(104 mins.) Released 1933-09-30
Director: Lloyd Bacon
Stars: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell
Busby Berkeley ... numbers created and directed by
originally posted 14 Oct 2017 09:29
BB meets Cagney, Blondell, and the usual cast. They are making Prologues for the "new" Talkies. It takes a long while before we get the first full musical number, but we get bits and pieces, and especially Cagney's relaying his choreography to the troops gives some satisfaction along the way.
First up: short dress rehearsal of Sittin' on a Back Yard Fence at 40:30. Dancers in cat costumes; Billy Barty as a mouse. 3 minutes.
1:08:40 Honeymoon Hotel, with mischievous Billy Barty trolling the halls. No actual dancing, but cute. Over 8 minutes.
1:18:00 By a Waterfall, with very elaborate sets of waterfalls in a "natural" setting, and man made swimming pool with fountains. Lots of costume changes edited together with no attempt to explain the transitions. It would be worthwhile contrasting this with Esther Williams' production numbers. This feels like a precursor, with more walking in the pool than swimming (where EW routines look like inspirations for the Olympic sport of synchronized swimming.) We get plenty of BB designs and underwater shots. Spectacular! 11 minutes.
1:31:30 Shanghai Lil. Marvelous! Cagney acts and tap dances a bit with Ruby Keeler. Lots of marching sailors with rifle drill. 11 minutes.
Warner Bros, dir. Bacon [+BB], 8
