Footlight Parade

Footlight Parade is a 1933 Warner Bros. musical comedy set during the early years of talking pictures, when cinema was drawing audiences away from the stage. Chester Kent, a Broadway director, finds his career upended by the shift and faces pressure from his backers and his money-minded wife. He reinvents himself by staging live musical numbers in cinemas before the film screenings, a venture that brings new conflicts with his performers, his investors and a rival who steals his ideas. His loyal secretary Nan and his team stand by him as he races to deliver new productions under tight deadlines.

Lloyd Bacon directed, with Busby Berkeley also credited as director; the screenplay was written by Manuel Seff, James Seymour and Peter Milne, and Robert Lord produced. The film followed Bacon's 42nd Street and Berkeley's Gold Diggers of 1933 the same year. James Cagney leads as Chester Kent, alongside Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Frank McHugh and Guy Kibbee, among a credited cast of 22.

Released on October 21, 1933, the film runs 104 minutes and took around 2 million dollars worldwide. It holds a 7.5 rating on IMDb from roughly 6,600 votes and a 6.8 on TMDB from 106 votes. A critics' rating of 8.5 from 13 reviews is higher than the audience scores.