Editing Busby Berkeley (section)

===Groundbreaking choreographer===
{{more citations needed section|date=December 2021}}
[[File:Footlight Parade Waterfall.jpg|thumb|left|The "[[By a Waterfall]]" production number from ''[[Footlight Parade]]'' (1933) made use of one of the largest soundstages ever built, specially constructed by [[Warner Bros.]] to film Berkeley's creations.]]
Berkeley's numbers were known for starting in the realm of the stage, but quickly exceeding this space by moving into a time and place that could only be cinematic, to return to shots of an applauding audience and the fall of a curtain. He used one camera to achieve this, instead of the usual four, to retain control over his vision so no director could edit the film.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-aug-01-et-busby1-story.html|title=Busby Berkeley's dance numbers are still eye-popping|last=Turan|first=Kenneth|date=August 1, 2008|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=December 10, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}</ref> As choreographer, Berkeley was allowed a certain degree of independence in his direction of musical numbers, and they were often markedly distinct from (and sometimes in contrast to) the narrative sections of the films. He often didn't even see the other sections of the picture.<ref name=":0" /> The numbers he choreographed were mostly upbeat and focused on decoration as opposed to substance, some costing around $10,000 per minute more than the picture they were in.<ref name=":0" /> One dramatic exception was "Remember My Forgotten Man" from ''[[Gold Diggers of 1933]]'', which dealt with the mistreatment of World War I veterans during the [[Great Depression]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/where-begin-busby-berkeley|title=Where to begin with Busby Berkeley|last=Huddleston|first=Tom|date=October 28, 2019|work=bfi.org.uk|access-date=January 7, 2024}}</ref>

Berkeley's popularity with an entertainment-hungry Depression audience was secured when he choreographed five musicals back-to-back for [[Warner Bros.]]: ''[[42nd Street (film)|42nd Street]]'', ''[[Footlight Parade]]'', the aforementioned ''[[Gold Diggers of 1933]]'', ''[[Dames (film)|Dames]]'', and ''[[Fashions of 1934]]'', as well as ''[[In Caliente]]'' and ''[[Wonder Bar]]'' with [[Dolores del Río]].  Berkeley always denied any deep significance to his work, arguing that his main professional goals were to top himself and never repeat his past accomplishments.

As the outsized musicals in which Berkeley specialized became passé, he turned to straight directing. The result was 1939's ''[[They Made Me a Criminal]]'', starring [[John Garfield]]. Although a success at the box office, it was the only non-musical film Berkeley directed.<ref>{{Cite book|last=McGrath|first=Patrick J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YfRpu4IB89AC&q=they+made+me+a+criminal+busby+berkeley&pg=PA22|title=John Garfield: The Illustrated Career in Films and on Stage|date=August 23, 2006|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-2848-9|language=en}}</ref> Berkeley had several well-publicized run-ins with [[Metro Goldwyn Mayer|MGM]] stars such as [[Judy Garland]]. In 1943, he was removed as director of ''[[Girl Crazy (1943 film)|Girl Crazy]]'' because of disagreements with Garland, but the lavish musical number "[[I Got Rhythm]]", which he directed, remained in the picture.<ref>Hugh Fordin, ''The World of Entertainment: The Freed Unit at MGM'', 1975</ref>

[[File:Carmen Miranda in The Gang's All Here (1943).jpg|thumb|[[Carmen Miranda]] in ''[[The Gang's All Here (1943 film)|The Gang's All Here]]'' (1943)]]

His next stop was at [[20th Century-Fox]] for 1943's ''[[The Gang's All Here (1943 film)|The Gang's All Here]]'', in which Berkeley choreographed [[Carmen Miranda]]'s "Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat" number. The film made money, but Berkeley and the Fox brass disagreed over budget matters.<ref name=":1" /> Berkeley returned to MGM in the late 1940s, where he conceived the [[Technicolor]] finales for the studio's [[Esther Williams]] films. Berkeley's final film as choreographer was MGM's ''[[Billy Rose's Jumbo (film)|Billy Rose's Jumbo]]'' (1962).