Footlight Parade (1933)
I saw Footlight Parade this weekend and was blown away by it. It was so good. I couldn't believe the references they made in the movie. I felt like the writer and choreographer of this film were really advanced at the time.
I don't know much about this period, but I do know that early 1930s is during the Great Depression in the U.S. The film is already a talkie (first talking film was in 1927).
Things that caught me by surprise while watching this film:
1) At the beginning of the movie, the two guys mentioned "majong". I didn't know that people were that culturally aware at that time.
2) Could this movie be the first to introduce the idea of Cats as the musical??? The broadway version came much much later!
3) They talked about divorce and the complications of negotiating the divorce. Divorce? In the 1930s? I mean, I know that the women have the right to vote in the 1920s, but I thought divorce is not common or really frowned upon socially at the time.
4) Synchronized swimming and the underwater filming. Underwater Filming!!??? That was already possible back then!? Wow. And the choreography was superb.
5) They have a complete song/dancing number about Shanghai at the end. Well, to be precise, it is about an American liking this Chinese prostitute called Shanghai Lil, which reminds me of Miss Saigon the musical...but I have not seen an old movie that have much asian reference without being racist (like Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)).
6) The competition between chain stores and small, local stores. In the past few years, smaller stores and independent bookstores have gone out of business due to the economy, which made me feel like this struggle to stay alive for smaller stores is a recent thing....but this has already started happening back in the 1930s! This movie already talked about the discounted prices of chain stores versus getting the same over-the-counter medicine at a local drug store at a more expensive price (so why would anyone go to the local drug store?). Upon further research, the famous retail store Woolworth Company was first founded in 1879! So this local vs chain store phenomenon is not new at all...but has the power of the chain store finally tipped the scale so that local stores would die out soon?
And of course apart from that, the singing and dancing were wonderful. Busby Berkeley's choreography was marvelous. I thought that the movie was even better than later musicals like Singing in the Rain or American in Paris.
I really liked Singing in the Rain too, but I think at the time the movie came out, the singing and dancing have already become so popular in movies that dancers like Gene Kelly and others were being told to dance while facing the camera and having a permanent smile on their faces. There is some type of gap between the plot and the dancing numbers. It has become more showbiz.
What I love about Footlight Parade is that the plot remains at the core, and the singing/dancing were incorporated into the plot more cohesively. The characters are singing and dancing to each other while still being in the scene. It is a subtle difference but that's what I have noticed.
I will be watching more of Busby Berkeley's films.
I don't know much about this period, but I do know that early 1930s is during the Great Depression in the U.S. The film is already a talkie (first talking film was in 1927).
Things that caught me by surprise while watching this film:
1) At the beginning of the movie, the two guys mentioned "majong". I didn't know that people were that culturally aware at that time.
2) Could this movie be the first to introduce the idea of Cats as the musical??? The broadway version came much much later!
3) They talked about divorce and the complications of negotiating the divorce. Divorce? In the 1930s? I mean, I know that the women have the right to vote in the 1920s, but I thought divorce is not common or really frowned upon socially at the time.
4) Synchronized swimming and the underwater filming. Underwater Filming!!??? That was already possible back then!? Wow. And the choreography was superb.
5) They have a complete song/dancing number about Shanghai at the end. Well, to be precise, it is about an American liking this Chinese prostitute called Shanghai Lil, which reminds me of Miss Saigon the musical...but I have not seen an old movie that have much asian reference without being racist (like Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)).
6) The competition between chain stores and small, local stores. In the past few years, smaller stores and independent bookstores have gone out of business due to the economy, which made me feel like this struggle to stay alive for smaller stores is a recent thing....but this has already started happening back in the 1930s! This movie already talked about the discounted prices of chain stores versus getting the same over-the-counter medicine at a local drug store at a more expensive price (so why would anyone go to the local drug store?). Upon further research, the famous retail store Woolworth Company was first founded in 1879! So this local vs chain store phenomenon is not new at all...but has the power of the chain store finally tipped the scale so that local stores would die out soon?
And of course apart from that, the singing and dancing were wonderful. Busby Berkeley's choreography was marvelous. I thought that the movie was even better than later musicals like Singing in the Rain or American in Paris.
I really liked Singing in the Rain too, but I think at the time the movie came out, the singing and dancing have already become so popular in movies that dancers like Gene Kelly and others were being told to dance while facing the camera and having a permanent smile on their faces. There is some type of gap between the plot and the dancing numbers. It has become more showbiz.
What I love about Footlight Parade is that the plot remains at the core, and the singing/dancing were incorporated into the plot more cohesively. The characters are singing and dancing to each other while still being in the scene. It is a subtle difference but that's what I have noticed.
I will be watching more of Busby Berkeley's films.