A very good musical number in 1942. It’s very structurally similar to Cagney’s Footlight Parade, similarly about the rise of a young talented man through the structures of Broadway and stage performance.
Curtiz definitely directs the camera more cinematically and creates very complex tracking shots that utilize the actor coming towards and away from the camera in conjunction with lighting in order to maximize dramatic effect and use the space in one shot.
The movement originates from a zoom or pan over. What you see here is that often times it is better to start moving up into something as it creates a dynamic flow of storytelling rather than starting on your actor and having them lead the camera away.
Jimmy Cagney just shines in this film. It is a great tale about sticking with it in the entertainment world and showing how you can finally win. But it is a difficult struggle. The musical numbers in terms of the dancing were traditional but still a little more clean and precise than Footlight Parade.
This film is definitely U.S. Propaganda for the war effort. You absolutely see Hollywood start to be co-opted by the government to help rile up ordinary Americans to participate in the war.