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Films

42nd Street (1933)

A spectacular Busby Berkely musical


Date & time
Sunday, February 1, 2015
6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Cost

$8 or $6 for students and seniors. Tickets available at the door only, in cash.

Contact

Philippe Spurrell
514-738-3456

Where

Visual Arts Building
1395 René Lévesque W.
Room VA-114

Wheel chair accessible

Yes

42nd Street (1933, U.S., 89 min.)
Directors: Lloyd Bacon & Busby Berkeley

Here it is folks! The film that formed the template for so many musicals to follow and the one that showed Hollywood how to make them on a spectacular scale. Whether you are a fan of 1930s musicals or not, 42nd Street seems to transcend the genre and offer something for everyone: drama, humour, romance, inventive cinematography, stunning sets and costumes…and lots of pre-decency code sexual innuendo.

Featuring many of the big stars of the day, their characters are also well-defined. You have the obsessively driven stage director (Warner Baxter), the catty showgirls (Ginger Rogers as Anytime Annie and Una Merkel), the bitchy star (Bebe Daniels), there's the rich producer (Guy Kibbee), the handsome young bachelor (a boyish George Brent), the cute naive understudy (Ruby Keeler) and the gee-whiz tenor (Dick Powell).

The timeless score by Harry Warren and Al Dubin boasts 'Shuffle off to Buffalo', 'You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me' and the classic title song, '42nd Street.' Genius choreographer Busby Berkeley pushes the beautiful chorus girls to their tap-dancing limit, giving the viewer (voyeur) some incredibly indelible screen images in the process. For the show-stopping finale, Berkeley pulled out all the stops to create an immortal production number in which Ruby Keeler dances atop a taxi, Manhattan skyscrapers sway and scantily clad beauties are arranged in geometric patterns shot from high overhead in a sensational rhythmic kaleidoscope. A feel good movie of the most classic kind, 42nd Street will have you wishing you'd taken tap dancing lessons by the end of it.

It is almost pointless to view this type of work on something electronic so count your lucky stars we have a very nice genuine film print to project onto a large theatrical screen for you to enjoy in a darkened cinema. To be preceded by rare 1930s short documentaries that offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the Warner Brothers studio show girl casting process as well as a look at New York's Broadway musical scene with famous people of the era.

Coffee, tea and home-baked desserts offered at intermission. Check out the whole program.


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