Footlight Parade (1935) DVD9 - James Cagney - A Busby Berkeley M

With the introduction of talkies, many theater owners are closing down their live productions in favor of the new format. Even those theaters that had live performances between films are getting rid of them. Producer Chester Kent comes up with an idea: if the live acts could be packaged and sold to theater owners, they should be able to reduce costs and make money. He's not the only one who's come up with the idea however and competition is tough. Kent soon realizes that they should try developing 40 minute prologues, live musical numbers to be shown before the movie. His ideas are continually being leaked to his competition. Throughout, his very capable secretary Nan keeps everything going in the office.