Ramblin' RET: 02/09/16

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

42nd Street

Poster for the 1933 movie, "42nd Street"

They don't make 'em like this anymore.

The other evening I decided I wanted to watch something different. So in looking over my DVD collection, I picked this one out from my Busby Berkeley box set.

Cover of the DVD Box Set
"The Busby Berkeley Collection"

I started with the first disc, 42nd Street, featuring Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Ginger Rogers, and others.

Cover of DVD (2006) for
"42nd Street."

I'm not going to summarize the story of the movie's plot because you can follow the link to Wikipedia or look elsewhere online.

The movie really pepped me up and got me hummin'. Oh, how I love this. I was not bored watching this movie. The energy is fantastic and the songs are great (if you like songs). This movie is essentially a series of clips of fabulous Busby Berkeley dance routines to the songs:

You're Getting to be a Habit with Me.
It Must Be June.
Shuffle Off to Buffalo.
Young and Healthy.
and the grand finale, Forty-Second Street.

The movie is full of sex but nothing explicit. Dick Powell practically jumps off the screen with energy as he sings (most especially in "Young and Healthy"). Ruby Keeler is wide-eyed and beautifully innocent.

There is also an urgency portrayed in this film. Life is now, quick, grab it before it passes you by. Life is do or die. One of my favorite scenes is when the show's director played by Warner Baxter asks Ruby Keeler if she has ever been kissed. When she replies in the negative, he hesitates only for a brief fraction of second before urgently kissing her intensely. This results in a startled and pleased Ruby Keeler able to say her lines with the right amount of feeling.

The plot is not entirely decadent. There is a side story about a couple who are on the verge of splitting up due to the woman's success. But after an accident, she realizes that her love for her male partner is more important than her career. Everyone ends up with the right partner.

Of course, due to its age, 42nd Street is in Black & White. A colorized version was once available on VHS (video tape) but has never been officially released on DVD or Blu-Ray.

The movie "42nd Street" is a blessing for anyone who appreciates classic musicals and fantastic dance routines.

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Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busby_Berkeley
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42nd_Street_(film)
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Written Saturday 13 February 2016

Downtown in Snow

Monday February 8th, 2016
Downtown Hartford, CT

Snow. It comes as part of Winter. It seems like nowadays snow can bring most everything to a halt. It wasn't always that way. When I was a kid, it seemed like school was never called off due to snow. Instead, we just kept going. When we got there, we got there and nobody batted an eye, because it was winter and snow can mess things up. If you were diligent, you allocated more time for travel and left earlier so that you arrived early and on time.

One of the benefits of today's technology is the ability to edit pictures, especially the pictures we shoot using cheap cell phone cameras. I really like the photo above because it reminds me of the kind of 1950s record album covers for jazz and classical. The City at night.

"I'm so blue..." and so is my city. The shot above was taken right after I left the office and was trudging several blocks to my car. The frosty winter air is invigorating you know, especially after you've been in the artificial atmosphere of the indoor office most of the day. It snowed today and I took a couple of quick shots to try to capture the atmosphere of downtown Hartford at night in winter, calm and cool.