"Opulent" is one word for this film. I wanted to see "Footlight Parade" because I heard it was one of the definitive backstage movie-musicals and most of all, I wanted to see James Cagney dance! This movie was pretty good. James Cagney plays sort of a producer who imagines ideas for "prologues" or live performance numbers to accompany films playing in movie theaters. The task is grueling because Cagney has to think of several novel ideas every day, most of which are stolen by a rival prologue company. Cagney's job is highly frustrating as is Frank McHugh's, who has to stage and choreograph the prologues. McHugh is hilarious as the poorly harried dance director -- he never gets a break! I felt so sorry for him! Another character worth mentioning is Cagney's secretary, Joan Blondell. I savored her on-screen chemistry with Cagney and was rooting for her all the way. The only relationship in the movie I didn't really care for was with Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler. I couldn't feel anything between them, at least not with the same intensity as with Cagney and Blondell. It all seems cookie-cutter: A plain-Jane makes good with the handsome leading man by getting gussied up and putting on her dancing shoes. I don't really see anything between Powell and Keeler that makes me want to care or connect to them. But hey, that's Hollywood. Then, there's the Busby Berkley dance sequences. My only beef about the musical numbers is that they run too long. There's three of them at the end and in a constant succession, it's a bit much. I'm going to have a chorus of "By a Waterfall" stuck in my head for a couple of days. But even so, following "Honeymoon Hotel" and "By a Waterfall", the audience is greatly rewarded with "Shanghai Lil", the movie's centerpiece. Cagney is a gem -- he sings, he dances, he dons a sailor suit! His performance must have been surprising to his early audiences whom have never seen his song-and-dance-man side. Cagney shines and Keeler is cute and light on her feet as the elusive Shanghai Lil. Overall, "Footlight Parade" is pretty well done -- they don't make movies like this anymore. I would definitely give this movie a chance, even just to see "Shanghai Lil" alone.
Review of Footlight Parade
