And yet, at least with respect to Hollywoood, the deprived and poverty-stricken audiences of the depressed 1930s seemed to adore excess...
There probably could only ever be one Busby Berkeley. His kaleidoscopic fantasy dance scenes lit up the era and warmed the cockles of many a blighted heart.
Berkeley dealt in Escapism with a capital 'E'. Although presented as though part of a genuine Broadway musical show, Berkeley's visions were quite impossible to stage. Apart from the expense, the geometric patterns and kaleidoscopic imagery could never have been appreciated by an audience tethered to conventional theatre seats - note how the camera soars into the roof of the auditorium.
It was, of course, all about dreams and indulgence. In the following clip, from 1934s Dames (PC? What's that?) we have Ruby Keeler and the multi-talented Dick Powell (later to play Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet) leading us into a typical Berkeleyscape of wonders.
I know you're a busy person, but take ten minutes out of your workaday life to immerse yourself in this. You'll feel younger and happier, (even) more innocent...
Berkeley's set pieces became such an archetype for the Golden Age that they have occasionally been parodied ( 'honoured' might be more apt a description). As done brilliantly by the Coen brothers in 1998s The Big Lebowski. This is Berkeley shot through a harsher, wryer but somehow still respectful lens...
But let's close with more of the real thing, shall we? Is it wonderfully ludicrous or ludicrously wonderful? I'll leave that for you to answer. Indulge!
"I wanted to make people happy, if only for an hour" Busby Berkeley.
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