Footlight Parade

*

This film has been preserved in the National Film Registry in 1992.

Note: This page was taken from the now-closed Miraheze wikis.

Footlight Parade is a 1933 American pre-Code musical film starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell and featuring Frank McHugh, Guy Kibbee, Hugh Herbert and Ruth Donnelly. The film was written by Manuel Seff and James Seymour based on a story by Robert Lord and Peter Milne, and was directed by Lloyd Bacon, with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley. The film's songs were written by Harry Warren (music), Al Dubin (lyrics), Sammy Fain (music) and Irving Kahal (lyrics), and include "By a Waterfall", "Honeymoon Hotel" and "Shanghai Lil".

Why It Rocks

1. It's one of most iconic and beloved Warner Brothers showbiz musicals even all these decades later.
   • This is also the third of the great Warner Bros.-Busby Berkeley musicals, and the only one which is pure fun. 42nd Street had a dramatic, gritty story about a director who had to scrape together one more hit show or face financial ruin and a complete breakdown; Gold Diggers of 1933 had constant reminders of the Depression and a final number which was about the World War veterans’ protest march to Washington, “Remember My Forgotten Man.” Footlight Parade on the other hand -- while certainly depicting the stresses and strains involved in putting on a show -- is pure enjoyable escapism.
2. James Cagney turns in a dynamite performance as the theatrical producer Chester Kent who finds that talking pictures are cutting into his business.
3. As per usual with Busby Berkeley contributing in writing the music numbers, his songs are all extremely memorable and well-known signature production numbers, notable such examples including his first water ballet, "By a Waterfall" as well as "Shanghai Lil" and "Honeymoon Hotel." There’s often a touch of grimness to his numbers, and they often end on a small vignette. The elaborate numbers in the film couldn’t possibly be staged in a theater, but that’s a moot point when the viewer's overwhelmed with the amazing imagery.
4. The film was also notable for its suggestive pre-Hays Code risque dialogue and some of the questionable relationships - parts of which were heavily edited or disguised by censors.
5. Its familiar plot was a typical-for-the-time backstage tale about putting on a lavish show - in this case, touring stage productions for major motion-picture houses. The eventual premise was that Kent was compelled - in only three days - to create three complete, fantastic, live, spectacular and show-stopping miniature musicals (known as "prologues") for movie theatres as an added pre-show featured attraction for their patrons during the early days of talkies. The thin plot's an excuse to show off the elaborate and extravagant choreographed Berkeley production numbers. In fact, there were four musical "prologues" in the film - although the first one, a cat-themed song-and-dance, was very brief ("Sittin' on a Backyard Fence") and part of a rehearsal. The extravagant musical finale was capped by three tremendous, back-to-back performances.
6. It stands the test of a truly great musical film – even without the musical numbers, it would still be wonderful. While it’s often referred to as a “Busby Berkeley Musical,” Berkeley handled only the four major musical sequences (“Sittin’ on a Backyard Fence,” “Honeymoon Hotel,” “By a Waterfall” and “Shanghai Lil”). The rest of the film is a hilarious, snappy comedy with plenty of Pre-Code humor, directed with flair by Lloyd Bacon, who learned how to keep the action moving in the mid-1920s via silent comedies for Mack Sennett.
   • Another noteworthy factor is the film's early usage of quick cuts and wipe transitions, which would prove to be very influential in future films.
7. Similar to early movie musicals of 1929 and ’30, the film is emulated stage choreography, with long shots of chorus girls and boys dancing in a straight line, as if they were in a theater facing the footlights. Dance director Busby Berkeley, whose training had been with military drill teams, created a form of musical number that could only be achieved in movies. The unique properties of the motion picture are of primary importance in Berkeley’s scenes. He’s also a creature of extremes: the sets and costumes are often designed in stark black and white; he juxtaposes long shots with close-ups; he varies lighting from underneath with illumination from overhead.