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Topic	~ The Gauntlet Crew Ranks Movie Musicals, Part 2: The Golden Age ~
Vengeful_KBM 01/18/20 9:40:47 PM #75:	26. 42nd Street KBM: 14 Scarlet: 15 JONA: 23 Genny: 25 Inviso: 25 Johnbobb: 26 Karo: 27 KBM - *Why I Chose It:* This classic backstage musical, based on a 1932 novel by Bradford Ropes, was one of the biggest hits of 1933, earning rave reviews from critics and nominations for Best Picture and Best Sound at the 6th Academy Awards. To this day, many film historians consider this the film that should have won Best Picture that year, as opposed to the dull and largely forgotten melodrama Cavalcade. Featuring Ginger Rogers pre-Astaire partnership and iconic choreography by Busby Berkeley, 42nd Street has remained an enduring classic that was adapted into a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical in 1980, inducted into the Library of Congress' National Film Registry in 1998, and ranked 13th on the AFI's list of best musicals in 2006. *My Thoughts:* Though there are certainly plot elements here that are familiar to modern audiences, to say the least, I had a really good time with this movie. There's some very high-quality acting, especially from Warner Baxter as the director, Ginger Rogers in a hilarious supporting role, and Ruby Keeler as the nave young ingenue. There's also some really great, ahead-of-its-time camera work throughout by legendary cinematographer Sol Polito. And, of course, there's the unforgettable last 20 minutes where we finally see the musical Pretty Lady come together with Busby Berkeley's incredible production numbers. There's an electric energy to this film that manages to transcend some of its more dated elements (particularly the singing styles and the depiction of race), and even if some things about the first hour or so have become clichs, I couldn't help but relate to some of the goings-on as a theatre person myself. Favorite Song: 42nd Street Scarlet - Not as extravagant as other Great Depression musicals, but one of the more tuneful ones. Its influence alone earns it a higher placement on this list. Best Song: 42nd Street JONA - While its neat to see how an old movie executed backstage drama, its kinda forgettable. While the characters are likeable, they are also forgettable. I will say the ending is quite nice and seeing Pretty Lady after all the struggles makes it worth it. While its a movie Ive already forgotten about, I will say I dont regret watching it. Favorite Song: 42nd Street Genny - I almost forgot 42nd Street was a musical until about 20 minutes in. You can feel the desperation coming from the director Marsh whose life and livelihood depend on the success of Pretty Lady. I kept wanting to write him off as an asshole, but his motivation for pushing the crew so hard actually makes too much sense for the era this film represents. Even though he gets the hit he wants he's still not happy at the end. Tragic. Inviso - This waseh. It was just very melodramatic and boring through most of its runtime. The stakes never felt adequately raised to a point where I cared about whether Pretty Girl went off without a hitch or not, and all the problems (mainly bad singers/dancers, but whatever) felt completely flat to me as a viewer. Additionally, Im aware that musicals tend to have various side plots to pad out the runtimeI watched the first list, after allbut none of the side plots in this movie engaged me. So Dorothy has a creeper trying to Weinstein her, but she wants to marry her Vaudeville beauso what? So the director wants to end his career on a high noteso what? Really, the only character I came out of the film truly enjoying was Peggy, if only because she just came across as completely earnest and incorruptible. Other than that, this film is about 70 minutes of boredom, and then twenty minutes of 1930s songs. Not my cup of tea at all. Johnbobb - Man, I really wish there was more for me here. I want to praise the movie for it's closing number (hell, the full last 20 minutes is very entertaining) but unfortunatley, there's just not much leading up to that that's worth bothering with. The writing is pretty blah and the plot is fine but nothing special. None of the performances really stand out, and it strikes me as the type of the movie that succeeded largely due to its lack of competition at the time. Again, great final number, but that's just not enough to sell the film for me. It's a shame it didn't put more focus on the music in choreograpghy throughout, since that was definitely the biggest strength. Favorite song: 42nd Street Karo - So this producer makes a new stage show, and the story centers around the audition/rehearsal process of picking the cast. It is more about making a musical than actually a musical, and indeed we don't even get a complete song until the last 20 minutes. Even then, none of them really leave much of a mark other than the titular song. There is far too much time spent on various sordid relationships between ditzy showgirls and sexist pigs while the mary sue protagonist pretty much has her success arbitrarily handed to her by the flying spaghetti monster. How boring. You wont find the answers to life, the universe, or everything on this street. You'll be lucky if you find any answers at all. Score: 45/100 Best Song: '42nd Street' <cite>Vengeful_KBM posted [p:933151059] in ~ The Gaun... [t:78327237]...</cite> <quote>26. 42nd Street KBM: 14 Scarlet: 15 JONA: 23 Genny: 25 Inviso: 25 Johnbobb: 26 Karo: 27 KBM - Why I Chose It: This classic backstage musical, based on a 1932 novel by Bradford Ropes, was one of the biggest hits of 1933, earning rave reviews from critics and nominations for Best Picture and Best Sound at the 6th Academy Awards. To this day, many film historians consider this the film that should have won Best Picture that year, as opposed to the dull and largely forgotten melodrama Cavalcade. Featuring Ginger Rogers pre-Astaire partnership and iconic choreography by Busby Berkeley, 42nd Street has remained an enduring classic that was adapted into a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical in 1980, inducted into the Library of Congress' National Film Registry in 1998, and ranked 13th on the AFI's list of best musicals in 2006. My Thoughts: Though there are certainly plot elements here that are familiar to modern audiences, to say the least, I had a really good time with this movie. There's some very high-quality acting, especially from Warner Baxter as the director, Ginger Rogers in a hilarious supporting role, and Ruby Keeler as the nave young ingenue. There's also some really great, ahead-of-its-time camera work throughout by legendary cinematographer Sol Polito. And, of course, there's the unforgettable last 20 minutes where we finally see the musical Pretty Lady come together with Busby Berkeley's incredible production numbers. There's an electric energy to this film that manages to transcend some of its more dated elements (particularly the singing styles and the depiction of race), and even if some things about the first hour or so have become clichs, I couldn't help but relate to some of the goings-on as a theatre person myself. Favorite Song: 42nd Street Scarlet - Not as extravagant as other Great Depression musicals, but one of the more tuneful ones. Its influence alone earns it a higher placement on this list. Best Song: 42nd Street JONA - While its neat to see how an old movie executed backstage drama, its kinda forgettable. While the characters are likeable, they are also forgettable. I will say the ending is quite nice and seeing Pretty Lady after all the struggles makes it worth it. While its a movie Ive already forgotten about, I will say I dont regret watching it. Favorite Song: 42nd Street Genny - I almost forgot 42nd Street was a musical until about 20 minutes in. You can feel the desperation coming from the director Marsh whose life and livelihood depend on the success of Pretty Lady. I kept wanting to write him off as an asshole, but his motivation for pushing the crew so hard actually makes too much sense for the era this film represents. Even though he gets the hit he wants he's still not happy at the end. Tragic. Inviso - This waseh. It was just very melodramatic and boring through most of its runtime. The stakes never felt adequately raised to a point where I cared about whether Pretty Girl went off without a hitch or not, and all the problems (mainly bad singers/dancers, but whatever) felt completely flat to me as a viewer. Additionally, Im aware that musicals tend to have various side plots to pad out the runtimeI watched the first list, after allbut none of the side plots in this movie engaged me. So Dorothy has a creeper trying to Weinstein her, but she wants to marry her Vaudeville beauso what? So the director wants to end his career on a high noteso what? Really, the only character I came out of the film truly enjoying was Peggy, if only because she just came across as completely earnest and incorruptible. Other than that, this film is about 70 minutes of boredom, and then twenty minutes of 1930s songs. Not my cup of tea at all. Johnbobb - Man, I really wish there was more for me here. I want to praise the movie for it's closing number (hell, the full last 20 minutes is very entertaining) but unfortunatley, there's just not much leading up to that that's worth bothering with. The writing is pretty blah and the plot is fine but nothing special. None of the performances really stand out, and it strikes me as the type of the movie that succeeded largely due to its lack of competition at the time. Again, great final number, but that's just not enough to sell the film for me. It's a shame it didn't put more focus on the music in choreograpghy throughout, since that was definitely the biggest strength. Favorite song: 42nd Street Karo - So this producer makes a new stage show, and the story centers around the audition/rehearsal process of picking the cast. It is more about making a musical than actually a musical, and indeed we don't even get a complete song until the last 20 minutes. Even then, none of them really leave much of a mark other than the titular song. There is far too much time spent on various sordid relationships between ditzy showgirls and sexist pigs while the mary sue protagonist pretty much has her success arbitrarily handed to her by the flying spaghetti monster. How boring. You wont find the answers to life, the universe, or everything on this street. You'll be lucky if you find any answers at all. Score: 45/100 Best Song: '42nd Street' </quote> ... Copied to Clipboard!
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