Surely the best Warners musical, Footlight Parade features James Cagney as a musical comedy director who finds himself unemployed when talkies take the place of live theatrical presentations. He comes up with a new idea - the production of short musical acts to accompany first run films. Into the witty “backstage” story - which doesn't exactly paint a rosy picture of the theatrical world - the film's musical numbers are integrated with ingenious skill by director Lloyd Bacon. And the numbers themselves, designed by Busby Berkeley, are simply mind-boggling in their surrealistic geometry and sexual sublimations.
“‘By a Waterfall' is one of the most staggering pieces of musical fantasy ever realized on film. Running close to a quarter of an hour, the production is breathless - an elaborate aquacade of 100 girls, led by Ruby Keeler, performing kaleidoscopic patterns in the water and climaxing in a huge human fountain....” --Thomas and Terry, “The Busby Berkeley Book”