GREGORY LA CAVA

Bil’s rating (out of 5):

BBBB

(out of 5)

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Those who enjoy a good backstage musical like 42nd Street will want to take in this melodramatic, non-singing look at the lives of women trying to make it on the Big White Way.  Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball and Ginger Rogers are among the young ladies living in a boarding house dominated by hopeful actresses, each of whom have their own perspective on their futures and each of whom have their own soap-operatic lives to live. It hits the schlock notes a few times, but it’s also genuinely touching and always enjoyable, with Andrea Leeds standing out as an aspiring actress with more than her fair share of hard knocks.

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RKO Radio Pictures

USA, 1937

Directed by Gregory La Cava

Screenplay by Morrie Ryskind, Anthony Veiller, based on the play by Edna Ferber, George S. Kaufman

Cinematography by Robert De Grasse

Produced by Pandro S. Berman

Music by Roy Webb

Production Design by Van Nest Polglase

Costume Design by Muriel King

Film Editing by William Hamilton

Academy Awards 1937