Forty-Second Street

Alphabetical Listing of Movie Reviews

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z


  • Forty-Second Street -- Prototypical backstage musical in which a member of the chorus (Ruby Keeler) wins stardom when the frantic director (Warner Baxter) has her take over for the disabled leading lady (Bebe Daniels) on opening night. Directed by Lloyd Bacon, the Depression-era setting, slangy dialogue and zesty cast (Ginger Rogers, Una Merkel and Dick Powell, among them) are still fun, abetted by Al Dubin and Harry Warren's brassy music and topped off by Busby Berkeley's inventive production numbers for the title song, "I'm Young and Healthy" and "Shuffle Off to Buffalo." Some romantic complications and mild sexual innuendo. (A-II) (nr) ( 1933 )




    These movies have been evaluated for artistic merit and moral suitability by the media reviewing division of Catholic News Service. The reviews include the CNS rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

    The classifications are as follows:

    A-I -- general patronage;
    A-II -- adults and adolescents;
    A-III -- adults;
    L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
    O -- morally offensive.

    Note: Some movies previously were designated A-IV. Older films with this classification should be regarded as classified L.

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