It stars an ensemble cast of Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers.

In 1998, 42nd Street was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

In 1932 during the depths of the Great Depression noted Broadway producers Jones and Barry are staging Pretty Lady, a musical starring Dorothy Brock.

Despite a long string of successes, he is impoverished following the 1929 Stock Market Crash, so he must make his last show a hit in order to earn enough money to retire.

Rehearsals continue for five weeks, to Marsh's complete dissatisfaction, until the night before the show's surprise opening in Philadelphia, when Dorothy breaks her ankle.

As the theater audience leaves, Julian stands in the shadows outside the stage door, hearing comments that Peggy is the star and that he does not deserve the credit for the show's success.

The film was Ruby Keeler's first, and the first time that Busby Berkeley, Harry Warren and Al Dubin had worked for Warner Bros. Mervyn LeRoy, the original director, became ill and Lloyd Bacon was hired to replace him.

The "Love Theme", written by Harry Warren, is played under scenes between Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell, and Bebe Daniels and George Brent.

[3] In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Mordaunt Hall called 42nd Street "the liveliest and one of the most tuneful screen musical comedies that has come out of Hollywood" and wrote: "Although it has its serious moments, it is for the most part a merry affair ...

"[14] John Mosher of The New Yorker called it "a bright movie" with "as pretty a little fantasy of Broadway as you may hope to see" and praised Baxter's performance as "one of the best he has given us", although he described the plot as "the most conventional one to be found in such doings.

The original Broadway production directed and choreographed by Gower Champion (whose death on opening night was announced at the curtain call by producer David Merrick) won the Tony Award for Best Musical.