(5/30/00)
This is probably the classic musical about putting on a Broadway show and it is probably the most famous of the musicals that Busby Berkeley made at Warner Brothers in the 1930s. And I think it deserves to be. It is not a silly comedy, but a film about believable characters and what goes on behind the scenes.
It doesn't have Footlight Parade's relentless energy. Instead it has a series of scenes which genuinely involve the viewer on an emotional level. The scenes are allowed to breathe--we don't have a sense of being bombarded. I felt more relaxed watching 42nd Street--and more interested.
The center of the backstage story is the character played by Warner Baxter. He has done great shows, but doesn't have anything money-wise to show for it. He's not well and is risking his life for this one. It is his last chance. And at the end of the film he sits alone, unacknowledged, after his show has succeeded. Poignacy doesn't hurt a picture like this.
Then there is the intrigue about the leading lady. A wealthy admirer (and she is probably sleeping with him) is bankrolling the show on her behalf. Meanwhile, she is seeing her ex-boyfriend on the sly. It is an arrangement that is making no one happy.
What was interesting for me was the realization that both the wealthy man and the leading lady feel degraded by this arrangement. He certainly knows that people are laughing at him behind his back and she knows that everyone knows that she only has the part because of her relationship with this man. That really came through. And the situation is resolved when, after spraining her ankle, she finally realizes her true values and gives up her dubious career to marry the man she really loves.
Guy Kibbee comes up with another discovery to do the part, but there is a truly touching moment when Joan Blondell admits to Warner Baxter that she can't do it justice, but that she knows someone who can. She does the right thing and points him in the direction of newcomer Peggy Sawyer, played by Ruby Keeler.
Warner Baxter is just right as he gives pep talks to Ruby Keeler. It seems a little too much, but it isn't. The man is desperate; this is his last chance. And it is quite a metamorphosis as Sally changes from an amateur into a star. Those scenes are archetypal, practically.
But 42nd Street is, more than anything else, about its musical numbers. And they are classics. They are, first of all, a first-class group of songs. "You're Getting to Be a Habbit With Me," "Shuffle Off to Buffalo" and "42nd Street" have deservedly become standards that everyone knows.
It's Busby Berkeley's show all the way, but I'm not going to say very much except that the scenes are well worth the wait. It's too bad that "You're Getting to Be a Habit With Me" doesn't get a big production number. I would have liked to see Ruby Keeler paired with Dick Powell for "Shuffle Off to Buffalo," but you can't have everything. "I'm Young and Healthy" is one of the best examples of Busby Berkeley's overhead shots of dancers arranged in moving abstract patterns. It is an art deco fantasia, brilliantly set off by its black background. And "42nd Street" provides an exuberant finish.
Ruby Keeler has her one memorable role as Peggy Sawyer. It was the right woman in the right role at the right time. She has major chemistry with Dick Powell which was not repeated in Footlight Parade. And it is fun to see Ginger Rogers sporting an affected British accent.
Gold Diggers of 1933 and Gold Diggers of 1935 also have some very fine production numbers, but 42nd Street just has a special something.
(6/2/00)
I want to qualify my comments on Ruby Keeler and say that I thought she was quite fetching as "Shanghai Lil." And I very much liked the scene (Footlight Parade) in which Herman Bing goes over the titles of songs in the music library that have something to do with cats.
Showing posts with label Lloyd Bacon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lloyd Bacon. Show all posts
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Footlight Parade. 1933. Directed by Lloyd Bacon.
(5/29/00)
It's frenetic. The viewer gets caught up in the sheer energy of the whole thing. It's about the trials and tribulations of a showman who, facing extinction due to talking pictures, decides to produce prologues to accompany those pictures.
A young James Cagney plays the showman. He faces a competitor who steals his ideas, partners who are screwing him out of his share of the profits, a woman who wants to marry him for money, and a host of other plagues. He fights his way through all these troubles in a manner reminiscent of the performance he was to give so many years later in Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three. And we even get to see him sing and dance.
This is film of the depression. It is about struggle, hard work and an aggressive attitude towards life's challenges. It shows show business as just that--business--and damn hard work as well.
This picture has a wonderful ensemble, including Cagney, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Huy Kibbee, Frank McHugh and Hugh Herbert. They are all fun to watch, although Hugh Herbert grates on me a little. Dick Powell is likable and eager and all that, though why he is so interested in Ruby Keeler when she looks so dowdy is a little beyond me.
The film takes a tough, cynical stance, particularly where relationships are concerned. I addition to being pursued by a mercenary woman, Cagney is married to a woman who doesn't go through with a divorce when it looks like Cagney will make good and then wants $25,000 to leave him alone.
The musical numbers are what the audience waits for in this film. They are strung together at the end. They are elaborate fantasies concocted by Busby Berkley. "Honeymoon Hotel" is a lot of fun with its midget dressed as a child and ending up in bed with Powell, but I was a little disappointed with "By a Waterfall" which has no story, but does have elaborate visual designs. Perhaps the song itself didn't grab me.
"Shanghai Lil" is the finale of the film and quite memorable. It is clever how we hear the music of "Shanghai Lil" throughout the film, preparing us for this finale. I loved it how the male performer didn't feel he can go on and he and Cagney come to blows. A figure falls onto the stage just as the curtain goes up, but we don't see who it is. The camera follows the unidentified figure through the first part of the sequence and then finally reveals that it is Cagney himself. I really liked that.
"Shanghai Lil" goes a little overboard towards the end with its legions of sailors, performers forming a great American flag with a picture of FDR and then the NRA symbol. But then, the whole picture tends towards the over-the-top. But it's certainly enjoyable.
(5/30/00)
One great moment I neglected to mention is when Frank McHugh rehearses a love duet with Dick Powell. (They hadn't chosen the female singer yet.) He sings the lines that were meant to be sung by a young woman with a cigar in his mouth. I really enjoyed that.
It's frenetic. The viewer gets caught up in the sheer energy of the whole thing. It's about the trials and tribulations of a showman who, facing extinction due to talking pictures, decides to produce prologues to accompany those pictures.
A young James Cagney plays the showman. He faces a competitor who steals his ideas, partners who are screwing him out of his share of the profits, a woman who wants to marry him for money, and a host of other plagues. He fights his way through all these troubles in a manner reminiscent of the performance he was to give so many years later in Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three. And we even get to see him sing and dance.
This is film of the depression. It is about struggle, hard work and an aggressive attitude towards life's challenges. It shows show business as just that--business--and damn hard work as well.
This picture has a wonderful ensemble, including Cagney, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Huy Kibbee, Frank McHugh and Hugh Herbert. They are all fun to watch, although Hugh Herbert grates on me a little. Dick Powell is likable and eager and all that, though why he is so interested in Ruby Keeler when she looks so dowdy is a little beyond me.
The film takes a tough, cynical stance, particularly where relationships are concerned. I addition to being pursued by a mercenary woman, Cagney is married to a woman who doesn't go through with a divorce when it looks like Cagney will make good and then wants $25,000 to leave him alone.
The musical numbers are what the audience waits for in this film. They are strung together at the end. They are elaborate fantasies concocted by Busby Berkley. "Honeymoon Hotel" is a lot of fun with its midget dressed as a child and ending up in bed with Powell, but I was a little disappointed with "By a Waterfall" which has no story, but does have elaborate visual designs. Perhaps the song itself didn't grab me.
"Shanghai Lil" is the finale of the film and quite memorable. It is clever how we hear the music of "Shanghai Lil" throughout the film, preparing us for this finale. I loved it how the male performer didn't feel he can go on and he and Cagney come to blows. A figure falls onto the stage just as the curtain goes up, but we don't see who it is. The camera follows the unidentified figure through the first part of the sequence and then finally reveals that it is Cagney himself. I really liked that.
"Shanghai Lil" goes a little overboard towards the end with its legions of sailors, performers forming a great American flag with a picture of FDR and then the NRA symbol. But then, the whole picture tends towards the over-the-top. But it's certainly enjoyable.
(5/30/00)
One great moment I neglected to mention is when Frank McHugh rehearses a love duet with Dick Powell. (They hadn't chosen the female singer yet.) He sings the lines that were meant to be sung by a young woman with a cigar in his mouth. I really enjoyed that.
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