Footlight Parade
Encyclopedia
Cast
- James CagneyJames CagneyJames Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
as Chester Kent, creator of musical prologues - Joan BlondellJoan BlondellRose Joan Blondell was an American actress who performed in movies and on television for five decades as Joan Blondell.After winning a beauty pageant, Blondell embarked upon a film career...
as Nan Prescott, his secretary - Ruby KeelerRuby KeelerRuby Keeler, born Ethel Hilda Keeler, was an actress, singer, and dancer most famous for her on-screen coupling with Dick Powell in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Brothers, particularly 42nd Street . From 1928 to 1940, she was married to singer Al Jolson...
as Bea Thorn, dancer turned secretary turned dancer - Dick PowellDick PowellRichard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.Despite the same last name he was not related to William Powell, Eleanor Powell or Jane Powell.-Biography:...
as Scott 'Scotty' Blair, juvenile lead, former protege of Mrs. Gould - Frank McHughFrank McHughFrancis Curray "Frank" McHugh was an American film and television actor.Born in Homestead, Pennsylvania, McHugh came from a theatrical family. His parents ran a stock theatre company and as a young child he performed on stage...
as Francis, dance director - Ruth DonnellyRuth DonnellyRuth Donnelly was an American stage and film actress. Her father was the mayor of Trenton, New Jersey....
as Harriet Bowers Gould, the producer's nepotistic wife - Guy KibbeeGuy KibbeeGuy Bridges Kibbee was an American stage and film actor.Born in El Paso, Texas, Kibbee began his entertainment career on Mississippi riverboats and eventually became a successful Broadway actor...
as Silas 'Si' Gould, producer - Hugh HerbertHugh HerbertHugh Herbert was a motion picture comedian. He began his career in vaudeville, and wrote more than 150 plays and sketches.-Career:...
as Charlie Bowers, Mrs. Gould's brother, the censor - Claire DoddClaire DoddClaire Dodd was an American film actress.Born as Dorothy Anne Dodd in Baxter, Iowa, Dodd was born to Walter W. Dodd, a farmer and veterinarian, and Ethel V. Cool Dodd, the daughter of Baxter Postmaster Peter J. Cool. As Dorothy Dodd, she attended school in Baxter...
as Vivian Rich, Nan's friend, a gold digger - Gordon WestcottGordon WestcottGordon Westcott , was an American film actor.He was a contract player with Warner Brothers and appeared in 37 films between 1928 and 1935, starring alongside such up and comers as Bette Davis, Loretta Young and James Cagney...
as Harry Thompson, Kent's assistant - Arthur HohlArthur HohlArthur Hohl was a stage and motion-picture character actor. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and began appearing in films in the early 1920s...
as Al Frazer, the other producer - Renee WhitneyRenee WhitneyRenee Whitney , was an American actress. She appeared in 53 films between 1928 and 1936.-External links:...
as Cynthia Kent, Kent's ex-wife - Barbara Rogers as Gracie, a dancer
- Paul PorcasiPaul PorcasiPaul Porcasi was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 142 films between 1917 and 1945.He was born in Palermo, Sicily and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:* Broadway...
as George Apolinaris, owner of a chain of movie theaters - Philip Faversham as Joe Barrington, juvenile lead, protege of Mrs. Gould
- Herman BingHerman BingHerman Bing was a German-American character actor and voice actor.Herman Bing was also the brother of Gus Bing .-Biography:...
as Fralick, the music director - Billy BartyBilly BartyBilly Barty was an American film actor.-Biography:Barty, an Italian American, was born William John Bertanzetti in Millsboro, Pennsylvania...
as Mouse and Little Boy - Hobart CavanaughHobart CavanaughHobart Cavanaugh was an American character actor in films and on stage.Born in Virginia City, Nevada, Cavanaugh made his film debut in San Francisco Nights...
as Title-Thinkerupper - Donna Mae Roberts as A chorus girl
- Loretta Andrews as A chorus girl
- Mildred Dixon as Maid, "Honeymoon Hotel"
- Victoria VintonVictoria VintonVictoria Vinton, born Victoria Velnette Vinton was an early B-movie actress, starring in over thirty films from 1932 into 1940, mostly in westerns....
as A chorus girl
Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour was an American film actress. She is best remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope .-Early life:Lamour was born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Carmen Louise Dorothy...
and Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern was an American film and television actress whose career spanned six decades.-Early life and career:...
were among the many chorus girls in the film. It was Lamour's film debut. It is often written that John Garfield
John Garfield
John Garfield was an American actor adept at playing brooding, rebellious, working-class character roles. He grew up in poverty in Depression-era New York City and in the early 1930s became an important member of the Group Theater. In 1937 he moved to Hollywood, eventually becoming one of Warner...
made his (uncredited) film debut in this film, but experts were divided if it was actually him in the very quick (5/6ths of a second) shot. According to the 2003 Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
documentary The John Garfield Story, it is not Garfield.
Musical numbers
- "Honeymoon Hotel" – by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics)
- "Shanghai Lil" – by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics)
- "By a WaterfallBy a Waterfall"By a Waterfall" is a 1933 song with music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Irving Kahal. It was featured in an extravagent choreographic arrangement in the film Footlight Parade by Busby Berkeley that features his trademark human waterfall...
" – by Sammy Fain (music) and Irving Kahal (lyrics) - "My Shadow" – by Sammy Fain (music) and Irving Kahal (lyrics)
- "Ah, the Moon Is Here" – by Sammy Fain (music) and Irving Kahal (lyrics)
- "Sitting on a Backyard Fence" – by Sammy Fain (music) and Irving Kahal (lyrics)
Production
Early casting had Stanley Smith playing the juvenile lead eventually played by Dick Powell, and Dorothy TennantDorothy Tennant
Dorothy Tennant was a Victorian neoclassicist painter , born in Wales. She studied painting under Edward Poynter at the Slade School of Fine Art and with Jean-Jacques Henner in Paris. In 1890, she married the explorer of Africa, Henry Morton Stanley, and became known as Lady Stanley...
playing Mrs. Gould instead of Ruth Donnelly. Other actors considered for various roles included Eugene Pallette
Eugene Pallette
Eugene William Pallette was an American actor. He appeared in over 240 silent era and sound era motion pictures between 1913 and 1946....
, George Dobbs and Patricia Ellis
Patricia Ellis
Patricia Ellis was an American film actress of the 1930s.Born Patricia Leftwich in Birmingham, Alabama, Ellis began her stage career after leaving school. Given a film test while appearing on stage in New York, she was put under contract by Warner Bros. In 1932 she had two small parts, both...
. Remarkably, considering that his musical numbers are the highlight of the film, Busby Berkeley was not the original choice to choreograph - Larry Ceballos was signed to direct the dance numbers, and sued Berkeley and the studio for $100,000 for breach of contract when he was not allowed to do so. (Ceballos also claimed to have created a number later used in the Warner Bros. film Wonder Bar
Wonder Bar
Wonder Bar is a 1934 pre-code movie adaptation of a Broadway musical of the same name directed by Lloyd Bacon with musical numbers created by Busby Berkeley...
, which was credited to Berkeley.)
Cagney's character, Chester Kent, was modelled after Chester Hale, a well-known impresario at the time, and the offices he worked in were based on the Sunset Boulevard offices of the prologue production company "Fanchon and Marco" in Los Angeles.
Footlight Parade was shot at the Warner Bros. studio in Burbank, California
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
, and cost an estimated $703,000 to make. It premiered on 30 September 1933, and was released generally on 21 October.
Pre-code era
The film was made during the Pre-CodePre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood refers to the era in the American film industry between the introduction of sound in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines. Although the Code was adopted in 1930, oversight was poor and it did not become rigorously...
era, and its humor is sometimes quite risqué, with multiple references to prostitution and suggestions of profanity largely unseen in studio films until the 1960s, when the Production Code
Production Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was the set of industry moral censorship guidelines that governed the production of the vast majority of United States motion pictures released by major studios from 1930 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the Hays Code, after Hollywood's chief censor of the...
collapsed. For example, Dick Powell's character is being "kept" by Mrs. Gould until he falls in love with another girl. Joan Blondell tells her roommate, who tries to steal Cagney away from her, that as long as there are streets, the roommate will have a job. In the Shanghai Lil number, it is clear that Lil and all the other girls are prostitutes working the waterfront bars.
One character in the film, played by actor Hugh Herbert
Hugh Herbert
Hugh Herbert was a motion picture comedian. He began his career in vaudeville, and wrote more than 150 plays and sketches.-Career:...
acts as the censor for Kent's productions, constantly telling Kent certain parts of his production numbers have to be changed. His character is portrayed as buffoonish and comical, saying disagreeable lines to Kent such as "You must put brassiere
Brassiere
A brassiere is an undergarment that covers, supports, and elevates the breasts. Since the late 19th century, it has replaced the corset as the most widely accepted method for supporting breasts....
s on those dolls..." (referring to actual dolls) "...uh uh, you know Connecticut." This character foreshadows the coming Production Code, which was in full force less than a year later.
See also
- Busby Berkeley using alternate takes to circumvent censorship
- Pre-Code Hollywood
External links
- Footlight Parade at Filmsite.orgFilmsite.orgFilmSite.org is a website operated by Tim Dirks since 1996, and owned by AMC since 2008. It contains over 300 reviews of what Dirks judges to be the "greatest films" of all time. In some cases, the review is scene-by-scene. It also contains many other pages offering an introduction to cinema...