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Broadway musicals were a ready source for the early musicals, and RKO's smash Rio Rita led the way. Some of the adaptations were close, while others strayed wildly from the originals. Among the Broadway stars repeating their stage roles were Irene Bordoni in Paris, and Ziegfeld diva Marilyn Miller in Sally. Such films as No, No Nanette bore less resemblance to the stage success than it did to the thriving backstage genre. Composers DeSylva, Brown and Henderson found their works transferred more successfully than did Rodgers and Hart or Cole Porter. By the time of the most lavish Broadway adaptation, Whoopee!, musicals were in decline, yet with Eddie Cantor, Busby Berkeley, and Technicolor it scored a notable success.

Though Whoopee! was regarded as a success upon its release, musical films in general were suffering a steep decline in interest. Buzz went to Paramount. Gertrude was unconvinced that her son's Hollywood career could sustain him in the same way as Broadway. Buzz's marriage was also in trouble. With a bit of fortuitous timing, good news came by way of Sam Goldwyn. Based on the success of Whoopee!, Goldwyn signed Eddie Cantor for another picture called Palmy Days, and both wanted Buzz on board. Later, however, Esther requested and was granted divorce. At this point in his career, Buzz's musical numbers were experiments in camera placement and movement, ensemble blocking, and set manipulation. After about a year of parlaying his experience at various studios into projects key to his development, Buzz was again in the employ of Sam Goldwyn. With Eddie Cantor on board, their third collaboration was called The Kid from Spain.

This chapter illustrates the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) trying repeatedly to liberalise its guidelines relating to ‘R18’ videos, and being prevented from doing so by the then Home Secretary Jack Straw. The story of the ‘R18’ began in 1982. The differences between Section 2 and Section 3 proceedings under the Obscene Publications Act (OPA) are explained. Bernard Williams' unwillingness to recommend that sex shops should be licensed had by 1987 been amply justified. The combined efforts of Customs and the Home Secretary brought to an end the trial liberalisation period. The Makin' Whoopee! was passed by the Video Appeals Committee (VAC). It ‘may offend or disgust but it is unlikely to deprave or corrupt that proportion of the public who are likely to view it’. Straw ultimately failed to bend the BBFC to his will makes the existence of those powers no less disturbing.

As this chapter begins, Ziegfeld produces an unlikely hit—an operetta of The Three Musketeers. Discussed are playwright William Anthony McGuire’s unprofessional, drunken behavior; backstage feuds; and Patricia’s propensity to fall in love with the leading men in her father’s productions. Ziegfeld’s production of Whoopee with Eddie Cantor is a phenomenal success and the producer’s fourth successive hit in the course of one year. Next he coproduces a film with Jesse Lasky, Glorifying the American Girl, although he still does not consider Hollywood a worthy rival. Ziegfeld reopens the Frolic, despite the fact that Prohibition is still in full swing. He then goes on to produce Show Girl and Noel Coward’s Bitter Sweet. The latter show gets a lukewarm reception, mainly because it opens the same week that the stock market crashes. Ziegfeld loses everything but continues to produce shows. His next one, Simple Simon, flops, and he seriously reconsiders his views on Hollywood. The chapter concludes with Ziegfeld planning to explore career possibilities on the West Coast. Thanks to talking films, musicals are booming in popularity.