Footlight Parade (1933)

Footlight Parade DVD

Warner Bros.
Starring: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Frank McHugh
Directed by: Lloyd Bacon

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: Stage musicals producer Chester Kent (James Cagney) sees talking pictures slowly erode his audience, so he decides to produce live prologues for movie houses and has to continually come up with new ideas to stay ahead of his rivals while juggling not only his own love interests but those of his cast.

Featured Feline: Early in the film Chester is seen in his office with a black cat sitting on his shoulder when his secretary Nan (Joan Blondell) enters.

Footlight Parade - Chester with black cat on his shoulder

Chester excitedly explains how the night before he saw some cats and decided that was the perfect theme for his next musical prologue.

Footlight Parade - Chester with black cat on his lap

Chester tells his choreographer Francis (Frank McHugh) to get the cat from his office to use as inspiration for the piece. Francis comes back to the rehearsal hall nervously carrying the cat.

Footlight Parade - Francis carries black cat into rehearsal room

Francis is not keen on having to work with the cat but goes along with Chester’s request, instructing his dancers to study the cat’s movements.

Footlight Parade - Francis instructs dancers to watch black cat's movements

As rehearsals for the number continue, the cat watches the proceedings with some interest from a basket off stage. When Chester insists the dancers’ movements must have that certain cat-like rhythm he tells Francis again to watch the cat. Francis explains he hates cats and can’t get away from him, complaining, “I’ve done everything but sleep with him!” “Then sleep with him!” Chester suggests.

Footlight Parade - black cat sitting in basket

Later Francis is seen complaining “Playing nurse maid to an alley cat!” while sharing a bottle of milk with the animal.

Footlight Parade - Francis gives black cat milk

The cat musical number, staged by Busby Berkeley, is a real treat.

But the unnamed black cat is only seen one more time closer to the end of the film when Francis is seen carrying it. The cat now has a ribbon around its neck and Francis seems much more comfortable with the animal, as if it has become a close companion.

Footlight Parade - Francis holding black cat wearing ribbon