42nd Street
A producer puts on what may be his last Broadway show, and at the last moment a chorus girl has to replace the star…
- Director: Lloyd Bacon
- Genre:Drama / Musical / Romance
- Runtime:89 minutes
Cast
Warner Baxter : Julian Marsh
Bebe Daniels : Dorothy Brock
George Brent : Pat Denning
Ruby Keeler : Peggy Sawyer
Guy Kibbee : Abner Dillon
It is 1932, the height of the Depression, and Broadway producers Jones (Robert McWade) and Barry (Ned Sparks) put on Pretty Lady, a musical starring beautiful Dorothy (“Dot”) Brock (Bebe Daniels). Dorothy’s “sugar daddy,” industrialist Abner Dillon (Guy Kibbee), is the show’s “angel” (financial backer). But while Dorothy is busy keeping Dillon both hooked and at arm’s length, she still secretly meets her old vaudeville partner and lover, out of work Pat Denning (George Brent).
To ensure success Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter), harsh and demanding but also the best, is hired to direct. But Marsh is ill, broke, friendless, and bitter as a result of the 1929 Stock Market Crash. “Did you ever try to cash a reputation in a bank?,” he asks. Gambling with health and life, Marsh must make his last show a major hit if he is to have enough money to retire on. “This time I’m going to sock it away so hard you’ll have to blast to get it out.”
Cast selection and rehearsals begin amidst fierce competition, with not a few “casting couch” innuendos flying around. Innocent newcomer Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler) is duped until two chorines, Lorraine Fleming (Una Merkel) and Ann “Anytime Annie” Lowell (Ginger Rogers), take her in tow. Lorraine has an “in” with dance director Andy Lee (George E. Stone), while the show’s juvenile lead Billy Lawler (Dick Powell) takes a liking to Peggy and puts in a good word for her with Marsh.
Rehearsals continue for five weeks to Marsh’s complete dissatisfaction, until the night before the opening in Philadelphia, Dorothy Brock (Bebe Daniels), the star, breaks her ankle. Next morning Abner Dillon (Guy Kibbee) wants Marsh to cast his new interest, Ann Lowell, as the star, but Annie decides she isn’t talented enough. Instead she tells Marsh to use untried, green, Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler). Read more
