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Author
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Topic: Footlight Parade
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Paul Adsett
Film God
Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted April 17, 2007 12:49 PM
Footlight Parade (1934)
Warner Bros, Black & White
Derann 2 x 400ft Double Album
After the success of 42nd Street and Goldiggers of 1933 Warner Brothers moved right on to the next , and arguably most opulent, of the series, Footlight Parade . Like it’s predecessors, this film is yet another backstage musical, starring the now well established Ruby Keeler and her crooning love interest Dick Powell. But Footlight Parade benefits immensely by the lead role presence of James Cagney, and his own love interest, the blousy Joan Blondell.
The film deals with a form of entertainment that flourished for a few years in the late 1920’s and then died out – the production of theatrical prologues, or short stage musicals, that preceded the showing of motion pictures in the major movie theaters. Cagney, is Chester Kent, the producer of these prologues, who is absorbed with putting out a stream of prologues on a weekly basis, that will trump rival prologue producers. Blondell suspects that they have a spy among them, who is stealing all their ideas for the rival producers, so at one point Cagney quarantines the entire company , with everyone eating and sleeping within his sight! Throughout the film Cagney is his usual charming, frenetic self, delivering lines like a machine gun, and draining the energy of his stressed out producer, Frank McHugh! As usual in these types of films, the storyline is pretty light, and are just a prop for Busby Berkeley’s knockout production numbers. The finale of the film is when, in one incredible evening, Cagney and his company, race around theaters in New York staging blockbuster productions at each one in succession!
Derann’s 2 x 400ft double album is beautifully edited, minimizing the story line and focusing on Berkeley’s numbers, which are presented pretty well in their entirety with just minor trimming, and in the correct order too. So you don't have to do any cutting, just join reel 2 onto reel 1, if you wish to show the whole thing on a 45 minute 800ft reel.
Reel 1 includes Ruby dressed up as a cat singing Sitting on a Backyard Fence with Frank McHugh, and ends up with the rather suggestive Honeymoon Hotel , where Ruby and Dick check in on their honeymoon into a hotel apparently frequented by lots of girls in low cut pajamas! Reel 2 opens up with the staggering By a Waterfall number, where Berkely pulls out all the stops in a fantastic aquacade of one hundred girls, led by Ruby Keeler, performing intricate kaleidoscopic patterns in a huge black water pool surrounded by fountains of water. This number, lasting almost 10 minutes, is absolutely jaw dropping, more so if you are seeing it for the first time, climaxing in a huge rotating human fountain of beautiful girls in diamond encrusted swim suits – and is now one of the iconic images of the 1930’s film period. The final number is Shanghai Lil , where Cagney enters a Shanghai saloon searching for his girlfriend Lil who literally pops up, in the form of Ruby Keeler complete with slant eyes and a jet black wig , out of a beer barrel! This leads to the highlight of this number, when Ruby and Cagney tap out the song on top of the saloon’s bar. This number closes out the film with one of Berkeley’s typical military style parades.
Print quality is good, not quite up to the exceptional standard of Golddiggers of 1933, but still very acceptable, with generally sharp focus and good contrast in most of the scenes. A few of the scenes, particularly at the beginning of real 1, seem a little too light. Sound level is fine and good, particularly considering the age of the material. The film comes in two superb plastic clamshell boxes, with really beautiful front and back graphics. Clearly Derann decided to give these great Warner musicals the kind of care in editing, and exceptional packaging they deserve.
Highly Recommended
Print B+
Sound B
[ April 17, 2007, 07:19 PM: Message edited by: Paul Adsett ]
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Graham Ritchie
Film God
Posts: 4001
From: New Zealand
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted April 19, 2007 11:40 PM
Hi Paul
Excellent review, you cant beat a good musical on Super8 we have been lucky over the years with such films as the Scope version of "The Sound Of Music", one of my favourite digests had the number "A Couple Of Swells" with Judy Garland and Fred Astaire from Easter Parade, sadly this digest has faded. I have on both Super8 and 16mm, prints of "Thats Entertainment" one good thing about DVD and video projection is that many titles have now been remastered with a 5:1 soundtrack, such as the musical "Oliver", a few years ago we had a convention here and part of the programme was a selection of complete numbers from a private collector who had extracts from such films as "Annie Get Your Gun" all on 35mm, projected at a local cinema, everone enjoyed it, looked and sounded great on the large screen.
Graham.
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Paul Adsett
Film God
Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted August 02, 2007 12:49 PM
Having just aquired 'The Busby Berkeley Collection' six disc DVD, we watched the 'Footlight Parade' DVD last night. The thing that struck me the most was how, in comparison, the Derann Super 8mm double album digest really captures the best , and most relevant, parts of the film with no loss of the story line. Every bit as enjoyable as the full feature, perhaps more so. What a great editing job!
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The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection,
Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade
Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar
Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj
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Michael De Angelis
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1261
From: USA
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted August 02, 2007 02:17 PM
Footlight Parade is featured
at Disney's MGM Studio Park
in the Walt Disney World Resort
in Florida.
If you ever plan a trip, please do not
miss any of the parks in Walt Disney World.
At the MGM park is a magnificent
attraction: The Great Movie Ride.
The exterior is the famous
Hollywood landmark: Mann's Chinese Theatre,
with impeccable detail. The front courtyard
has famous celebrity hand prints
in cement that had visited.
Inside are famous movie costumes
and props.
As the cue advances to inside the auditorium,
there are trailers of classic films
projected on the screen. They all represent
films that you will encounter on the ride.
The best part is that Disney is still using Film
on 35mm projectors.
The first presentation is Footlight Parade.
There is also:
Singin' in the Rain,
Mary Poppins,
The Searchers with John Wayne
looking over at Clint Eastwood,
Cagney in a Gangster shoot out,
Casablanca,
Raiders of the Lost Arc,
Alien,
The Wizard of Oz
and probably more that I forgot.
It all ends with the screen opening
with a multitude of classic images
montaged together.
For a movie lover, it is a
wonderful experience, with
the animation brought to life.
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Isn't it great that we can all communicate about this great
hobby that we love!
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