The 1933 film has the problematic blind spots of its era, but it remains a deliriously fun history of film.

The film will have interest for admirers of James Cagney. He surprisingly reveals gifts as a singer and tap-dancer.

Footlight Parade (1933) is one of the three most spectacular musicals in 1933 from Warner Bros. and legendary choreographer Busby Berkeley, alongside Lloyd Bacon's 42nd Street (1933) and Mervyn LeRoy's Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) -

The spicy pre-Code dialogue adds to the merriment, but the selling point is the decision to end the picture with not one, not two, but three production numbers.