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| Footlight Parade | |
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| Directed by | Lloyd Bacon |
| Produced by | Robert Lord |
| Written by | James Seymour Manuel Seff Robert Lord (story) Peter Milne (story) |
| Starring | James Cagney Joan Blondell Ruby Keeler Dick Powell |
| Music by | Harry Warren (music) Al Dubin (lyrics)All Movie Guide Overview Sammy Fain (music) Irving Kahal {lyrics)TCM Full Credits |
| Cinematography | George Barnes |
| Editing by | George Amy |
| Release date(s) | September 30, 1933 (premiere) October 21, 1933 (general) |
| Running time | 104 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $703,000 (est.) |
| IMDb profile | |
Footlight Parade (1933) is a Warner Bros. musical film starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell (whose character is almost autobiographical) and featuring Frank McHugh, Guy Kibbee, Hugh Herbert and Ruth Donnelly. The movie was written by Manuel Seff and James Seymour from a story by Robert Lord and Peter Milne. It was directed by Lloyd Bacon.
The spectacular Busby Berkeley musical numbers, written by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics) and Sammy Fain (music) and Irving Kahal (lyrics), include "By a Waterfall", "Honeymoon Hotel", and "Shanghai Lil". Future stars Dorothy Lamour and Ann Sothern are among the bevy of beauties in these mammoth productions.
In 1992, Footlight Parade was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Contents |
Footlight Parade tells the story of Chester Kent (James Cagney), who replaces his failing career as a director of Broadway musicals with a new one as the creator of musical numbers called "prologues," short live stage productions presented in movie theaters before the main feature is shown. He faces pressure from his business partners to constantly create a large number of marketable prologues to service theaters throughout the country, but his job is made harder by a rival who is stealing his ideas, probably with assistance from someone working inside his company. Kent is so overwhemed with work that he doesn\'t that realize his secretary, Nan (Joan Blondell), has fallen in love with him, and is doing her best to protect him.
Kent\'s business partners announce that they have a big deal pending with the Apolinaris theater circuit, but getting the contract depends on Kent impressing Mr. Apolinaris with three spectacular prologues, presented on the same night, one after another at three different theatres. Kent then stages "Honeymoon Hotel", "By a Waterfall", featuring the famous \'Human Waterfall\', and "Shanghai Lil", featuring Cagney and Ruby Keeler dancing together.
Early casting had Stanley Smith playing the juvenile lead eventually played by Dick Powell, and Dorothy Tennant playing Mrs. Gould instead of Ruth Donnelly. Other actors considered for various roles included Eugene Pallette, George Dobbs and Patricia Ellis. Remarkably, consider that his musical numbers are the highlight of the film, Busby Berkeley was not the original choice to choreograph - Larry Ceballos was signed to direct the dance numbers, and sued Berkeley and the studio for $100,000 for breach of contract when he was not allowed to do so. (Ceballos also claimed to have created a number later used in the Warner Bros. film Wonder Bar, which was credited to Berkeley.)
Cagney\'s character, Chester Kent, was modelled after Chester Hale, a well-known impresario at the time, and the offices he worked in were based on the Sunset Boulevard offices of the prologue production company "Fanchon and Marco" in Los Angeles.TCM "Footlight Parade" notes
Footlight Parade was shot at the Warner Bros. studio in Burbank, California, and cost an estimated $703,000 to make. It premiered on 30 September 1933, and was released generally on 21 October.IMDB Business Data for "Footlight Parade"IMDB Release Dates for "Footlight Parade"TCM Overview for "Footlight Parade"
The film was made during the Pre-Code era, and its humor is sometimes quite risqué, with multiple references to prostitution and suggestions of profanity largely unseen in studio films until the 1960s, when the Production Code collapsed.
One character in the film, played by actor Hugh Herbert, is the brother of the one of Kent\'s partner\'s wife, who forces her husband to hire her relatives. Herbert acts as the censor for Kent\'s productions, constantly telling Kent certain parts of his production numbers have to be changed. His character is portrayed as buffoonish and comical, saying disagreeable lines to Kent such as "You must put brassieres on those dolls..." (referring to actual dolls) "...uh huh, you know Connecticut." This character foreshadows the coming Production Code, which was in full force less than a year later.
Chester Kent: "Aw, talking pictures, it\'s just a fad."
| Busby Berkeley: Choreographer and director | |
|---|---|
| Broadway (before Hollywood) | Holka Polka (chor,1925) • The Wild Rose (chor,1926) • Lady Do (chor,1927) • A Connecticut Yankee (chor,1927) • White Eagle (chor,1927) • Present Arms (chor,1928) • Earl Carroll\'s Vanities (1928) (chor,1928) • Good Boy (chor,1928) • Rainbow (chor,1928) • Hello, Daddy (chor,1928) • Pleasure Bound (chor,1929) • A Night in Venice (chor,1929) • Broadway Nights (chor,1929) • The Street Singer (dir & prod,1929) • Nine-Fifteen Revue (chor,1930) • The International Review (chor,1930) • Sweet and Low (chor,1930) |
| 1930 | Whoopee! (chor,1930) • Kiki (chor,1931) • Palmy Days (chor,1931) • Flying High (chor,1931) • Sky Devils (chor,1932) • Girl Crazy (chor,1932) • Night World (chor,1932) • Bird of Paradise (film) (chor,1932) • The Kid From Spain (chor,1932) • 42nd Street (chor,1933) • Gold Diggers of 1933 (chor,1933) • She Had To Say Yes (dir,1933) • Footlight Parade (chor,1933) • Roman Scandals (chor,1933) • Dames (dir mus nmbrs,1934) • Fashions of 1934 (chor & dir mus nmbrs,1934) • Wonder Bar (chor,1934) • Gold Diggers of 1935 (dir & chor,1935) • Bright Lights (dir,1935) • I Live For Love (dir & chor,1935) • In Caliente (chor & dir mus nmbrs,1935) • Stars Over Broadway (chor & dir mus nmbrs,1935) • Stage Struck (dir,1936) • Varsity Show (dir finale,1937) • The Singing Marine (chor & dir mus nmbrs,1937) • Gold Diggers of 1937 (dir mus nmbrs,1937) • The Go Getter (dir,1937) • Hollywood Hotel (dir & chor,1937) • Men Are Such Fools (dir,1938) • Gold Diggers in Paris (chor & dir mus nmbrs,1938) • Garden of the Moon (dir,1938) • Comet Over Broadway (dir,1938) • Broadway Serenade (dir finale,1939) • They Made Me A Criminal (dir,1939) • Fast and Furious (dir,1939) • Babes in Arms (dir,1939) • The Wizard of Oz (Scarecrow\'s dance-cut,1939) |
| 1940s | Forty Little Mothers (dir,1940) • Strike Up The Band (dir,1940) • Blonde Inspiration (dir,1941) • Lady Be Good (dir mus nmbrs,1941) • Ziegfeld Girl (dir mus nmbrs,1941) • Babes on Broadway (dir,1941) • For Me and My Gal (dir,1942) • Calling All Girls (chor & dir mus nmbrs,1942) • Born to Sing (dir finale,1942) • Cabin in the Sky (dir "Shine" seq,1943) • The Gang\'s All Here (dir & chor,1943) • Three Cheers for the Girls (chor,1943) • All Star Musical Revue (dir mus nmbrs,1945) • Cinderella Jones (dir,1946) • Romance on the High Seas (chor,1948) • Take Me Out To The Ballgame (dir,1949) |
| 1950s | Annie Get Your Gun (dir-cut,1950) • "Big Town" (dir TV series,1950) • Weeks With Love (chor,1950) • Call Me Mister (chor,1950) • Ticket to Broadway( chor,1951) • The Blue Veil (dir,1951) • Dollar Mermaid (chor,1952) • Town Girl (chor,1953) • Easy to Love (chor,1953) • Rose Marie (chor,1954) |
| 1960s | Billy Rose\'s Jumbo (chor & dir 2nd unit,1962) |
| Broadway (after Hollywood) | No, No, Nanette (prod supv,1971) |
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