Footlight Parade [VHS] [1933]

One of the genres in which Cagney was most successful was the movie musical. Later in his career, he was even able to combine his talents by playing gangsters in musicals such as Love Me or Leave Me and Never Steal Anything Small. Probably the best of his musicals, though, was 1933's Footlight Parade. As Chester Kent, producer of live musical prologues to films during the early days of the "talkies," he dances and sings, and in typical Cagney fashion also gives the impression of being in at least five places at once. This despite having to contend with a dishonest competitor, a couple of even more dishonest colleagues, a grasping ex-wife, a nervous director ready to have a breakdown at every turn, and constantly increasing demands on his time.

Cagney is more than ably assisted by a superb supporting cast: Joan Blondell as the (of course) hard-boiled secretary who is secretly in love with him, Ruby Keeler as the shy office assistant who blossoms when returning to the stage, Dick Powell as the romantic leading tenor of the prologues, Frank McHugh in a sterling performance as the flamboyant yet thoroughly masculine director, and Claire Dodd as Blondell's scheming sister who sets her sights on Cagney. Such a fine cast assures that the energy level of the film never flags.

However, the real raison d'etre of Footlight Parade are the four big Busby Berkeley musical numbers: "Sittin' on a Backyard Fence" which appears in rehearsal halfway through the film, and the three prologues, "Honeymoon Hotel," "By a Waterfall" and "Shanghai Lil," which paradoxically appear at the end of it. Ruby Keeler, a great dancer, a little less talented as a singer, appears in all four of the numbers, and Dick Powell in the first three. Cagney steps into "Shanghai Lil" at the last second, replacing a frightened and drunken leading man, and so of course we are in for the fistfight that is a feature of almost every film Cagney ever made. The four musical numbers are all delightful, and I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite from among the four; probably whichever one I am watching at the moment.

The overriding quality of Footlight Parade is its irrepressible energy, fueled first and foremost by the young Cagney, with the rest of the cast following in quick order. A fun and, to say the least, very invigorating way to spend a couple of hours.

Chester Kent (James Cagney) is a down-and-out-of-luck stage producer when he finds himself out of a job (ironically, via motion pictures). To make matters worse, his wife leaves him and his agents (Guy Kibbee and Arthur Hohl) don't need him anymore. All of this in the first five minutes of the film!

Kent gets a breakthrough idea: putting on one pre-picture prologue may cost a bundle, but if you tour the country with that one prologue, it will pay for itself practically! Soon, he has an entire establishment including his right hand gal Nan (Joan Blondell), stenographer turned tap dancer Bea Thorne (Ruby Keeler), a singing college romeo Scotty (Dick Powell), a hypochondriac director (Frank McHugh) and a mischievous censor (Hugh Herbert). All of this in the next ten minutes of the film!!

After a while, the company starts to really take off, that is until Kent gets a little competition that steals his ideas. Suddenly, a grand chain deal worth tens of thousands arrives, and three shows to be produced in three days. Add on top of that some romantic interest and you've got a real crowd pleaser. Could anyone else but Warner Brothers pull it off? I think not.

The main numbers in this film, all Al Dubin/Harry Warren or Sammy Fain/Irving Kahal, which means quality. The first couple of numbers ("Ah, The Moon is Here" and "Sittin' On a Backyard Fence") are toe-tappers, but fall a little flat. Busby Berkely's genius direction isn't realized until the final three numbers: "Honeymoon Hotel", a romp through a hotel specializing in newlywed sweets, filled with dozens of scantilly clad women, "By A Waterfall", a kaleidoscopic synchronized swimming number complete with a 50,000 gallon-per-minute waterfall (all on a Broadway stage, I might add) and the real show-stopper, "Shanghai Lil", in which Jimmy Cagney tap-dances the pants off of Ruby Keeler.

The pacing as one might assume from this review is extremely fast, which makes multiple viewing of this film enjoyable. Lloyd Bacon was known well as a director that believed in fast pacing, and this leaves lines filled with pre-code gems that can be picked up on later screenings of the film.

Almost every part is cast perfectly, with some of the best selection being that of Dick Powell as the carooning college boy, aiming for Ruby Keeler's affection (and vice-versa), Frank McHugh as a nervous, cigar chewing director, and Hugh Herbert as a jittery brother of a backer/state censor. Paul Porcasi has a funny role as a theater owner with a chronic case of indigestion. Also look for two cameos by Billy Barty as a mouse in the Kitten number and as a child in the Honeymoon Hotel number.

The quality of Warner's VHS video edition is quite top notch. Film elements are quite good, although a little rough near reel changes, and the Vitaphone soundtrack is also clear and clean, except for the occasional edit marks which can be heard when there is little dialogue or background sound. Since it's in black and white, it's a bit clearer than a color film, and there's no problems that you could run into on that level.

I would personally love to see this released as a DVD edition, which it just may, but if you're out to see this, buy this one as soon as you can.