A TOE-TAPPING DANCE ON ‘42ND STREET’

Musicals were box office poison in the early 1930s. But Hollywood was singing a different tune when Warner Bros. released “42nd Street” in 1933. With peppy tunes by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, Busby Berkeley’s surreal, inventive musical numbers and a crackerjack cast that included Warner Baxter, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell and Bebe Daniels, “42nd Street” was a hit, earning a best picture Oscar nod. Warner Archive is releasing the toe-tapping delight on Blu-Ray on Tuesday with extras including three vintage featurettes and two early Warner Bros. cartoons, “Shuffle Off to Buffalo” and “Young and Healthy.”

Warner Bros. / Getty Images THE MUSICAL includes George Brent, left, Bebe Daniels, Ruby Keeler and Warner Baxter, along with inventive Busby Berkeley numbers.