42nd STREET

(U.S.A., 1933, 89 mins)

35mm

Cast: Dick Powell, Bebe Daniels, Warner Baxter, Ruby Keeler, George Brent, Guy Kibbee, Ginger Rogers

Presented by Vancouver Bandleader Dal Richards

A smash hit for Warner Bros in 1933, 42nd Street revitalized the popularity of the backstage musical just as the entire movie business seemed to be flagging. Mixing hardboiled Depression cynicism and Broadway glamour, the film introduced tap dancer Ruby Keeler (Mrs Al Jolson) as a lowly chorine promoted to the lead role on opening night, giving rise to the legendary line, "Sawyer, you're going out a youngster, but you've got to come back a star."

Also featuring the fresh-faced Dick Powell, and Ginger Rogers as "Anytime Annie", the film celebrates innocence but revels in innuendo. Its secret ingredient is dance director Busby Berkeley, whose inspired and frankly risqué routines for songs like Shuffle Off to Buffalo and Young and Healthy transformed the way that musicals were shot.

This special screening features an introduction. You are invited to stay for a Q&A and reception after the screening.

"Naughty, bawdy, gaudy, sporty, 42nd Street is a prime chunk of fantasy real-estate - not just a movie, but a novel, a song, a play, an act, an attitude, a dream, a racket, a rhythm, a way of life." - J Hoberman, BFI Modern Classics: 42nd Street

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