For the first time in film, choreographer Busby Berkely really cut loose and pulled out all the stops to create breathtakingly decadent dance numbers in the classic behind-the-scenes musical 42nd Street. The plotline centers on the professional and romantic travails of Peggy Sawyer, a talented young understudy/chorus girl who gets her big break after the star of an upcoming Broadway extravaganza has an accident as a result of jealousy stemming from various romantic shenanigans involving the director Julian Marsh, who wants one more hit before he retires, the show's lecherous backer Abner Dillon, who has the hots for the show's luscious star Dorothy Brock and her former vaudeville partner Pat Denning whom Dorothy still loves. Peggy, who got the part thanks to her pals Ann Lowell, Lorraine Fleming and Billy Lawler, inadvertently stirs up trouble when she begins going out with Pat. This hurts Billy, who has a terrible crush upon Peggy, and infuriates Dorothy who hits the bottle and attempts to deck Peggy but only ends up in a different kind of cast--an ankle cast. This leaves Marsh in a terrible fix and he frantically searches the chorus for a new leading lady. He chooses Ann, but she has a better idea and turns him to Peggy. After much work and considerable worry, the show turns out to be a tremendous success and everyone involved leaves happy.