Featured Audience Ratings

• Devon B

  
  Released the same year as "Gold Diggers of 1933", "42nd Street" also features many of the same cast (Ginger Rogers, Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler) and the same choreographer (Busby Berkeley, famous for his overhead shots of geometrically arranged chorus dancers). The… More
  Released the same year as "Gold Diggers of 1933", "42nd Street" also features many of the same cast (Ginger Rogers, Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler) and the same choreographer (Busby Berkeley, famous for his overhead shots of geometrically arranged chorus dancers). The plot too, is sort of similar. In it, we see the trials and tribulations of producing a broadway musical, from funding and casting to the opening night, and all the hair-pulling frustration that comes with it. Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler) is the greener than green wannabe actress who shows up for the audition and is tricked into walking in on Billy's (Dick Powell) dressing room (also, Billy plays what is called "the juvenile lead", whatever that is). While it's a dirty trick, it winds up paying off for Peggy as she soon makes friends with Billy and the rest of the stars of the production. The closing number is pretty great, and the rest of the movie is too, with it's self-deprecating humor and depression era sensibilities. It's funny, but Ruby Keeler has the mannerisms of someone's grandma, but you gotta figure even grandmas were young once upon a time, back in the days when grandpas got excited at a peak at a pretty girl's knee.

• Spencer S

  
  Spicey for the Depression era 30's, this gorgeously made musical is like none other ever performed. Use of forward thinking cinematography, an uncensored storyline, and musical numbers that inspire choreographers to this day, made this a very unique musical among the stereotyped… More
  Spicey for the Depression era 30's, this gorgeously made musical is like none other ever performed. Use of forward thinking cinematography, an uncensored storyline, and musical numbers that inspire choreographers to this day, made this a very unique musical among the stereotyped genre. An amazing performance by the docile and demure Ruby Keeler, whose singing is so-so, but dancing is off the charts amazing. A web of romantic entanglements and decidely backwards Broadway politics leads to comedy. love, and pure entertainment.

• Ken S

  
  A lot of fun with an amazing sequence at the end by Mr. Busby Berkeley. This is to legs as Death Proof is to feet.

• AJ V

  
  This movie is just the same as all the other "let's put on a musical" musical movies of the 30s, so I found it predictable, but there are some good actors.

• Anthony L

  
  A bawdy classic musical that inspired...just about every musical since! It's beautifully shot (no surprise considering the production), beautifully acted by some of the best talent of the day and it has a killer script. It's glamorous, hilarious and just downright delicious.

• Jeremy S

  
  "Sawyer, you're going out a youngster, but you've got to come back a star!"

• Mark H

  
  Archetypal backstage musical about putting on a Broadway show, from casting call to opening night. Actress Ruby Keeler is Peggy Sawyer, the ingénue, in her film debut. Landmark musical holds up pretty well considering its age, but features a storyline full of what would later become… More
  Archetypal backstage musical about putting on a Broadway show, from casting call to opening night. Actress Ruby Keeler is Peggy Sawyer, the ingénue, in her film debut. Landmark musical holds up pretty well considering its age, but features a storyline full of what would later become well-worn clichés. Three Busby Berkeley production numbers: "Shuffle Off to Buffalo", "Young and Healthy", and the title song, make up the last twenty minutes of the film. These numbers, are the real reason to watch. The last two, in particular, are an absolute tour de force of the chorographer's talent.

• Randy T

  
  Wonderful Busby Berkeley musical that's as steeped in story as it is in dance routines. Might be the best production musical about the production of a musical. *<i>NOTE</i>: Watch for a young and extremely talented Ginger Rogers in a minor but memorable role.

• Morgan S

  
  great black and white movie!

• Drew S

  
  Please forgive me for being the only gay man in the world with not an ounce of interest in musicals. A musical is supposed to offer unfettered, guilt-free fun but I just don't find watching them all that "fun" at all. Maybe like...the Evil Dead musical or something. But… More
  Please forgive me for being the only gay man in the world with not an ounce of interest in musicals. A musical is supposed to offer unfettered, guilt-free fun but I just don't find watching them all that "fun" at all. Maybe like...the Evil Dead musical or something. But this is about as far away from singing zombie carnage as you could possibly get in a movie, and that's why I feel comparatively underwhelmed. I guess this is technically impressive and all but Ruby Keeler sucks at everything so it kind of renders the whole enterprise a wash.

• Jennifer X

  
  Legs, legs, and more legs. Busby Berkeley has one of the most unique choreographies I have ever seen. Those last ten minutes are visually unparalleled and hard-earned. It is very rare for a musical to be like this and I guess I've been used to the charismatic charms of genial,… More
  Legs, legs, and more legs. Busby Berkeley has one of the most unique choreographies I have ever seen. Those last ten minutes are visually unparalleled and hard-earned. It is very rare for a musical to be like this and I guess I've been used to the charismatic charms of genial, happy-go-lucky stars in the likes of Astaire and Rogers and Kelly smiling without reservations it's kind of weird to see a movie that PRECEDES them duke it out with such balls and seedy worldliness. The Hays code generally kept everything G-rated and only hinted at what sexual chemistry brimmed underneath, as well as the not-so-pretty aspects. I mean sure the golden MGM musical age was sexy and everything but it was always understated and few even ventured beyond a kiss. Innuendo was even kept at a low and directors constantly had to think of new ways to be sexy without the sex...blurring out and smoking cigs and all that. This was the true 1930s before any kind of censorship was enstated, and for the first time I have realized those times aren't so different from our times. Everybody was irrevocably more glamourous but show biz was show biz. But the reason I enjoyed this movie's debauchery was because it still maintained a standard of class despite its subject matter, like the shoe quivering down, down, down to the ground in an obviously blissful orgasm, and the little butt slaps, but still everybody was garbed beautifully and the pert quips laced with sexual overtones instead of underhanded undertones. I don't know, the acting wasn't great but it's not an acting movie. The story was basically nothing but Lloyd Bacon managed to assemble an unforgettable cast with colorful characters and fantastic dancing and I used to think that color was necessary for musicals to come to life but I actually prefer this sans color. A fantastic precedent for what was soon to come.

• Matthew Y

  
  Arguably the most famous of Warner Brothers Busby Berkeley musicals of the 30's I for one cannot understand the films appeal throughout the ages. With few memorable numbers and a waning interest in almost any member of the cast the film was very difficult to get through even at… More
  Arguably the most famous of Warner Brothers Busby Berkeley musicals of the 30's I for one cannot understand the films appeal throughout the ages. With few memorable numbers and a waning interest in almost any member of the cast the film was very difficult to get through even at a short 90-minute run-time. For my money I'd take the schizophrenic Gold Diggers of 1933 over this and they both came out the same year. If you're trying to familiarize yourself with cinemas history or if you're trying to complete the 1,001 films to see before you die list than 42nd Street is going to be one of those bumps in the road. If you actually enjoy Busby Berkeley musicals than all my blessings but for me the sound quality and sounds are just too dated to enjoy (something I rarely say about films).

• John B

  
  It was the original Broadway film but the themes have been repeated so often that I just simply can't appreciate how fresh it must have seemed back in 1933. Something to kill time with without much thunking.

• Andrew F

  
  There were a few great dance numbers, but there wasn't much depth to any of the characters.

• Sylvester K

  
  A film that looks at what goes on behind the stage, the editing was amazing, that represented the era well. The songs were catchy and well written, the dialogues were amazing written too. Bebe Daniels was amazingly beautiful. The specially arranged choreography was a highlight. It has… More
  A film that looks at what goes on behind the stage, the editing was amazing, that represented the era well. The songs were catchy and well written, the dialogues were amazing written too. Bebe Daniels was amazingly beautiful. The specially arranged choreography was a highlight. It has a well blended themes of romantic comedy and musical, loved it!!

• Emily B

  
  The first great musical and the one that invented all the cliches. Only thing it would of benefited from is more Busby Berkely dance sequences. "Now go out there and be so swell that you'll make me hate you!"" <a… More
  The first great musical and the one that invented all the cliches. Only thing it would of benefited from is more Busby Berkely dance sequences. "Now go out there and be so swell that you'll make me hate you!"" <a href="http://s135.photobucket.com/albums/q156/bozley04/?action=view¤t=42ndstreet.gif" target="_blank"><img src="http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q156/bozley04/42ndstreet.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Read all 16 featured audience ratings