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Footlight Parade

Footlight Parade

Comedy · Music · 1933

A fledgling producer finds himself at odds with his workers, financiers and his greedy ex-wife when he tries to produce live musicals for movie-going audiences.

Movie details

Footlight Parade

“Climaxing Warner Bros.' glittering parade of musicals!”

1933 Comedy · Music 1h 44m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

A fledgling producer finds himself at odds with his workers, financiers and his greedy ex-wife when he tries to produce live musicals for movie-going audiences.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Footlight Parade?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Lloyd Bacon

Written by

Manuel Seff · James Seymour · Robert Lord · Peter Milne

James Cagney

James Cagney

Chester Kent

Joan Blondell

Joan Blondell

Nan

Ruby Keeler

Ruby Keeler

Bea

Dick Powell

Dick Powell

Scotty

Frank McHugh

Frank McHugh

Francis

Guy Kibbee

Guy Kibbee

Gould

Ruth Donnelly

Ruth Donnelly

Mrs. Gould

Court is in session

Put Footlight Parade on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.