Production
42nd Street was Ruby Keeler's first film, and the first time that choreographer Busby Berkeley and songwriters Harry Warren and Al Dubin had worked for Warner Bros. Director Lloyd Bacon was not the first choice to direct – he replaced Mervyn LeRoy when LeRoy became ill. LeRoy was dating Ginger Rogers at the time, and had suggested to her that she take the role of "Anytime Annie".
Actors who were considered for lead roles when the movie was being cast include Warren William and Richard Barthelmess for the role of "Julian Marsh", eventually played by Warner Baxter; Kay Francis and Ruth Chatterton instead of Bebe Daniels for the role of "Dorothy Brock"; Loretta Young as "Peggy Sawyer" instead of Ruby Keeler; Joan Blondell instead of Ginger Rogers for "Anytime Annie"; Glenda Farrell for the role of Lorraine, played by Una Merkel, and Frank McHugh instead of the dimuitive George E. Stone as Andy, the dance director.
42nd Street began production on 5 October 1932 and shot for 28 days at the Warner Bros. studio in Burbank, California. The total cost of making the film has been estimated to be $340,000–$439,000.
The film premiered in New York on 9 March 1933 at the Strand Theatre, and went into general release two days later, becoming one of the most profitable films of the year, bringing in an estimated gross of $2,300,000. It received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Sound Recording for Nathan Levinson, and was named one of the 10 Best Films of 1933 by Film Daily. Its success permitted a higher budget and more elaborate production numbers in Warner's follow-up film to this one, Footlight Parade.
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—George Bluestone, U.S. educator, critic. “The Limits of the Novel and the Limits of the Film,” Novels Into Film, Johns Hopkins Press (1957)