Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Roy Del Ruth
(more)

Writers:

Moss Hart (story)
Jack McGowan (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

20 September 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Romance

Tagline:

You have waited seven years for this!

Plot:

Bob Gordon is staging a new Broadway Show, but he is short of money. He gets an offer of money by the young widow Lilian...

Plot Keywords:

Gossip Columnist | Dancer | Railway Porter | Deception | Theatrical Director

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Jack Benny	...	Bert Keeler
Eleanor Powell	...	Irene Foster
Robert Taylor	...	Robert Gordon
Una Merkel	...	Kitty Corbett
Sid Silvers	...	Snoop Blue
Buddy Ebsen	...	Ted Burke
June Knight	...	Lillian Brent
Vilma Ebsen	...	Sally Burke
Nick Long Jr.	...	Basil Newcombe
Robert Wildhack	...	Hornblow
Paul Harvey	...	Scully
Frances Langford	...	Herself
Harry Stockwell	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lona Andre	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Gertrude Astor	...	Actress in Bob Gordon's Waiting Room (uncredited)
Bonnie Bannon	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Max Barwyn	...	Headwaiter (uncredited)
Edna Breyman	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Nacio Herb Brown	...	Himself, in Promotional Trailer (uncredited)
Jack Cavanaugh	...	Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
Beatrice Coleman	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Irene Coleman	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Diane Cook	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Mary Lou Dix	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Roger Edens	...	Pianist (uncredited)
Neely Edwards	...	Character man (uncredited)
Ada Ford	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Arthur Freed	...	Himself, in Promotional Trailer (uncredited)
Bill Goodwin	...	On-Screen Trailer Announcer (uncredited)
Robert Gordon	...	Copy boy (uncredited)
Georgina Gray	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Patricia Gregory	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Jimmy Grier	...	Himself (uncredited)
Mary Halsey	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Theresa Harris	...	Theresa (maid) (uncredited)
Bernadene Hayes	...	Waitress (uncredited)
Shep Houghton	...	Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
Marion Lange	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Mary Lange	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Treva Lawler	...	Waitress (uncredited)
Jeni Le Gon	...	Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
Lorna Low	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Lucille Lund	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Connie Meyers	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Edmund Mortimer	...	Man in audience for daydream montage (uncredited)
Mollie Peck	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Wanda Perry	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Anya Taranda	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Luana Walters	...	Showgirl (uncredited)
Buddy Williams	...	Pullman porter (uncredited)
Don Wilson	...	Radio announcer (uncredited)

Directed by
Roy Del Ruth
W.S. Van Dyke		(retakes) (uncredited)

Writing credits
Moss Hart		(story)
Jack McGowan		(screenplay) and
Sid Silvers		(screenplay)
Harry W. Conn		(additional dialogue) (as Harry Conn)
Edwin J. Burke		(script polisher) uncredited

Produced by
John W. Considine Jr.	....	producer

Cinematography by
Charles Rosher

Film Editing by
Blanche Sewell

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Costume Design by
Adrian		(gowns)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William J. Scully	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Merrill Pye	....	associate art director
Edwin B. Willis	....	associate art director

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Music Department
Roger Edens	....	music arranger
Alfred Newman	....	musical director
Edward B. Powell	....	orchestrator
Dudley Chambers	....	musical director: chorus (uncredited)
Marjorie Lane	....	singing voice: Eleanor Powell (uncredited)

Other crew
Alex Aarons	....	production assistant
Dave Gould	....	stager: dance numbers
Albertina Rasch	....	stager: "Lucky Star" ballet
Howard Dietz	....	press agent (uncredited)
Geneva Hall	....	setting routine: "Broadway Rhythm" (uncredited)
Thayer the Magician	....	assistant: Dave Gould for 'I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin' Number (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1935) (USA) (theatrical) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)
• ClassicLine (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Nothing's New Video (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Broadway Melody of 1935 (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1157)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Reportedly, Eleanor Powell did not want to be in this film but was too polite to directly tell MGM executives. She asked for the leading role and an exorbitant salary, and MGM accepted her demands.

Quotes:

Sally Burke: Why don't you go back and see Gordon?
Irene Foster: I will not!
Sally Burke: You *came* here to see him, didn't you?
Irene Foster: Yes, but I still have a little pride left.
Ted Burke: So's Gandhi, but he's getting awful thin.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Jack Benny Program: Musicale (#11.18)" (1961)

Soundtrack:

On a Sunday Afternoon

another variation on the unknown becoming a star

A musical that does just what you expect, really. Decent songs, a sarcastic comedy foil (Jack Benny), a romantic couple (Robert Taylor and Eleanor Powell), a couple of talented friends (Buddy and Vilma Ebsen), and a wafer-thin plot which includes female impersonation, silly accents, and a daydream musical sequence.

The 'Broadway Melody' series didn't really tax its viewers with complicated plot lines, but certainly delivered in big spectacle numbers, decent casting of both singers and dancers, and mushy happy endings. Just what America needed during the Depression, and something which has stayed as standard, with slight variation, ever since.