5 DVD Sets From 5 Greats

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Dancing made stars in the '30s: Temple, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Eleanor Powell. As for the toe-tapping extras, the foot soldiers of Hollywood musicals, Busby Berkeley put them to work by the hundreds, using them to create giant geometric shapes that were both military and erotic. From a Rockettes-style line eight or 10 deep, they would evolve into the human pictograph of a piano or a woman's face. This collection assembles the works that made Berkeley famous: 42nd Street, Footlight Parade, Dames and the first two Gold Diggers movies. For the pure Busby buzz, skip to the last half-hour of each film. That's where his numbers are. Better yet, overdose on the three-hour compilation also included. Dance delirium never came in so big and beautiful a package.