User reviews

"Queen of Broadway" is a B-movie from PRC, a cheap outfit that specialized in making these types of films. What is a B? Well, there' a lot of confusion as many assume a B is a bad film...which is often not the case. A B-movie is a film that was intended as a second and lesser film for a double-feature...and double-features were the norm in the 1930s and 40s. So, the A-picture was the more expensive, longer and more prestigious film and the B was shorter (50-70 minutes), more cheaply made and were often made by studios (such as PRC) which specialized in making Bs.

Unfortunately, PRC's B-movies are generally among the weakest you can find....though "Queen of Broadway" is unusual in that it's far better quality than most of their output. As a B, it features either no-name actors (such as the leading lady, Rochelle Hudson) and second/third-tier actors such as Buster Crabbe and Vince Barnett. And, as a B, it runs at 64 minutes.

When the story begins, you see that Sherry Baker (Hudson) is a sports handicapper...the best in the business. But when she finds a cute little orphan and wants to adopt him, she has problems because she's not married and she hangs out with gamblers. Back in the day, you simply couldn't adopt a child given these circumstances. But her boyfriend Ricky Sloane (Crabbe) has a solution...to marry and settle down with him. But there are problems...the biggest of which is she doesn't want to marry. What's to become of the kid?

I noticed that at least one reviewer didn't like the film because it's very sentimental and features a cute kid. I can understand that...but I guess I'm a sucker for these sorts of family films. Worth seeing and practically an Oscar-winner compared to the usual cheap PRC fare. Believe me....a rating of 6 is amazing good for PRC!!

That's Rochelle Hudson, an odds-setter for every sport under the sun, who won't hand out a tip for the two-dollar bettors who collect their money a nickel at a time -- she'll take the money and buy War Stamps for them. She's patriotic, all right, but no sucker, and when newly orphaned Donald Mayo shows up, she's all for sending him to an orphanage. That idea doesn't last long in this faux-Runyonesque second feature from PRC.

This being a sentimental movie with a preciously cute little kid, I don't like it in the least. Sam Newfield directs by the numbers, and although cinematographer Jack Greenhalgh was no slouch, the usual shoddy print is the only one that's available.

Miss Hudson had first been signed to a contract in 1930, at the age of 14. She soon failed to distinguish herself in B pictures and as the voice of Honey in early Merrie Melodies. THat's not to imply she wasn't a talented performer, just that she rarely got the chance to perform in pictures with some meat on them. SHe went missing from the marquee for five years after this movie, then eight movies over the following twenty years. She died in 1972, aged 55.