42nd Street (1933)

(On Cable TV, October 2019) Backstage musicals have been a part of movie history DNA since the invention of sound, and 42nd Street was part of the genetic mutation that made it so. Adapted from a forgotten (and much racier) novel, it’s a film that codifies several of the clichés we associate with movies about putting on a show, including the last-minute replacement, dying director, casting couch shenanigans and other assorted gags. (Including the writer quibbling about insignificant line readings choices.)  It’s a bit technically rough but still quite watchable, although for much of its sprightly 90-minute duration you could be forgiven for thinking that 42nd Street is a well made but not exceptional comedy. Then the “show” begins and we get three Busby Berkley numbers in rapid succession that blow the doors off the film. Suddenly, we’re deep in Berkley’s impossible-to-stage-without-movie-editing numbers, with exploding stages in “Shuffle Off to Buffalo,” kaleidoscope imagery in which humans become mere abstract figures in “Young and Healthy,” and a dizzying “42nd Street” number making stunning use on an expansive set and a rapid-fire succession of comedy and tragedy. That’s when the film becomes and remains an absolute classic. To riff on the film’s best-known line, 42nd Street began the show as a young example of the musical form and finished as an all-time favourite. The Pre-Code status of the film can be seen in subtle but pleasant touches: the risqué costumes, allusions to casting couch, daring cynical lyrics (“Shuffle off to Buffalo” is particularly funny) and suggestive subplots. Fans of musicals shouldn’t miss it.