Editing Footlight Parade (section)

==Production==
[[File:PoolJump1FootlightParade33Trailer.JPG|thumb|The "By a Waterfall" production number featured 300 choreographed swimmers]]

Looking for a role different from the gangster films such as ''[[The Public Enemy]]'' that catapulted him to fame, Cagney actively campaigned for the lead role of Chester Kent, based on well-known impresario Chester Hale of the prologue production company [[Fanchon and Marco]]. Cagney had gotten his start in vaudeville and Broadway before going into film work; the film became his first on-screen appearance as a dancer.<ref name=tcmart>Miller, Frank. [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/3122/footlight-parade#articles-reviews ''Footlight Parade'' (1933; article)], TCM.com; accessed July 27, 2015.</ref> Cagney had only fallen into his gangster persona when he and [[Edward Woods]] switched roles three days into the shooting of 1931's ''[[The Public Enemy]]''. That role catapulted Cagney into stardom and a series of gangster films. Throughout his career, Cagney found being typecast as a gangster to be as limiting as it was a benefit.<ref>Nixon. Rob. [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/2154/the-public-enemy#articles-reviews ''The Public Enemy'' (1931; article)], TCM.com; accessed November 28, 2023.</ref>

While Powell's role was written specifically for him, he was replaced by Stanley Smith when he fell ill. When he recovered, Smith's scenes were reshot with Powell. The film became the third pairing of Powell and [[Ruby Keeler]] after ''[[42nd Street (film)|42nd Street]]'' (1933) and ''[[Gold Diggers of 1933]]'', the first two Warner Bros. Busby Berkeley musicals.<ref name=tcmart/> Similarly, [[Dorothy Tennant (actress)|Dorothy Tennant]] was initially cast as Harriet Gould, but replaced by Ruth Donnelly.<ref name=tcmart/> Other actors considered for various roles included [[Eugene Pallette]], George Dobbs and [[Patricia Ellis]].

Warner Bros. initially signed for Larry Ceballos to choreograph the film when Berkely was unavailable. However, when Berkeley was able to make changes to his schedule, the studio let Ceballos go. Ceballos subsequently sued Berkeley and the studio for $100,000 for breach of contract.<ref name="Spivak">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qgX0N3tWPCAC&q=larry+ceballos+sues+footlight+parade&pg=PA92|title=Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley|last=Spivak|first=Jeffrey|date=2011|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-8131-2643-2|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XBm7BAAAQBAJ&q=larry+ceballos+sues+footlight+parade&pg=PA88|title=James Cagney Films of the 1930s|last=Neibaur|first=James L.|date=October 3, 2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-4220-3|language=en}}</ref>

Production took place at the Warner Bros. studio in [[Burbank, California]] between June and September 1933, costing an estimated $703,000 to make (equivalent to approximately ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|703000|1933|r=0}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}}{{inflation-fn|US}}). It premiered on September 30, 1933, with a general release on October 21.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024028/business Business Data for ''Footlight Parade''], IMDb; accessed July 27, 2015.</ref><ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024028/releaseinfo Release Dates for ''Footlight Parade''], IMDb; accessed July 27, 2015.</ref><ref>[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/3122/footlight-parade#overview Overview for ''Footlight Parade''], tcm.com; accessed November 28, 2023.</ref>

===Pre-Code era scenes and promotion===
[[File:BeaScott1FootParade33Trailer.jpg|thumb|250px|Bea ([[Ruby Keeler]]) was not an immediate fan of Scotty ([[Dick Powell]])]]
The film was made during the [[pre-Code]] era, and its humor is sometimes quite risqué, with multiple references to [[prostitution]] and suggestions of profanity largely unseen again in studio films until the 1960s, when the [[Production Code]] collapsed.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eTGbDwAAQBAJ&q=footlight+parade+hays+code&pg=PA240|title=Music, Narrative and the Moving Image: Varieties of Plurimedial Interrelations|date=May 15, 2019|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-40131-0|language=en}}</ref> For example, Dick Powell's character is being "kept" by Mrs. Gould until he falls in love with another girl.

Joan Blondell's character of Nan Prescott is the center of several lines and moments. She introduces her roommate, Vivian Rich, as "Miss Bi... Rich"; and later, when Vivian tries to take advantage of an intoxicated Chester, Nan kicks her out of their apartment, claiming Vivian will have a job "as long as there are sidewalks".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/withamusementfor00ashb|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/withamusementfor00ashb/page/223 223]|quote=footlight parade hays code.|title=With Amusement for All: A History of American Popular Culture Since 1830|last=Ashby|first=LeRoy|date=May 12, 2006|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-8131-7132-6|language=en}}</ref> In the Shanghai Lil number, it is clear that Lil and all the other girls are prostitutes working the waterfront bars along with scenes of an opium den.<ref name="Spivak"/> A character played by [[Hugh Herbert]] acts as the censor for Kent's productions, constantly telling Kent certain parts of his production numbers have to be changed. His character is portrayed as buffoonish and comical, saying disagreeable lines to Kent such as "You must put [[brassiere]]s on those dolls..." (referring to actual toy dolls) "...uh uh, you know Connecticut." There is also a scene in which, after seeing black children having fun in the water off a fire hydrant, Chester gets an idea for a prologue involving women dressed in black face and getting wet under a waterfall. 

As with many other pre-Code films, including musicals, promotional materials featured scantily clad women on movie release posters, lobby cards and promotional photographs, as seen of Joan Blondell.[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Joan_Blondell_banned_1932_publicity_photo.jpg ]