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42ND STREET
The genesis of every movie plot device that you have ever heard referred to as a "show business cliche" can be found in the granddaddy of all backstage musicals, the 1933 classic 42ND STREET.
This humorous musical comedy told with a pretty straight face is the story of Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter), a famous Broadway director who finds out that he is dying and decides to put on one more great show before he takes his final curtain call, a little something called PRETTY LADY. Marsh encounters one problem after another as he begins mounting his new musical extravaganza: His leading lady, Dorothy Brock (Bebe Daniels) is entertaining the wealthy backer of the show (Guy Kibbee) and still seeing the penniless playboy that she still loves (George Brent). A young ingenue straight off the bus named Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler) is thrilled to be cast in the chorus of the show, along with the a couple of other wisecracking chorus girls (Una Merkel, Ginger Rogers) and catching the eye of the show's leading man, Billy Lawlor (Dick Powell). But right before opening night, Dorothy breaks her ankle and guess who's pegged to take over for her?
Yes, this movie was where it all began, but unlike the movies that would later pay homage to or rip off this one, this one is told with a straight face. Director Lloyd Bacon mounts the screenplay with the reference that the story deserves, despite the expected dated silliness that goes on here regarding the mounting of a Broadway musical...I was thoroughly amused by the fact that the only thing girls had to do for their audition was raise their skirts and show their legs. No singing or dancing, I guess it was just assumed that they already knew how to sing and dance.
But what you'll come away from this classic remembering is the genius that was Busby Berkeley, who staged the incredible musical numbers. There were few director/choreographers who produced more lavish musical numbers than Berkeley did. Berkeley loved to cram as many dancers as he could onto a single lavish set and then shoot them from overhead, creating some of movie's most dazzling pictures . He had a pretty decent score to work with here too, including "Shuffle Off to Buffalo", "Young and Healthy", "You're Getting to be a Habit with Me", and the now iconic title tune.
Some of the performances might be laughed off the screen in 2018, but for 1933, I'm sure they worked...Baxter and Daniels are terrific and Keeler's wide-eyed sincerity is quite endearing. And it should come to no one's surprise that Una Merkel and Ginger Rogers steal every scene they're in. Don't know why it took me so long to get around to this classic, but I'm glad I finally did. Long before Mickey and Judy, there was Warner and Bebe...check this one out. About 50 years later, the movie was adapted for the Broadway stage with Jerry Orbach as Julian Marsh and Tammy Grimes as Dorothy Brock.
The genesis of every movie plot device that you have ever heard referred to as a "show business cliche" can be found in the granddaddy of all backstage musicals, the 1933 classic 42ND STREET.
This humorous musical comedy told with a pretty straight face is the story of Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter), a famous Broadway director who finds out that he is dying and decides to put on one more great show before he takes his final curtain call, a little something called PRETTY LADY. Marsh encounters one problem after another as he begins mounting his new musical extravaganza: His leading lady, Dorothy Brock (Bebe Daniels) is entertaining the wealthy backer of the show (Guy Kibbee) and still seeing the penniless playboy that she still loves (George Brent). A young ingenue straight off the bus named Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler) is thrilled to be cast in the chorus of the show, along with the a couple of other wisecracking chorus girls (Una Merkel, Ginger Rogers) and catching the eye of the show's leading man, Billy Lawlor (Dick Powell). But right before opening night, Dorothy breaks her ankle and guess who's pegged to take over for her?
Yes, this movie was where it all began, but unlike the movies that would later pay homage to or rip off this one, this one is told with a straight face. Director Lloyd Bacon mounts the screenplay with the reference that the story deserves, despite the expected dated silliness that goes on here regarding the mounting of a Broadway musical...I was thoroughly amused by the fact that the only thing girls had to do for their audition was raise their skirts and show their legs. No singing or dancing, I guess it was just assumed that they already knew how to sing and dance.
But what you'll come away from this classic remembering is the genius that was Busby Berkeley, who staged the incredible musical numbers. There were few director/choreographers who produced more lavish musical numbers than Berkeley did. Berkeley loved to cram as many dancers as he could onto a single lavish set and then shoot them from overhead, creating some of movie's most dazzling pictures . He had a pretty decent score to work with here too, including "Shuffle Off to Buffalo", "Young and Healthy", "You're Getting to be a Habit with Me", and the now iconic title tune.
Some of the performances might be laughed off the screen in 2018, but for 1933, I'm sure they worked...Baxter and Daniels are terrific and Keeler's wide-eyed sincerity is quite endearing. And it should come to no one's surprise that Una Merkel and Ginger Rogers steal every scene they're in. Don't know why it took me so long to get around to this classic, but I'm glad I finally did. Long before Mickey and Judy, there was Warner and Bebe...check this one out. About 50 years later, the movie was adapted for the Broadway stage with Jerry Orbach as Julian Marsh and Tammy Grimes as Dorothy Brock.