BROADWAY MELODY OF 1936

Broadway Melody of 1936
MGM, 1935, B/W, 101 minutes, ***
Premiere release August, 1936
General release September, 1936

George Brown (Robert Taylor) is a big producer on Broadway, and Irene (Eleanor Powell) is his old high school sweetheart. She comes to New York hoping George will help her break into show business. But, George wants nothing to do with that - he thinks she should go home and not get into the hard-knock world of show business. But Irene is one determined young lady... and much more talented than George realizes!

Jack Benny plays a newspaper columnist who is constantly annoying Taylor, and there are a series of scenes with Taylor marching angrily through the newspaper office, leaving piles of paper airborne in his wake as he marches into Benny's office to punch him in the nose! Sid Silvers gets to play a scene in drag.

Fun film here and there, and a bit slow here and there. Musical highlights include "You Are My Lucky Star" (sung by Frances Langford), the big production number, "I Got a Feelin' You're Foolin'," and Buddy Ebsen and his sister Vilma singing and dancing "Sing Before Breakfast" and "On a Sunday Afternoon."

Produced by: John W. Considine, Jr.
Production Assistant: Alex Aarons
Directed by: Roy Del Ruth
Screen Play by: Jack McGowan and Sid Silvers
Based on an Original Story by: Moss Hart
Additional Dialogue by: Harry Conn
Music and Lyrics by: Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed
Musical Direction by: Alfred Newman
Dance Numbers Created and Staged by: Dave Gould
"Lucky Star" Ballet staged by Albertina Rasch
Orchestrations by: Edward B. Powell
Arrangements by: Roger Edens
Art Director: Cedric Gibbons
Associates: Merrill Pye, Edwin B. Willis
Gowns by: Adrian
Recording Director: Douglas Shearer
Photographed by: Charles Rosher
Film Editor: Blanche Sewell

Awards: Academy Award for Best Dance Direction (Dave Gould); Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Story (Moss Hart)

Cast: Jack Benny [Bert Keeler], Eleanor Powell [Irene Foster], Robert Taylor [Bob Gordon], Una Merkel [Kitty Corbett], Sid Silvers [Snoop], Buddy Ebsen [Ted], June Knight [Lillian Brent], Vilma Ebsen [Sally], Nick Long, Jr. [Basil], Robert Wildhack [The Snorer], Paul Harvey [Managing Editor], Frances Langford [Herself], Harry Stockwell [Himself], Additional Cast: Irene Coleman, Beatrice Coleman, Mary Jane Halsey, Ada Ford, Lucille Lund, Georgia Gray [Showgirls], Theresa Harris [Maid], Max Barwyn [Headwaiter], Bernadene Hayes [Waitress], Bud Williams [Pullman Porter], Bert Moorhouse [Hotel Clerk], Andre Cheron [Hotel Manager], Rolfe Sedan [Assistant Hotel Manager], Bobby Gordon [Copy Boy], Anya Teranda, Patricia Gregory [Chorus Girls], Marjorie Lane [singing voice of Eleanor Powell]

Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:01] The Broadway Melody (sung by Harry Stockwell); [0:01] You Are My Lucky Star (sung by Frances Langford); [0:09] I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin' (big production number sung by Robert Taylor, June Knight and Girls Chorus; danced by Nick Long, Jr. and Chorus Girls; danced by Nick Long, Jr. and June Knight); [0:17] The Snoring Expert; [0:21] Sing Before Breakfast (sung and Danced by Buddy and Vilma Ebsen; then sung and danced by Buddy and Vilma Ebsen and Eleanor Powell, Marjorie Lane dubbing for Eleanor Powell); [0:34] The Snoring Expert strikes again; [0:39] I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin' (reprised by Frances Langford); [0:44] You Are My Lucky Star (big production number sung by Marjorie Lane dubbing for Eleanor Powell; sung by Mens Chorus; ballet segment danced by Eleanor Powell and Chorus Girls); [1:09] On a Sunday Afternoon (sung by Buddy Ebsen, danced by Buddy and Vilma Ebsen - cute number!); [1:20] You Are My Lucky Star (instrumental danced by Eleanor Powell disguised as Mme. Arlette, partly danced with no music); [1:30] Broadway Rhythm (big production finale sung by Frances Langford and Chorus; danced by Buddy and Vilma Ebsen with Chorus; danced by June Knight and Nick Long, Jr.; danced by Eleanor Powell and Mens Chorus)