"42nd Street" Analysis

Andi Hubbell

The 1933 film “42^nd Street” outlines the financial and personal struggles that the cast, crew and producers of a Broadway musical face as they aspire to create a successful show. Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter) is a demanding but brilliant director who aims to earn enough money from ticket sales for “42^nd Street” to be able to live comfortably in spite of his worsening sickness. He gains financial support for the play from millionaire Abner Dillon (Guy Kibbee), whose sole interest in the show is in the chorus girls it includes. In exchange for backing the play, Abner insists that its star, Dorothy Brock (Bebe Daniels), date him. Dorothy does so although she is clearly still enamored by her former musical mentor Pat Denning (George Brent). When Dorothy informs Pat that she believes that they should stop seeing one another, he appears to take interest in an inexperienced chorus girl in the musical named Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler). Peggy, although rough around the edges, proves both lovable and talented. Throughout the rigorous five weeks of rehearsal that precede “42^nd Street”’s opening night, Peggy draws attention from numerous other suitors and easily makes friends with fellow chorus girls. Unfortunately, a few days before the show’s premiere, Dorothy spots Peggy with Pat and grows extremely jealous. She unleashes her fury the night before the show, when she insults an intoxicated Abner and fractures her ankle in a fit of rage when Peggy enters Pat’s hotel room. Just when the odds of putting on the opening night performance seem very bleak, Peggy’s quirky friend Ann Lowell (Ginger Rogers) convinces Julian to allow Peggy to assume Dorothy’s role. With Dorothy’s blessing, Peggy graces the stage and leaves a stellar impression on the audience. Dorothy, who realizes that she has been neglecting the possibility of having true love in favor of maintaining her stardom, becomes engaged to Pat.

In spite of its inconsistent, at times lacking storyline, “42^nd Street” proves a successfully executed film because it appeals to the dominant values of the society and time period in which it was produced. The musical fails to construct coherent romances between characters; Pat appears to have discarded his feelings for Dorothy in favor of pursuing Peggy, but ultimately disregards his developing romance with Peggy when Dorothy decides she wants to get married. Similarly, Peggy seems to be interested in Pat, but still shamelessly flirts with Billy Lawler (Dick Powell), who took a liking to Peggy the moment he met her. Moreover, the musical barely scrapes the surface of the immense financial problems most individuals had during the Great Depression. The only time economic hardships are mentioned is when the creative team frets about maintaining Abner’s financial support, and when Julian asserts that he must make a substantial profit from the show in order to be able to support himself. Nonetheless, “42^nd Street” was likely very appealing to audiences when it was released in 1933 because it played on the Great Depression era values of maintaining a hard work ethic and collaborating with others to achieve success. Viewers saw the cast and crew’s efforts to attain prosperity as congruent to American society’s struggles to overcome financial hardship and find success. In 1933, the expression of these values was probably more crucial to the success of a film than the depth and coherence of its storyline. The extravagant stage scenes that the movie revealed also probably enraptured impoverished audience members.