There's even a character that the script uses to poke fun of the censors, who at that time were around but mostly powerless.
Footlight parade code#
It was cut from the film when it was rereleased after the code went into effect. Patrick mentioned the "As long as there are sidewalks, you've got a job." line of Blondell's. While he's best remembered for his tough guy gangster persona, he always considered himself an old song and dance man, so it's not hard to believe that he would work to get this part, which would end up being his first Hollywood musical.Īnother obvious clue that this is a 1930s film is that it contains many racy lines, costumes and dance routines that would only be allowed in the pre-code era. He had only been in Hollywood for 3 years and he'd already made 13 films for Warners. If you're a fan of the era and this type of movie, there's no way you won't enjoy this one, which, while perhaps not as famous as those other two, is a very entertaining film in its own right.Īlthough Cagney is dismissive of it in his autobiography, as he is about most of his early work, saying only that "I at least had the pleasure of dancing.", he reportedly lobbied to get the lead role. Patrick mentioned that Keeler and Powell had already appeared together in 42nd Street, but they'd also done Gold Diggers of 1933 that same year, also with Blondell, with numbers by Busby Berkeley. No other decade could feature a cast that includes Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell in a backstage musical with numbers choreographed by Busby Berkeley. James Cagney and Joan Blondell in Footlight Parade. The dynamic Cagney, talented costars, a deft script and over-the-top musical numbers add up to an enjoyable, if not quite great, motion picture. He does an energetic tap routine on the top of the bar with Ruby Keeler as his Shanghai Lil.
He sings passably but was far more successful as a hoofer, displaying a very unique style. The number is called 'Shanghai Lil' and he plays a sailor looking for his lost love just before he has to sail for America from the Orient. He is forced to step in at the last second to replace a drunk cast member. The final and most memorable number features Cagney himself. The funniest thing about it is that there is no way a real audience seated in a theater could see the production from the breathtaking angles they are shot from. The sheer extravagance of this number has rarely been topped.
The second one features scantily clad chorus girls comprising a human waterfall, followed by a geometric bathing beauties routine that predates Esther Williams by ten years. It does feature a very young Billy Barty in a funny bit, but pales in comparison to the other two numbers. Entitled 'The Honeymoon Hotel' it has a rather lame song between groom Powell and blushing bride Keeler on their wedding night in Jersey City. The first one is the weakest and the most dated. They run consecutively and, together, comprise the last thirty minutes of the movie. for the greener pastures of MGM) staged the three final musical numbers. The great Busby Berkeley (before leaving Warner Bros. Every time Cagney interrupts his dance rehearsals with different instructions, he humorously replies, "It can't be done, I tell ya, it can't be done." Frank McHugh adds some laughs as the exasperated stage director. She makes the magical, and seemingly effortless, transformation from a mousy, bespectacled stenographer to a dancing star, while he goes from being an overly eager kept-boy to a suave gentleman. Hoofer Ruby Keeler and tenor Dick Powell round out the supporting cast musically, having already teamed successfully together in 42nd Street earlier that same year.
"Listen, Nan, send a new boy and girl on right away, and make sure they're not in love with each other." "Right." "Uh, get a couple already married." Or, another time she tells her phony rival for Cagney's affections, "As long as there are sidewalks, you've got a job." Cagney and his wisecracking, love-starved secretary, played by Joan Blondell, have the best lines.
Footlight parade full#
The scenes are short and peppy and full of snappy one-liners. In order to ensure secrecy on a make or break contract, he locks his entire cast and staff inside the rehearsal studio for seventy-two hours, while they feverishly work out three different and spectacular routines. All goes well enough at first, until his ideas start getting mysteriously ripped-off by the competition. When his livelihood is threatened by the arrival of talking pictures he comes up with the idea of doing live musical prologues before each movie. In it he plays Chester Kent a musical theater producer. Footlight Parade gave tough guy James Cagney an opportunity to show off his years of vaudeville training.
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