42nd Street--film on DVD

Yes, I said yesterday I was going back to some old-fashioned cast albums, and here I am with an entry about a musical film. So sue me. But 42nd Street is the quintessential musical film. And it was made into a stage musical in 1980. I must put that cast album on my list, as it features the quintessential song and dance man Jerry Orbach.

In my recent foray into the dance world of Gene Kelly, I learned the difference between a hoofer and a dancer, thanks to some comments by Donald O'Connor. He describes himself as a hoofer--concerned with what his feet were doing, but not his upper body. He credits Kelly with making him dance using his whole body. Having seen his dancing for several earlier entries, I think O'Connor is being modest, but I understand the difference.

Well, 42nd Street is full of hoofers. There may not be any other type of dancer in this film. Ruby Keeler is a name I have often heard associated with early film musicals, and she is delightful from tip to tale. A good dancer with a fine singing voice. Ginger Rodgers has a secondary role as another member of the chorus; it's nice to remember that Ms. Rodgers was a comedienne, too.

The story is a tale oft' told, but may be one of the first times it's told in talkies. Young, untried chorus girl gets her big break when the star breaks her ankle and can't open the show. The script must contain every cliche of show business, and at times it does get a little hokey. But for the most part it works.

I did not know the name Harry Warren before seeing the opening credits to this film. He's the composer and he's written some nice songs for this score. The title song is the most famous from the score, but everything else is nice if a little dated.

42nd Street
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Al Dubin
Directed by Busby Berkeley
Released by Warner Bros. in 1933
Cast: Ruby Keeler, Ginger Rogers, Dick Powell, Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels

Roberta on film

Ol' fashioned American operetta meets new-fangled Hollywood movie musical with a dash of Borscht-belt humor thrown in for good measure in the 1935 film version of Jerome Kern's 1933 Roberta.

The title character is not the focus of the story, but the starting point. Roberta is a Parisian couturier, producing high-end women's fashion. When her nephew, John Kent (Randolph Scott, pictured) inherits the business upon Roberta's death, shop manager Stephanie (Irene Dunn) must learn to work with the former football player. Love blossoms among the swatches.

The comedic couple is band leader Huck Haines (Fred Astaire) with Ginger Rogers playing an American "faking it" as Comtesse Scharwenka. The comtesse's first name is Tanka, so she is Tanka Scharwenka. How long had this joke been used in the Catskills?

The score includes some of the best songs Jerome Kern ever wrote: "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes", "I Won't Dance, Don't Ask Me" and "I'll Be Hard To Handle". If the songs don't really move the story along, be forgiving, this was before that was part of the plan for a musical. It is nice to know that Kern had a more swinging period of his song-writing; this was after Showboat.

The Broadway cast was really interesting, but I'm sure their performances were lost to the ages. Bob Hope originated the Astaire role. Ray Middleton, who would go on to originate Frank Butler in Annie Get Your Gun, played John Kent. It appears that the story of the stage play has been altered a bit in translation to film, so I'll look for a recording of a stage version to see if I can learn more.

Ginger Rogers is delightful in this film, singing, dancing and striking the right chords with the schticky humor. Astaire feels a bit heavy-handed at times with the humor, but has a tap routine that is not to be equalled. Irene Dunn has the waivery soprano voice that this era seemed to prefer--similar to Jeannette McDonald. Since Randolph Scott just stands around looking gorgeous, he doesn't sing. That's okay, too.

I think Lucille Ball has a brief appearance on screen as one of the "mannequins" in the big finale fashion show. She's a blonde.

Roberta
Music by Jerome Kern
Book and Lyrics by Otto Harbach
Film by RKO Pictures released in 1935

Based on the stage musical produced in 1933
Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Irene Dunn