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Originally Posted by burger1701
Thanks for these clips. I'd never have guessed there was so much to be had from these old movies.
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Thanks, burger1701. And very true. I remember watching Footlight Parade as a kid, as I was one of the few kids who'd seen James Cagney as a song and dance man BEFORE I'd seen him in gangster films. Mind you, back then I didn't appreciate how skimpy these costumes were, or what they could get away with back then!
Now I promised you a little bit extra of Ruby Keeler, who before she got into films was another actress like Barbara Stanwyck who was a Ziegfeld girl. There are a few pics that purport to be nudes of Ruby, but most are clearly not her. However, there is one that does look like her, and that is a photo of her from behind looking out a window. I have included it with a couple of other photos of her from that era, as well as a screenshot of her in 42nd Street where she clearly suffers a cameltoe wardrobe malfunction!
Ruby herself was married to Al Jolson (amazingly!) from 1928 to 1939, and when she made her breakthrough in 42nd Street in 1933 it was her feature length debut! Indeed she had a superb year in 1933, also appearing in Gold Diggers of 1933 and Footlight Parade, as well as Dames in 1934. Sadly Keeler's career burned bright but briefly, and by the end of the decade her career petered out. She is sometimes unfairly maligned due to her tap dancing skills and acting. She may not of been graceful like Astaire, but she could still dance, and her sweet persona was a nice contrast to her more knowing co-stars Ginger Rogers and Joan Blondell. She made a spectacular comeback on Broadway in 1971 in No, No, Nanette, and lived to the age of 84, passing away in 1993.