Footlight Parade

Footlight Parade

Director: Lloyd Bacon Cast: James Cagney
James Cagney
, Dick Powell
Dick Powell
, Joan Blondell
Joan Blondell
, Ruby Keeler
Ruby Keeler
Lloyd Bacon
Footlight Parade

Footlight Parade

Director: Lloyd Bacon Cast: James Cagney
James Cagney
, Dick Powell
Dick Powell
, Joan Blondell
Joan Blondell
, Ruby Keeler
Ruby Keeler
Lloyd Bacon

DVD (Full Frame)

$17.99 
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Overview

The last--and to some aficionados, the best--of choreographer Busby Berkeley's three Warner Bros. efforts of 1933, Footlight Parade stars James Cagney as a Broadway musical comedy producer. Cagney is unceremoniously put out of business when talking pictures arrive. To keep his head above water, Jimmy hits upon a swell idea: he'll stage musical "prologues" for movie theatres, then ship them out to the various picture palaces in New York. Halfway through the picture, Cagney is obliged to assemble three mammoth prologues and present them back-to-back in three different theatres. There are all sorts of backstage intrigues, not the least of which concerns the predatory hijinks of gold-digger Claire Dodd and the covetous misbehavior of Cagney's ex-wife Renee Whitney. Joan Blondell plays Jimmy's faithful girl-friday, who loves him from afar; Ruby Keeler is the secretary who takes off her glasses and is instantly transformed into a glamorous stage star; Dick Powell is the "protege" of wealthy Ruth Donnelly, who makes good despite this handicap; Frank McHugh is Cagney's assistant, who spends all his time moaning "It'll never work"; and Hugh Herbert is a self-righteous censor, who ends up in a censurable position. The last half-hour of Footlight Parade is a nonstop display of Busby Berkeley at his most spectacular: the three big production numbers, all written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, are "By a Waterfall", "Honeymoon Hotel", and "Shanghai Lil", the latter featuring some delicious pre-code scatology, a tap-dance duet by Cagney and Keeler, and an out-of-left-field climactic salute to FDR and the NRA!

Product Details

Release Date: 04/14/2020
UPC: 0883929712908
Original Release: 1933
Rating: G
Source: Warner Archives
Region Code: 1
Presentation: [B&W]
Sound: [Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language: English
Time: 1:43:00
Sales rank: 6,023

Special Features

3 Featurettes Footlight Parade: Music for the Decades, Rambling 'Round Radio Row #8 and Vaudeville Reel #1; 2 Vintage Cartoons: Honeymoon Hotel and Young and Healthy; Theatrical Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
James Cagney Chester Kent
Dick Powell Scotty Blair
Joan Blondell Nan Prescott
Ruby Keeler Bea Thorn
Guy Kibbee Silas Gould
Ruth Donnelly Harriet Bowers Gould
Claire Dodd Vivian Rich
Hugh Herbert Charlie Bowers
Frank McHugh Francis
Arthur Hohl Al Frazer
Gordon Westcott Harry Thompson
Renee Whitney Cynthia Kent
Philip Faversham Joe Farrington
Juliet Ware Miss Smythe
Herman Bing Fralick, the Music Director
Paul Porcasi George Appolinaris
William Granger Doorman
Charles Wilson Cop
Barbara Rogers Gracie,Chorus Girl
Billy Taft Specialty Dancer
John Garfield Sailor Behind Table
Pat Wing Chorus Girl
Donna La Barr Chorus Girl
Marlo Dwyer Chorus Girl
Donna Mae Roberts Chorus Girl
Dave O'Brien Chorus Boy
George Chandler Drugstore Attendant
Hobart Cavanaugh Title Thinker Upper
William V. Mong Auditor
Lee Moran Mac, the Dance Director
Billy Barty Mouse in "Sittin' on a Backyard Fence" Number
Harry Seymour Joe/Desk Clerk
Sam McDaniel Porter
Fred Kelsey Hotel Detective
Jimmy Conlin Uncle
Roger Gray Sailor-Pal in "Shanghai Lil" Number
Duke York Sailor on Table in "Shanghai Lil" Number
Dorothy Lamour Chorus
Charles Lane Hotel detective in the "Honeymoon Hotel"-number

Technical Credits
Lloyd Bacon Director
James Seymour Screenwriter
Manuel Seff Screenwriter
Robert Lord Producer
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