Footlight Parade (1933)

IMDb plot summary: Chester Kent struggles against time, romance, and a rival's spy to produce spectacular live "prologues" for movie houses.
Directed Lloyd Bacon. Starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, and Dick Powell.

This is interesting watching shortly after Gold Diggers of 1933, another 1930s Busby Berkely musical. In both instances, the musical numbers visuals are the best part, even if you have to do some pretty spectacular disbelief suspension to even pretend these scenes are taking place in a live theatre. There's a fascinating bit of (maybe?) history happening here too, looking at the attempts to make theatre relevant to a world obsessed with movies. (I seriously want to look up more about these "prologues" and whether they genuinely were a thing for the 1920s/1930s moviegoer.) The plot itself is pretty thin and, like Gold Diggers, I wish the movie numbers were spread throughout rather than held together until the end. But the final 30 minutes almost make the infinitely fluffy first hour worth it. Fun, but not substantial.

3 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Footlight Parade > Ghostbusters (1984)
Footlight Parade < High Strung
Footlight Parade < At First Sight
Footlight Parade > Star Trek Into Darkness
Footlight Parade < A Separation
Footlight Parade < Peggy Sue Got Married
Footlight Parade < Swing Time
Footlight Parade > Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Footlight Parade < Fantastic Mr. Fox
Footlight Parade < Nine Lives
Footlight Parade < Marooned
Footlight Parade < Mad Max

Final spot: #1163 out of 2683.