'Footlight Parade' & 'Gold Diggers Of 1933'

In the earlier days of the talkie, why were so many films about the entertainment industry -- essentially about the very lives and stories the actors and actresses were actually living?

In the silent era, you got exciting films like The Great Train Robbery, The Birth of a Nation, A Trip to the Moon, all the Chaplin and Keaton comedies and more. All have different stories and are set in exotic or interesting times and places.

Suddenly, we could hear voices and all the movies were about Broadway or Hollywood.

I could look up the answer, but that takes effort. So I'll guess.

For one, I think the transition of vaudeville (which still worked in the silent era) had to be moved to the big screen and this included singing and music. Thus we get Babes in Arms, which is about that transition, as was Singing in the Rain. So it was natural to work in the dancing, music and singing to wrap around a story about dancing, music and singing.

Also, I would suspect filming outside of a studio was really hard for a talkie. You needed the soundstage and studio in order to properly record the lines. It was a controlled set up, so why not just make the entire story take place on a soundstage?

Finally, it was probably pretty cheap. You paid the crew and cast. Otherwise, Paramount or Warner didn't have to buy studios, which they already owned. There were no costs for filming on location or scenery. In fact, they could probably film all of these films within 50 feet of each other in a matter of a couple of days. Box it, print it, ship it.

These are all guesses. But pretty good ones I suspect.

Also, James Cagney is an amazing performing.