Ruby Keeler in Color from the early thirties Dedicated to my friend, aldiboronti This feature was filmed in 1932 but held back by Warners for a spring 1933 release.
This is 1932 and Ruby Keeler's dance technique was designed for Broadway. In those days without amplification the dancers really had to slam their shoes into the floor in order for the taps to heard at the back of the second balcony. The rapid change in tap dancing technique for film can be seen in the difference between Keeler and Rogers/Powell/Miller.
All those tap sounds in later movies were added in post production as that style of tap dancing didn't produce the distinct rhythm of sound required live to camera. I actually love Ruby Keelers clunky tap technique.
What a Hollywood classic! Doesn't look so bad in color, does it?! I think it's great! Ruby is so adorable! This legendary tap dance of hers has probably been the inspiration for more aspiring tap dancers over the years than any other! If an ordinary girl like Ruby could do it and become a star, so can you! Long live 42nd Street! Thanks for this clip. One of the greatest things on youtube!
I loved RUBY KEELER. Whether she looked at her feet while she danced or not, she was one of the best tap dancers of all time. Still she had something quite special. She was able to show her real self through all of her roles. She wasn't a vamp, or a sex symbol, or overly glamorous; but she had a sweet vulnerability that the audience fell in love with. She defined the quintessential 'girl next door. '
In the heart of little old New York, You'll find a thoroughfare. It's the part of little old New York That runs into Times Square. A crazy quilt that "Wall Street Jack" built, If you've got a little time to spare, I want to take you there. Come and meet those dancing feet, On the avenue I'm taking you to... Forty-Second Street. Hear the beat of dancing feet, It's the song I love the melody of, Forty-Second Street. Little "nifties" from the Fifties, Innocent and sweet; Sexy ladies from the Eighties, Who are indiscreet. They're side by side, they're glorified Where the underworld can meet the elite, Forty-Second Street.
1st saw this movie on TCM. I was enthralled by the spectacle of it all. Those memorable songs!! Those Hollywood sets!! The chorus & all those dancers!! The goofy story line!! Keeler & the young Dick Powell!! The whole dang movie is sheer delight!! It is a must see!! You'll be smiling, dancing & singing long after it is over..I promise!!
This actually was colorized in the early 80's. Ruby Keeler was a good dancer and her style was more like Irish dancing . Those clunky shoes didn't help. I met her many years ago in Palm Springs and actually had a VHS copy of the movie with me . She was shocked when I asked her to autograph it for me .
Female stage dancers always have those awful shoes with the ties across the top. Seems to be traditional for tapping. Thank god they seem to use better looking shoes now. I know they get a lot of punishment, but surely they could have looked better.
She was a stage tap dancer, and a good one. But Rita, Ginger and the others were artists, using another dimension, no doubt choreographed and staged by Astaire. PS: Ginger was in the chorus of this.
Don't mind the "color" it's the "Day-glo" faces that spoil everything. I agree with John Huston. "Colorizing" this adds nothing, and it distracts from the extraordinary talent seen in the film. Does it really "hurt" so much in Black& White?
I just started watching a lot of classic movies for the 1st time and I came across Ruby Keeler. She's just so damn likable and charming. I'll be watching all of her movies.
Anyone interested in seeing the whole movie should get the DVD. This piece is about twice as long. It's been cut here to remove, amongst other things, a murder. For more see the movie, it's brilliant even after 83 years.
She was such a talent and I remember her at the Academy Awards when I was a kid in the 70's - she had wonderful stage presence! How could anyone forget her!
Has anyone else here quoted what Keeler told an audience at a 60's revival of the movie: "It's amazing. I couldn't act. I had that terrible singing voice, and now I can see, I wasn't the greatest tap dancer in the world either!" (And as Pauline Kael later said, apparently no one told her to stop looking at her feet while she tapped) But there's something so sweet and likable about her, isn't there? Kind of innocently obtuse and uncontrived.
There's a line in Singin' in the Rain about the character Lena Lamont. 'She can't act. She can't sing. She can't dance! She's a triple-threat!' This line was originally said about Ruby Keeler. But you're right, she does well enough to be well worth watching!
That's right (great film, of course) Gene Kelly apparently liked that line, because--I remembered this vaguely, but had to Google the specific--in an LA Times interview in '94 he reminisced about the 'old days' and said of an actress MGM was futilely trying to turn into a star and foisted on him: "...and she turned out to be a triple threat who couldn't sing, dance or act. " (Marie McDonald, for trivia lovers)
"a triple threat who couldn't sing, dance or act" sounds paradise to many after a century of studio-dictated professionalism. My, they can create a whole culture yet get it so badly wrong at times. You go girl - the studio will want to forget, we'll remember! :)
WytZox1 In the few things I've seen her in, I thought she was charming, simple, earnest and sincere. Hardly necessary to say she lacked the depth, charisma and talent of, say, Judy Garland; but from what I've read she also had a much happier, saner life after show biz.
For 1932 Ruby Keeler was pretty good. But it was just a few years later you had a more natural voice and singers were sounding more like Judy Garland and Bing Crosby and dancers instead of the heavy clumping you had the smooth light taps of types like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. So much development in such a short amount of time..
WHAT A TERRIFIC DANCER AND THOSE OCEAN BLUE EYES WOW! THANKS RUBY HEY CAN'T 4 GET MR.BUSBY BIRKLEY WHAT A GENIUS THE MINUTE I VIEWED THIS MOVIE I PURCHASED IT.THANK U SIR. ALFREDS BABY GIRL.
Ruby sings right bud bad, dances right but bad, taps like a hammer but she looks so pepsy while the ballet is the most wonderful moment I've ever seen on screen. For me, emotionally unsurpassable despite the ravages of time.
...Keeler also played the part of an unconfident amateur actress who took the place of another actress who was injured, in case anyone hasn't seen the full movie. In all of her movies she is somewhat awkward and amateur, but in my opinion that makes her much more natural, like a real person. I equally enjoy the refined unmatched class and beauty of Ginger Rogers with Astaire. Keeler had true charm all of her own, though.
It is pointless to compare her (dead) to anyone today (living). She had a voice that could not hold pitch, was an awkward clunky dancer and was a plain Jane. Eleanor Powell was a great and athletic dancer. The "best" of the 1930's? Up for discussion... Who's better? (Contraction of "Who is".)
I agree. Her singing voice can be painful to listen to and don't understand why no one ever told her to stop looking at her feet while she tapped....Oh wait, I know why, her husband was Al Jolson, who was very influential at Warner's at the time. Still, she had a sweetness and vulnerability that people seemed to love.
I really enjoyed this. Very creative with visial surprises. Good use of color and transition from one scene to another. what's with the ASBESTOS label on the final curtain?
SDP that's non-flammable not inflammable. Curtain fires from footlights were a big deal and caused a lot of tragic theater fires. Advertising the non flammable nature was a reassurance that they were in compliance. And yes, they were gonna "set the woods on fire".
After watching some videos from the 2017 London revival of "42nd St," it struck me that there's something subtly inauthentic about it compared to this. In trying to recreate the 1930s, there's something just not quite right. Perhaps it's the musical arrangenents. Costumes? Inauthentic acting or accents? Or perhaps it's simply that I know it's modern. But it just doesn't seem right to me.
Disastrous theater fires -- Chicago's Iroquis fire killed 600 in 1903 --led to the asbestos curtains which made people feel safer but were really of little help when the building had no sprinklers, no alarms, no exit signs, and fire exits that were locked to keep people from sneaking in to see the show without paying...
Anyone who daubs sickly pastels over a shimmering monochromatic design should get ten years in Leavenworth or eleven years in Twelveworth. What's next for the treatment, Durer's engravings?
James Cagney was one of the best hoofers. However, he was typecast as a gangster by Warner Bros. until he got his big dancing break in "Yankee Doodle Dandy." That movie garnered him his only Oscar, for Best Actor.
I apologise for disagreeing. She was all those things, but also a bit cloyingly sweet. Her dancing style was, by comparison with others, ungraceful and clumsy. I don't know about technicalities, and, as the man said, I know what I like....etc...
She wasn't the best dancer (an understatement), singer or actress. And she sure wasn't drop dead beautiful (cute yes; beautiful, no). But the sum was greater than the parts, and that's why she became such a big star.
Ruby was a "buck and wing" dancer. Footwork is more precussive, rather than graceful It was the forerunner of rhythm tap. It was made popular in Vaudeville. Needless to say her voice is horrible. Yet, she is totally charming 💕 & delightful. Also, being married to Al Jolson gave her an extra boost
Ruby Keeler - Star Quality - before a name was given to anyone Ruby Keeler held the title, an amazing dancer and actress, she had the "wow" factor to excite audiences to a frenzy. Movie after movie she was able to deliver the very best Hollywood had to offer. Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler were Hollywood's heavy weights in the screen industry throughout the 1930's era during the Great Depression.
Cute, suggestive and pounding feet "come and meet those dancing feet stompstompSTOMPSTOMP" Just a memorable song of many out of these Warner Bros. times. Love the weird angle with Keeler and Powell at the end. :)
Ruby will always epitomise the promising youth desperately thrust onto the stage at the last minute. That minor tear in her costume at 1.53 seems to add to the challenges she faced as she was in the spotlight. She triumphs sensationally. Bravo Ruby.
Fayard, the elder of the Nicholas Brothers tap dancer pair, would applaud Ruby's excellent, graceful, sophisticated, refined and inventively expressive upper body gestures, especially of her velvet longgloved swanlike arms and hands.
Thank you so very much for posting this video! I taught three of my Grandsons how to tap dance using this song. Now my daughter-in-law wants to kill me! They’re wrecking her floors!
Ruby's voice got deeper and her dancing better. Her tapping here looks like she is trying to punch holes in the floor, but by the time of ' Colleen' (1936) she is creditably keeping up with Paul Draper, who was positively aerial. For all her limitations, she never fails to overcome them with her sparkling, slightly naive yet mischievous personality. Love her look when she and Dick pull the blind down.
LordAlmighty way can't we have more fun like this now in the depressing days on this decade 2010-2020. That is why the greatest generation is who they are, in the face of dark days, they kept on shinning on.
personally, I LOVE this movie, and especially Ruby Keeler's dance. I have heard people say that Ruby Keeler was never a very good singer, dancer or actor, but I think that her dance right here proves otherwise. Quite a few actors back then didn't sing their own songs (I.E: Westside story) so I do give them credit for allowing her to sing the song herself. And as for the choreography, wow! It might not be graceful or entirely traditional but isn't that what makes the great performances great? Going against traditions and stepping outside the box. Compared to what some consider dancing these days, this is what I consider great dancing. And cudos to finding a colourized version of this! I've seen it twice in black and white, but I really like the coloured version :)
julia montgomery Two Totally different eras. This was the Era where people were still multi-talented...so I can understand the frustration. But the most important thing is that people found her entertaining, yourself included...that's what really counts!
2reeler, thanks for this coloured version of the marvelous Ruby Keeler. Julie, Ruby was fantabulous! End of story. Critics, etc., can say want they want.
What does that have to do with anything? What makes you think a legendary choreographer like Busby Berkeley would repeatedly choose to work with someone mediocre? Jolson was a film star and had little influence on her Broadway productions. Broadway producer, Florenz Zeigfield, was the person responsible for her career on Broadway in the 1930s. By the time Berkeley asked her to return to Broadway, Jolson had been dead for 20 years.
I know that Ruby Keeler was very popular, but she couldn't sing, couldn't act and couldn't dance. However, she was very cute and married to the World's Greatest Entertainer of the time, Al Jolson. That didn't hurt.
Couldn't sing? Couldn't dance??? Well, I can't comment much on the dancing, with my legs, but that's sure singing - decades ahead of her time. Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead!
TheRevelationmaster The only problem was that her husband had an ego as big as all outdoors. When she made her starring debut in the Winter Gardens in NY he deliberately would stand up in the middle of her big number and start singing to her so the spotlight would be off her and on him. He used to have shows and come siniging and then stop the orchestra and walk down to the footlights and say I know you really came to hear me sing so why don't I just send the rest of the cast home and I just sing. And then he would proceed to do so. Nice for the other people who worked so hard on the show to be turfed out by this ego. I am not saying he wasn't good at what he did but he was just a Ego Monster.
+kate baxter Ruby stated in interviews it didn't happen that way. No doubt about Jolson's ego, but I think you're getting your information from the fictionalized movie version of his life
Roberto Estevez See George Gershwin His Life and Work by Howard Pollack for eye witness to this story. It is not ficition I don't get my facts from movies LOL I see by the way they are making another movie of his life. Hopefully this will tell the truth about him. He was an Ego Monster although a great entertainer.
Betty Davis was told once what she thought about black and white film turn into color. I can't remember her exact words but I know she said they where awful... I remember seeing that interview back in the 80s not sure if it was Jony Carson . I do remember her talking about how they never get the right color of what it really was. it affected the feel of the movie.. I know she hated it. ever since I saw that interview I always think about Betty Davis sentiment towards black and white film turn into color and I agree. Its best to see in Black and white as it was meant to be seen.
+Tim Doonan The fact that she wasn't a perfect singer just makes her all the more lovable and full of character. Everytime this movies come on TCM I DVR it and fall in love all over again. That was an era of Hollywood I find so attractive, beautiful glamorous women, glitz and Art Deco everywhere, just can't beat it.
This is an excerpt lifted from the original film and colorized. This was not shot in technicolor (the only color process available at the time.) Warner developed its own color process called Warner Color.
+cinemabon Well you're right and kinda right, and wrong. 42nd St.was not shot in color nor did it include color inserts. While it is true that all Warner Bros. films that were either all color or included color scenes from this era were shot in Technicolor, Technicolor was by no means the only color film process available. Warner bros.did not develop Warnercolor, they just put their name on the Eastmancolor process, just as MGM did with Metrocolor, Pathe with Pathecolor, Columbia with Columbiacolor, and 20th Century Fox with Deluxe. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_early_Warner_Bros._talking_features en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_early_color_feature_films www.nfsa.gov.au/site_media/uploads/file/2010/09/09/NFSAJournal-Vol3-Nos2_3.pdf (page 6) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path%C3%A9color
The fact remains this is a colorized black and white feature. I didn't go into the history of the colorization process because that would be too wordy. But at the time this film was made, only one color process existed in Hollywood and that was Technicolor.
If you look at the list of movies produced in color for the year 1933 or 1932, 42nd Street was NOT on the list (all the movies made in Hollywood in those years). Here is the source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_early_color_feature_films
Kelly Brown, Sorry but you are wrong. This was filmed in glorious black and white! Turner in the beginning colorized a lot of these old movies. All the Shirley Temple movies, Laurel and Hardy etc. Then he realized his mistake.
Problem is cinemabon, and the same goes to jonel's channel, is that Wikipedia isn't a totally reliable source of factual information (it continually asks for updates), you need to back it up with facts from another source.
That would explain why Ruby Keeler only appeared in 12 movies, 7 shorts and 8 Broadway musicals in 11 years, before retiring early in 1941. Then, because she "was an awkward clunky dancer and was a plain Jane," she returned to Broadway 20 years later in a musical, choreographed by Hollywood legend Busby Berkeley, with nearly 900 performances.
this is dancing like a clod- horrible choreography matches those awful shoes. no partner- who would dance with her in those shoes. no femininity or finesse. dancing for the depression. even her voice was harsh. when ginger rogers appeared as a dancer,she obliterated people like ruby keeler. it was ginger rogers who defined dancing for women and there is no trace of Keeler today. dancing with the stars may not be the real thing, but at least Keeler was real. it took ginger to show us all how it was done.
This is quite a fascinating find. Ruby might not have been the best singer, but she was an amazing dancer, and she had such a charming, captivating personality, that you couldn't help enjoying watching her. I found a couple of things here that were quite interesting: that the 80s referred to here was actually the 1880s, which were only fifty years before this was filmed, and that they actually used the word "sexy" in a 1930s production, which comes across as a bit shocking even considering that this film was obviously aimed at adult audiences. Still a very enjoyable clip, though!
I TAPPED PROFESSIONALLY ALL OVER ST. LOUIS FOR 20 YEARS, 55 PERFORMANCES 1988-2008, AGE 51, TILL I BROKE MY BACK. I WAS SO DEJECTED THAT I HAD TO QUIT!!!
I'm sorry for your troubles. Obviously that's a finite occupation, with all the rugged footwork involved. The fact you lasted that long is quite a feat. Ummm...
Thanks to this video post, I recently got a colorized dvd copy of 42nd Street (1933). What a difference, like looking at a whole new movie. And I love it!
I suspect this is an 80's Colorization as the Original film was shot in b&W but it looks like it was done reasonably well with only a few times when you can see actors faces which are still in B&W.
To all the "nay sayers"; this was 1932 ! Talent, styles and even the body types have changed a Hell of a lot, since then and you are missing the point ! Busby Berkeley was a genius, known for his visionary skills. The period dictates the style and this is and was a great, fantasy escape for movie goers from the depression.
There's a really fun, surreal part that was edited out of the middle of this clip. If you want to see it (in the intended black and white), just search "Ruby Keeler 42nd Street".
The posting by RobinPratt is basically correct and you're wrong about Jolson. She's a clunky dancer who couldn't even dance in a moderate heel; she looks at her feet a lot. She's not such a good singer; she can't sing in harmony and this should be a "natural" because Dick Powell was a tenor and Keeler was an alto; she also looks very self-concious on camera a lot of the time. Using Keeler in later years? That's all nostalgia for people like you.
Not only is it not possible to watch the most innocent clips on RU-vid but the comments are abssolutely filthy. Where do you people get your mouths from? The sewer? Honestly I would be ashamed to even admit I put some of this disgusting language on line. I think YT should be censoring about 50% or more of the comments.
Roberto Estevez The very fact that you used filthy language yourself is indicative of need for censorship on the internet. It also shows a paucity of either education or manners. Your choice. I don't care what you say. What I do care is the language that is used. No wonder young children have mouths like sewers thanks to ignorant people like. If that is uptight I am it all the way.
Unfortunately, Ruby Keeler looks like an amateur Dancer. She is awkward and clunky. She looks like she is working at it too hard and trying not to fall down in those blocky high heels. There were better in Dance Schools, and her dancing would be considered fourth rate in one of those schools.
