Busby Berkeley was making his name known on Broadway with his ingenious and creative choreographed numbers he had his dancers perform on the stage. His work with actor/singer/comedian Eddie Cantor in Florenz Ziegfeld's latest play impressed its backers, the critics and the audiences. When movie producer Samuel Goldwyn bought the rights to the Broadway musical, Cantor insisted Berkeley be brought on to design the dance numbers. Berkeley never had been on a movie set before, never mind was aware of how film production worked. Nonetheless, Goldwyn hired him-and was glad he did when he previewed September 1930's "Whoopee!"
The number one box office sensation of 1930, "Whoopee!" produced a series of firsts, notwithstanding the cinematic debut of Berkeley. His handling of the musical dance numbers was unique in Hollywood. The pattern formations he designed for his dancers were jaw-dropping, some captured with the camera hovering overhead. Although director Joseph Santley filmed a high kaleidoscope shot of performers first seen in cinema in the 1929 Marx Brothers' "The Cocoanuts," Busby blueprinted his dancers to position themselves with greater movement, including using props. He also introduced the "parade of faces," focusing on each dancer as they all lined up single file in front of the camera before leaving the frame. As a newbie in handling a camera, Berkeley took the unique step in positioning the camera on the ground, filming the dancers straddling above it. His intricacies in wave patterns, where his lined-up dancers held objects and lifted and lowered them in staggered fashion to create a flowing formation, was a Busby trademark first seen in "Whoopee!"
Film producers and directors allowed the choreographer an independence pratically unheard of on Hollywood sets. His routines were ofttimes seen as separate from the film's narrative; they were inserted as interludes to please the viewers' eyes. Occasionally, such as in back stage musicals, his dance numbers played a loose role in moving the storyline along. Clifford Rothman of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Berkeley intuitively understood how to shoot musical numbers in film terms: Get closer to the action. Make it move, make it dimensional."
"Whoopee!" was also Alfred Newman's first musical composing assignment in Hollywood, contrary to accounts listing his debut in December 1930's 'Reaching for the Moon.' In his lifetime, Newman won nine Academy Awards and was nominated 45 times for scores that included 'How The West Was Won,' 'The Greatest Story Ever Told,' and 'Airport.' Ten years earlier, at 19, Newman first conducted on Broadway before making his Hollywood debut. His incidental score complemented the musical standards sung by Cantor and his co-stars.
Cameraman Gregg Toland, recognized for his work in 1941's "Citizen Kane," shared cinematography duties in "Whoopee!" Many dancers that were to be labeled the 'Goldwyn Girls,' named after the producer, were first introduced in the Eddie Cantor film. Actresses Paulette Goddard, 14-year-old Betty Grable and Ann Sothern, all appeared in film for the first time as uncredited dancers. Many of the actors in the 1928 Broadway musical were hired by Goldwyn to reenact their stage characters, including Eleanor Hunt, Paul Gregory and Jack Rutherford. When the Stock Market Crash of October 1929 wiped a good portion of Ziegfeld's wealth, Goldwyn stepped in to buy the movie rights to "Whoopee!" In the purchase agreement, the producer insisted Ziegfeld close the musical despite playing to sold out houses at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City.
Cantor previously appeared in several films shorts before "Whoopee!" The enormous success of the musical/comedy solidified his screen credentials for years to come. The complete two-strip Technicolor film was nominated for the Academy Award's Best Art Direction under Richard Day and was one of 500 nominees in the American Film Institute's Top 100 Funniest American Movies.
The number one box office sensation of 1930, "Whoopee!" produced a series of firsts, notwithstanding the cinematic debut of Berkeley. His handling of the musical dance numbers was unique in Hollywood. The pattern formations he designed for his dancers were jaw-dropping, some captured with the camera hovering overhead. Although director Joseph Santley filmed a high kaleidoscope shot of performers first seen in cinema in the 1929 Marx Brothers' "The Cocoanuts," Busby blueprinted his dancers to position themselves with greater movement, including using props. He also introduced the "parade of faces," focusing on each dancer as they all lined up single file in front of the camera before leaving the frame. As a newbie in handling a camera, Berkeley took the unique step in positioning the camera on the ground, filming the dancers straddling above it. His intricacies in wave patterns, where his lined-up dancers held objects and lifted and lowered them in staggered fashion to create a flowing formation, was a Busby trademark first seen in "Whoopee!"
Film producers and directors allowed the choreographer an independence pratically unheard of on Hollywood sets. His routines were ofttimes seen as separate from the film's narrative; they were inserted as interludes to please the viewers' eyes. Occasionally, such as in back stage musicals, his dance numbers played a loose role in moving the storyline along. Clifford Rothman of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Berkeley intuitively understood how to shoot musical numbers in film terms: Get closer to the action. Make it move, make it dimensional."
"Whoopee!" was also Alfred Newman's first musical composing assignment in Hollywood, contrary to accounts listing his debut in December 1930's 'Reaching for the Moon.' In his lifetime, Newman won nine Academy Awards and was nominated 45 times for scores that included 'How The West Was Won,' 'The Greatest Story Ever Told,' and 'Airport.' Ten years earlier, at 19, Newman first conducted on Broadway before making his Hollywood debut. His incidental score complemented the musical standards sung by Cantor and his co-stars.
Cameraman Gregg Toland, recognized for his work in 1941's "Citizen Kane," shared cinematography duties in "Whoopee!" Many dancers that were to be labeled the 'Goldwyn Girls,' named after the producer, were first introduced in the Eddie Cantor film. Actresses Paulette Goddard, 14-year-old Betty Grable and Ann Sothern, all appeared in film for the first time as uncredited dancers. Many of the actors in the 1928 Broadway musical were hired by Goldwyn to reenact their stage characters, including Eleanor Hunt, Paul Gregory and Jack Rutherford. When the Stock Market Crash of October 1929 wiped a good portion of Ziegfeld's wealth, Goldwyn stepped in to buy the movie rights to "Whoopee!" In the purchase agreement, the producer insisted Ziegfeld close the musical despite playing to sold out houses at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City.
Cantor previously appeared in several films shorts before "Whoopee!" The enormous success of the musical/comedy solidified his screen credentials for years to come. The complete two-strip Technicolor film was nominated for the Academy Award's Best Art Direction under Richard Day and was one of 500 nominees in the American Film Institute's Top 100 Funniest American Movies.