Daniels, Bebe

42nd Street (Keep Case)

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

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.

Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy

Silent comedy-star Harold Lloyd personally selected his funniest scenes for this hysterical compilation. Our bespectacled hero always seems to go from one set of troubles to another. Contains classic bits from such gems as "Why Worry?," The Milky Way, "

42nd Street (Snap Case)

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

Counsellor-at-Law

Having apprenticed on 15 B-Westerns and melodramas for his uncle Carl Laemmle at Universal, William Wyler signaled his readiness to take a big step up in class with this expertly directed movie about, well, class. John Barrymore gives a crackling performance as a dynamic Manhattan lawyer who's worked his way to the top, yet still has the hunger of an immigrant Jew who came over in steerage. Seemingly master of all he surveys--his offices are in the Empire State Building!--he suddenly finds himself facing disbarment, and ditching by the elegant WASP wife (Doris Kenyon) who's always wished he would practice law "like a gentleman" (read "Gentile man"). The entire movie takes place in the legal suite. Such a stagy stratagem (Elmer Rice adapting his own play) usually spells static filmmaking, but Wyler brings off a cinematic tour de force with tensile camerawork, sharp performances, and brilliant set design (Charles D. Hall) that gets great visual excitement out of all the doors, glass walls, and skyscraper windows. The apprenticeship was definitely over. --Richard T. Jameson

The Affairs of Anatol

The Master of Spectacle, Cecil B. De Mille, directed this risque all-star revue of decadence which must have been jaw-dropping in 1921 and remains astonishing today. Anatol de Witt Spencer (Wallace Reid), as incredibly wealthy as he is naive, and his child-like bride Vivian (Gloria Swanson) are on their honeymoon. At a posh speakeasy he spies his high school sweetheart, who is obviously the sex toy of flamboyant old Gordon Bronson . To Vivian's dismay, idealistic Anatol decides to rescue the seductive Emilie, but soon she goes back to Bronson. The cycle begins again when Anatol tries to save another wayward woman from her life of sin before finally succumbing himself to the ways of the flesh. In "The Affairs of Anatol," not only does DeMille show women smoking, drinking (during Prohibition), exposing body parts seldom before seen on a movie screen, and frankly pursuing men who attract them; he also presents this debauchery with amazing visual flair. With film design by Erte, De Mille clearly meant "The Affairs of Anatol" to be as much a decorative as a dramatic feast. The film is digitally mastered from an elaborate original print featuring hand coloring, stencil coloring, and dozens of changes in color tint and tone, in itself a striking work of art.

Male and Female

Cecil B. DeMille's breakthrough production a satire on class distinctions. Based on James M. Barrie's play "The Admirable Crichton" "Male and Female" made a star of Gloria Swanson (Queen Kelly) and solidified DeMille's standing as a big box office director with one of his more modest but no less 'big' silent classics.System Requirements:Running Time: 116 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 014381566727 Manufacturer No: ID5667DSDVD

The Harold Lloyd Collection, Vol. 2 (Slapstick Symposium)

Reaching for the Moon

Reaching for the Moon (1930)

A movieland curiosity! Irving Berlin's first Hollywood musical -- or it would have been, except United Artists deleted all but one of Berlin's musical numbers! That might've consigned this film to the realm of the forgettable, except for the exceptional cast: silent swashbuckler Douglas Fairbanks Sr., lovely Bebe Daniels, dependable Edward Everett Horton and, stealing the show in his film debut, Bing Crosby. Add to that mix Berlin's original story, laced with William Cameron Menzies' fantastic Art Deco sets, spiced with liberal doses of pre-Code innuendo, and stirred by director Edmund Goulding's liberated camera movement compared to the stagy talkies of the period, and what pours out is a bubbly comedy cocktail with one show-stopping musical number as the cherry.

Financial tycoon Larry Day (Fairbanks) is a Wall Street wiz, but a dud at the arts of love. Falling head over heels for glamorous aviatrix Vivian Benton (Daniels), he follows her onto an ocean liner, even though she is going overseas to marry someone else. Struggling to woo her, Larry is coached by his valet (Horton). But Larry is wiped out by the market crash and devastated by Vivian's rejection of him. Will he regain his fortune and win his lady love? Find out in this delightful early sound treasure.

60 minutes.

Dixiana

Dixiana/La Cucaracha

The Classic 1930 Musical with Technicolor finale! Bebe Daniels, Wheeler & Woolsey, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. 98 min. A circus performer falls in love with a Southern sophisticate / The first live-action 3-strip Technicolor film ever made. 20 min. 1930 - USA - 98 min - Color