42nd Street

1933's 42ND STREET is considered the grandfather of backstage dramas, and all the familiar cliches and tropes are on display.  So unless you've managed to avoid films like ALL ABOUT EVE, ALL THAT JAZZ, BLACK SWAN, and a slew of TV movies set in this milieu, it might seem a bit stale.  To wit, we have a cynical leading actress, a shy newcomer looking to become a star, a barking, self-doubting, possibly terminally ill director, hungry understudies, sleazy producers and financiers, and so on. 

Director Lloyd Bacon, working from a screenplay by Rian James and James Seymour,  manages a mostly smooth transition between light comedy and melodrama.  Much like life behind the scenes of a stage production might be.  Peppering this story of the mounting of a Broadway show are snappy lines of dialogue and loads of innuendoes.  There are also some candid moments - as when during auditions would be starlets are asked to hike their skirts to show off their gams.   The play's star Dorothy Brock (Bebe Daniels) gets the lead when she agrees to be "involved" with wealthy, dopey backer Abner Dillon (Guy Kibbee).  Director Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter), long successful but a victim of the '29 Stock Market crash, desperately needs a hit, and learns he may die of exhaustion if he keeps up the pace.  He also bares his soul to his producer at one point.  I was reminded of that time I was in a play my senior year of college when the director did likewise after a rehearsal.   Oh, that old life/art thing..

42ND STREET also has a few romantic subplots, and the story of one Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler), intimidated by all the jaded veterans and her inexperience, but Billy Lawler (Dick Powell), the show's lead, takes a shine to her the minute she accidentally walks in on him in nothing but his BVDs.  Peggy's arc, which could've easily grown dark, instead develops rather optimistically.  This can be said of the entire movie.  I was expecting it all to be far grittier.  I think there's just enough spice and realism to temper things.  By the end of the movie I didn't feel too bad or too good.  Just right.

The film is probably best remembered for those lavish production numbers with choreography by none other than Busby Berkeley.  They are quite involved and eye filling and maybe why the film was such a success and why folks still seek out this movie, but 42ND STREET as a whole is a template that largely escapes corn and embarrassment.  There is, however one of the oddest product placements I've ever seen, during the final curtain.