martin-fennell lively vibrant musical.Full of clichés, but they are part of it's magic. Special mention to Baxter, Daniels, Rogers,Merkel and Sparks. A superb screenplay even with the clichés. Great direction and choreography. Not forgetting the wonderful song "shuffle off to buffalo", and the great choreography by Busby Berkely.

Gaylord McGee (gayinfolsom) More Over-Rated Mediocrity. I liked it though. This was only shortly after the silent era. I liked this one because it was well produced and edited and had a really good, energetic flow. It has the flow, movement and rhythm of a swing-time musical. As far as character study there is not really any of that, just generic characters. As far as meaning or expression (art, symbolism etc etc.) there wasn't really much. This piece seemed to be produced for a secondary reason aside from art or story such as to make money by showing off technology or production value.5.5

richspenc When we see Ruby Keeler being introduced to the film, she gets teased by a few girls who lead her to almost walk into the men's room, and then to walk in on Dick Powell. Powell takes an immediate fondness to Ruby, just like in the other 1930s films with Powell and Ruby. I can never blame Powell, Ruby is beautiful and wonderful. We also meet beautiful girls Una Merkel and Ginger Rogers. Ginger is.'Anytime Annie', who "never says no except for once when she didn't hear the question". Una looked different in this film from some of her other films such as "Born to dance" and "Broadway Melody 36", not just younger (since this film came earlier from the other mentioned two) but she just looked sort of different altogether in this film. She was still very pretty just like in her other films. I loved her fun, quirky character in this film.Warner Baxter, who was warned by his doctor to take it easy, ignores him and finds his number one goal and dream, is to put on a dazzling, amazing show. If he can go through with that, nothing else matters. He is a very determined and aspiring director. The main story with rehearsals was very good in this film, along with good humor too. The musical numbers were wonderful. 42nd street, Shuffle off to Buffalo (with Ginger and Una sitting on a top bunk eating a banana), You're young and healthy , and You're getting to be a habit with me. Bebe Daniels likes Guy Kibby (I like the "things can never be the same now" bit), until Bebe calls Guy "you sucka!" while drunk at a party. I liked the passion between Ruby and George Brent (I think that this was the only of Busby's 1930s films where Ruby eloped with someone besides Powell. I cannot blame either of those guys though for being fond of lovely Ruby.I also found amusing near the beginning when Ruby was accepted into tryouts with the help of Powell, and Una and Ginger. We see them all throughout a couple of tryout scenes, then we get the scene where one of the slightly uppity girls is showing herself to the producers, and Ginger says "and is her homework tough", with Ruby laughing with Ginger and Una still standing amongst them. Then the film cuts to a moment after some more tryouts that weren't shown in the film, and now Ruby was asleep on a nearby bench while Warner was huffing about them being a girl short. Powell mentioned how Ruby was cut (somewhere between the previous shown tryout scenes and the present scene). Warner and his assistant call out to Ruby to wake up and all the girls on stage giggle. For some reason, I found all that very amusing, I liked that. I don't know why Ruby was cut when everyone seemed to like her the first time they saw her, and then they all looked quite happy to have her back (including Una I could see). I was happy to see Ruby back too.I loved the passionate moment from Warner to Ruby right before going on stage "You're going out an aspired actress and you're coming back a star!" His predictions were right on. Ruby shined beautifully through her songs, especially "42nd Street". But Ruby was wonderful through all.There's also a few cheeky lines in this film such as "you got the busiest hands" and "I'm sitting on a flagpole" from Una after a guy had crossed bounds with her a bit more than she wanted. Also Una doing an implicating gesture with her mouth after seeing Ruby and Powell together. Cheeky Una.

Blake Peterson "Sawyer, you listen to me, and you listen hard!" Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter) exclaims with exasperation to his leading lady, Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler). "Two hundred people, two hundred jobs, two hundred thousand dollars, five weeks of grind and blood and sweat depend upon you!"Julian Marsh is the kind of stage director that forces his dancers to stay up hours upon hours to perfect a particular dance routine; so imagine his anxiety when Peggy, who has only wafted through the chorus line in her short theater career, is, out of anguish, cast as the female lead after the real star (Bebe Daniels) twists her ankle.In the wholesome sheen of 42nd Street, of course Peggy will do a stupendous job, of course become a star, and of course end up in the arms of the man of her dreams. But as the quintessential, and perhaps one of the first, "behind-the-scenes" musicals, 42nd Street is a breezy and often times impressive film, a popcorn flick that benefits from its extraordinarily bubbly cast and Busby Berkeley's famed choreography. Until the last ten minutes of the film, there is nothing in store that we haven't seen before. But I'll be damned if those last ten minutes aren't some of the best last ten minutes the musical genre has ever seen.The first half goes by wearing Depression-era movie glitter as a jacket, warmed with romantic misunderstandings, catty one-liners, and conflicts that most likely seemed ridiculous to the many Hooverville housed audience members. All the fluff eventually seems like a pastime when putting the closing number into perspective; considering every single song, dance, and bit of spectacle is saved until later, the stuff that takes place in reality rather than the realm of the stage is only slightly unexciting. The far better Gold Diggers of 1933 had a big closer, true, but it also gave us sneak peeks of the extravaganza early on, and the cast, which featured comedic champs Joan Blondell and Aline MacMahon, added an extra zip that made everything just a little more self-aware.The second half is when the goods kick in, and boy, do they kick. Several of the actors are finally given the chance to show off their hidden musical talents, and Berkeley's seminal routines are put on display with startling gusto. A master of creating kaleidoscopic shapes with his dancers, the aerial shots are staggering, with close-ups transforming his subjects into pieces of an accomplished puzzle. Months from now, you and I will not remember the romance between Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler, the underuse of Ginger Rogers, or the music; the routines are what make 42nd Street the classic it is today. In films like this, you can save the dialogue for later. Because we want dessert immediately; dinner can wait. Read more reviews at petersonreviews.com