Footlight Parade
Keeler, Ruby
performer
Cagney, James
performer
Film
1933-09-30
Directed by Lloyd Bacon, produced by Darryl F. Zanuck.
Dance numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley. Music and lyrics, Harry Warren, Al Dubin, Sammy Fain, and Irving Kahal. Musical directed by Lloyd Bacon.
Starring Ruby Keeler and James Cagney dancing tap dancing together which shows the influence of English and Irish jig and clog dancing. Cast includes Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, Frank McHugh, Guy Kibbee, Ruth Donnelly, Hugh Herbert.
Backstage musical about the production of "prologues" short stage musicals which preceded the showing of feature films in the early days of talking pictures.
Chester Kent (Cagney) struggles against time, romance, and a rival spy to produce live "prologues" for movie houses. "Shanghai Lil" has James Cagney dancing with his fists and his tap shoes to find the girl for whom he has been searching high and low.
Performing Arts Encyclopedia
http://www.loc.gov/performingarts
New York Public Library: CATNYP: Dance Collection: Tap Dancing. New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Gregory Hines Collection of American Tap Dance ().
Tap Dance America
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/tda/tda-home.html
James Cagney (biography)
loc.music.tdabio.45
Ruby Keeler (biography)
loc.music.tdabio.117
tda
IHAS
151216
loc.music.tda.518