Larry Ceballos as Busby Berkeley: The Credit Dispute in Footlight Parade and the Branding of "Buzz"

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Unbeknown to most Busby Berkeley scholars, two dance numbers in one of his most popular films, Footlight Parade (1933), were ghost-directed by fellow choreographer Larry Ceballos, who received no credit on the screen despite contractual obligations to the contrary. I suggest that the omission of Ceballos's name from the film was the result of Warner Bros.' attempts to solidify Berkeley's marketing utility as a behind-the-scenes star. The miscredit in Footlight Parade underscores the precarious, faceless nature of offscreen labor in the studio era and the industrial mechanisms beyond filmic text that contribute to the construction of an auteur persona.