42nd Street (1933)

Director:

Lloyd Bacon

Writers:

Rian James (screenplay) &
James Seymour (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

11 March 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Romance | Drama

Plot:

A producer puts on what may be his last Broadway show, and at the last moment a chorus girl has to replace the star...

Plot Keywords:

Director | Chorus Girl | Broken Ankle | Opening Night | Jealousy

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

Warner Baxter	...	Julian Marsh
Bebe Daniels	...	Dorothy Brock
George Brent	...	Pat Denning
Ruby Keeler	...	Peggy Sawyer
Guy Kibbee	...	Abner Dillon
Una Merkel	...	Lorraine Fleming
Ginger Rogers	...	Ann
Ned Sparks	...	Barry
Dick Powell	...	Billy Lawler
Allen Jenkins	...	Mac Elroy
Edward J. Nugent	...	Terry
Robert McWade	...	Jones
George E. Stone	...	Andy Lee
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Harry Akst	...	Jerry (uncredited)
Loretta Andrews	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Joan Barclay	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Louise Beavers	...	Pansy - Dorothy's Maid (uncredited)
Lynn Browning	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Edna Callaghan	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Maxine Cantway	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Wallis Clark	...	Dr. Chadwick (uncredited)
Virginia Dabney	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Mildred Dixon	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Al Dubin	...	Stout Songwriter (uncredited)
Ruth Eddings	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Patricia Ellis	...	Secretary (uncredited)
Renee Evans	...	Extra on Stage (uncredited)
Patsy Farnum	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Dixie Francis	...	Extra on Stage (uncredited)
June Glory	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Mary Halsey	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Shep Houghton	...	Chorus Boy (uncredited)
Ann Hovey	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
George Irving	...	House Doctor (uncredited)
Alice Jans	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Evelyn Joice	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Gertrude Keeler	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Helen Keeler	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Tom Kennedy	...	Slim Murphy (uncredited)
Milton Kibbee	...	News Spreader (uncredited)
Adele Lacy	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Margaret La Marr	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Charles Lane	...	Author of 'Pretty Lady' (uncredited)
Jack La Rue	...	Mug with Murphy (uncredited)
Lorena Layson	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Eve Marcy	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Kermit Maynard	...	Chorus Boy (uncredited)
Clarence Nordstrom	...	Groom in 'Shuffle Off to Buffalo' Number (uncredited)
Dave O'Brien	...	Chorus Boy (uncredited)
Dennis O'Keefe	...	Chorus Boy (uncredited)
Agnes Ray	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Donna Mae Roberts	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Barbara Rogers	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Cliff Saum	...	Dimmer Board Operator (uncredited)
Rolfe Sedan	...	Extra on Stage (uncredited)
Harry Seymour	...	Aide (uncredited)
Jayne Shadduck	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
The Sizzlers	...	Singing Policemen (uncredited)
Lyle Talbot	...	Trailer Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Grace Tobin	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
The Village Barn Hill Billies	...	Themselves (uncredited)
Henry B. Walthall	...	Concerned Actor (uncredited)
Harry Warren	...	Short Songwriter (uncredited)
Dorothy Coonan Wellman	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Dorothy White	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Renee Whitney	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Pat Wing	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Toby Wing	...	Blonde in 'Young and Healthy' Number (uncredited)

Directed by
Lloyd Bacon

Writing credits
Rian James		(screenplay) &
James Seymour		(screenplay)
Bradford Ropes		(novel)
Whitney Bolton		contributor to treatment (uncredited)

Produced by
Darryl F. Zanuck	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Sol Polito		(photography by)

Film Editing by
Thomas Pratt
Frank Ware

Art Direction by
Jack Okey

Costume Design by
Orry-Kelly		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gordon Hollingshead	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Arthur Lueker	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Nathan Levinson	....	sound (uncredited)
Dolph Thomas	....	sound (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
George Baxter	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Mike Joyce	....	second camera (uncredited)
Buddy Longworth	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Harold Noyes	....	chief grip (uncredited)
Scotty Welbourne	....	still photographer (uncredited)
George Whittemore	....	chief electrician (uncredited)

Music Department
Al Dubin	....	lyricist: songs
Leo F. Forbstein	....	conductor: Vitaphone Orchestra
Harry Warren	....	composer: songs
Ray Heindorf	....	music arranger (uncredited)

Other crew
Busby Berkeley	....	creator: dances and ensembles
Busby Berkeley	....	stager: dances and ensembles
S. Charles Einfeld	....	general press agent (uncredited)
Hal B. Wallis	....	supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1933) (USA) (theatrical)
• Vitaphone Corporation, The (1933) (USA) (theatrical) (as The Vitaphone Corp.)
• United Artists Television (1960) (USA) (TV)
• CBS/Fox Home Video (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1990) (Japan) (VHS)
• I.V.C. (1994) (Japan) (VHS)
• Happinet Pictures (1998) (Japan) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2000) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2001) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2001) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Warner Bros. (2001) (Argentina) (all media) (re-release)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (re-issue)

Other Companies

• Cheney Brothers  silks

Also Known As:

Forty-Second Street (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:Atp | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #2718-R: 26 September 1936 for re-release) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | UK:U | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Illness prevented Mervyn LeRoy from directing, so he handed the reins over to Lloyd Bacon.

Goofs:

Continuity: While in Philadelphia, Julian's position relative to the girls changes as he dismisses them for the night.

Quotes:

Ann Lowell: [singing] Matrimony is baloney
Loraine: She'll be wanting alimony in a year or so;
Ann Lowell, Loraine: Still they go and shuffle, shuffle off to Buffalo.
Ann Lowell: When she knows as much as we know, she'll be on her way to Reno,
Loraine: While he still has dough; she'll give him the shuffle
Ann Lowell, Loraine: When they're back from Buffalo.
Ann Lowell: I'll bet that she's the farmer's daughter
Loraine: And he's that well-known traveling man;
Ann Lowell: He once stopped down at the farm house,
Loraine: That's how the whole affair began!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Honeymooners: The $99,000 Answer (#1.18)" (1956)

Soundtrack:

Forty-Second Street

the musical that changed musicals

I seem to recall reading/hearing somewhere that movie musicals were becoming less popular in the 1930s. They were, for the most part, creaky messes with poor sound quality. Then came this movie, which you can credit (or blame, depending on whether you like musicals or not) for popularizing them.

The story has been done before now (2004) and was probably done before in 1933. Prima donna gets injured, the ingenue must take her place. All the clichés come out in full force, but with enough enthusiasm that you may find yourself sucked in, depending on how jaded a viewer you are.

The performances are good. Daniels is stunning, and a good actress, and she can sing. We don't get to see her dance too much though. Powell makes a good juvenile lead and sings well. Keeler gets a bit annoying, but that's probably just the character she is playing. She cannot really sing, and I never thought her dancing was that great. I'm a fan of Ginger Rogers though, so I am biased when I wonder how this movie could have catapulted Keeler and Powell to stardom while Rogers had to wait until she was paired with Astaire for her career to take off. After seeing movies starring the likes of Astaire, Rogers, Eleanor Powell, Ann Miller, Gene Kelly, etc. I find Keeler's dancing to be a bit heavy-footed. Not that it is terrible, she does pull the part off well enough. The Busby Berkeley choreography is fabulous--no one did it like he did it. Just never you mind that if the show were actually on a stage the way it is supposed to be in the movie, you wouldn't actually notice the aerial geometric patterns. Still, it is nice to look at. So leave your sense of reality in the other room, pop this movie in your VCR/DVD player, and enjoy!