James Cagney as Chester Kent, creator of musical prologues
Joan Blondell as Nan Prescott, his secretary
Ruby Keeler as Bea Thorn, dancer turned secretary turned dancer
Dick Powell as Scott "Scotty" Blair, juvenile lead who is Mrs. Gould's "protegé"
Frank McHugh as Francis, dance director
Ruth Donnelly as Harriet Bowers Gould, the producer's nepotistic wife
Guy Kibbee as Silas "Si" Gould, producer
Hugh Herbert as Charlie Bowers, Mrs. Gould's brother, the censor
Claire Dodd as Vivian Rich, Nan's former friend, an accomplished gold digger, who, if you believe Nan, has a very checkered past for which she has done time
Gordon Westcott as Harry Thompson, Kent's assistant
Arthur Hohl as Al Frazer, the other producer
Renee Whitney as Cynthia Kent, Chester's greedy wife
Paul Porcasi as George Apolinaris, owner of a chain of movie theaters
Philip Faversham as Joe Barrington, juvenile lead, another protege of Mrs. Gould
Herman Bing as Fralick, the music director
Billy Barty as Mouse and Little Boy
Hobart Cavanaugh as Title-Thinkerupper
George Chandler as Druggist
Cast notes:
Dorothy Lamour, Victoria Vinton, Ann Sothern and Lynn Browning were among the many chorus girls in the film.
It was Lamour's film debut.

It is sometimes written that John Garfield made his (uncredited) film debut in the "Shanghai Lil" routine in a (5/6ths of a second) shot.
The 2003 Turner Classic Movies documentary The John Garfield Story refutes this, as do several John Garfield biographies that give timelines where he is in New York and then on tour in Chicago with the revival of the play Counsellor-at-Law in 1933.

The movie briefly shown in the theater early in the film is The Telegraph Trail, starring a young John Wayne and, coincidentally or not, Frank McHugh.
James Cagney as Chester Kent, creator of musical prologues
Joan Blondell as Nan Prescott, his secretary
Ruby Keeler as Bea Thorn, dancer turned secretary turned dancer
Dick Powell as Scott "Scotty" Blair, juvenile lead who is Mrs. Gould's "protegé"
Frank McHugh as Francis, dance director
Ruth Donnelly as Harriet Bowers Gould, the producer's nepotistic wife
Guy Kibbee as Silas "Si" Gould, producer
Hugh Herbert as Charlie Bowers, Mrs. Gould's brother, the censor
Claire Dodd as Vivian Rich, Nan's former friend, an accomplished gold digger, who, if you believe Nan, has a very checkered past for which she has done time
Gordon Westcott as Harry Thompson, Kent's assistant
Arthur Hohl as Al Frazer, the other producer
Renee Whitney as Cynthia Kent, Chester's greedy wife
Paul Porcasi as George Apolinaris, owner of a chain of movie theaters
Philip Faversham as Joe Barrington, juvenile lead, another protege of Mrs. Gould
Herman Bing as Fralick, the music director
Billy Barty as Mouse and Little Boy
Hobart Cavanaugh as Title-Thinkerupper
George Chandler as Druggist
Cast notes:
Dorothy Lamour, Victoria Vinton, Ann Sothern and Lynn Browning were among the many chorus girls in the film. It was Lamour's film debut.
It is sometimes written that John Garfield made his (uncredited) film debut in the "Shanghai Lil" routine in a (5/6ths of a second) shot. The 2003 Turner Classic Movies documentary The John Garfield Story refutes this, as do several John Garfield biographies that give timelines where he is in New York and then on tour in Chicago with the revival of the play Counsellor-at-Law in 1933.
The movie briefly shown in the theater early in the film is The Telegraph Trail, starring a young John Wayne and, coincidentally or not, Frank McHugh.
Footlight Parade