonna (Del Rio) is a diva of the stage and wants her lover Rico (Alvarado) as her leading man. To keep this from happening, the producers (Churchill, Cavanaugh) grab Roger Kerry (Marshall) off the street and say he has a contract.
- DirectorBusby BerkeleyStarsDick PowellAdolphe MenjouGloria StuartRomantic antics abound among the guests at a luxury hotel, including a stage director, an eccentric millionaire, and the daughter of a financial backer.
- DirectorBusby BerkeleyStarsDick PowellJoan BlondellWarren WilliamBroadway dance director George Randall (Dick Powell) is stuck with staging a Broadway show starring Peggy Revere (Joan Blondell), a wealthy but untalented performer who is starring only because she is backing the show. Tempers flare during rehearsals, but suave producer Fred Harris (Warren William) smooths things over by pretending to each combatant that each one secretly loves the other. Trouble is, Randall really has eyes for chorus girl Ruth Williams (Jeanne Madden). On opening night, the tempestuous Peggy storms out of the production, leaving Ruth to play the lead and carry the show. Can she pull it off?
- DirectorRay EnrightStarsDick PowellDoris WestonLee DixonBob Brent (Dick Powell) recruit from Arkansas is a marine who is shy, reserved and modest. Despite these handicaps, he is a big help to his corps buddies. On moonlit nights and sun-kissed days, he croons for the "girls", who fall for the singing and, in turn, also for the marines. Bob's own heart interest is a beautiful blonde cashier, Peggy Randall (Doris Weston), in a restaurant he patronizes but he is too shy and bashful to tell her. In order to show their appreciation, his buddies take up a collection among themselves to send the bashful Bob to New York City to appear on the popular "Amateur Hour" radio program. broadcast over a national hook-up. He wins First Place. In no time at all, he is besieged by agents and sponsors, is signed for profession engagements, and becomes America's Idol of the Air Waves, making big money and at the height of his glory and popularity as a radio star. He also has gained a highly-developed ego. But he still belongs to the Marine Corps and is shipped to Shanghai. Where, in time, his buddies welcome him again after he has redeemed himself. As does his cashier heart-throb.
- DirectorWilliam KeighleyStarsDick PowellFred Waring and His PennsylvaniansTed HealyA former student who is now a big Broadway show producer with three flops to his reputation, is invited back to direct the College's annual student stage show.
- DirectorRay EnrightStarsRudy ValleeRosemary LaneHugh HerbertOwners and show girls of the bankrupt Club Ballé are mistaken for the Academy Ballet of America and are off to Paris to compete in an International Dance Exposition.
- DirectorBusby BerkeleyJohn FarrowStarsKay FrancisIan HunterJohn LitelStory of a rising stage star and the trouble she causes by her ambition.
- DirectorBusby BerkeleyRobert Z. LeonardStarsJames StewartJudy GarlandHedy LamarrIn the 1920s, three women become performers in the renowned Broadway show the Ziegfeld Follies, where they find fame, love, and tragedy.