If you come to this film as a Joan Crawford, Clarke Gable or even Fred Astaire fan, what you will take away from it will be a completely different experience than if you come to it interested in seeing an alternative to the now more famous 'Busby Berkeley' films WB were making down the road.
MGM very blatantly copied WB's fabulous 42nd Street with this and actually made a reasonable film as a result. To be a little different, a bit like a Saturday night TV show, this has also got guest stars doing 'a turn' - one of which is Fred Astaire. He's also in the big Busby Berkeley-esque finale about the joys of drinking beer - this was cleverly timed to be released at the same time prohibition in the US came to an end!
As much as it is similar to 42nd street it is also different and as we're more used to the WB-Busby Berkeley films, these differences seem a little wrong. So what's 'wrong'? It's MGM so it looks more polished but what is very 'wrong' is the people! Those same dozen or so actors who seem to be in every single early 30s WB film aren't here. We're so used to seeing them that it feels odd without them.
It's also a bit more 'grown up' than its WB contemporaries. To reflect this, there's less comedy and the actors seem to be taking it more seriously. Clarke Gable is as usual, Clark Gable, Joan Crawford however takes it up a notch. She gives a completely believable and honest portrayal as the ruthless, ambitious dancer struggling against the odds. The perfect role for her because this character and this story was essentially her own.
Personally I miss Ruby Keeler - it doesn't seem right that her amateurish but 'I'll give it my best shot' style of dancing, terrible singing and dodgy acting has been replaced by someone who knows what she's doing. Ruby Keeler certainly had faults but unlike Joan Crawford, she was instantly likeable - maybe because of them?
Joan Crawford seems out of place at times. She could easily be a 21st century actress transported back to the early thirties. It's not just her modern style of acting, it's also her overall persona, she looks like the angry girl at the bus stop about to give someone a cigarette burn for looking at her the wrong way. Scary lady - I found her a little disturbing, a little too real.
MGM very blatantly copied WB's fabulous 42nd Street with this and actually made a reasonable film as a result. To be a little different, a bit like a Saturday night TV show, this has also got guest stars doing 'a turn' - one of which is Fred Astaire. He's also in the big Busby Berkeley-esque finale about the joys of drinking beer - this was cleverly timed to be released at the same time prohibition in the US came to an end!
As much as it is similar to 42nd street it is also different and as we're more used to the WB-Busby Berkeley films, these differences seem a little wrong. So what's 'wrong'? It's MGM so it looks more polished but what is very 'wrong' is the people! Those same dozen or so actors who seem to be in every single early 30s WB film aren't here. We're so used to seeing them that it feels odd without them.
It's also a bit more 'grown up' than its WB contemporaries. To reflect this, there's less comedy and the actors seem to be taking it more seriously. Clarke Gable is as usual, Clark Gable, Joan Crawford however takes it up a notch. She gives a completely believable and honest portrayal as the ruthless, ambitious dancer struggling against the odds. The perfect role for her because this character and this story was essentially her own.
Personally I miss Ruby Keeler - it doesn't seem right that her amateurish but 'I'll give it my best shot' style of dancing, terrible singing and dodgy acting has been replaced by someone who knows what she's doing. Ruby Keeler certainly had faults but unlike Joan Crawford, she was instantly likeable - maybe because of them?
Joan Crawford seems out of place at times. She could easily be a 21st century actress transported back to the early thirties. It's not just her modern style of acting, it's also her overall persona, she looks like the angry girl at the bus stop about to give someone a cigarette burn for looking at her the wrong way. Scary lady - I found her a little disturbing, a little too real.