Still image from the 1933 film Footlight Parade.

Footlight Parade

Directed by Lloyd Bacon

A producer fights labor problems, financiers and his greedy ex-wife to put on a show.

1933 1h 42m Musical TV-G

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CAST
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Lloyd Bacon, Director
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Lloyd Bacon
Director

1

James Cagney, Chester Kent
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James Cagney
Chester Kent

2

Joan Blondell, Nan [Prescott]
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Joan Blondell
Nan [Prescott]

3

Ruby Keeler, Bea [Thorn]
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Ruby Keeler
Bea [Thorn]

4

Dick Powell, Scotty [Blair]
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Dick Powell
Scotty [Blair]

5

Frank Mchugh, Francis
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Frank Mchugh
Francis

FULL SYNOPSIS

Chester Kent, a successful producer of musical comedies, finds himself out of work with the advent of talking pictures. His wife leaves him when he breaks the news to her, but he's not down for long. He convinces his two partners, Sy Gould and Frazer, to join him in producing prologues, live performances to be presented before the movies are shown, and soon he has more business than he can handle. Everything does not function smoothly, however. As soon as Chester thinks up ideas, his competitor, Gladstone, beats him to the punch. Added to this is the fact that his partners seem to be cheating him out of his share of the profits. Throughout all the chaos, he depends on his loyal secretary, Nan Prescott, who is madly in love with him, even though he doesn't realize it. Instead, to Nan's disgust, he has fallen for Vivian Rich, a gold digging actress. Then theater chain owner Appolinaris agrees that if Chester can come up with three new shows in three days, he'll sign all his theaters with him. Frantically, Chester sets to work, locking everyone in the studio to prevent leaks. With Nan's help, he pays off his ex-wife, collects his share of the profits, discovers Vivian's true nature, finds the leak and stages his three prologues. The first two numbers are a big success. Then at the last minute, Chester has to go on as the lead in the third because the star is drunk. He performs splendidly, gets the contract and after his last bow, he proposes to Nan.


VIDEOS
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Ben Mankiewicz Intro...
Hosted Intro
Ben Mankiewicz Intro...
Hosted Intro
These Are Cats Not Elephants!...
Movie Clip
Sittin' On A Backyard Fence...
Movie Clip
Only Talking Pictures Will Be...
Movie Clip
Dust Off The Straitjacket...
Movie Clip

ARTICLES
James Cagney made the transition from gats to taps when he convinced Warner Bros. head Jack Warner to give him a change of pace with the lead in Footlight Parade, Busby Berkeley's 1933 musical extravaganza. Coming on the heels of the studio's first two groundbreaking musicals -- 42nd Street (1933) and Gold Diggers of 1933 - the film had a way to go to top its predecessors. But, with Cagney dancing for the first time on screen, Joan Blondell cracking wise as only she could and 100 chorus girls swimming through a gigantic studio tank in the spectacular "By a Waterfall" number, most fans agree that it's the ultimate Warners musical. As soon as he heard about the studio's plans to follow Berkeley's two smash musicals, Cagney campaigned for the role. After all, he reminded Warner, he had started out as a song-and-dance man and only blundered into gangster roles when he'd switched roles with the original star of The Public Enemy (1931). After Cagney reached film stardom, he continued to tap around the house after each day's shooting. In fact, visitors with dancing experience, like George Burns and Gracie Allen, were usually handed tap shoes and asked to join in. Footlight Parade marked the third teaming for Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler, who had shot to stardom in the first two Berkeley musicals at Warners. It also marked a reunion for Cagney and Blondell, who had started at Warners together in 1930's Sinner's Holiday, which they had also done on Broadway. ...

ARCHIVES
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 Starlet Publicity Stills from the movie 'Footlight Parade'
Footlight Parade
Starlet Publicity Sti..
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 Lobby Cards from the movie 'Footlight Parade'
Footlight Parade
Lobby Cards

NOTES

Variety noted that the studio run by James Cagney's character is almost an exact replica of the Fanchon and Marco offices on Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles, where similar prologues were produced. According to Motion Picture Daily, Dick Powell replaced Stanley Smith. Film Daily notes that Ruth Donnelly replaced Dorothy Tennant. Eugene Pallette, George Dobbs and Patricia Ellis were also considered for roles in the film, and Larry Ceballos was signed to direct dance numbers. Daily Variety reported that Larry Ceballos brought a lawsuit against Warner Bros. and Busby Berkeley for $100,000 because he was not given the chance to direct special dance numbers in the picture has per his original agreement with the studio. In addition, the studio gave Berkeley credit for a "mirror dance" which Ceballos claimed to have designed when Berkeley used the number in the Warner Bros. film Wonder Bar. According to modern sources, Cagney's character was patterned after Chester Hale, a well-known impressario of the times.
       The movie that is playing at the theater visited by Cagney's character early in the story is the 1933 Warner Bros. film The Telegraph Trail, starring John Wayne, Marceline Day and Frank McHugh. In the "Shanghai Lil" number, the chorus creates an American flag which turns into a picture of President Franklyn Delano Roosevelt, then an eagle, the symbol of the National Recovery Administration, instituted as part of Roosevelt's "New Deal" program. Actor John Garfield, who is seen briefly in the "Shanghai Lil" number, made his motion picture debut in the film. Modern sources credit Robert Lord as supervisor and add additional cast credits: Marjean Rogers, Donna Mae Roberts, Dona La Barr, Marlo Dwyer (Chorus girls), William V. Mong (Auditor), Lee Moran (Mac, the dance director), Roger Gray (Sailor in "Shanghai Lil" number).

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