A story as old as acting and theatre itself

My biggest issue with these, “we’re gonna put on a show and it’s gonna be so, so, grand!”, kind of movies is that they are all so formulaic. Not only are they all so formulaic, but there’s enough of these kinds of movies to fill an ocean. Everytime I see one, I know exactly what it is I’m going to get - a repetitive and lackluster plot about the struggles the ambitious choreographer faces in his effort to put on the show, the love-interest who fails to get his attentions, the producers wanting to rouse the interest of the public and the love affair between the two central dancers of the act. The plots of these films only serve as clutter, for these plots and these characters are unimportant as the filmmakers only want to get you from point A to point B, Point B being the undeniable spectacular performance sequences which are always showcased at the end. But in order to get there, you have to sit through an hour and twenty-minutes of a plot you already know and have seen over and over and over again. The presence of having star-studded presences like James Cagney and Joan Blondell certainly spice Footlight Parade up a bit as they no doubt are the best parts of the film, but not enough are they to salvage a story as old as acting and theatre itself.