42nd Street (1933)

Absolutely brilliant

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

lively vibrant musical.Full of clichés, but they are part of it's magic. Special mention to Baxter, Daniels, Rogers,Merkel and Sparks. A superb screenplay even with the clichés. Great direction and choreography. Not forgetting the wonderful song "shuffle off to buffalo", and the great choreography by Busby Berkely.

This has it's a lot of fun moments, including 15 minutes worth of terrific, over-the-top Busby Berkeley dance numbers, some snappy, sexy pre-code dialogue, and impressive early use of crane shots.Yes, it's mostly awkwardly acted. And the whole thing is a string of clichés from start to finish. But, this film helped establish those clichés, and is pretty darn enjoyable in a corny, silly way.Many critics consider it a classic, and it is indeed important in Hollywood history.That said, I can't quite bring myself to say "classic", but I did smile a lot, especially on 2nd viewing.

"Sawyer, you listen to me, and you listen hard!" Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter) exclaims with exasperation to his leading lady, Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler). "Two hundred people, two hundred jobs, two hundred thousand dollars, five weeks of grind and blood and sweat depend upon you!"Julian Marsh is the kind of stage director that forces his dancers to stay up hours upon hours to perfect a particular dance routine; so imagine his anxiety when Peggy, who has only wafted through the chorus line in her short theater career, is, out of anguish, cast as the female lead after the real star (Bebe Daniels) twists her ankle.In the wholesome sheen of 42nd Street, of course Peggy will do a stupendous job, of course become a star, and of course end up in the arms of the man of her dreams. But as the quintessential, and perhaps one of the first, "behind-the-scenes" musicals, 42nd Street is a breezy and often times impressive film, a popcorn flick that benefits from its extraordinarily bubbly cast and Busby Berkeley's famed choreography. Until the last ten minutes of the film, there is nothing in store that we haven't seen before. But I'll be damned if those last ten minutes aren't some of the best last ten minutes the musical genre has ever seen.The first half goes by wearing Depression-era movie glitter as a jacket, warmed with romantic misunderstandings, catty one-liners, and conflicts that most likely seemed ridiculous to the many Hooverville housed audience members. All the fluff eventually seems like a pastime when putting the closing number into perspective; considering every single song, dance, and bit of spectacle is saved until later, the stuff that takes place in reality rather than the realm of the stage is only slightly unexciting. The far better Gold Diggers of 1933 had a big closer, true, but it also gave us sneak peeks of the extravaganza early on, and the cast, which featured comedic champs Joan Blondell and Aline MacMahon, added an extra zip that made everything just a little more self-aware.The second half is when the goods kick in, and boy, do they kick. Several of the actors are finally given the chance to show off their hidden musical talents, and Berkeley's seminal routines are put on display with startling gusto. A master of creating kaleidoscopic shapes with his dancers, the aerial shots are staggering, with close-ups transforming his subjects into pieces of an accomplished puzzle. Months from now, you and I will not remember the romance between Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler, the underuse of Ginger Rogers, or the music; the routines are what make 42nd Street the classic it is today. In films like this, you can save the dialogue for later. Because we want dessert immediately; dinner can wait. Read more reviews at petersonreviews.com

As many other reviewers have said, this is the grandfather of movie musicals. It gave birth to many clichés that would be used all throughout classic Hollywood musicals and even to this day, in one form or another. Warner Baxter is terrific as the slave-driving director ("I'll either have a live leading lady or a dead chorus girl"). Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell are the quintessential juvenile leads. Film debut for Keeler and first big role for Powell. Keeler doesn't have the best voice but she has a nice screen presence and immense likability. Plus her tap dancing is pretty good. Bebe Daniels is wonderful in her biggest film role. Ginger Rogers plays Anytime Annie ("She only said no once and then she didn't hear the question"). It's one of those 'tough dame with a snappy one-liner' roles Ginger did so well. The supporting cast is full of familiar faces from the '30s: George Brent, Guy Kibbee, Allen Jenkins, Una Merkel, Ned Sparks, and George E. Stone, among others. The script is fantastic with lots of that colorful lingo Warner Bros. movies were known for back in the day. Of course, the real highlight of the movie are the Busby Berkeley musical numbers like "Shuffle Off to Buffalo" and the climactic "42nd Street" number, my personal favorite. It's a fantastic movie. Obviously a classic and still entertaining from start to finish, over 80 years later.