The hijinks of 14th Street move to mid-town in this delightful musical which takes "42nd Street's" Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter) to Broadway and into society after his easy money off of Union Square gives him the means to tackle Times Square. Only the first ten minutes of this movie shows him actually working in Burlesque; His girly-show revues with low-down comedy (a la "Sugar Babies" and "The Nance") become more elaborate and mainstream on Broadway, and very soon, he's the most prominent producer of musical revues on the "Gay White Way". His attendance at the auction of broke socialite Mona Barrie gives him an introduction to society even though their initial meetings does not leave her with a good impression of him. But a broke socialite needs a rich man to keep her in furs, and when he suggests a marriage of convenience to her to get his name in the society columns, she jumps at the chance, even though she's in love with a boorish opera singer. Standing in the background is the tough but love-lorn Alice Faye whom he considers to be "one of the boys", not realizing the extent of her affections. Of course, the relationship between Baxter and Barrie comes to a sudden end, and it is up to Faye & Baxter's assistant (Jack Oakie) to come to his aid to bring him back to the top of Broadway once again.
There are so many great moments in this film that it is difficult to single out individual scenes, but I have to give a special thumbs up to the inclusion of "Fats" Waller as the elevator man who gets to do his specialty in the finale of the finger-snapping "I've got my Fingers Crossed", making you wish all the more that he had another big number. The glorious "I'm Shooting High" is the other big production number, performed with gusto by Miss Faye and later repeated on Broadway in the burlesque musical "Sugar Babies" with equal aplomb by the legendary Ann Miller. With her Jean Harlow like platinum blonde hair and husky voice, Alice has a natural screen presence, a combination of sweet and sassy, and at times, she really just comes across so easy-going that the fact that she doesn't seem to be even acting makes her all the more likable. Dixie Dunbar is adorable as Baxter's secretary.
All the archetypes of the Broadway scene are present, with a few gay references thrown in that the Hays code didn't pick up on. I wanted to see more of the comic burlesque routines that sometimes really cut close to the border of good taste, but then again, good taste was something that burlesque never tried to emulate. As Baxter himself learns after taking wife Barrie's advice and producing something more sophisticated, he falls flat on his face and must return to the tried and true method of entertainment: scantily clad females singing and dancing, low down comic routines, and those fun little blackouts that usually ended with the orchestra playing the quick little "tah-dah" notes that indicated to the audience that they could laugh and applaud with the usually corny but often funny punch line.
There are so many great moments in this film that it is difficult to single out individual scenes, but I have to give a special thumbs up to the inclusion of "Fats" Waller as the elevator man who gets to do his specialty in the finale of the finger-snapping "I've got my Fingers Crossed", making you wish all the more that he had another big number. The glorious "I'm Shooting High" is the other big production number, performed with gusto by Miss Faye and later repeated on Broadway in the burlesque musical "Sugar Babies" with equal aplomb by the legendary Ann Miller. With her Jean Harlow like platinum blonde hair and husky voice, Alice has a natural screen presence, a combination of sweet and sassy, and at times, she really just comes across so easy-going that the fact that she doesn't seem to be even acting makes her all the more likable. Dixie Dunbar is adorable as Baxter's secretary.
All the archetypes of the Broadway scene are present, with a few gay references thrown in that the Hays code didn't pick up on. I wanted to see more of the comic burlesque routines that sometimes really cut close to the border of good taste, but then again, good taste was something that burlesque never tried to emulate. As Baxter himself learns after taking wife Barrie's advice and producing something more sophisticated, he falls flat on his face and must return to the tried and true method of entertainment: scantily clad females singing and dancing, low down comic routines, and those fun little blackouts that usually ended with the orchestra playing the quick little "tah-dah" notes that indicated to the audience that they could laugh and applaud with the usually corny but often funny punch line.