It’s 1933. It’s the Depression, and audiences want movies that don’t sugarcoat the truth, but they want escapism too. That means it’s time for a new type of musical. Hollywood released more than 100 musical films only three years earlier in 1930, but by 1933, they had largely disappeared as a genre. Choreographer Busby Berkeley helped revive them with several films, including this episode’s movie, 42nd Street.
What 42nd Street offers casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies: punchy dialogue, newly-minted Broadway archetypes, an iconic new way to film dance numbers, and “non-escpaist escapism.”