Footlight Parade (1933)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- James Cagney channels Busby Berkeley (who choreographs the stunning, kaleidoscopic dance routines) as a Broadway director who comes up with a scheme to break into movies through, well, stunning, kaleidoscopic dance routines. (Cagney even does some hoofing of his own.)
- Actors:
- James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Frank McHugh, Guy Kibbee, Ruth Donnelly, Hugh Herbert, Claire Dodd, Gordon Westcott, Arthur Hohl, Renee Whitney, Barbara Rogers, Paul Porcasi, Philip Faversham
- Directors:
- Lloyd Bacon
- Writers:
- Manuel Seff, James Seymour
- Studio:
- Warner
- Genres:
- Classics, Music & Musicals, Performing Arts
- Collections:
- A History of Cinemas in Films, A Brief History of Film...
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Reviews (1) of Footlight Parade
Warner's Musical. - Footlight Parade review by Steve
In the same year as 42nd Street and Gold Diggers of 1933, Warner Brothers followed up with another musical comedy with many of the same cast, notably Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler. Busby Berkeley again arranged three extraordinary set pieces at the climax of the film to the songs of Dubin and Warren. Many critics consider this the best of the three.
Instead of Broadway, this one is set in a small film studio which makes live action 'prologues' for cinemas. James Cagney is the director/producer who is struggling because his shareholders are pocketing the profits and some heel is leaking ideas to a rival. Jimmy puts on his dancing shoes for the climactic Shanghai Lil.
The story is familiar, but still functions. There's a brilliant gag when the censor gets caught in a clinch with a girl and exclaims: 'I was just showing her what you're not allowed to show in Kalamazoo!' Maybe there's an impression that Harry Warren is having to recycle tunes and the dialogue isn't as sharp as before. We miss Ginger Rogers and the sassy chorus line gals.
But Footlight Parade still triumphs, mainly because of Berkeley's amazing final trilogy: Honeymoon Hotel, By a Waterfall and Shanghai Lil . He's operating at the top of his range. The aquatic ballet, By a Waterfall, is one of the outstanding musical numbers in thirties cinema. Which means, in film history.