Chorus girls’ legs jigsaw puzzles; Dick Powell haberdashery! The 1933 Warner Brothers ‘42nd Street’ Pressbook is all kinds of wonderful and ridiculous. archive.org/details/pres... - ThreadSky

mayamcantu.bsky.social • 21 days ago

Chorus girls’ legs jigsaw puzzles; Dick Powell haberdashery! The 1933 Warner Brothers ‘42nd Street’ Pressbook is all kinds of wonderful and ridiculous. https://archive.org/details/pressbook-wb-42nd-street

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daniele-gaither.bsky.social•19 days ago

The ads worked. I now want to watch this movie and take a glamorous train ride. 💄

mayamcantu.bsky.social•21 days ago

Leading up to the March premiere at the Strand Theatre in NYC, there were also multiple PR contests: for ‘Bizarre Costumes;’ for ‘Dramalog’ caption-writing; for best stars’ doubles; and for localized (eg Akron) new title song lyrics.

mayamcantu.bsky.social•21 days ago

The Pressbook matches the near-erasure of Bradford Ropes, the author of the ‘32 source novel, from the title’s narrative—but Ropes is mentioned twice: in an ad for the Grosset & Dunlap edition, and in an ad for Carlisle Jones’s movie serialization, as knowing ‘his 42nd Street as no other man does.’

mayamcantu.bsky.social•21 days ago

And all this ballyhoo accompanied the LA-to-DC-bound (and Bette Davis-carrying) 42nd Street Special train, sponsored by General Electric, and arriving on March 4, 1933 for FDR’s inauguration: https://youtu.be/bC1mabrcIOc?si=l_MRczp10AcROeBW

mayamcantu.bsky.social•20 days ago

This New Deal train for ‘Better Times’ responded ‘to an invitation extended last fall by Mr. Roosevelt when he was campaigning in CA…The locomotive and 6 cars will be lettered and illuminated outside so that its message will be visible along the entire route across the continent by day & by night.’

mayamcantu.bsky.social•20 days ago

Car 6, for instance, was the “Observation car. One-half of this will be fitted up as ‘a slice of Malibu Beach,’ with palm trees, sand & a G.E. installation of sun-lamps which will provide ‘California sunlight on wheels’ and midday summer sun at that.

sorryforlaughing.bsky.social•21 days ago

Oh hell yes I am downloading this.

mayamcantu.bsky.social•21 days ago

The hip-hooray and ballyhoo of it all!

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