42nd Street (1933)

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42^nd Street (1933) – L. Bacon

Come and meet those dancing feet!  The original “backstage musical”  where the whole plot is about putting on a show, from auditions for the chorus girls (including naïve Ruby Keeler) to the out-of-town opening (Philadelphia) and everything in between.  Sure, the harried director, sugar-daddy money man, nervous producers, the juvenile lead (Dick Powell) and wise-cracking performers (including Ginger Rogers) have become stock characters, but this film set them up.  More importantly, it was the first smash hit to showcase the choreography of Busby Berkeley, in which the chorus girls are often filmed in abstract geometric formations. Although 42^nd Street was the major hit, I might prefer Gold Diggers of 1933 (more freaky) or Footlight Parade (with Cagney) – also from 1933.  Great fun!