Cagney, a former song-and-dance man, actively campaigned the executives at Warner Bros. for the lead in Footlight Parade, which became his first on-screen appearance as a dancer.
Cagney had only fallen into his gangster persona when he and Edward Woods switched roles three days into the shooting of 1931's The Public Enemy.
That role catapulted Cagney into stardom and a series of gangster films, which throughout his career, Cagney found to be as much a straitjacket as a benefit.

Cagney's character, Chester Kent, was modeled after Chester Hale, a well-known impresario at the time, and the offices where he worked were based on the Sunset Boulevard offices of the prologue production company Fanchon and Marco in Los Angeles.

Although early casting reports had Stanley Smith playing the juvenile lead eventually played by Dick Powell, the film became the third pairing of Powell and Ruby Keeler after 42nd Street (1933) and Gold Diggers of 1933, the first two Warner Bros. Busby Berkeley musicals.
Berkeley was not the original choice to choreograph – Larry Ceballos was signed to direct the dance numbers, and sued Berkeley and the studio for $100,000 for breach of contract when he was not allowed to do so.

Dorothy Tennant, rather than Ruth Donnelly, was originally tapped to play Mrs. Gould.
Other actors considered for various roles included Eugene Pallette, George Dobbs and Patricia Ellis.

Footlight Parade was shot at the Warner Bros. studio in Burbank, California, and cost an estimated $703,000 to make (approximately $13 million in 2012 dollars).
It premiered on September 30, 1933, with a general release on October 21.

The film made a profit of  $819,080, making it one of Warner Bros.' most successful films of the year.
Cagney, a former song-and-dance man, actively campaigned the executives at Warner Bros. for the lead in Footlight Parade, which became his first on-screen appearance as a dancer. Cagney had only fallen into his gangster persona when he and Edward Woods switched roles three days into the shooting of 1931's The Public Enemy. That role catapulted Cagney into stardom and a series of gangster films, which throughout his career, Cagney found to be as much a straitjacket as a benefit.
Cagney's character, Chester Kent, was modeled after Chester Hale, a well-known impresario at the time, and the offices where he worked were based on the Sunset Boulevard offices of the prologue production company Fanchon and Marco in Los Angeles.
Although early casting reports had Stanley Smith playing the juvenile lead eventually played by Dick Powell, the film became the third pairing of Powell and Ruby Keeler after 42nd Street (1933) and Gold Diggers of 1933, the first two Warner Bros. Busby Berkeley musicals. Berkeley was not the original choice to choreograph – Larry Ceballos was signed to direct the dance numbers, and sued Berkeley and the studio for $100,000 for breach of contract when he was not allowed to do so.
Dorothy Tennant, rather than Ruth Donnelly, was originally tapped to play Mrs. Gould. Other actors considered for various roles included Eugene Pallette, George Dobbs and Patricia Ellis.
Footlight Parade was shot at the Warner Bros. studio in Burbank, California, and cost an estimated $703,000 to make (approximately $13 million in 2012 dollars). It premiered on September 30, 1933, with a general release on October 21.
The film made a profit of  $819,080, making it one of Warner Bros.' most successful films of the year.
Footlight Parade