With a great cast and impressive dances, this is an enjoyable ride. There's a brawl, there are marching soldiers in formation, there's Ruby Keeler dolled up like a Chinese call girl, and there's Jimmy Cagney dancing and singing. "Shanghai Lil" follows a sailor through a crowded saloon in search of an elusive woman. There's a peculiar "child" that runs around causing mischief, but the scene has a neat larger-than-life dollhouse shot and a creative bit of stop-motion animation. Men in pajamas, women in negligees, bedrooms. "Honeymoon Hotel" is a racy little number about couples spending their first night together in a hotel. He can get an contract with a producer if he is able to stage in three days three new prologues. This is stressful to him, because he always needs new units and his rival is stealing his ideas. With the beginning of the talkies era he changes to producing short musical prologues for movies. (Movie magic?) The more complex overhead shots are some of the most impressive visuals I've ever seen in a musical. Chester Kent produces musical comedies on the stage. and legendary choreographer Busby Berkeley, alongside Lloyd Bacon's 42nd Street (1933) and Mervyn. I can't figure out how they did the shot of the swimmers in concentric rings, spinning in different directions, since the swimmers seemed to be lying still in the water. Footlight Parade (1933) is one of the three most spectacular musicals in 1933 from Warner Bros. There are unbelievable kaleidoscopic overhead shots as well as underwater choreography. Did Berkeley invent synchronized swimming? I don't know, but he might as well have. I've seen my fair share of Busby Berkeley numbers, but the water nymph sequence may be his masterpiece. The water nymph routine will blow you away. But his routines are meant for the moviegoers and they are awe-inspiring. As was often the case, the dance numbers are meant to be staged within the context of the story (a show within a show) and as was always the case, Berkeley choreographs cinematically, using camera movements, insert shots, and cuts that make no sense within the reality of the story. Berkeley choreographs a handful of routines (including an awkward cat- themed number), but saves the three biggest for the very end: "Honeymoon Hotel", "By A Waterfall", and "Shanghai Lil". Cagney, best known for his gangster roles, demonstrates some dance steps in this rare musical appearance. The film also benefits from James Cagney's screen presence. McHugh adds whiny comic relief and the script has some racy pre-Code touches. I really liked Blondell's performance, with the romantic tension and snappy wit, and I could tolerate Keeler in her role. I've seen this film's contemporaries (42ND STREET and GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933) and usually feel lukewarm toward these early musicals, but I found myself surprisingly receptive to FOOTLIGHT PARADE. Lloyd Bacon directs the showbiz tale, with spectacular choreography by the inimitable Busby Berkeley. 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 solid cast also includes Busby Berkeley regulars Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler as a young new tenor and a secretary-turned- leading lady, respectively, with Frank McHugh as the perpetually worried dance instructor and Hugh Herbert as the morality adviser/censor. Joan Blondell is great as Cagney's secretary, who loves him more than he realizes. (If you've seen the "Let's Go To The Movies" number in ANNIE you get the idea.) It's one catastrophe after another as Cagney tries to keep things running smoothly while staying a step ahead of the competition. Busby Berkeley musical starring.James Cagney! Cagney develops live musical prologues to be shown on stage at movie houses before the start of a film. WarnerBros.This is a pre-Code Warner Bros.
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