Broadway to Hollywood follows a vaudeville family as the mother vows her son won't be forced into show business and the father wants the legacy to continue. Frank Morgan and Alice Brady have their marital troubles, with Frank's womanizing and the instability of their profession, and when their son Jackie Cooper enters the scene, he manages to steal the audience's attention with his cuteness. Jackie's only in the movie for about ten minutes, until his character grows up,
Amazingly enough, in a movie set in vaudeville, none of the lead actors can dance. They're either filmed from very far away with obvious dance doubles, or in tight closeups that show them moving only their shoulders with huge grins. The exceptions are the kids, Jackie Cooper and Mickey Rooney, who ironically plays Jackie's son. You have to wait an hour to see him, and once again, he's only on the screen for a few minutes. This is a generational saga, with Frank and Alice aging decades in the ninety minutes. They start off as a young couple, then wind up with a grown-up grandson in their midst. If you're renting this movie to see the kiddies, you'll be disappointed. You'd better be watching it for Frank and Alice, who age very gracefully. With their white hair, Alice's dowager hump, and Frank's dark circles that show the hard life they've lived, it really feels as if you've known them their entire lives.
In the start of the movie, their gag at the end of their song and dance is for Alice to pick up a bouquet of roses thrown on the stage. Frank says to the audience, "I'll find the fellow who sent her those and break his neck!" to a strong laugh. As the decades pass, the laughter dwindles, and even though Frank's tone gives the same delivery, his eyes show he's humiliated and disappointed that he's never achieved more. Finally, as an old man, he uses a monocle, has a slack jaw, and wobbles his legs when he rises from his chair, all while preserving the dignity of a man who used to entertain audiences with his legs and the ladies with his good looks. If you're a Frank Morgan fan, rent it; he truly embodies the old hoofer who's tried and failed his whole life. If you're not, you probably won't enjoy it.
