Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

runamokprods This has it's a lot of fun moments, including 15 minutes worth of terrific, over-the-top Busby Berkeley dance numbers, some snappy, sexy pre-code dialogue, and impressive early use of crane shots.Yes, it's mostly awkwardly acted. And the whole thing is a string of clichés from start to finish. But, this film helped establish those clichés, and is pretty darn enjoyable in a corny, silly way.Many critics consider it a classic, and it is indeed important in Hollywood history.That said, I can't quite bring myself to say "classic", but I did smile a lot, especially on 2nd viewing.

mark.waltz Tapping her way out of being simply Mrs. Al Jolson, the big-eyed Ruby Keeler became a bonified movie musical star rather than a hoofer who bore more than just a passing resemblance to an Australian bush baby. With her somewhat nasally voice and as she described herself a dancer with huge feet, Keeler wasn't what you would call the typical glamor star, but there was something remarkable about her that made her a huge box office attraction for several years as America headed out of the great depression. She represented the hard working American girl, making it out of the chorus and into the spotlight, and in "42nd Street", she proved that it takes more than just talent to make it work. Pairing her with tenor Dick Powell, still relatively unknown, was genius on producer Darryl F. Zanuck's part, and like Fred and Ginger and Nelson and Jeanette, movie musical magic was made.Still in her prime, Bebe Daniels plays the perfect temperamental Broadway star who is afraid her glory days are falling behind her. She's still getting leading parts because she's found sugar falling off the tree with daddy Guy Kibbee and has put her cup out in order to catch it. But true love with George Brent that she considers a moat in the way of her castle of stardom threatens her goals of glory on stage, so when a young and innocent girl from Allentown (Keeler) proves to have what it takes to become the next Cinderella girl on Broadway, Daniels must pull out her claws and scratch. It's up to producer Warner Baxter to keep everybody together, and along with wise-cracking chorus girls Ginger Rogers ("Anytime Annie") and monocled Una Merkel, he's got his hands full.This isn't a new story, for certain, and in the January days of the movie musical, there were all sorts of similar stories. But technology had improved a great deal since Jolson first sang on screen in 1927, and with Busby Berkley putting together some of the greatest ensembles ever seen on screen, movie goers hopped back onto the movie musical band wagon. Studios were overjoyed and the remainder of the 1930's were set with all sorts of great new stars aboard the Twentieth Century heading from Broadway to Hollywood with a dime in their pocket and a dream in their heart. If any movie had a greater influence on the genre it belonged to, it would have tough competition with "42nd Street" in the annals of Hollywood history.Musically, this is one of the most hit filled song and dance films ever. "Young and Healthy" (with a gorgeous Toby Wing as Powell's blonde chorus girl cutie) is the anthem of the youth and beauty and joy and happiness as the jazz age moved into the swing age. Keeler is a beautiful bride shuffling off to Buffalo. As she goes from youngster to star, you know she's going to remain humbled by her luck, so by the time that the triumph of the title song comes along, she's on her way to glory. No longer does she have to be Mrs. Al Jolson anymore.Her early retirement from films didn't come from another end of movie musicals; She simply wanted to have some time in her life being a devoted wife and mother in a second marriage that made her forget the troubles of the first. In a way, Keeler's character's story parallels her own life and that makes it quite interesting. When she returned to the spotlight with "No No Nanette", the love she received from the public overwhelmed her. The innocence still within her shines through her lack of acting experience, and that is what makes a star. Rogers and Merkel have little to do musically, but Powell and Keeler make it all the worthwhile. "42nd Street" to this day remains a reminder to any Broadway wanna-be that they can do it. The possibilities of dreams are endless, and that is what helps keep this movie as magical as it was over 80 years ago.

gkeith_1 My observations: Let's hear it for the dancers. I am a tap dancer. All the boo hoo about Ruby's tap dancing is absurd. She was a star, and you are not. In the 42nd street title dance sequence, she is tap dancing in what we of modern tap dance styles call "rhythm tap", in which the dancer dances closer to the ground and may even pitch a little forward on the toe taps. The old style of tap dance is called "Broadway tap", where the woman is up on the higher heeled tap shoes and the carriage is held higher and posture more erect. As far as Ruby's "clumsy" dancing, that is also absurd. She was dancing in flat tap shoes, whereas when she and other women danced in higher heeled tap shoes they more tended to "dance on air". IMO, high heeled tap shoes are more elegant and sexy. I have tap danced in both types.Furthermore, most of the time you only saw women tap dancing in the higher heeled tap shoes, anyway, ala Ann Miller, Ginger Rogers, Eleanor Powell, Marge Champion, et al. Flat tap shoes ala 42nd Street number by Ruby Keeler always make a louder, stronger tap sound. They are what the men wear. I mean, did you ever see movie men tap dance in high heeled tap shoes? Additionally, notice other early tap movies. Old fashioned stories such as Shirley Temple (a child, of course), wearing her long dresses while tapping in flat tap shoes without much sound: tap's early days were done with wooden taps; metal taps came along much later. Lots of tap movies done with old wooden taps didn't have much sound. As a matter of fact, in tap movies the sound was added later; there were no microphones on the tap shoes or on the floors. This is why, I think, that upon seeing old tap movies today I can hear many more taps than the dancer could possibly dance in the time depicted.Further, high heeled tap shoes have smaller taps in general. The toe taps can be smaller than on the flat tap shoes, or what I call the men's tap shoes. A big man has gigantic toe taps. The high heeled women's tap shoes have tiny, little heel taps, that don't make much sound.More observations about this film: Julian Marsh reminds me of Florenz Ziegfeld. After the 1929 Stock Market Crash and ensuing Great Depression, Ziggy was bankrupt and in ill health, and later passed away, his wife Billie Burke going back to work to pay his bills (witness her daffy characters in some movies plus her later blockbuster Wizard of Oz).Julian Marsh was a desperate, formerly on top Broadway producer, in ill health and who I feel had a terminal illness diagnosis from his physician on the phone earlier in the film.1933 was six years after the 1927 Jazz Singer sound debut. 1933 was in The Great Depression. I thought that the film 42nd Street did very well, considering these things. Additionally, in Singin' in the Rain, 1951, it shows how early sound films had problems with production values such as microphones. I like 42nd Street. It still gets people interested in tap dancing.Broadway also fared badly during and after World War One. Audiences stayed away, men were sent off to war, shows closed, bankruptcies abounded. In my opinion, wars and economic downturns affect Broadway. There are some success stories, however. During World War Two, Broadway fared well with dancing musicals such as Oklahoma and Carousel; they both had ballet dances included in the storytelling.Broadway is still here. Musicals still abound. Silent movies, sound movies and television never killed Broadway. Movies and TV preserve actor's/dancers'/singers' performances, yes, but even those -- as they age -- are subject to faulty and expensive preservation techniques.Viva La Broadway Show, and filmed depictions thereof.10/10

dougdoepke No need to recap the plot.Wow, Julian (Baxter) is some kind of slave driver, working those poor chorus girls half to death. But then he has to be tough to come up with that boffo climax. It's worth waiting for even though it's a long time coming. Yes indeed, the carnally obsessed Berkeley manages a number of flowering O's, but what I really like is the panoramic slide down 42nd Street, with all the acts getting about 5-seconds, even the Apache dancers. In fact, the entire number is a musical dynamo of choreography and editing.The rest of the movie is okay. Too bad the dimpled Keeler and her handsome swain Powell don't get more screen time. They're a luminescent pair; no wonder they made a number of musicals together. Also, they're those tempting glimpses of a young, wise-cracking Ginger Rogers and the comical Una Merkel. However, things slow down with Daniels, and come to dead stop with Brent. His woefully deadpan expression suggests he's wandered onto the wrong set.I expect much of the purpose behind the narrative scenes is to de-romanticize Broadway musicals. That way we see just how much work they really are. If so, they succeed in spades. And catch that sometimes moody photography, along with a lonely exhausted Julian at fadeout. But none of that takes anything away from the show-stopping finale.