On With the Show

The Jazz Singer made Talkies the rage, backstage musicals became one of the staples of the era and amid all the voh-de-oh-doing and tap-tapping came this movie that Time called "the most interesting of its type to date." Adding to the interest: a narrative structure that cuts between the onstage production of a make-or-break show and the in-the-wings scrambling to mount it -- and to find out who heisted the night's gate receipts; movie newcomer Ethel Waters debuting Am I Blue, the song that became her signature tune; and rubber-faced Joe E. Brown in his first Warner Bros. movie. The film notched a historic benchmark by being the first all-color (two-strip Technicolor) sound feature. Color prints no longer exist but On with the Show!

• comedy
• musical