Wow, 900!
"Sawyer, you're going out a youngster but you've got to come back a star!"
In 1932, Broadway producers Jones (McWade) and Barry (Sparks) are putting on a new show called "Pretty Lady." They hire notorious director Julian Marsh (Baxter), who is recovering from a nervous breakdown. The show will star Broadway start Dorothy Brock (Daniels) and will be financed by her admirer and would-be beau Abner Dillon (Kibbee). Julian is a tough director and is assisted by dance director Andy Lee (Stone) and stage manager Mac Elroy (Jenkins).
At the casting call for chorus girls, ingenue Peggy Sawyer (Keeler) is discovered by the juvenile lead Billy Lawler (Powell). She quickly befriends dancers Anytime Annie (Rogers) and Lorraine Fleming (Merkel), who are sure to get cast due to Lorraine's relationship with Andy. Peggy ends up in the chorus line alongside her new friends. Meanwhile, Dorothy is secretly dating her former vaudeville partner Pat Denning (Brent), but has to keep the relationship a secret in order to keep the show on. When Dorothy breaks her ankle the night before the opening, will the show still go on?
In 1932 Bradford Ropes wrote the novel "42nd Street" about the happenings backstage on Broadway. The story was adapted for film, with some changes to the novel, including the relationship between Peggy and Billy. The film was a big success and is credited with saving the movie musical genre. Since 1930, movie musicals were on the decline because they were losing money and were not staged well. However, this film changed all of that: the musical numbers were choreographed and directed by Busby Berkeley. And the film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Picture and Best Sound Recording.
The film is considered an iconic backstage musical. In 1998 the film was preserved by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It also appeared on 3 of the American Film Institute's (AFI) top 100 lists: 100 Years...100 Songs (for the song "42nd Street"), 100 Years... 100 Quotes (for the quote at the top of this review), and AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals.
Decades later, the film still feels fresh, while also showing it's age. The characters are fresh and entertaining. And the cast is great, including a young (pre-Fred Astaire partnership) Ginger Rogers. It was also the film debut of actress Ruby Keeler, who was paired with Dick Powell in several more musicals (including Gold Diggers of 1933 which also starred Rogers). Some of the slang is out of date, and means different things now. Also, the staging / camera angles are not used now in movie musicals. But despite that, the songs are iconic and memorable and it is a fascinating look at Broadway in the 1930s.
The movie was adapted into a Broadway musical in 1980. It was nominated for 8 Tony Awards and won Best Musical and Best Choreography (for director Gower Champion). The show is the 14th longest running Broadway show.
The film (and the Broadway musical) are incredible and definitely a must-see for all musical fans!
42nd Street (1933) 89 minutes
Director: Lloyd Bacon & Busby Berkeley
Starring: Warner Baxter as Julian Marsh
Bebe Daniels as Dorothy Brock
George Brent as Pat Denning
Ruby Keeler as Peggy Sawyer
Guy Kibbee as Abner Dillon
Una Merkel as Lorraine Fleming
Ginger Rogers as Ann "Anytime Annie" Lowell
Ned Sparks as Thomas Barry
Dick Powell as Billy Lawler
Allen Jenkins as Mac Elroy
Edward J. Nugent as Terry
Robert McWade as Jones
George E. Stone as Andy Lee
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