The Busby Berkeley Collection (Footlight Parade / Gold Diggers of 1933 / Dames / Gold Diggers of 1935 / 42nd Street)

Amazon.com

The Busby Berkeley Collection celebrates the work of one of the most visually inventive director-choreographers in the history of film. The centerpiece is of course 42nd Street (1933). This is the quintessential backstage musical in which young Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler) goes from wide-eyed chorus girl to leading lady, urged by Warner Baxter, "You're going out there a youngster, but you've got to come back a star!" A cast that also includes Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers (when she was an RKO contract player and before she teamed up with Fred Astaire) performs "Shuffle Off to Buffalo, " "You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me," and the title tune, in which Keeler tap-dances on a black surface that turns out to be the roof of a car. Berkeley's numbers are known for their kaleidoscopic patterns, their stark black-and-white contrast, and their sheer sense of spectacle. But more than anything, they're known for their celebration of women. By the dozens, they dance, play pianos, frolic in waterfalls, and, in some of the most overtly sexual numbers, stand spread-eagled in a line as the camera passes through their legs. In many ways, the title song from Dames sums it up best: "What do you go for / to see a show for? / Tell the truth, you go to see those beautiful dames."

While Berkeley choreographed and directed the musical sequences in these films, the plot sections were generally directed by others such as Lloyd Bacon. Keeler and Powell were the most frequent headliners, supported by character players such as Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, and Ned Sparks, and most of the songs were contributed by Harry Warren and Al Dubin. The stories aren't much, usually revolving around the putting-together of a musical show as well as the lives and loves of chorus girls. The term "gold diggers," which is the source of the title of two of the films included in this set, refers unflatteringly to chorus girls in search of wealthy husbands.

Gold Diggers of 1933 opens with a justly famous shot of Ginger Rogers wearing an outfit of coins and singing "We're in the Money" first in English then in pig Latin. Gold Diggers of 1935 is capped by "The Lullaby of Broadway," a 14-minute story-within-a-story that seems one of the inspirations for Singin' in the Rain's "Broadway Melody." Dames (1934) has the aforementioned title tune as well as "I Only Have Eyes for You" (with Powell singing to dozens of Keeler faces). Footlight Parade changes things up a bit by starring James Cagney as a producer desperately cranking out musical numbers. Keeler and Powell emerge from their bit-character roles to headline two of the big productions stacked together at the end, while Cagney replaces Powell in the third, showing off the vaudeville hoofing skills he would use later in 1942's Yankee Doodle Dandy.

DVD supplements are generous. The sixth disc is the 163-minute Busby Berkely Disc, a former laserdisc program that collects just the musical numbers from nine films without the plot filler. Most of the numbers are already included in the films in this collection, but there are also one number each from Fashions of 1934, Wonder Bar, In Caliente, and Gold Diggers of 1937. Also on the discs are new and old featurettes (one tracks the development of 42nd Street from book to screen to stage), and vintage cartoons and shorts (one promotional short has Berkeley on-screen talking up Dames). Picture quality is about the same as on the Astaire and Rogers Collection, Vol. 1: good for the age of the material, but with noticeable fuzz and print damage. --David Horiuchi

Description

The Busby Berkeley Collection is a 6-disc compilation of five remastered Warner Bros. classics from one of the greatest motion picture choreographers of all time.

Customer Reviews:

Great transfers and Busby Berkeley. Wow........2007-08-07

Pre-code humor, sexy gals, nutso characters and those incredible dance numbers from the master. The transfers are exceptional clean. If you love these early Warner Bros. musicals, then this set is for you. 42nd Street is the centerpiece with it's backstage tension, great music and great dance numbers. And catch Jimmy Cagney in Footlight Parade. Cagney adds pacing that isn't there in the other films and his dancing is on display, especially his number with Zigfield Follies star, Ruby Keeler.
Highly recommended for Pre-code fans and for musical fans.

Stunning collection.......2007-07-17

I don't really think I can add more to the some of the technical reviews already here except to give you my personal impressions. As one of those baby boomers that never disrespected my elders accomplishments this was just the collection I was looking for. Their music was better, their acting was better, and I think in a way, their lives. My parents worked hard, lived during the Depression, faught in WWII, and all the while enjoyed life. No 65 hour work weeks for them and they did have and go to many parties. Probably more than I ever will. Anyway, these shows on this collection lets me live some of that time with them.

Technically the sound is perfect, the same for the video. Not sure, but these may have been remastered. If you enjoy music you can understand and have ever enjoyed a good play, buy this collection.

Ruby and Jimmy Rule.......2007-07-09

This is a great collection, especially the films with Ruby Keeler ("42nd Street", "Dames", etc.) and "Footlight Parade" with James Cagney, whose acting and hoofing steal the latter film. Joan Blondell's wisecracking, "seen it all" characters are a highlight in several movies.

Some of the more racist cartoons such as "Shuffle Off to Buffalo" are included among the collection's special features. Despite Warner Brothers disclaimer that these films represent the attitudes of the era they were made in, some cartoons would have been better off staying in the vault. Nowadays, they are more offensive than funny.

The special features commentary by various cinema and dance mavens is quite helpful. I'm especially glad John Walters is included among the commentators. His pithy, insightful comments demonstrate an insider's knowledge of Berkeley's complex camera work.

Good Musicals - Great Musical Numbers!.......2007-06-17

Having enjoyed these films for years on Laser Disc, along with a fabulous, if edited, Laser Disc special of Berkeley's greatest dance numbers, I can give a wholehearted 5 stars for this CD set. Again, the dance numbers are the standouts and the reason for purchase, though the plots are better than the average musical.
However, none of the plots are going to hold you quite like the big numbers. The remarkable showpiece presentations will be the thing that has you going back to this set time and time again. My guess is you'll pull out the 163 minute Special more than all the films combined.

Ruby, Dick, Joan and Busby OH MY.......2007-05-13

Every old movie buff's wet dream-
The movies are great enough to own but the extra interviews and shorts are worth the price-

Average customer rating:

The naughty, gaudy, bawdy, tawdry 42nd Street--with Busby Berkeley's sensational Depression-lifting numbers!!!
Great film, poor extras
"WHAT A MOVIE ! "
DICK POWELL AND RUBY KEELER!!
Nostalgia at its best, with great songs by Harry Warren and Al Dubin

42nd Street (Keep Case)
Starring: Warner Baxter , Bebe Daniels , George Brent , Ruby Keeler , and Guy Kibbee
Director: Lloyd Bacon
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000E0ODZY
Release Date: 2006-03-21

Product Description

When 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.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com essential video

Set during the depression, this is the granddaddy of backstage musicals in which the understudy finally gets a chance to shine. It may seem a little cliché now, but in 1933 this was hot stuff. All that behind-the-scenes atmosphere feels very genuine, and the script is more acerbic than you might expect.

A sickly Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter) puts his all into what may be his last show, only to face a disaster when leading lady Dorothy Brock (Bebe Daniels) sprains her ankle. Thank heavens for ingenue Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler), who steps in at the last minute. The vivacious soundtrack includes "Shuffle off to Buffalo," and the still-catchy title tune. Best of all are those extravagant, kaleidoscopic dance numbers by Busby Berkeley, then in his prime. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Customer Reviews:

The naughty, gaudy, bawdy, tawdry 42nd Street--with Busby Berkeley's sensational Depression-lifting numbers!!!.......2007-05-18

42nd Street remains of the great classic musicals to this day. As Amazon correctly notes, this movie was blazing hot stuff at the time it was released; but the storyline makes this movie great entertainment even in these times. The plot moves along at a good pace and the action holds your attention rather well. I enjoyed it and I can easily tell you why.

The movie begins with a new stage show about to be cast by director Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter) because his bosses Jones and Barry think they can squeeze out another hit show despite the Great Depression putting a damper on everyone's bank accounts. Julian assembles his team of troupers including Bebe Daniels as the huge Broadway star Dorothy Brock; Ruby Keeler playing Peggy Sawyer, the chorus girl who just barely makes it into the show and actor Billy Lawler who is played very ably by Dick Powell. You should also look for Ginger Rogers in an early screen appearance as chorus line girl "Anytime" Annie and Guy Kibbee plays Abner Dillon, the wealthy old man who is funding the show on the condition that Dorothy Brock, his love interest, stars in the show.

Julian begins to run his troupe to death and it seems he never is satisfied with their work; to add some drama to his role Julian is under doctor's orders to abstain from theater work for health reasons. Julian, however, goes ahead and runs the show as the director anyway. Dorothy Brock also begins to encounter trouble as stuffy old man Abner Dillon wants more and more romantic time with her; but what Dorothy truly wants is to spend time with the real love of her life, Pat Denning (George Brent). Ruby tries to hang in during Julian's grueling rehearsals; she almost doesn't make it but she ultimately survives the torture.

Of course, despite the real movie--which consists of the song and dance numbers--you get a fair amount of suspense to hold your attention. Will Dorothy stay true to Abner so that her career can go forward to even new heights? Will Dorothy go back to Pat Denning, her true love, instead? What happens when for unforeseen circumstances develop and Peggy Sawyer must perform the lead in the show--with a mere five hours advance notice? Can Peggy pull that off? Can Julian direct the show without losing his health altogether? Watch the film and find out as you enjoy it--no spoilers here, folks! SMILE

Then there are the song and dance numbers. I loved all of them. The musical arrangements by Harry Warren glisten as true gold ever could. You get a great duet for "I'm Young And Healthy;" and there's the classic "Shuffle Off To Buffalo." Of course we can't forget the show stopping "42nd Street" either. Excellent! The choreography really shines during these musical numbers with great aerial views of the cast on stage and the dancing couldn't be better. Great!

The DVD comes with a few extras; and they also were fascinating to watch. I liked the segment about Harry Warren with him playing piano while his friends sing along; and the featurette entitled A Trip Through A Hollywood Studio fascinates me, too. The Hollywood newsreel is a rare treat!

Overall, fans of musicals from the Great Depression era and the golden age of Hollywood will cherish this classic musical. The actors work so hard; and it shows in their highly convincing acting. People who enjoy the music of Harry Warren will be delighted with this movie; and the Busby Berkeley dance numbers reflect his genius as they always did.

May you get this movie and enjoy it as much as I did! Great job, everyone!!!

Great film, poor extras .......2007-02-03

There have been so many excellent reviews of this landmark film that there is not much to add so here are a few observations about the film and the extras:

- The film has a dark and sombre mood which is unexpected and surprising. The backstage glimpses have a harshness and the comedy is very sharp and venal - nothing light and frothy here.
- Warner Baxter and Bebe Daniels had at least 10 years experience behind them when they made the film and their performances have great depth. Baxter portrays a very sick man and Daniels captures the prospect of being over the hill movingly.
- Ruby Keeler's ingenuousness maybe real but the casting makes her perfect here. Never was such blank innocence so convincing which explains why her reviews at the time were so good. It was only as her career progressed that her limitations became obvious, although she always improved. Her tap dancing is a legacy of a different style from heavy shoes and timber floored speakeasies when she really had "to put 'em down" to be heard. Later in the decade, her tap lightened up.
- Dick Powell is also perfectly cast and his devilish way with the lyrics of "Young and Healthy" suggest an active libido. He is underrated.

The print of the film is excellent but Warner's seemed to have messed up the extra features. The documentary on this film appears on the DVD of "Goldiggers of 1933" with a short on the promotion of the film when Warner's hired a train, the 42nd Street Special, to cross America to reach Washington for President Roosevelt's birthday. What remains is a poor short film on Harry Warren, who wrote the songs, and other shorts promoting Warner Brothers which in fact were made 2 years later and refer to other musicals. It is all a bit confusing.

Unless you purchase this DVD as part of the Busby Berkeley set, the DVD is only OK value.

"WHAT A MOVIE ! ".......2006-10-28

"This was one innovative, exciting, pleasurable, and very entertaining
movie!"

Innovative in the sense that at the beginning.....the main actresses and actors are shown in large individual photos accompanied by very
beautiful background music composed by Harry Warren.
The Plot was exciting and entertaining since it concerned and developed
the real problems intrinsic to producing, developing, and directing a
winning musical/dancing/acting/and choreographed ensemble!
The "Kingpins"in bringing this whole thing to reality were:
Warner Baxter....Director/Slavedriver
Busby Berkeley...Master Choreographer/Director
Bebe Daniels.....terrific Singer...Actress...Dancer
Prominent Cast Members...Ruby Keeler..Ginger Rogers..Dick Powell
...and others listed in opening credits!
Harry Warren /Al Dubin...provided music and lyrics for:
" 42nd St"..."Young and Healthy".."Shuffle
off to Buffalo".."You're Getting To Be A Habit
With Me!"

"Chorus Girls" were extremely talented ladies!....they had to
be... since this was 1933 and the country was
in a big Depression! Jobs were scarcer than "Hen's
Teeth!" 5,000 fully experienced and talented
ladies tried out for the Chorus Girl positions...only 200 or 4% survived!
A good bit of pleasure can be derived from the movie...not just as you see it.....but afterwards!
The probability is that you'll be humming, whistling, or even singing
some of the tunes after seeing this movie.
The one song that lends itself especially to the above symptoms is:
"You're Getting to be a Habit with me!" Personally...I think this is one of the best songs that I've heard in a long time.!
It's a real blessing that this 73 year old movie can now be viewed on
DVD with exacting clarity and superior sound!

If it were not for the superior upgrading in casting, music, Choreography, and plot of the movie......the title of this Review would be:......................."What Movie?"
rather than:
"WHAT A MOVIE!"

DICK POWELL AND RUBY KEELER!!.......2006-09-10

42nd Street is one of the greatest movies of all time. It has been 7 months since I first watched it, and while some people would say that I am WAY too young to be interested in classics (people have told me that I should be watching stuff like the Princess Diaries) I have ALWAYS found stuff like Footlight Parade more interesting, and instead of swooning over Brad Pitt or whovever is considered a hot male star these days, I find myself swooning over old-timey actors like Robert Taylor or Rudolph Valentino. So i really LOVE old movies, even silents from the earliest days, like Intolerance. I had never seen any Busby Berkeley pictures before I bought the collection (which is AWESOME) So 42nd Street was new to me. I was ASTOUNDED by the musical numbers. That guy was a genius! And the cast! I recognized Bebe Daniels, from her silents, and I think she was AMAZING in this. Didn't know she could dance or sing! I also recognized Warner Baxter form his slents, and he was AMAZING too! He looked much older than I'd seen him before, though. I loved the Dubin/Warren music, which is PURE 30s. Good memorablehits like You're Getting to be a Halbit With Me and Young and Healthy. Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler are just SO CUTE TOGETHER!! I EVEN LIKE THEM BETTER THAN ASTAIRE AND RODGERS!! I have seen almost all their movies, except for Colleen and Shipmates Forever. If you are a Powell/Keeler fan, you'll love 42nd Street. Oooh, and the comedy is very cliche, but put over well. This keep caseDVD is nice, and the picture is clear, but there aren't many extras. The 42nd Street dcumentary is on the Gold Diggers of 1933 DVD. So I reccomend you buy the whole Busby Berkeley Collecion instead of the one DVD. I am not going to mention the plot, so just check out the summary. Plus, in 1933, this is the musical that made everyone like musicals again, beacuse they weren't poular at that time until 42nd Street came along. Oh, and Ruby Keeler is heavy footed, and she did better in her later films. She is still a teriffic dancer, although she can't copare to Eleanor Powell. (If you don't know who Eleanor Powell is you've been living under a rock.) Well, this is a very good movie, and the essential musical. Here are some other movies that you should like if you like old muicals: Footlight Parade, Dames, Colleen, The Broadway Melody, Born to Dance, Honolulu, Broadway Melody of 1940, Rio Rita, Dixiana, Top Hat, Flying Down to Rio, Roman Scandals, Whoopee!, Go Into Your Dance, Take a Chance(very good), Down Argentine Way, Wonder Bar, Go Into Your Dance, Ziegfeld Follies, Boldie of the Follies, and my PERSONAL FAVRITE MOVIE OF ALL TIME......the BROADWAY MELODY OF 1936!!! Starring Robert Taylor, Jack Benny, Eleanor Powell, June Knight, Una Merkel, Nick Long Jr., Sid Silvers, Buddy Ebsen, Vilma Ebsen, and others. IT THE BEEEESSSSTTT!!! YOU HAVE GOTTA SEE THE I'VE GOT A FEELN' YOU'RE FOOLIN MUISCAL NUMBER! HLOORAY FOR JUNE KNIGHT AND ROBERT TAYLOR!! AHHH-MAZING!!!

Nostalgia at its best, with great songs by Harry Warren and Al Dubin.......2006-07-11

42nd Street is one of my favorite movies. It's the granddaddy of "put on a musical" musicals, and if it seems full of cliches now it's because cliches have to start somewhere. They weren't cliches when 42nd Street opened. When young Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler) has to take the place of the star, gets a pep talk from Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter) and then dances from the wings into the big production number of Shuffle Off to Buffalo...well, is there any doubt that Peggy is going to come back a star? (Even if Marsh's talk is enough to scare the tap shoes off Fred Astaire, much less little Peggy Sawyer. "Sawyer, you listen to me, and you listen hard. Two hundred people, two hundred jobs, two hundred thousand dollars, five weeks of grind and blood and sweat depend upon you. It's the lives of all these people who've worked with you. You've got to go on, and you've got to give and give and give. They've got to like you. Got to. Do you understand? You can't fall down. You can't because your future's in it, my future and everything all of us have is staked on you. All right, now I'm through, but you keep your feet on the ground and your head on those shoulders of yours and go out, and Sawyer, you're going out a youngster but you've got to come back a star!")

The story is endearing because we've seen it so many times. The movie is still so fresh, so good and so entertaining, however, because of the songs, the actors and Busby Berkeley's turn-tables, disappearing benches, moving cameras and high-kicking chorus girls. I can watch many times over the musical numbers (songs by Harry Warren and Al Dubin) performed by a young, energetic and perfectly confident Dick Powell (I'm Young and Healthy), Una Merkel and Ginger Rogers, Ruby Keeler and Clarence Nordstrom (Shuffle Off to Buffalo), the big 42nd Street extravaganza with Ruby Keeler and half the population of New York City, and a great song that still holds its own, You're Getting to Be a Habit With Me (sung by Bebe Daniels).

Ruby Keeler was such a long shot for actual stardom. She couldn't act. She sang well but without much emotion. Her tap dancing was all elbows and thumping feet. Yet she was so innocent and earnest you just can't help rooting for her. When Warner Baxter gives his impassioned pep talk to Keeler as Peggy Sawyer, he is all intensity, driving home just how important it is for Sawyer to succeed. Keeler is facing him with a pleasant, utterly emotionless expression on her face. Try watching the scene but focus on Keeler, not Baxter. Her lack of expression is so incongruous it's absolutely endearing. Perhaps that's why she was such a success. She might be a klutz like us, but she's going to give it her all in front of an audience, something most of us wouldn't have the courage to try.

One of the delights of the musical numbers is watching Una Merkel and Ginger Rogers in an upper birth, Merkel eating a banana and Rogers an apple, giving the other side of the story of Shuffle off to Buffalo. First we watch Keeler and Nordstrom (unbilled and with an odd vibrato):

I'll go home and pack my panties
You go home and get your scanties
And away we'll go.
Off we're gonna shuffle,
Shuffle off to Buffalo.
To Niagara in a sleeper
There's no honeymoon that's cheaper
And the train goes slow.
Off we're gonna shuffle,
Shuffle Off to Buffalo.

But then Merkel and Rogers give their point of view between bites of banana and apple:

Matrimony is baloney,
She'll be wanting alimony,
In a year of so.
Still they go and shuffle,
Shuffle off to Buffalo.
When she knows as much as we know
She'll be on her way to Reno
While he still has dough.
She'll give him the Shuffle
When they're back from Buffalo.

The movie is filled with similar wise-cracking attitude. And if you're into drugs or love or just exceptionally well-written songs, you cant beat You're Getting to Be a Habit With Me:

Every kiss, every hug,
Seems to act just like a drug.
You're getting to be a habit with me.
Let me stay in your arms,
I'm addicted to your charms.
You're getting to be a habit with me.
I used to think your love was something
That I could take or leave alone.
But now I couldn't do without my supply.
I need you for my own.
Oh I can't break away, I must have you every day,
As regularly as coffee or tea.
You've got me in your clutches and I can't get free,
You're getting to be a habit with me.

With 42nd Street at least, nostalgia is everything it's said to be.

The DVD transfer is excellent. There are several extras including a short vintage feature on composer Harry Warren.

42nd Street Forever: XXX-Treme Special Edition (2007)

Average customer rating:

AN OK DVD

42nd Street Forever: XXX-Treme Special Edition (2007)
Starring: 42nd Street Forever
Manufacturer: Synapse FIlms
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000LC3IMO
Release Date: 2007-03-27

Description

The best-selling 42ND STREET FOREVER series of vintage theatrical trailers returns in this "adults only" XXX-TREME SPECIAL EDITION! You asked for it, you got it! This compilation includes some of the sexiest, raunchiest and downright dirtiest trailers for classic X rated movies. Watch the original theatrical advertisements for the amazing sci-fi hardcore oddity ULTRA FLESH, the surreal head-scratching "F", and the gender-bending controversial classic PASSAGE THRU PAMELA!

Over two hours of XXX-TREME hardcore "action" featuring all your favorite porno stars including Harry Reems, Ron Jeremy, Seka, Ginger Lynn and MORE! Digitally re-mastered in high-definition from original 35mm film materials and enhanced for widescreen televisions.

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES
- All Trailers Mastered in High Definition (16:9 Enhanced)
- Over TWO-HOURS of Amazingly Sexy Footage!

Customer Reviews:

AN OK DVD.......2007-08-15

This dvd is previews of old porn it even has Ron Jermey when he looked alot better.I like the old porn it is better more of the actors are natural.There is some story line the acting was better than now.I might buy some of the full length dvds previewed on this.There is not a full length film on this so beaware it is all previews of old 70's & 80's porn.

Average customer rating:

A cornucopia of sleaze...
For Flipped-Out Film Fanatics

42nd Street Forever, Vol. 1
Starring: 42nd Street Forever
Manufacturer: Synapse Video
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ASIN: B000BLI5PU
Release Date: 2005-11-15

Description

42nd Street Forever: Volume 1

Over 2 full hours of fun! A weird, wild and crazy collection of exploitation movie trailer promos from around the world, including: The Undertaker And His Pals, Flesh And Blood Show, Women And Bloody Terror/ Night Of Bloody Horror, I Dismember Mama/ Blood Splattered Bride, Corruption, The Butcher Of Binbrook, Ginger, Italian Stallion, Creampuffs, The 3 Dimensions Of Greta, Hard Candy, The Centerfold Girls, Panorama Blue, Wicked Wicked, Teenage Mother, Charlie And The Hooker, Matango, The Green Slime, Destroy All Monsters, The Crippled Master, Werewolves On Wheels, The Pink Angels, The Depraved (aka Exposed), They Call Her One Eye, Maid In Sweden, Behind Convent Walls, Secret Africa, Shocking Asia, Chappaqua, Welcome Home Brother Charles, The 44 Specialist, The Bullet Machine, Death Drive (aka Hitchhike), The Raiders Of Atlantis, Star Crash, Cofessions Of A Summer Camp Counsellor, Sunset Cove, Superfuzz, Death Will Have Your Eyes, Death Has Blue Eyes, A Black Veil For Lisa, Ironmaster, The Deadly Spawn, The Devil's Nightmare and MORE!

Customer Reviews:

A cornucopia of sleaze..........2006-02-26

During the golden age of films, prior to television, massive, palatial, ornately decorated theaters were constructed as going to the movies was often an event. After television came about, many of these theaters (which subsequently suffered from neglect as audiences dwindled), particularly those in the inner cities, began catering to different audiences, becoming what was known as grindhouse theaters, with those located on New York's 42nd Street probably being the most relatable examples. Grindhouses would specialize in showing the stuff you probably wouldn't take your mother to see, as the films were often extremely graphic, sleazy, contemptible, and schlocky in nature from both foreign and domestic distributors...blaxploitaion, sexploitation (hard and soft core), hixploitation, nunsploitation, violent chop socky features, Japanese monster films, European horror sleaze, gore, giallo (Italian thrillers), `mondo' style films, nudie cuties...these were many of the various genres popular prior to the subsequent disappearance of the grindhouse venues by the mid to late 1980s, as the areas these theaters were located in were populated by what was generally considered the underbelly of society, and became easy targets as city leaders sought to garner favor with their constituents by sweeping clean the `scum', so to speak...but I digress...

In this DVD release of 42nd Street Forever Volume 1, Synapse Films provides an excellent representation of the diversity of the material popular over the years in these palaces of sleaze, in the form of 47 trailers, which were often better, by the way, than the actual features. Here's a listing of the trailers you get for the price of admission;

The Undertaker and His Pals (1966)
The Flesh and Blood Show (1972)
Women and Bloody Terror (1969)/Night of Bloody Horror (1969)
Blood Spatter Bride (1972)/I Dismember Mama (1974)
Corruption (1967)
The Butcher of Binbrook aka Graveyard of Horror (1971)
Ginger (1971)
Italian Stallone (1970), a porno flick featuring a young Sylvester Stallone!
Creampuffs (1981)
The 3 Dimensions of Greta (1972)
Hard Candy (1976)
The Centerfold Girls (1974)
Panorama Blue (1974)
Wicked Wicked (1973)
Teenage Mother (1967)
Charlie and the Hooker (1976)
Mantango (1963)
The Green Slime (1968)
Destroy All Monsters (1968)
The Crippled Master (1981)
Werewolves on Wheels (1971)
The Pink Angels (1971)
The Depraved (1974)
They Call Her One Eye (1974)
Maid in Sweden (1971)
Behind Covenant Walls (1977)
Secret Africa (1969)
Shocking Asia (1974)
Chappaqua (1966)
Welcome Home, Brother Charles (1975)
The Legend of N***er Charlie (1972)
Boss N***er (1975)
The Bullet Machine (1975)
Death Drive (1977)
The Raiders of Atlantis (1983)
Star Crash (1979)
Confessions of a Summer Camp Counselor (1977)
Sunset Cove (1978)
Super Fuzz (1980)
Death Will Have Your Eyes (1974)
Death Has Blue Eyes (1976)
A Black Veil for Lisa (1968)
Ironmaster (1983)
The Rape of the Sabines (1962)
The Deadly Spawn (1983)
Devil's Nightmare (1971)

There's just over two hours of material on this DVD, presented in 1.78:1 letterboxed, enhanced for 16X9 TVs, with obviously formatted from different aspect ratios. The Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. Both the picture and audio quality vary from trailer to trailer, but most are quite good.

Cookieman108

For Flipped-Out Film Fanatics.......2005-11-28

If you were too young to sit in a grindhouse movie theatre in Times Square back-in-the-day, (or too sensible), then you can recapture some of the seedy glory of times (square) gone by with this DVD in your own living room, with a much lower likelihood of a rat biting you or a drug addict puking on you.

You get a wide variety of trailers here in a wide variety of clas-SICK genres, from stomach-churning horror shows, to lead-blastin' action flix, to soft porn epics (no chillen, please! Adults only!) Great for throwing on at a party, as long as you have a bunch of sick individuals just like yourself partying down with you.

I could go into detail, mentioning all the great trailers like "They Call Her One Eye" and Fred Williamson's western "Boss N****r" But take it from me, this is a wild ride into a long-gone cinema wonderland.

There was a previous DVD with this title by Ban One Productions. That company has also assembled this DVD, but never fear if you have that earlier disc. There are only about 2-3 repeats on the whole show, so it's worth buying. Get it!

Average customer rating:

A BOMB
Fantastic!
Superb trailers collection -- fantastic entertainment

42nd Street Forever, Vol. 2: The Deuce
Starring: 42nd Street Forever
Manufacturer: Synapse Films
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ASIN: B000HXDWNW
Release Date: 2006-10-31

Amazon.com

This amazing follow-up to Synapse Films' best-selling 2005 compilation features even more classic theatrical trailers full of nudity, sex, violence, monsters and mayhem! Over two full hours of classic exploitation transferred in high-definition. This collection includes: Ms. 45, Born Losers, Rolling Thunder, Dixie Dynamite, The Hellcats, Dragstrip Riot, Stingray, Burnout, Dirt, Savage, Kenner, Tick Tick Tick, Take a Hard Ride, Black Sampson, The Guy from Harlem, Sugar Hill, I, A Woman, The Curious Female, The Babysitter, Street Girls, College Girls, The Pom-Pom Girls, Helga, Invitation to Ruin, Pick-Up, Delinquent Schoolgirls, Savage Sisters, Female Jungle, Gigantis: The, Fire Monster, The Giant Gila Monster, The Hideous Sun Demon, The Monster of Piedras Blancas, Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Woman Eater, The Dark, The Evil, The Evictors, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Rabid, The Clones, Mission Mars, Mister Billion, Spy in Your Eye, The Last of the Secret Agents?, Trunk to Cairo, Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die, Amazons of Rome, Samson and the Slave Queen, Revolt of the Slaves, Revenge of the Gladiators and MORE!

Customer Reviews:

A BOMB.......2007-08-15

This bombs it is a bunch of movies just the preview and they are old really old. There is no sex or nudity nothing it sucks don't get it.

Fantastic!.......2007-06-11

This one and the first volume are some of the best DVDs I've ever purchased!

Superb trailers collection -- fantastic entertainment.......2007-02-17

this is quite simply the most awesome collection of trailers you will come across. Every one is a solid piece of entertainment. Man, could they make trailers back in the Deuce days! I was particularly impressed that there are so many obscure movies I never even heard of. The trailers are grouped thematically and the various genres segue from one to another -- its kinda cool. If you're into trailers - get this!

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Brings back Memories

42nd Street Pete's 8mm Madness
Director: 42nd Street Pete
Manufacturer: After Hours Retro
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000F5ZHBW
Release Date: 2006-04-04

Description

42nd Street Pete's 8mm MADNESS!

Rare and Unusual 8mm Loops from the Sick, Sick 70s!

8mm loops were the sexual underground. They were sold under the counter in adult bookstores or by shady peddlers and selling or possessing them was a crime back in the day. The loops usually came in white boxes: b&w was one price, color was a higher price. A film like this could cost $20 to $100 per loop...and that's `60s and `70s money! And you never knew what you were getting. Later the loops would be labeled with names like "Pretty Girls," "Golden Girls," etc. Most of these loops had no titles as after repeated playing the film would get worn and simply break off: they would just start with "saucy material" or get down to it after a minute or so of plot. Common plots were doctor/patient, boss/secretary, hitchhikers being picked up, etc., with darker plots showcasing S&M and other twisted stuff.

42nd Street has hand-picked 20 loops out of the 42P archives. This first installment is all color and has something for everyone. Call it a great mixed bag, and a salute as well, to that 42nd Street mainstay, Blackjack Books - a place that retained that old Times Square squalor right up until it was closed.

2-DVD COLLECTION INCLUDES OVER 20 HISTORIC, AUTHENTIC 8mm FILM LOOPS FROM THE SICK SEVENTIES!

Customer Reviews:

Brings back Memories.......2007-04-10

A week before viewing the DVD, I was telling the younger guys at work how lucky they are, to have DVD's and VHS's and Cable. It brings back memories of feeding the projector, and hoping the film did'nt break and hanging up a white bedsheet if you did't have a screen.. I have to share this with a fellow "ART" Lover, before he retires in June.

42nd Street Pete's Busty Stag Collection

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42nd Street Pete's Busty Stag Collection
Starring: 42nd Street Pete's
Manufacturer: Secret Key
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000R5NZ28
Release Date: 2007-08-14

Description

An ultra-sexy, super-naughty collection of authentic 8mm Home Movie Stag Reels from the 1950s thru '70s! This one-of-a-kind set showcases over three hours of classic and historic nudie loops never before seen on DVD and features voluptuous vixens of the era including Uschi Digard, Lillian Parker and Virginia Bell!

42nd Street Pete's Super-Stars of the 70s Stags

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8mm madness series
so hot
Porn, the early days

42nd Street Pete's Super-Stars of the 70s Stags
Starring: John Holmes; Linda Lovelace
Director: 42nd Street Pete
Manufacturer: After Hours Cinema
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000IJ6V56
Release Date: 2006-09-12

Product Description

With the dawning of the 70s, things were changing, especially in the sex trade. Generic white boxes were still being used to house the forbidden 8mm loops, but things had loosened up to the point that a color photo depicting a scene from the loop would be included within the package. After watching a bunch of these loops, viewers began to recognize recurring faces (and other body parts) among the myriad performers. Many were one-shot deals, but fans were quick to embrace the perennials who showed up again and again. As I was going through the 42P archives, I thought it would be cool to assemble a collection of loops with only the most well-known stars. "So what do we have here?" you might ask. We have the best performers from the early days of historic adult cinema...a cavalcade of the super-stars who rose to prominence in that "Golden Era." I'm talking Linda Lovelace, Vanessa Del Rio, Seka, Tina Russell, Candy Samples, Lisa De Leeuw, Marc Stevens, Johnny Keyes and Mr. 13" himself, John Holmes. They're all here for the first time, digitally restored from the original grimy 8mm film prints.

Customer Reviews:

8mm madness series.......2007-05-16

i have all three of the 42nd street pete's 8mm madness series and they are a excellent collection for those who are fans of loops and stags from the 1970's. the 70's brought us hardcore sex with natural breasted women who seem to enjoy the sex and having fun. companies like "diamond collection", "swedish erotica", "golden girls", "collection", "limited edition", "showgirl", "pretty girls" etc. produced some of the best loops of the day with superstars like john holmes, annette haven, seka, king paul, johnny keyes, long dong silver, lisa de leeuw, kitty shane, tina russell, crystal dawn etc. there are other dvd companies releasing loops such as "historic erotica", "something weird video", "cdi", "caballero", "lbo" and "blue vanities". "after hours cinema" has released three 88mm madness dvd's. all are 2 dvd sets with 42nd street pete as your host who hand picked these selections. sit back have a drink and enjoy the glory golden days of porn!

so hot.......2007-03-09

What a great DVD set. If you love silent films, that get down to business, this is one for you. Along with all of 42nd Street Pete's other collections, this one is what porn was and always will be about.
More bang for your buck!!!!!!

Porn, the early days.......2007-01-31

Visually, these are a step up from the other colection of loops that 42nd St. Pete has made available. Again, Pete's intros and histories are more interesting then the actual loops, which are tedious and kind of dull. They are truly a case of "if you've seen one, you've seen 'em all." Yep, that's a young John Holmes or Seka, and so what? There's a slight historical interest in seeing what passed for porn in the days before VCRs, but that only goes so far. These at least have a much better look then the stuff shot in the 60s, so that's a blessing, but these really are for a specialized taste, or for an older viewer who might be nostalgic for what turned him on way back when. I'm not that viewer, so a few of these loops go a long way.

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Sex On Wheels Grindhouse DVD Collection
Starring: Nancy Martin
Director: 42nd Street Pete
Manufacturer: After Hours Cinema
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000OZ1SRA
Release Date: 2007-03-27

Product Description

Get the ultimate 42nd Street theater viewing experience with the SEX ON WHEELS GRINDHOUSE COLLECTION! Three grimy, softcore gems from the early 1970s including HARD-ON WHEELS, CYCLE SLUTS and MELISSA S INSIDE STRAIGHT. Bikers and drugged out, casual sex seem to go together like, well... bikers and drugged-out, casual sex. Hippies and Harleys with a hearty side of down and dirty poontang were a mainstay of early Seventies exploitation, a combo promising both sex and violence and usually including a heaping helping of substance abuse to boot. HARD-ON WHEELS is a long-lost Los Angeles hog opera featuring a cast of hard-riding hipsters right off of the Sunset Strip. A tale of rape and revenge, the plot concerns a posse of hopped-up chopper-hoppers who set out to exact retribution from a pot dealing police detective. CYCLE SLUTS emphasizes sex much more than violence and even contains a strong strain of improvised humor. A couple of shake-sipping chippies are picked up at a roadside burger joint by a pair of girl-hungry hog jockeys. The foursome retires to the home of one girl s aunt, who is reputedly away on business. MELISSA S INSIDE STRAIGHT does not concern motorcycles in the least but suitably substitute gambling and group sex for grease monkeys and gore and is the only film in the triple bill to actually contain cast and crew credits always a benchmark of quality grindhouse viewing. DVD DISC 1: HARD-ON WHEELS (1971), CYCLE SLUTS (1971) DVD DISC 2: MELISSA S INSIDE STRAIGHT (1971), BOOKLET featuring photos and historical liner notes , After Hours Retro TRAILER VAULT BRAND NEW DIGITAL TRANSFER FROM 16mm FILM PRINT Aspect Ratio 1.33:1

42nd Street Pete's Euro-Trash Collection

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42nd Street Pete's Euro-Trash Collection
Starring: 42nd Street Pete
Director: 42nd Street Pete
Manufacturer: After Hours Cinema
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000IJ6V5G
Release Date: 2006-09-12

Product Description

Back in the early dawning of the sexual revolution, you heard quite a bit about sexual freedom in certain European countries. Sweden and Denmark to be exact. A lot of 8mm stuff was imported for sale in U.S. book stores. Your ever-trustworthy, loop-peddling 42nd Street Pete presents this collection of authentic and outrageous, rare European loops of the variety you would never take home to mom!

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