Footlight Parade

The first scenes the guests are exposed to is probably the least well known among average visitors. Released in 1933, “Footlight Parade” is the story of musical stage producer, Chester Kent. As the era of the the 'talkies' movies is coming, many theaters are contracting musical directors and producers to produce “prologues,” which are live action music and dance numbers done on stage before the beginning of a movie. Chester secures a contract to produce three prologues for a new feature film. In addition, his business partner encourages him to develop more prologues for theaters around the country. Fearing that a rival producer will attempt to steal his ideas he coaxes the entire crew, cast, and writers to take part in a voluntarily lock down for three days within the studio building. A slew of dramas unfold as Chester's ex-wife appears while his assistant develops a crush on him, as well as many other mishaps. The film stars James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keller, and Dick Powell.

 

The scene in The Great Movie Ride is directly from the “By A Waterfall” sequence. “Footlight Parade” was directed by choreographer, Busby Berkeley, know for his Broadway-style hits of the 1930's. Busby Berkley's style usually involved a troupe of dancing women that formed dramatic geometric shapes while dancing. Today's audiences might recall the dancing scarlets in the “Let's Go to the Movies” routine in the 1982 Oscar nominated film, “Annie”. While Annie, Mr. Warbucks, and his assistant sit in the sold-out theater, a group of leggy dancers takes the stage welcoming them into the theater. These types of live productions were common in large city theaters during the The Great Depression era in America.

The formation made in the “Footlight Parade” sequence is often referred to as a kaleidescope cake for the symmetry and multi-tiered nature of the arrangement of the dancers. Originally when launched, the formation not only spun around, but also featured shooting water streams, similar to those in the film. In addition, three caped beauties stood to the right of the formation, on diving boards.

Due to mechanical problems of the spinning cake and the tram tracks being flooded by the water, the scene underwent a few changes in the early 1990's. The three static divers were removed. The cake stopped spinning and no longer included water jets. The entire scene became dimly lit and a wall of scrim was placed over it. Art deco symbols were flashed on top of the scrim until a tram car drove by, lighting the scene up adding in some kenetic influence. Streams of bubbles now descend from the ceiling as the song “By A Waterfall” begins to play.

"Footlight Parade" is one of the few films in the attraction from the pre-production code era, meaning it allowed more risque humor without a ratings or standards system in place.

On to "Singin' In the Rain" >>