42nd Street Summary
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Lloyd Bacon
Genres: Musical
Rating:
The quintessential "backstage" musical, 42nd Street traces the history of a Broadway musical comedy, from casting call to opening night. Warner_Baxter plays famed director Julian Marsh, who despite failing health is determined to stage one last great production, "Pretty Lady." Others involved include "Pretty Lady" star Dorothy Brock (Bebe_Daniels); Dorothy's "sugar daddy" (Guy_Kibbee), who finances the show; her true love Pat (George_Brent); leading man Billy Lawlor (Dick_Powell); and starry-eyed chorus girl Peggy Sawyer (Ruby_Keeler). It practically goes without saying that Dorothy twists her ankle the night before the premiere, forcing Julian Marsh is to put chorine Peggy into the lead: "You're going out there a youngster, but you've got to come back a star!" Delightfully corny, with hilarious wisecracking support from the likes of Ginger_Rogers, Una_Merkel, and George_E._Stone, 42nd Street is perhaps the most famous of Warners' early-1930s Busby_Berkeley musicals. Based on the novel by Bradford_Ropes (which was a lot steamier than the movie censors would allow), 42nd Street is highlighted by such grandiose musical setpieces as "Shuffle Off to Buffalo," "Young and Healthy," and of course the title song. Nearly fifty years after its premiere, it was successfully revived as a Broadway musical with Tammy_Grimes and Jerry_Orbach. Hal Erickson, Rovi
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